During China’s long public holiday, I spent ten days in the Eternal City — Rome — wandering through cobbled streets, stepping into centuries-old churches, and sketching ancient ruins with my sketchbook always close at hand. This year is the Jubilee Year, and I’m deeply grateful to have been invited by my sister, Angie, and her husband, Willie, to experience what truly felt like a once-in-a-lifetime event. The first couple of days were spent exploring, getting lost, and sketching — simply trying to get a feel for the city. Then I had the joy of meeting my wonderful friend Kristina, who flew in with her husband for what we now hope…
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My last post was on December 12; somehow, time just blurred—it’s already early May! I had many things I hoped to share, but life got busy, and priorities had to shift. Sadly, this blog ended up near the bottom of the list. The first few months of the year—January, February, and March—were packed. Most weekends, I doubled down on spending time at home recording and editing lessons for an upcoming class. More on that soon! It was an intense process, but once everything was completed, I felt a massive sense of relief—and excitement. I poured my heart into those lessons and can’t wait to see how students respond. Before I…
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Of all my December Daily projects, this one holds the record for taking the longest to complete! After 13 years of doing this, I usually finish by the end of December and proudly place the album on the shelf. However, this time, life sidetracked me—I only made it halfway to Day 12 before everything else took over. I’m sure many of you can relate to the challenges of finding time for our creative projects amidst the hustle and bustle of life. By November, I was finally determined to finish the album—and I did! The process was not just about documenting the days but also about navigating my emotions and finding…
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The past two months have been a whirlwind of significant life events, including graduation and university preparations. The journey involved challenges but also moments of gratitude, connection, and reflection, documented through sketches and memories shared on Instagram.
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On this trip, I opted for a minimalist approach to my art supplies. I brought along a single journal and a small sketchbook. Additionally, I packed two watercolor palettes, although I only used one. I also brought a set of Caran D’Ache water-soluble pencils, some brushes, and fountain pens. We arrived in Hong Kong around noon. However, I had an urgent matter to attend to, which unfortunately left me with no chance to sketch. The next day, I set out early to run some errands. As a habit, I always find the post office first to purchase stamps for sending postcards to family and friends. Although I planned to take…
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My twins graduated from high school at the end of May, marking the culmination of a rollercoaster ride over the past few months. It has been a mix of joy and sadness as we celebrated the end of high school life and looked ahead to the next journey, which involves preparing for university, new experiences, and exciting opportunities. Between preparing for the rigors of the IB exams, attending the last few school activities, and managing the erratic schedules as the “finish line” loomed, it’s been a challenging time for everyone. Time seemed to fly by; before I knew it, it was graduation day. I couldn’t help but tear up when…
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Re-kindle. Re-start. Refresh. These words have been echoing in my mind for the past few months – a surreal tally of spinning, sometimes blurry days that amounted to what feels like an eternity. I needed to write a post that might delve into emotions or feel uncomfortably raw. The challenges of 2023 left me wandering, feeling lost in almost every aspect of my life. In November, I decided to step back from art challenges and classes, focusing instead on tying up loose ends and cherishing the last year before my kids left for university. I started saying “no” to many things. If you’ve followed my journey on Instagram, you may…
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My frend, Tõnis (@vanishing.shanghai), calls our mini “group” the “Five o’clock Club” because we used to get up early to go out sketching. In a previous post, I posted about our early morning sketches, which is how we enjoyed these crazy morning hours. However, we can’t do it as often now because of our busy schedules. I have to feed the cats and kids before I leave for work, and Tõnis is busy organizing his exhibits. But we still try to grab any pockets of time we can to go out and sketch, and we call them “mini adventures.” Adventure 1: Anren Street One morning, we had an impromptu sketching…
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In the previous post I shared my urban sketching adventures around Shanghai. I thought there was too much to share on that post so I decided to do a part 2 but this time focusing on the other type of creative stuff that I was able to get done. Starting off with a big highlight from our holiday is the exhibit called “Beyond the Streets” which we were fortunate to see before it ended. I thought it was a really cool exhibit about graffiti, how it became an art form and all the different artists who started off as graffiti artists before they became well-known. And the best part? My…
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Let's take a moment to pause and truly notice what surrounds us this November. What are we grateful for in this very moment? Together with Lea, let's embark on a journey of journaling.
