Kjersten's photo on the NYT website

A few weeks ago I submitted a few photos from my time in Kuala Lumpur to the New York times for a project they are working on about living in high-rises. Last week I got a nice note back from an editor saying my pictures were exactly what they were looking for. Cool!

Check out the submissions page. One of my pictures is an example! (You can't see it from a mobile device). Can you tell which one is mine?

(For anyone who doesn't know me personally, it's the one with the mom and her kid with the sun streaming in behind them).

Magic in the air

My life is in complete flux right now. Change is afoot. Things will soon never be the same.
I feel magic in the air.
Firefly art: a collage I made in the last few weeks of living in Malaysia
Today is my last full day in Malaysia.

There are so many words I could write about it all, about the changes, about the experience, about what's to come, even about just the last few weeks or last few adventures. Heck, I never even mentioned on my blog that I went to Laos!

But for now, I'm just enjoying the last few moments here in this city I've grown to love. Saying good-bye to a few lovely people. Oh, and taking care of all the stuff that one takes care of when one moves (uffda).

What a strange, surprising, turn of life this whole experience has been.

I'll miss this place. But I look forward to going home.
But first...
 *she smiles*
....I have two weeks of adventures that await during the in-between time.

Yay for adventure.

I'm off for Hong Kong tomorrow.

New Art

I've been busy in the studio, making new art and getting a portfolio ready for a conference that takes place not too long after I return to the USA in a few weeks. I always wish I could get more new art done before a conference. I'm also busy, busy, busy, getting ready to move...

It's only a few days before I lose all my studio equipment to a container ship for weeks and weeks. 

Unfortunately all this transition doesn't line up with my drive to make art and work on my novel project.

At least I made this one piece I like last week.

Here it is in color:
 And here it is in black and white:

I really wanted to get some black and white stuff made for my portfolio as I've been working on making it presentable in its own right (not meant just for sketches). But I'm feeling super picky about it, which I think is a good thing. Maybe I won't get it done for this conference. Perhaps the next one.

Meanwhile, I've only two weeks left in Malaysia. I have some adventures planned on the way home. Then, by the end of March, I'll be back in the USA for good.

I just have to get through these bumps with dignity and grace and hopefully a little work done and my relationships all in tact. If anyone else out there is going through any transitions, here's a shout out. I'm rooting for you!

Some moments should come with eject buttons. Oh wait! They do!

It didn't take even a full five minutes to realize I had stepped onto planet crazy by entering that particular taxi cab. I sighed, looked out the window and wondered how long the journey would take. I felt thankful, for once, that I'm a little deaf and can't always understand strangers' accents. Then, all in a flash, I realized I could do something about that unwanted moment.

I suddenly interrupted my crazy taxi driver's unwarranted tirade. "I guess I'm done with this experience," I said. And in the same heartbeat I threw five bucks at the guy and jumped out of his cab into the jammed traffic around us.

I put my hand out in front of approaching cars and wove my way through them, smaller then they — but more agile, to the side of the road. I took a deep breath of the humid tropical air and relished my freedom to be a little bit of my own kind of crazy.

I'm here to say that yes, do-overs are occasionally possible. Other taxi drivers do come along, eventually (especially when you huff it out, despite the heat, and seek another taxi stand). And sometimes it feels very satisfying to stand up for one's peace in small, but meaningful ways.

Here's to anyone who finds him or her self in a crazy chaotic space this week and chooses to say no to it. You have choices. I hope in just such a moment you are able to find yourself a little breathing space and a quiet moment of nice.
I love relishing moments of peace in the midst of a busy city. Here's such a moment: the Petronas towers with morning light, a morning moon, and morning birds.

In the Tree Tops, walking with trust

The above picture was taken in Australia and the picture below was taken last week in Kuala Lumpur.

What do these pictures have in common (besides both having my son in them)?

They marked the beginning of two different canopy walks.

In Malaysia it was at the Forest Research Institute, where they reclaimed an old industrial wasteland and made it jungle again (above). 

In Australia we walked among the giant tingle treetops (above).

But at both I found myself walking on tiny, looooong bridges, high, high up in the trees.

Amazing. Fantastic. I loved it.

But... these walks were not exactly for the faint of heart.

They felt like small practices in bravery (not to mention yoga breathing).

They were exercises in trust.

They felt a bit like what it feels like when you put your art out in the world, actually.

You trust that the journey will be a bit thrilling, you'll be glad you did it, you probably won't crash to the ground, but things will feel a little shaky and uncertain, even if exciting.

