For a Friend

Made this "Lego" cake last weekend for a dear friend. I am an "agar-ation" type of cook, and so not a baker at all. But I think she liked it.

Happy Birthday P! =)

Becoming

"I've been an artist since age 5, when I remember drawing an airplane better than my older brother. It was a bi-wing with a propeller, (not that I'm that old... it was 1957 and it was a racing plane), and it was encouraging because up until then, it was the only thing I could remember doing better. I kept at it, and now nearly 50 years later I'm still trying to improve my creative process. Now I realize you never get better than anyone else... just more unique to your own style, and become the best painter you can be." - Mick Mcginty

It's true isn't it? We are often attracted to do something because we think, even momentarily, that we might have been "gifted" to do it well, or perhaps better in some way than other people. But somewhere around childhood, we start to wonder about that. I think those who truly understand a "gift" knows that there is much more out there that is better, and that there is much more to learn for one to become better. Maybe the only "gift" we can possess is the ability to look at a painting, poem, photograph that we made ourselves, and know that you have seen something better.

How to Get Rich

The days are crazy busy, but I keep happily coming across great pieces of writing in unexpected places. Like this one in a sponsored art supplies website.

It's about how to get rich.

"There are many things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside by a generous hand. But- and this is the point- who gets excited by a mere penny? If you follow one arrow, if you crouch motionless on a bank to watch a tremulous ripple thrill on the water and are rewarded by the sight of a muskrat paddling from its den, will you count that sight a chip of copper only, and go on your rueful way? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get."

- Annie Dillard from "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek."

Teaching

This week, I have been thinking quite a bit about the whole idea of teaching. A friend wrote to me again to think about lecturing in our local law school. I led a bible study last week for the first time after a two year break. Certain incidents at art school last weekend also made me think about what is the purpose of teaching, what is a good teacher, and why some people "have it" and others don't.

It might be one of the ironies in life for me. I never felt I had a calling to be a teacher - in fact, as you guys know, I turned down a teaching scholarship to go to Oxford many years ago because I did not think I had the qualities to be a teacher. An academic maybe, but not a teacher. I didn't think I was that comfortable with kids and I also wanted to see the world beyond a school.

But funnily enough after that, I kept getting drawn into teaching positions in other areas. After I became a Christian , I started leading bible studies quite frequently in small groups. To see myself financially through university, I taught a family privately for nearly 6 years, seeing the children through their high school and junior college English and literature classes. Even now, working as counsel in a financial institution, training the bankers is a regular feature of my job.

How do I see teaching? I think of it as a "creative" vocation, not that different from being an artist or a designer. In this regard, I agree very much with my favorite preacher Tim Keller that, every time someone stands in front of a group of people to impart some knowledge or understanding, he or she needs to employ creativity to transfer that knowledge (and often a passion) in a way that catches the attention of the audience and makes them think about the subject matter in a different way.

But then, of course, a teacher is very much more than that as well. He or she is also patient, and takes a genuine interest in the students. Attention is demanded of a teacher on a minute by minute basis that can be extremely enervating. These are not natural aspects for me. I tend to guard my personal space jealously, and am rather impatient to see results in any task I undertake. So at the moment, it is not clear that I should make a career switch, even though I think I do enjoy the creative aspects of teaching quite a lot. Must continue to pray about it.

More Eccentric Art

My other oil assignment in school. Don't ask.

Pigasso

Something a little more lighthearted today.

Like this Pollock-like abstract? Meet the artists below. :)



I hope the paints are watersoluble and of the non-toxic variety!

See story here:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23399385-details/Pigasso:+The+little+oinks+making+a+splash+in+the+art+world/article.do

A Short Life

In the heady rush towards deal launches and closings these days (read: late night calls with bankers who do not appear to have a life), here's something said a little differently about one of my colleagues, who died this week of brain cancer at age 38.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/young-wall-street-star-defied/story.aspx?guid=%7B54CD8A9F-EBFF-4664-88DB-C7717C651B87%7D

Life is but a vapor no matter how bright the shining star.

'There are no irreplaceable bankers. But Shane was irreplaceable as a person.'
— Robert Kindler, Morgan Stanley

At Home

I realized that, until last week, I have not had a newspaper subscription for eight years. Most of that time was spent abroad, of course, and I never thought of having a local newspaper subscription during that time (the English SCMP was so lame in Hong Kong that I borrowed my colleague's Chinese papers to read everyday). That period also coincided with the Internet boom, and I found myself having much more news literature to read online than I had time for.

