Albondigas

Sometime ago, while practicing Spanish conversation with a Spanish friend, he taught us the word "meatball" in Spanish. It is called "albóndiga". There was a joke or an exaggerating way of commenting someone who has gained some weight that he/she looks like a meatball now. Probably the connotation comes from the characteristic of a meatball : fat, round, spherical, juicy and succulent. I found it amusing to call someone a meatball and the first image that formed in my head was like this. Round and cute. As much as I love eating meatballs, I don't fancy being called one, although "albondiga" sounds nicer than "meatballs." :p

A quick search online on the word "albondiga" will bring us to the urban dictionary which list a whole long list of definition that is not so pleasing! Urgh.. they totally just ruin my good impression on meatballs.

Pug lovers' love story : Wedding Card for Julian &Tricia

One of the best moment in life got to be getting married to the person you love.. and in this case, both Julian and Tricia are pug lovers. They must have love pugs so much that their friend, Fangyi wanted to personalized a card with a pair of pugs for their card. We then further animate the lovely pugs by dressing them up as bride pug and groom pug. I am not an expert in drawing live things but this assignment taught me patience and observance. Taking the drawing slow and steady by detailing the facial details of the pugs. The best thing is i get to observe the facial structure of the pugs and their cute eyes that never stopped to be loved.

I "took" the pugs to the woods/green jungle and "made" them sit down poisely. Wedding in woods/jungle had always been one of my favorite ideas as I love the green and nature settings. Nature is the best backdrop. Caption and wording inside by Fangyi. I just did the illustration :)

Some photos of the work in progress :



The beauty of the card is that it can be framed as an artwork as well for remembrance.

Bringing these birds to a friend’s new crib

Last weekend, I spent my Saturday morning doing a different rendition of "pajaros graciosos" by a vector artist, e.kataev. My intention was to recreate another version of these funny birds with more vibrant colours, with a light-wash background. Pandamopi bought me some frames so I thought it would be nice to make a handmade gift for a friend, Teri who had just recently moved to a new place. We were invited to her place for a simple housewarming on Sunday.

Painting process is always enjoyable for me. It is peaceful, tranquil and quiet. My room is normally well lit in the morning. After shower and wash up, i began my little project - painting. The paper was cut and prepared by Pandamopi, which was approximately 20 cm X 25 cm (8R). I quickly sketched and started painting process and the whole process took me approximately 2 hours, including some waiting time for watercolour layers to dry up before applying another layer.

Below is work in progress photos.


Story of the artwork :
There is an unique connection among birds of different characters and personalities in a home/family. God put them/us together in a nest to form a family. Each of us play a part in the nest, and they need each other, just like they need each other to make the artwork look complete. It is incomplete if one of them is taken away from the artwork. It is also an illustration of the birds are having fun (by looking funny) in Teri's new crib. Photo background featuring our favorite kilim carpet which we brought back from recent travel in Istanbul. You could see we still miss Istanbul pretty much!

feet treat : shopping for new running shoes

Pandamopi's shoes had slowly worn out. The last time he bought a good pair of shoes was three years back, when he just moved to this city. He bought two shoes back then - Sketchers and Nike. Both were his favorite and because of constant usage, the shoes are slowly wearing out and are at their verge of giving way. Unlike other working class, Pandamopi does not wear formal black or leather shoes to work. His running shoes are also his working shoes. So I guess it was time for him to splurge a little bit and reward himself for working hard.

The last time we went shoe shopping was a long time ago, perhaps 1 or 2 years ago that I could not remember well. For one, we are pretty frugal. We only spent when necessary and dislike impulsive shopping, especially when things are pretty expensive and we do not like to spent on unnecessary expenses. Despite living in an expensive city where there are branded stuff are considered affordable and for some, those products are necessities, we prefer living simply, for we feel that we should spend the way our income allow us. It is also a sustainable lifestyle, of not buying more than we need, or eating more that we need. We are constantly aware on how impulsive shopping could lead to excessive expenses, resulting from buying/eating stuff more than we need that we eventually produce waste.

When i was a little girl and my parents weren't rich, they taught me about sustainable by buying new clothes only when old clothes is torn or beyond usage. We would recycle the clothe by using it as a cleaning clothe before disposing. It feels really good that we do not throw things away just because we can afford it, but to recycle and use it to the fullest. It is a matter of responsibility and the love for nature. It is about being humble and down to earth.

When Pandamopi told me he was pleased with his selection of shoes and we were ready to pay and leave the retail, I was brought back to reality from my musing. I am glad that Pandamopi and I shared the same vision, to be sustainable in our lifestyle, in little steps whenever we could. I looked at the smile that was beaming on his face. The smile that you found a good new pair that resonates your soul.

As he placed the new shoes into the box to be packed for payment, he wore the old rugged Sketchers shoes again and felt emotional, for these shoes are his best companion, even when I was not by his side, these shoes were accompanying him all the time, to countless places, and to even our latest vacation in Istanbul. These shoes had served him well, and I could understand why he would feel emotional about it. We paid and left the store. I gave him a super-tight hug, and told him it is ok. Everything has its time and this pair of Sketchers shoes will always be remembered, in our heart, and which we would tell the story of Sketchers shoes to our children and to our grandchildren and the story of being sustainable.

Pandamopi's new NIKE shoe

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!

Bringing birthday greeting cards back

A greeting card is a simple yet warm ways to send regards to people and also to let them know that you think of them :D

I am a big believer in that :D

sick

Getting sick is not the best experience at all, but it makes us aware that our body lack rest.
When we constantly ignore the warning, our body has its own way of getting our attention and begging us to rest.

For the past few days, although I was sick, I had fond memories of my husband taking care of me.
I was shivering profusely at night when there were the aircond and fan were not even switched on.
Pandamopi made a trip to the kitchen, boiled the water and brought it to me with medicine. His sleep was disrupted because of me.

The night was dark, and I was sick, but I am glad that someone is there to take care of me when I am sick.
I was in pain but I was deeply touched.

#thankfulformyhusband