On the other side of the Huangpu River, where the other outing with Drawing Shanghai was on the previous Saturday, is another fantastic example of the Shanghai government’s effort to redevelop areas that have been abandoned or neglected from closed down factories. What used to be polluted river fronts, now showcases footpaths, cycling paths, jogging paths, patches of parks and new developments to inject life into these remote locations. Weekends now see local population visiting these places, taking note of new developments in their city. So on this Saturday in November, our group of urban sketchers descended to the area near the former National Cotton Mill No. 9. It is…
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Great weather to be out sketching the city. Itβs been some time since I actually went out urban sketching with @drawing_shanghai. Together with Lily, we planted ourselves nearer to the Lupu Bridge and near the silo (which now houses a contemporary art museum) located on the Minsheng Wharf. The areas along both sides of the Huangpu River has been redeveloped these past few years into a long park with space for cyclists and joggers and pedestrians. The factories that were on these shores have been closed, demolished or converted into museums. The 80,000-ton silo structure is a great example of a converted property although it has been closed during the…
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Last Friday, after weeks of planning, Vanessa (@dansmoncrane) and Kristina (@kristinaselhammer) and I carpooled to the Juqi Antique Market (also known as the Ling Shi Road Market) at 5:30am! Yes, it was still dark in the streets of Shanghai and when we arrived there. The antique market is located in a building at the back of the Flower and Bird Market, which was not open yet. The antique market comes alive on Fridays only, the rest of the week, except for a few sellers, the place is empty and quiet. Kristina had noticed that on the second floor where we first went, it was mostly men traversing through the stalls,…
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With only a couple months left before Christmas, I thought Iβd it would be good to look back at the junk journal pages/spreads I did on-&-off via the hashtag #junkjournalingthru2021. This is almost like a 100-day project but runs all through the year. Reflecting on what I’ve learned: My “style” seems to be evolving and it’s to do with the type of journal I am working on. I enjoyed playing on blank pages when I used TN notebook inserts I “struggled” when I transitioned to using journals that I have stitched and bound together using various papers. I don’t know whether it is because of the existing content already on…
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A mini tutorial for embellishing your projects.
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January 1 rolled in quietly just like any day. I guess there was the sense of uncertainty as to what is in store for the new year after the ‘epic’ 2020 that we all had. Since 5-6 years ago, I started choosing a word to help me navigate through the year. 2020 was so strange that I never even got to choose a word until around end of October when “the word” popped up and with it came my word for 2021! Nevertheless, 2020 was all about feeling grateful for a lot of things in spite of all the “bad” things that happened, so it was no surprise that the…
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For 2020’s #100dayproject, I did a project together with @craftymue based on @aliedwards The Art of Noticing. When Ali posted on Instagram about this concept and the kits that she was introducing, there was a lightbulb moment for both Lea and me and we talked about how this could be a good project for the #the100dayproject. So when the start date of the project rolled around, we went into this project together as a way to support each other, to show up and to give each other a boost to finish the project. So in my Instagram Highlights and IGTV, I have posted all my process videos and pages for…
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[This post is a bit long as I’ve decided to combine a travelogue and sharing with you the mini travel album I made to document the trip.] It’s summer… and the itch to travel has kicked in. My dearest friend, Kristina and I have been brainstorming about where to go and because of the ever-changing regulations due to the new cases that happened in Beijing back in June, it was not easy to make real plans. With so many things I have been dealing with, personally and professionally, I decided, I really needed a break, so I finally gave Kristina a definitive “yes” to travel. We came up with a plan…
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Over a month since the COVID-19 virus made China stand still, we are still taking precautions and even with almost zero new cases, although now the new cases are from overseas. Shanghai has started to have some normalcy and right now feeling a lot of gratitude that we can experience Spring even if it is not like the way it used to be. These days have been different, not just in China but I’m sure everyone else in the world. My kids have been e-learning since the beginning of February and so grateful how the school put these all together in such a short time. But 2 months of e-learning,…
