While I prepare our house for the upcoming move (and it’s coming up too fast!!), I felt inclined to get a few more paintings done before I loose the touch for it with the hiatus due to the move. It felt good :) It’s nice to be able to feel a need to paint and then be able to sit down and just get it out of the system. I can only hope that we will find a nice apartment with good lighting and a corner for me to spread out the supplies and continue on this journey to explore oil painting even more. I’m a bit sad to have to put this on hold, but I think it has been a good enough experience that I will want to continue again as soon as I’m able to :)

.parrot tulips © kaishin chu

.orbs series © kaishin chu

So guess what. After many months of searching, I finally found and bought the painting supplies I need to start painting again. It was a lot harder to find supplies as Zhuhai is still a developing city, an immigrant town. It took some time to find things in general, and what I couldn’t find meant trying to find it in Hong Kong. I decided as my first painting project that I would give oils a try, after all, I had only tried it once in high school. Normally I like water colour and acrylic painting.

Now before I go any further, I should warn you, I’m a novice at painting at this point. I get inspired often but rarely get around to actual painting… Which is why I wanted to start up again and be more disciplined at it, now that I have the time and space ( ok, this space thing is short lived once we move again.. but that’s another matter). I’m trying to live out the “practice makes perfect” statement, ok, well not perfect, but good enough in my own eye at least ;) I can tell I have a far ways to go with getting comfortable with the medium, the drying time, then composition. I do however like how oils are saturated and blend beautifully.

This one is the first and it was just done on a whim, no composition or planning, just picked colours I felt like using or had.

test one © kaishin chu 2009

well, as J can attest to this, I don’t know why exactly I get the urge to create with my trusty scissor using my hair, it’s been a lifetime of rollercoaster rides of highs when I love what I created, and lows of forever fix-me-ups when I’m not satisfied with the results. And poor J also gets a surprise as he often doesn’t get much warning, since it’s impulsive for me. I know J likes long hair on me, but of course that alone isn’t enough to hold me back. A month ago was time again for my 2-4 times a year impulsive creative make-over for myself.  I’m glad to say, this time was a successful creative output, just in time for the hot weather rolling in to Zhuhai. I now feel the much needed spring in my hair to give me a spring in my steps. Maybe it has to do with the seasons…

© kaishin chu 2009

I recently hosted an AMU gathering (Artists Meet Up!)and the theme was Christmas and crafts. Each person could bring whatever art media they wanted to work on OR join me in decorating gingerbread cookies. It was so much fun, as all of us being creative and crafty, it was soon apparent that our gingerbread men/women in particular, were going to be differen than the average stuff.

To see more photos from the session, click here

The decorators:
Jason
Rachael
Kirsti
Susie
myself