And your view on the world will be different, at least for a bit.

 There may even be anchors along the way, to help calm your nerves, even while keeping the view.

You probably won't fly, but it might feel a bit like you are.

You might even decide to go for it again...

What a cheesy post.

 But a bit of truth is there somewhere, I'm sure.

If not for being an artist, then at least for being an adventur-ess.

Now, back to the ground.

More color in Penang, this time using the Hipstamatic

 I took these pictures in Penang, Malaysia, using the Hipstamatic photo app on my Iphone.
 Pretty cool for phone pictures.

 My sister's been using an app called Instamatic. Supposedly it lets you change your pictures retroactively for similar results. I'm very curious if I'll be able to use any texture photos taken this way for my illustrations.
Time will tell...

Dragon Boat Races

 Last month my family traveled to Penang, Malaysia for a weekend trip to watch some Dragon Boat races.
 It's such an interesting practice. If you are interested in it at all, click here to learn more about the tradition.
 My favorite part of the experience was listening to the drummers beating out the pace of the strokes.
 We couldn't get too close to the boats in the race, but I did manage to see a few docked boats.
The boats have dragon heads and tails. So neat!

More crafty fun: Batik

So, like I've been saying, my sister is crafty -- like me.
 
So I had to take her to the nearby KL Craft Complex to try Batik while she was visiting KL.
We also took my son, Oscar, who loves art projects lately.
Painting with Mommy and Auntie Kelli was a big treat (he made 4 batiks!).
I made a tree of life with a labyrinth in it.



 
The craft complex had a new offering too -- they sewed our batiks into pillows for just a few dollars more.
 I added the ribbon and button onto mine. 
Happiness is making crafty projects with my sister and son.
(Unless maybe those projects involve bike trickshaws...)

SCBWI Malaysia

I finally connected with the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in Malaysia!
They put up a booth at the Kuala Lumpur Book Fair that I attended several weeks ago (I went knowing they would be there). The top photo is of the SCBWI booth, the next two are random pictures from the book fair.
I chatted for quite a while there with the wife of a renown Malaysian Illustrator, Yosof Gajah (fun fact: Gajah means elephant in Bahasa Malayu, the Malaysian language). Yosof's wife, Zakiah, is an artist in her own right and offers batik classes. It was lovely to chat with her. Hopefully I'll get to try one of her classes out while I live here.
 
Then, last Monday, the chapter had a special get-together (they are just starting to organize regular meetings and haven't officially started having them yet) to greet Steve Mooser, one of the co-founders of SCBWI!
It was a fun get together and I'm happy to have mingled with some other artists and writers from KL as well as Steve and Sally.
Thanks to Linda T. Lingard, the local Regional Advisor, for organizing.
Cheers to SCBWI!

The School Of Hard Knocks

My sister and her husband have been visiting us the last few weeks.
 They just left yesterday. We had a super fun few weeks together.
When Kelli and I get together we tend to make crafty stuff.
So it isn't surprising that we had a few crafty adventures while she was here.
Like visiting the Royal Selangor Pewter visitor center (touristy? YES!).
We took a tour and watched craftspeople work away at making pewter objects.
Then we participated in something called "Whack and Snack" at the "School for Hard Knocks."
We got to fashion our own pewter bowls by hammering on a flat round sheet of plain pewter.
Too bad I didn't have any pent up anger to hammer out or anything -- this would have been the perfect place to do so.
I pounded my bowl into a nice partial orb and then opted to ornament the bowl with...
A knock knock joke.
Cheesy touristy goodness at it's finest, especially when you get to share the whole experience with your sister!
Oh, and kudos to whoever came up with the idea of decorating the walls with pewter hand prints of all people who work for Royal Selangor. I loved those walls.
FYI: the snack part of "Whack and Snack" involved tea with croissants. Yummy.

Batik factory visit in the North

Painting detail by Yusoff Abdullah, a Malaysian artist
During my recent trip to Kota Barhu my family and I also visited a batik factory.
I've watched Batik being done before,
and have even tried it myself.
But this was a neat experience because the Batik being made at the factory I visited is the kind that I often see local women wearing.
It's not made for the tourist market, in other words.
It's fun to watch how fast these women paint.
And how fast they draw with the wax tool. I tried that, it's not an easy thing to draw with.
I love these open spaces where the women work, even if it was really hot in there. It was fun to watch my son's surprising interest in the whole process, too.

I gotta say it, I love traveling with a kid.

