The shore of Singapore

A few minutes before you reach the shores of Singapore, the ocean changes its looks. It becomes spotted with uncountable ships awaiting their turn to enter the port of Singapore.

The port of Singapore is the world's busiest transhipment hub. It is hard to grasp, that one of the tiniest countries in the world has the busiest port activity in the world.

It was after mid-night when I arrived home. From the plane's window I saw the ocean spotted with the ships lights, illuminating the waters with shining ripples. It felt like home.
I figured that a few thousands of people were sleeping at that time on the ships. Yes... trying to calculate odd things is a family bug...

(I did the above mosaic a few years ago for an exhibition dedicated to the spirit of Marc Chagall. It lives now with maestro Giulio Menossi)

A short vacation and early mornings

Every morning when I wake up I swear. No, really, for as long as I remember myself.
And waking up at 3:30 am is a total upgraded scale of misery.

The taxi driver took me through the wet empty roads of Singapore to the airport.

2 days later:

Sitting outside, smoking, watching the city waking up, witnessing the yellow snake of cabs awaiting clients. Soon the demand will be reverted.
Too early for me. Tired and hungry.
Too early, it seems, for the homeless too. Usually I see them by the smoking area, offering them a cigarette. Sometimes even talking to them. They are actually nice.

I hear German and Japanese and Spanish. Yesterday I was talking some idiotic things in Hebrew in the elevator, only to realize when we got to the lobby, that our partner to the elevator ride was Israeli...

Back in the room, a boy is sleeping here, a girl is chatting with me on Skype, a husband is chatting with me on the phone. Actually, life is good.

Will be back here on the blog when I am back home in Singapore.

Art supplies in Singapore

I don't claim to know all the venues where you can find art materials in Singapore. I know of two places where I visit frequently lately.

My favourite one is Strais. A small shop run, as it looks, by a family, a very smiling helpful people.

 

 

My favourite corner is that of the acrylic paints. They have the best quality -  Golden. Each time I am there, I buy more and more tubes of this fantastic paste. If I continue like that, Golden will have to move into producing colors that don't exist to fulfil my appetite. 

 

 

Across the road, in Bras Brasah Complex, there is Art Friend shop, which is huge, full of supplies, but disappointing in acrylic paints. 

 

 

I love Bras Brasah Complex. It is one of the old shopping centers still exit in Singapore, which have become an extinct species. Old building are being demolished, replace by state-of-the-art architecture, really mouth drooling. But entering an old complex let you feel the old Singapore, with its warmth and Asian characteristics.

 



I went to Straits yesterday to buy yet more materials. The car "screamed" that is needed fuel. I had no clue where was the nearest gasoline station, so I turned on the annoying GPS, waited for it to warn me to drive carefully... bla bla bla... and I clicked to let it direct me to the nearest station. She (the digital lady in the GPS) guided me alright, but... I didn't believe her...
She told me to keep straight, but on the left there was a tiny street which "smelled" like fuel. So I made the left turn... so what if the sign said it was cul de sac... I didn't believe it either...
500 meters into the narrow street the road ended with no fuel to be found.
I manoeuvred a U-turn, and then I saw this worker resting. I thought it deserved a shot.

 

I do have trust issues...

Orchids and Singapore

Vanda Miss Joaquim was chosen to be Singapore's national flower.
To read more about this type of Orchid and other related topics click here.

Living in Singapore, I have decided to give the Orchids a chance... Painting flowers is way out of my comfort zone. Give me portraits, abstracts even trees and you will make me happy. Flowers were never my favourites... I don't even like to have flowers at home. Love them in the garden, and starting today, love them on my canvas :-).

I started as usual with my blue lines on a prepared canvas with an under-paint, continuing with painting the flowers -

Then I added my background blue lines, which will create an abstract net, painting each section separately with warm colors. This will be my second under colors. I do it, though later it will be totally covered, because the warmth of the colors will influence the third layer -

 

And here it is - Bursting Orchids (20x36 inches, acrylic on canvas) -



One last word -
This is not the Vanda Miss Joaquim, but a related sibling which I have absolutely no clue what its name is.

Monsoons in Singapore

Singapore doesn't really have a wet season like it's neighbours on the east and west. Located on the tip of the peninsula, it is influenced by the eastern as well as the western monsoons' periods. Which means it rains regularly, or should I say POURING...
The sky are rarely clear blue as you might imagine the skies of the tropics, but rather light grey or VERY dark grey.

I took some photos the other day from our balcony -

So you see what I mean by a very dark grey... and you know you are going to experience yet another flow of water.

 

A few minutes later the monsoon hit. The rain is so dense it makes you wonder how do the sky can hold so much water. It is literarily blocking any view.

 

In this time of the year it doesn't last long. It comes daily in the mid-afternoon. There are times, though, that it can last for days.

An hour later the view is back.

 

 So, if you are planning a vacation on a white beach below the palm trees, this is not to place to be. However, Singapore has lots of other attractions (which I will mention in later posts) and please, don't forget your umbrella.

The rolling wave

We were recently in Bali, a short flight, a short vacation.
We drove up to Ubud to see the local art. Ubud has a reputation for a significant Balinese art. Sadly, with the tourism, the original art was transformed to please the western crowd. I must admit, I do admire some of the art displayed there, however, they produce the paintings over and over. So are these originals??

Though I was disappointed by the art, I was fascinated by the sea. The waves were mesmerising. I took endless photos of these waves, and then did some drawing study.

 

Then I did it with acrylic on paper, size A3 -

 

And then it turned into an abstract (acrylic on canvas, 20x36 inches) -

What I am about to write

I am not new to blogging. But instead of continuing writing in my old blog, which has been running for quite a long time, I have decided to create a new one.
This one will be about my general art (instead of mainly mosaics) and about the place I currently live in.
I presume that some posts will be totally NOT related to art but to the place I live in, which is Singapore.

So stay tunes, I'll back in a sec with some more.

:-)