Emerald Hill

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"Emerald Hill Study"
8x10 Oil on Panel
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This is still one of my favorite paintings. This little guy was a study that I did for the larger commission, and the lovely ladies here at the American Women's Association asked me if they could use it for the cover of their magazine this month. So exciting! I can now have a press tab on my website, ha!

It has been a bit of a rollercoaster of  week, I must say. I really can't believe it is Friday.We said goodbye to one of our closest friends this week. She is repatriating back to the US. Very bittersweet, but I know that we will see each other again, so I refused to say goodbye. You make friends so quickly when you get over here, and we made so many wonderful friends. But then what happens if you are the people that stay past your two year contract period after all your friends move back? I don't know, we're entering uncharted territory here.

In any case, Happy Friday! I hope your week was as good as mine!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 26

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"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 26"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This was another re-work of one of my older pieces from the spring show. I think the colors are much brighter now. I had a lot of fun with these blues. Happy ceruleans and cobalts mixed with lovely warm tones. Happy Shelby.

Safari Dawn

"Safari Dawn"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This was from one of our mornings on our safari in Sri Lanka. It was such a beautiful country, with the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets. I've never really seen a place that had so much red in their dusk and dawn. We loved doing the safari, but getting up at 5:30 every morning was not easy! Luckily, we were rewarded with some really neat animals, like monitor lizards, foxes, mongeese, and peacocks. Lots and lots of peacocks.

In other news, I have a BIG announcement! I've started selling prints of my shophouses in my Etsy store. My lovely sister-in-law is helping me with shipping in the US, so the shipping rates are reasonable. The reason why I hadn't done something like this earlier was because 1) I didn't have the resources to print archival prints and 2) shipping one print to the US with a tracking number (very necessary with international mail) cost like $50!!!! It was more than the painting or print itself almost! (Click the photo to visit my Etsy store)

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 33

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"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 33"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This is honestly one of my favorite shophouses that I've done, and it's a re-work of an older one. The first version I thought was "subtle" but after letting it sit for a while, I thought that subtle was closer to "dirty" as far as the color went. Now I just love the purples and greens together. The white trim was tough to do, but I think it turned out pretty well. For some reason, doing shadows on purple objects is really tough. I don't know why. And I always have hard times with the whites. But this came out quite nicely, I think!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 8

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 8"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This is another re-work, from the Little India area. Really a night and day difference. I can't believe how much I've learned over the past year. 

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 4

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"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 4"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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Whew. It has been a wonderful two weeks having my parents in town. So much for getting any painting done, though! I'm warming back up with some of my former shophouses that I've refreshed and re-painted. I realized that many of them were drawn perfectly fine, the shadow and composition was fine, the color was not fine. They needed some cleanup.

For example, here is what this one used to look like:

Much, much better. See, you too can save some old paintings!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 95

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"Singapore Heritage Shophouse Series No. 95"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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Wow. When it rains, it pours, huh? Last week we got back on New Year's Day, and my husband was flying back to the US because of a death in his family. On my way to pick him up, my mother called to tell me that my dog, Tank (whom she and my father have been taking care of while we are overseas) was going to need back surgery. We are pretty sure he will be okay, but it is a major surgery. Just kind of emotionally exhausted right now. If you have someone you care about, be they furry or human, give them a nice big hug and tell them how you really feel. Life is too short.

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 94 - SOLD

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"Singapore Heritage Shophouse Series No. 94"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This is a lovely shophouse in Chinatown, near the Temple St. Area.

Well, it wouldn't have been Christmas in a 3rd world country without a hospital visit, now would it? Yup, because of my stellar walking abilities, I landed myself in a Sri Lankan ER on Christmas Day. My husband and I were walking around the little town of Galle - which is the site of an old Dutch fort. I was standing on some steps (it was only a flight of 3), and I turned to step off of them without looking. In doing so, I cracked my shin on a ledge I didn't see pretty good. Luckily, I had some band-aids in my carry-all, so I patched myself up long enough to ask a local where the closest health center is. Also luckily, some shops were open - including the ER. The total cost of getting patched up and on antibiotics? $15 USD. All in all I was very thankful it wasn't a super serious cut, and that my tetanus shot was up to date. I'm going to have an impressive scar, but that's my own fault!