Kite Maker or Collage Artist?

Last week my family took a short trip north to an area of Malaysia called Kelantan.
Many artists around one of the main cities of Kelantan, Kota Bharu, are especially known for practicing several traditional Malaysian handicrafts. The painting above and detail of it below, done by a Malaysian artist named Yusoff Abdullah, hung in the airport at Kota Bharu. The painting depicts many of the local handicraft traditions*.
One of my favorites of these traditions is known as Wau, or kite making.
Kite makers use large wooden frames that they bend out of thin sticks:
And the patterns on most traditional kites are intricately cut out of colorful papers and layered over one another.
Here's an artist at work cutting a pattern using an exacto blade on a folded sheet of foil.
I watched him use a blade sharpener. It made me pause because most paper artists I know back home throw out their blades rather than sharpening them. (I personally most often use a scissors, FYI).
Here's a close detail to give you an idea of the layers of paper. Every color below is a different colored paper, glued on top of one another.
Inspiring!



* The signature here is from the painting at the top of this post. I mentioned that the artist's name was Yusoff Abdullah, a Malaysian artist who I could find little information on, which is why the uncertainty and the lack of links. Please accept my sincere apologies if I've given credit wrong! Also, please correct me, if someone out there knows better, I'd prefer to properly give credit and links if they exist.

Malaysia National Craft Day

I live just down the street from Kuala Lumpur's craft complex, called Kompleks Kraf Kuala Lumpur (basically that means Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex in the local Bahasa language). 
Recently they had a big festival full of artists and craftspeople from all over Malaysia, selling their wares and also offering demonstrations.
 
I only took pictures in the demo area, but my favorite tent to walk through was the tent full of colorful batik clothing.

Picture an entire gymnasium crowded with booths of swirling bright colors and floral water-color like patterns.
Many of the artists offering demos weren't around when I took these photos, but I was able to go back and watch others later in the day.
I especially liked the kite maker, who cut impossibly intricate designs out of foiled paper and layered the designs onto paper stretched over a frame.
Hmmm... it just occurred to me that it might be fun to make an illustration sample with one of those kites included.

Did I get that idea from the craft complex or by blogging about it? Either way, I'm grateful. It's fun to be inspired to make an illustration sample that's a perfect match for your medium and your current adventure.

Trying Batik

 I finally tried Batik!
 I went to the craft complex near my condo with some out of town guests and we spent "Craft Friday," the day after Thanksgiving, trying our hands at one of SE Asia's favorite art forms.
 The basics: you draw an image with wax, paint over it, and then melt the wax to allow the cloth below to stand out.
 Actually we drew with pencil first, onto silk, then drew with wax.
 Although the women operating the batik booth at the craft complex were willing to do the wax part for us, I tried my hand at it with the Labyrinth I made. It was really fun, even if my hand was a bit shaky and inexperienced with the wax tool. On my second piece I decided to let the ladies help since my second piece was pretty detailed (plus those ladies were so fun to watch!).
 I used part of one of my drawings from last month, the train engine, since I thought it might something I could hang on my son's wall (he loves trains).
 I had so much fun!
 I realized too, that I'm not really as slow as I always say I am at working -- it's just my usual medium, collage, is slow. I was lightning fast at Batik (I made two pieces while everyone else made one and I probably could have made a third).
 If I were a painter, I think I'd be faster. I realize that collage just takes longer. I'm okay with that. It's the medium I dream in, it's close to my heart and it's what I know best. So be it if I'm slower than I'd be in another medium (And I'm still working at making it faster).
 I should have handled the train engineer differently in Batik to make the white outlines work better, I think the engine looked better before the wax was melted. All in all it was a fun experiment, though.
I'm definitely going to try to learn more about Batik while I'm in Malaysia. I think I'll take a more in-depth class sometime in the next few months. I'm thinking it would be cool to use some batik techniques on paper for my collages. At the very least it would be a fun take-home from my two years in Malaysia.

My cheerleader is in town!

 I've had my mom visiting here for the last two weeks!
 
These are pictures from the Islamic Art Museum.
 I had to share one of my favorite art spots in Kuala Lumpur with my mom!
 My mom's my cheerleader. She always brings out my inner little engine that could.
 She's also an ex-English teacher and an extremely helpful copy-editor. It's good to have a copy-editor on your team.
 
Laini Taylor put up a great post about cheerleaders a few weeks ago. Maybe you saw it? 
If not, here's the link.
 
So who is your cheerleader?