Emerald Sunset Study II

"Emerald Sunset Study II"
6"x6" Oil on Gessoboard
$120 Unframed
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This is another study of my larger piece, Emerald Sunset. I love that little strip of shophouses up on Emerald Hill. They are so beautiful at night.

Jade Dreams

"Jade Dreams"
5"x7" Oil on Gessoboard
$95 Unframed
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Here is another shophouse, this one is from the backside of Little India, close to the Lavendar MRT station. There are a couple streets of some really cool ornately decorate and painted shophouses back there. I've been experimenting a bit with the 5x7 format. It is totally different and a bit of a challenge. Stephen Masgsig, who does Postcards From Detroit, works quite a bit in the 5x7 format, so I've been looking to his work for some composition ideas.

Yesterday was National Day here in Singapore, so we had a few people over to grill and watch the fireworks. It is especially cool because all of the aircraft pretty much buzz right over our apartment. I think one of the coolest parts of the whole show is when the choppers come in with a giant Singapore flag. It passes almost literally over our heads. I've found a video someone uploaded that shows you the choppers and flag bits...

Light Urple

"Light Urple"
6"x6" Oil on Panel
$120 Unframed
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Yes, yes, the title for this one comes from one of the great 90's SNL skits: Celebrity Jeopardy. If you haven't seen the skit before, here is a link, I hope it makes you smile today!

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c2c5b0b7a3/snl-celebrity-jeopardy-4-15-00

If this shophouse looks vaguely familiar, well, I've done this one a couple of times. It has sort of been my baseline since it was the first shophouse I ever attempted to paint.

Yeah, so looking back on the last one is kind of a bit embarassing, not going to lie. I kind of miss that point when I thought everything was a wonder and that art supply stores held lots of mystery. Nevertheless, it really helps reinforce that as you get to a certain point in your work, "brush miles" are what really count.

96 Amoy

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"96 Amoy Street"
6x16 Oil on Gessoboard
$300 Unframed
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This is a lovely pale yellow shophouse on Amoy Street, which is right near Chinatown. I loved the colors, as well as the reflections of the trees in the windows. The details in the crown molding were definitely tough, but I think I'm getting a lot better at doing them.

On a side note, my husband and I decided that this week is going to be a great week. No reason, we just decided it. So far KU won their game and are moving on in March Madness, so everything is looking good, right? Happy Monday!

Club St. Chic

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"Club St. Chic"
6"x16" Oil on Panel
$395 Unframed
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This painting is from Club St. in the Chinatown area. I thought the architecture as well as the colors were just something that I couldn't pass up!

Telok Ayer Street

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"Telok Ayer"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This shophouse is on Telok Ayer Street, which is an area I have only recently found. There are all kinds of awesome restaurants in this area, many of them much higher end. It is kind of behind Club Street, while parallel(ish) to it. So unless you know to go down into this area off of Club Street, it is pretty easy to never really know it is there. I recommend going exploring.

One thing that is kind of neat/frustrating over here about life is that there is no big box store. If you want a widget, then you can get that widget (maybe not brand specific), you just have to find the specific widget store. There is some guy, somewhere, that sells that widget. You just have to find him. In some instances, it leads to things like an entire 7 story shopping mall that sells various electronic doodads and such. Sometimes I think Best Buy and Radio Shack are more efficient, but when you walk into the little tiny cubby-hole where they can custom build you a rocketship (well, if rockets weren't illegal here), you walk out with a story. Just musing today...

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 30

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 30"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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Another fantastic shop in Chinatown. There are so many wonderful shophouses in this area, in really beautiful shades of cherry red. 

Life is crazy right now. The AWA luncheon is next week, which will be showcasing 10 local AWA artists. It is exciting, but definitely made life pretty wild. The program for the luncheon itself looks spectacular, I know all the ladies involved have put in tons of effort to have it be an amazing experience.

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 22 - SOLD

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 22"
6in x 6in Oil on Panel
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This shophouse is a wonderful bright red one found in Chinatown.  Wow.  Having my midterm finished has gotten a huge monkey off my back.  Between that and my husband's reminders that we have "four more sleeps" until we leave for Italy, my concentration on getting ready for my show has been a bit lagging.  I now have 42 paintings completed, and need another 25 (plus some slightly larger ones to flush it out).

