Reflections @ 2015

2015 passed by without us doing much in counting down or anticipating the arrival 2016. Too much has taken place at that transition period and we barely have time to sit down and reflect and make resolutions.

Ever since my younger days, when the years were drawing to an end, it is almost like a habit for me to ponder and reflect on how I did for the year. This was done on 31 December 2014, with me wrapping up the amazing year with my doodles.


I did the same for 2015, but did not manage to find any time to pen it down. I guessed it is never too late to count my blessings in 2015.

If there is a word of phrase for me to describe the year 2015, it would be bittersweet. The roller-coaster journey has once again shaped both of us. It was not a total smooth-sailing one but we believe we made it because He brought us through, with sufficient grace and mercy.

Jan 2015

The year started enthusiastically with us penning our resolutions for 2015.


We had a rough start in Jan 2015 when we discovered that our pregnancy was not successful. Doctor diagnosed that it was blighted ovum and we would not be able to keep the baby.

We were terribly sad and painful and felt that life is too cruel, giving us sweet surprise one moment and took it away from us the next moment. I spent a reasonable amount of time at home at this start of new year at home, nursing myself physically and mentally.

Feb 2015

Slowly recovering from our nightmare, there was Chinese New Year with both sides of family gracing us warmly with love and food.


And then, we celebrated Friendship day together with Spanish peeps by writing wishes and then exchange them randomly. I got a pretty good one : Viaja y conoce el mundo. Es una de las pocas cosas que te puedes comprar para enriquecer tu vida. (To travel and know the world. It is one of the few things that you could buy to enrich your life). This is really good and looking back, we really had a great year travelling after that.

March 2015

March turns out to be exciting as ever, with lots of opportunities to sketch, draw and paint. Travelled to Muar, Vietnam and then to Muar again for my cousin’s wedding. Bought 2 sketchbooks for my two lovely cousins and encourage them to write and sketch.



April 2015

Started an exciting project together with our fellow artistic friends – Kartika, Astrid and Richard at Jorge’s dive shop.



Baby Ethan arrived to this world. We are officially auntie and uncle now. We were pretty excited to celebrate his full moon in the following month.

May 2015

Baby Ethan is one month old. He was still so small and cried at little new things he experienced like pooping, peeing, hunger and thirst for milk, cuddling.

I can’t help but feeling motherly when I carried baby Ethan. He is such a love.



May has always been our favourite month because we got married in the month of May. So it is a ritual for us to travel somewhere special to celebrate our love while appreciating the beauty of God’s creation in all over the world. We celebrated our anniversary in the possibly most magical place in the world – Istanbul. The trip was made even more beautiful with us getting to know 2 amazing friends along the way, Ali, Paulo & Joao.

May is also the month that I started my greeting card & illustration business in Carousell. Nothing was sold until June.

June 2015

I painted and sold the first wedding card. Had the first taste of entrepreneurship. The month continues to be busy

July 2015

Participated in an online art contest by drawing a camel. Did not win anything but I was still feeling very happy with it. Now the artwork is hanged in our new crib!

August 2015
Churros for birthday. Nothing elaborate, just simple joy.

Received my first ever colombian handmade bag from Pablo & Diana. Love it to bits.

September 2015

Celebrated Pablo’s birthday. Painted a huge birthday card. Singapore was hit with massive haze and we had to put on masks.



Saying goodbye to a project manager which I worked closely with in CGH. I didn’t like saying good bye, but it always makes me reflect what is my next step when people are moving on one by one.



October 2015

Travelled to Bandung for a short getaway. Visited Batu Kawah, spent some time together chilling out by just being away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore.

November 2015

November is a special month for both of us because we started being together in the month of November. As we grow together, there is no need elaborate celebrations or expenditures to make the day special. Being together itself is the most special thing in life. It is also the month that we discovered that we are pregnant. I could not help but feeling emotional about it. He made me cry because he bought me a card and wrote me a long letter (something I always look forward to). Our pregnancy is also the reason that I barely have time to write and reflect, having to cope with my morning sickness.

