Harsh Critique
Then he stopped laughing and got very serious. His eyebrows crinkled and he paused his finger on his upper lip.
"Mommy," he said, "I'm not sure if this story has a problem."
Honestly, those words were also pretty great to hear.
Cheers to a critique partner in the family!
More color in Penang, this time using the Hipstamatic
Color in Penang
Dragon Boat Races
Signs from the Universe
The following are some signs I've photographed over the last few months -- little sweet somethings I've stumbled across that feel like signs from a happy God.
Except this one. This one was put up by a grumpy kill-joy for sure:
More crafty fun: Batik
School Visits in Malaysia
I've officially made two school visits while in Malaysia.
Both were at my son's school; once with 3-to-4-year-olds and once with 5-to-six-year-olds.
SO MUCH FUN!
I love, love, love working with kids
(In a parallel universe somewhere I'm probably an art teacher).
I've held back on doing school visits back home because I'm an unpublished illustrator. But now that I think about this, why does that have to stop me? Artists do school visits. I've been a professional artist for a long time.
So this has got me thinking and dreaming. I hope I get the chance to make paper with many more classes in the future.
These pictures are of the board about my visit that the older kids put up for Family Day (didn't want to put the actual close-up pictures without permissions; I figured the board is far enough away for blog picture purposes). Below is the beautiful thank you card they made me.
SCBWI Malaysia
The School Of Hard Knocks
The Songkran festival in Bangkok
Don't these trees look like cheerleaders?
Maybe you don't see it.
Picture a cheerleader holding a pom-pom high.
And here's a cheer -- HOORAH! -- for any who need one.
"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and the time that the tide will turn." --Harriet Beecher Stowe
Batik factory visit in the North
Painting detail by Yusoff Abdullah, a Malaysian artist |
Kite Maker or Collage Artist?
* 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
The Crafty Lady vs. Ms. Snobby
This is my apron. |
The floor of my studio the day I wrote this post. |
“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh.
Serendipity
This is one of my favorite pictures I took in Sri Lanka, just because it caught such a serendipitous moment of color -- the kind of serendipitous moment of color I'm constantly on the look out for and love to find. I just love the stripes of the guys shirt with the stripes of the tree and the red hat and the shorts that match the tuk-tuk perfectly. It may not be fine art or whatever, but it was a happy color moment.
My wish for you today? To dwell upon any happy accidents -- fortunate accidents. They happen more often than we notice. Or maybe someone who needs it most can have a little happy accident today. Is that a strange thing to hope for? No one hopes for accidents. But what about happy ones? Those surprises in life that are unplanned. If we never had happy accidents, we might never fall in love. So I hope for a little happy accident for someone who would appreciate it today. A good one. A moment of serendipity.
"Serendipity is putting a quarter in the gumball machine and having 3 pieces come rattling out instead of one -- all red" ~ Peter H. Reynolds.
Paper made from Elephant Dung
Did you know paper can be made from elephant dung?
Indeed it can.
I learned all about it earlier this month at the Pinnawala Elephant Dung Paper Products center in Sri Lanka.
Elephants apparently have very inefficient digestive systems.
They eat tons of plant material (literally), but much of it goes straight through them. That is, after being chewed and pulverized in their stomachs (essentially beaten like one beats paper in a paper beater or blender). So paper-makers gather elephant dung, boil out the "impurities,"rinse the fibers,
beat the fibers (as I mentioned, the elephant got this process started in its stomach) using traditional paper-making beater machines,
dye the fibers,
and strain them through moulds just like I do with my handmade paper.
The paper-makers let the paper dry on the mould and then, depending on the desired texture, either leave the paper as is (rough) or ring it through a paper press.
Then craftswomen and men make the paper into all sorts of handmade goodies: journals, stationary, picture frames, etc.
Who knew that *waste* could be so useful, interesting and lead to such crafty goodness?
So there's a *fresh* perspective on recycling for you.
(Note: did I really just write that and leave it for the world to see?)
Back to cleaner subjects next post.
New Art: Malaysian Tea Party
Going on a Whale Watch
Please note that some illustrations have been replaced with pictures for the purposes of this blog.
Also, for those who aren't in the know -- this is DEFINITELY not the sort of thing you want to submit to publishers. But, all the same, I do recommend trying this at home.
Footnote for those interested: Blue Whales are the big attraction off the coast of Sri Lanka. But we didn't see a Blue Whale (even though they are usually spotted nearly daily at this time of year). We saw a Bryde's whale. Maybe not as big as a Blue Whale, but pretty thrilling anyway. Maybe only slightly more thrilling than your kid telling you he wants to make a story about the experience later that afternoon.