Funny thing, is that I'm kind of starting to run out of shophouses.  Or not run out of them perse, but run out of them having good lighting and shadows.  This prospect has me a bit terrified, I'm not going to lie.  There are just all these cool nooks and corners that have shophouses in them, but a lot of the time the houses are shaded by trees or tall buildings.  Or, when I need to get pictures it is just a cloudy day, so the diffused lighting leaves almost no shadows.  Or, all the shutters are closed.  But I can artistically fix that one.  The bottom line is that I need some interesting shadows.  Otherwise it makes for a boring painting of some architecture.  I really think this two week break is going to help give me a fresh perspective for when I return.

But have no fear, I've been painting ahead, so I'll continue to post daily!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 21 - DP No. 44

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 21"
6in x 6in Oil on Panel
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This was a really beautifully colored shophouse on a cloudy day.  It had the ceiling rafters painted a white, kind of similar to some of the homes in Charleston.  I'm just continually amazed at the different color combinations that have been used on these houses.  They use a lot of very interesting complimentary colors.  Take those windows above for example.  They used a muted green and a muted red for the shutters, and the house itself is a light aqua.  Sometimes the colors come out garish, but often it somehow works.  I try to stay pretty true to the color schemes of the homes, as I feel like that is an important part of what makes them what they are.  And sometimes I do edit the details a bit - the Rococo style homes are an absolute bear to try and render all of the detail correctly.  So some artistic license is used, but not too much. I like to think that if you ran across the home on your own, you would definitely recognize it.

Oh, and in other news, I finished my midterm for my Cityscape class.  The one that I mentioned was a doozy?  Well, here it is completed.  I really love the way it turned out, but the funny thing that I've noticed with my work - I don't do industrial and gritty.  Part of why I was attracted to this scene was how industrial it was - the heavy machinery, the movement, the containers.  But by the time I was finished with it, it had lost all grit.  I also liked the way the light hit the yard, which is what I wound up subconsciously emphasizing and making the focal point.

Well, this is how I think art tells a lot about an artist, even without them knowing it.  Every time I have a gritty, dirty scene, it winds up having a lot of light and hope.  I'm an optimistic person (mostly), so maybe this says a lot, and maybe I should just focus on the type of scenes that play well to my personality, like the shophouses and other cityscapes.  I think they wind up reading more true.  I've always been a believer in trying to strengthen your weaknesses, but I think this is more about playing to your strengths.  I was definitely surprised at the result.  Sometimes things have a way of painting themselves, pretty funny, isn't it?

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 10 - DP No. 33

"Singapore Shophouse No. 10"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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I thought I would start Monday off with an unlikely color combination and some good news.  Well, first is the color combination.  In reality this house really is a light mint green with Chinese red shutters.  With the late afternoon light, the mint color got more yellow, but it's local color was definitely light green.  Never in a million years would I have ever thought that those two colors would look good together, but surprisingly, they kind of work.  Not that I am running and painting my bedroom in those shades, but I definitely kind of like it.

And now... for the good news!  I just found out today that I'm going to have my first ever show in Singapore!  The studio/gallery that I am doing my residency with asked me to take part in a two person show (just me and one other artist) at the end of April.  I'm totally stoked.  When I was doing abstract work in Houston I got into a couple of entry-level galleries, but every month and every show was a group show.  For this one, I'll actually have my name on the promotional materials... eep!  So exciting.  Totally nerve-wracking though, because I have to now produce a TON of work before we leave on our trip on March 20th.  Okay, time to get off the computer and get cracking!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse #3 - Daily Painting #26

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse #3" 6x6 Oil on Panel, Click here to Purchase

I really enjoyed doing this one.  Another Little India scene, love the bright colors they have painted all of these houses.  It gets a little jarring when you see a bright turquoise one right next to this shocking red one. Talk about colors almost vibrating together!  In any case, this was a peach colored house next to a shockingly red house.

Plein air went pretty well today.  I might even post the picture after I have cleaned it up a bit in the studio.  I found a nice step to sit on, and had ample time to get my drawing correct before the colors all changed.  I think that makes a huge difference.  The morning light changes so quickly.  I know they talk about "memorizing the moment" you want to capture, but when the shadows literally move from one second to the next - ACK!  Tonight is the hubby's birthday, so we are headed out to dinner!