Picked up urban gardening as a hobby. Our first gardener's meet up was at Jorge's place over a cuppa of Greek Coffee. 

December 2015

We celebrated Chunkeat, Diana, Michele and Ress’ birthday in the month of December. The theme was musical. Chunkeat requested me to make a couple headgear and I made it specially for the occasion.
Loved the outcome so much that after the party, we framed our headgear as remembrance. Christmas month is another busy month for me with lots of Christmas greeting card order. By this time, I was a little exhausted with my pregnancy and had some trouble coping with order but thank God all went well.

It was definitely not the easiest year but turned out to be a beautiful year. There is a saying that goes, “In Life, Expect the Unexpected.”

Life has many ways of surprising us, in a good or bad way. There were many laughter and tears along the way, but the journey is amazing because we ride together.

Reliving girly spirit : of being lovely and sweet again

It has been a while since the last time i feel girly and dreamy. Thanks to this assignment, I got to revisit my girly spirit, which I used to fancy a lot when I was younger. Girly-ness by my personal definition and impression would be cotton pink polka dots dresses, pink ribbon hairbands, sweet pink lipstick, soft toys companion, sweet pink lipstick, girly diary, trees, gardens, cute cakes etc. My colleague came to me and wanted me to paint something girly for her 10 year old niece, who has reached an age where girls learn to be girly, loves pink and everything which is lovely, and her special love for cute soft toys called Beanie Boos.

I was really excited because I have already form something in my mind as she was describing Jasmine, a Sri Lankan girl residing in Australia and is turning 10 years old this coming 27 July 2015. As soon as I returned from work, I began brainstorming on the card and came out with a rough idea sketch on my notepad, designing The Lazy Painter's version of Jasmine (she needs to be tall, dark, and has straight hair). Most importantly, Jasmine will have to look lovely :)



I also recorded the process of making the cards.



I was really excited when I got Jasmine the way I wanted. She is sweet and girly and I love her polka dots dresses, her diary and handbag.

I don't know how others think about it but I really enjoyed this piece a lot. It's sweet, lovely, girly, light-hearted and fun. I did have a fair share of escaping the reality of this world for a while while painting this card :D

Last but not least, The Lazy Painter wishes Jasmine a lovely Happy 10th Birthday. May all your dreams comes true and may you always find happiness and fun in life!

eustoma love

According to the Greek, "Eu" means beautiful while "stoma" means mouth. It is commonly found in North America, and native in Texas and Mexico.
The single flower resembles poppies or tulips, while the double variety has the appearance of peonies or roses. It is strikingly similar to the queen of flowers - Rose.

Whatever it may be, Eustoma is beautiful in its own way.

As i worked on this artwork, it makes me feel calm and happy. I imagined myself in a floral cotton dress, picking fresh eustomas from the garden outside my french window. The sun glowed and kissed gently on my face. The lace curtain danced to the cool breeze. I slowly arranged the eustoma into a lovely Chanel Parfum vase with some water filled in. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It's a new day again.

It's amazing how therapeutic drawing can be. It takes you to countless imagination and magical place that you wish you could be, only if you allow it to. How far and how long, you decide.

As i finished this piece, I smiled. It was a wonderful journey. It has opened a door for me to another dimension, away from the hustle and bustle of city.



Illustrating eustoma.

Farhana, a beautiful muslim name for a girl. It means happy, cheerful, joyful and glad. All the good vibes in a name :D

And a matching envelope to compliment the card.

Happy Birthday, Manveer!

This card is specially for a British Punjab friend, Manveer who celebrated his 24th birthday in Singapore:) About 20+ of us filled the card with best wishes.

When I was brainstorming the card, I was inspired to try another style which is inspire by the artist for Roald Dahl story books, Sir Quentin Blake. Rocio, one of our friend suggested us to dress in Punjabi attire for his Korean BBQ Birthday BBQ so I thought I could paint something of us in Punjabi attire, holding a huge cake, celebrating with him while he had to climb up to the top of the ladder to blow the candles and make a wish.