Father-daughter team :)

I am blessed to have met this unique couple from Penang... father-daughter sharing the same interest, each encouraging the other as they go along ... it's a bond not many is blessed with :) Ira and her father, Ishak shares a zest for decorative painting.

Ira found me through my blog and has been in contact since a month ago via emails. She bought my book and has been practicing my roses ever since. Her desire to perfect her roses lead her to me ... and daddy tagged along ... so last Wednesday (24 Feb 2010) they made their way down to KL to spend a day with me ... how much more honoured can I be huh?

Anyway... since Ira has been practicing... her roses were good after just 2 hours!!! Daddy needs a little bit more practice though (after all MY teacher told me to practice 500 roses before it would look any good!!!) I am actually amazed at her ability to grasp the techniques ... so now who's to say you can't learn from the books huh??? Zie did the same... she practiced from the books, came to me from Dharan to refine her techniques... and now she's already painting to sell! So dear people out there ... if you have the love for decorative painting... never ever be discouraged ... just put your heart to it ...and paint!!!! Ira ... Zie ... and many others can testify to that ... believe you me....

I have been very busy lately ... but unfortunately I have no new COMPLETED paintings to show. It's all touch and go here and there. It's a bad habit I know... but I can't seem to eliminate it *sigh* I keep telling myself that I must complete this first before I go to the next ... but do I listen to myself??? ..... hmmm apparently NOT... as the number of accumulated UFOs can testify for the injustice done to them ...muahahahahaha

Anyway... today's post is dedicated to my students ... Masnah and Sawiah. Though new ...they have shown the patience, dedication and perseverance required of our form of art. It shows that one need not have the talent, but if one puts one's heart to it... nothing is impossible!!!! That's them there hard at work... didn't even realise that the camera was on them hahaha.

Kak Masnah completed her work last week. Beginners in my class start with basic strokework of commas, 'C' and 'S' strokes and the final product would be a bouquet of daisies. Pn Sawiah will finish hers by the next class (she missed one class, thus she lags behind her cousin). Showing you here kak Masnah's bouquet of daisies ... a design I modified from Susan-Scheewe Brown's water-colour original. It's actually very good for a beginner .... yup!yup!yup! Good job my friend ....

To many others out there who are interested in decorative painting ... have no fear. It is an attainable art ... all you need is patience, dedication and perseverance ... talent and an eye for colour is just a bonus...

Have a great day ya....



p/s : Sawiah finally completed her first piece ... check it out ya ...

...daisies with the same teacher teaching the same strokes but the outcome is different with each individual ... that's art for you...every piece is unique

Happy B'day Aunty...

Every 19 March, aunty completes and starts a new cycle of life. Yesterday, she turned 65!!!...but she can easily pass off as a lady many years her junior..... *sigh* (of envy...hahaha)... Aunty, how do you ever manage to keep looking THAT good...very good! I think...I can count more wrinkles on my face than on hers...*sigh* and double *sigh*

Aunty Faridah is my most senior student...but this grand matriach is the most active,diligent and adventurous of the lot. She hardly misses her weekly classes...and she's game to try anything new. Her projects are quite diverse...consisting of various styles,techniques and media. She too...will paint on anything that does not move..hahaha...but hey...I am her teacher...am I not??? Muahahahaha.... Anyway, her favourite quote of the day would be..."What is there to worry? Nora is here!" hahahaha...I love this woman...hehehe. She's so full of live, not a minute spent with her is dull!

She's been with me since 3 years ago... and she's painted quite a fair bit, she's so full of ideas that it's a challenge to produce what she has in mind sometimes haha. I'm dedicating this post to her...feast your eyes on her painted pieces ya. The 2 projects on the right are her earlier pieces....simple lacework with daisies on a cake stand and a monotone medley of sceneries on a wall plaque. We had fun creating a story to the sceneries. Aunty loves sceneries, esp in the colours of autumn. She's painted more sceneries than stroke flowers...why? because she says...ummm...errr...can't remember what she said la...hahaha...




Aunty hates to see an empty space. Where possible she'll point it out to me and say..."hmm...let's see...now what can we have here in this corner, huh Nora?" And Nora would go...uh-oh...the brain's working on maximum gear again!!! Anyway... there's a book box that she had painted on both sides of the top cover...and if I'd not put my foot down she would have painted even the inside of base of the box...yup!yup!yup! That box is now on display perpetually ajar... just to show off the painting done on the inside too...hahaha






More scenery projects here...one done on canvas and the other on a 2-piece welcome plaque (that still needs to be hung..haha). Aunty has many many more pieces to show. I'm actually in the middle of compiling my students' works and will have them all displayed in an album....god willing...somewhere in the near (??) future...hehe.
To this... I wish Aunty a long and prosperous life filled with love and happiness and great health. May we have many more years together. I love you, Aunty Faridah....