When I got home to Singapore, it wasn't obvious for me to get a print edition either, even though I was living alone. I thought it was easy enough to get the news online. I would also admit , with so many international publications and think tank magazines available in the office and on the internet, I didn't think I would be missing much by not reading our local paper. My interests are in the arts and finance, and clearly there are journals out that offer better commentary and insights.

However, having been back for 18 months, I found myself quite ignorant about local news on not more than just a few occasions. You know, the news about the guy who nearly paid $80,000 in lawyer's fees for a $100 *langa* case. The poor old person who died in her flat. MM Lee's full speeches.

So I decided to order a real print edition at home, if for nothing other than to get the local news which will never be reported in any other paper. In a matter of days, lunch time conversations started to make more sense.

One bonus was that I have found myself waking up earlier just to glance through the papers quickly, and actually eating breakfast (since I don't function at all without breakfast). The day seems more leisurely, you see the world a little differently, and I know I am home at last.

One might notice a lull in posting in this blog. Yes, things are hotting up at work for the relentless run towards year end launches. I am also PAW-ing. ;-)

Inspired

I am very very inspired by the A-Painting-A-Day (PAD) movement that I came across recently on the Internet. The PAD movement was started in 2004 by artist Duane Keiser who has revolutionalized the way art creation is brought to the masses. Essentially, the idea was that artists, (both professional and hobbyists) can make it a discipline to create a painting every single day of their lives. The original story can be found in this USA Today article.

Yep, every day.

It did seem like an impossible thing to do, but it is amazing to see how there are in fact hundreds and thousands of people out there who are actually doing it. Including people with full-time jobs and children, who is making it a point to create small sized paintings (usually no bigger than 6'X8' postcard sized works). It is very exciting to view their blogs and see how their work really did improve over time. More importantly, many of them attest to the fact that it has improved their "seeing" skills tremendously, because in looking for something to paint everyday, they have had to train their perception skills, and pick out interesting subjects in their everyday lives.

Check out these sites.

http://www.dailypaintersguild.com/

http://jeffhayesfinearts.blogspot.com/

http://duanekeiser.blogspot.com/

There are literally hundreds more. It's exciting every morning to open the the guild pages to find out what new wonderful creations these daily painters have made the day before.

I have gone out to buy those mini blank canvases. Maybe one could start with the PAW (a Painting-a-Week) movement. :)

Eccentric Art

They say that artists are eccentric. Well, I have a VERY eccentric art teacher at NAFA. All year long, while students in the other classes are practicing classic still life compositions like cups and vases, we had to draw and paint all sorts of weird things like a plush donkey on a basket of persimmons and dragonfruit with meat dumplings.

Last week, we started on our third piece of oil, and she presented the class with this still-life arrangement:


Her theory was that 上完大学, 幼稚园就很容易。

er...okay. Let's see if it works.

Given how extremely long the drying time for oil glazes is, I think it would be impossible to finish this as scheduled in four weeks. As one of my classmates said," 我看这一副可能要画一辈子!" I tend to agree.

Remembrance of Things Past, and The Future

After the pretty intense concert performance last Saturday, the almost-Friends of the SSO were having late night dinner at Al Dente at the Esplanade, EC posed an interesting question (or rather, made the following declaration):

"I have come to believe that, falling exactly in the lower middle income tier in Singapore, I will NOT be able to afford the Esplanade lifestyle when I retire."

The point she was making was, I think, this - being in that income bracket meant that while one was gainfully employed before retirement, one might well be exposed and start developing an interest in the arts events being offered in Singapore. However, upon retirement, one might not have that much extra disposable cash for the performance tickets, good dining (and may I point out - the ever increasing carpark charges) that comes with continuing that lifestyle. This is in contrast to the upper middle income and the working class tiers. The first group won't feel it and the second won't miss it. So therefore, being in the lower middle income tier would put one in the predicament of not being able to afford a certain standard of living that one was used to when young.

The jury's out on that one I think. I am cautiously optimistic that it would not happen. In any case, I think whether the arts will continue to be accessible and affordable to ordinary folks in the future depends on how interested people eventually become of them over the next 10-20 years. By making it affordable now, more people will have the opportunity to develop an interest in them, and thus provide the "market" for a future arts scene, which can only stay affordable if there is a critical audience mass. Economics 101 mah.

Mental note to self: Go only for male cellist performances. It was so good to watch Wang Jian play Elgar on Saturday - you do need consistent strength and power to play the cello well. Unless you happened to be Jacque Du Pre.

Current music: Dvorak No. 8