Art and Around Hongkong

I visited HK around less than a month ago and was excited to see from outside 

K11 mall window the interior of what looks like an art workshop space. 

The crafty person inside me was too excited to pass up the opportunity not to check-out what it was.

The place is called ART AROUND.

Unfortunately it was closed at the time I went there but I still decided to look around.

(sorry for the blurred photos)

This photo shows their Porcelain and Clay session rates. 

For a 2 hours porcelain workshop 

for 1 person is HKD300.00, 2-3 persons it's HKD270.00 

and it gets cheaper as your group gets bigger.

Groups of any size are welcome for birthdays, parties, etc.

Here are some porcelain creations on display.

I also found a baby themed one online its so cute not to share...

photo credit: http://prochats.she.com/weekend-go/files/2012/02/ART-Around.jpg

I am scheduled to visit HK again by the end of the month 

and hopefully this time I can get to see place better and maybe join in a session of 2 hours.

If you are ever in HK do visit Art Around at K11 Mall in Hanoi Road, Tsimshatsui, Hongkong.

p.s. I was not paid to post this. =)

have a great week ahead!

-the weekend artist-

Where have all my weekends gone?

Staying away for 1 year and 8 months from this was something I felt I had to do.

I always had excuses why I should keep it and why I shouldn't.

Right now it felt like this was the right time to post again.

This is the window to my life and I feel bolder

maybe in a calmer and more quiet way.

Where have all my weekends gone?

The past year and 8 months have been a roller-coaster ride.

I was blessed to be able to travel to places and be with my family.

It was a moment for us to be together, to laugh, to smile and to heal.

Los Angeles was my first stop. 

It will always be special to me because 

it feels like home away from home.

My mom moved to LA to be with my sisters

(back and forth between there and Boston)

I visited them two months after she left Manila.

There I was able to visit the Getty Museum 

and immerse myself in art and culture of their country.

My sister who is a 'native' there actually enjoyed it.

New York was a different experience altogether!

The city feels alive! Breakfast was something to look forward to.

Bagels, coffee, waffles... with my whole family was priceless.

I would love to go back there and fully be immersed in the city!

I was suppose to visit Parsons and meet up with 

our aunt-godmother but unfortunately she was out-of-town.

and then there is Boston...

It feels great to be back to the place where my youngest sister resides.

I love Boston because I really feel like I am in another country(duh!).

My sister moved to a new house so it was fun seeing them build and decorate their new nest.

It was my first snow experience as well. 

I was planning on making snow angels, castles, and snow mans.

But after a night of shoveling I had to give up my idea altogether.

I know I didn't post anything related to art.

I just had to share what the peaks of my weekends were for the past year or so.

I consider myself lucky to be able to spend my days with my family.

I said at the start of this post that I visited my family in the US because it was a time for us to 'heal'.

Our dear dad my dear dad passed away 1 year and 2 months ago.

I dedicate this post to him as way for me to show that I am ok.

We will all be ok.

I know he is in a happier place and he will always be cherished 

and remembered by all os us he left behind.

So here I am looking forward to more reasons 

to celebrate weekends with families, friends and art.

Happy week to all!

-the weekend artist-

The Weekend Artist Series #3-02: Wedding DIYs

Oh how I love doing DIYs specially when I had my wedding!

Even the ones we coordinate we try to put in some DIY 

or personal touch into making it feel more special.

Here are my fave DIYs because they are all from my wedding!

For the 1st Photo above we used some of our favorite paintings 

by Masters as the table numbers. 

It symbolizes both our passion for the arts 

and where we met which is while studying Fine Arts in a University.

This is a packaging I made for the entourage Save-the Dates. 

It's made of craft envelopes which i tied with twines and beads. 

I printed out labels with the logo 'The Secret Garden Party' 

which I found on the internet and added the 'keys' logo with our initials on it.

Here is my DIY project Save-The-Date for our wedding entourage. 

It's a mini corkboard which you can hang on your desk. 

I made different versions of this for the entourage

and mini versions for the rest of the guests I often see 

while others got cards in the mail. 

The ones who live really far got an e-invite version of this.

Here are the menu cards DIY.

One side contains images which we also used for our actual invites.

Last but not the least I designed the gowns for my wedding.

I'll probably just save that for another post. =)

But before I say have a great weekend 

I wanna leave you with a last photo 

from my cousin's wedding in Hawaii.

This photo just shows you a glimpse of the back design.

It looks really great specially because my aunt made it for her.

I'm specially proud of this eventhough I didn't design it 

because I helped source all the materials with my aunt. 

She brought all the sourced materials back to the US.

It's a special family DIY you can say!

P.S. I was also the one who designed the invite for this wedding.

See the photo of the invite here(white invite)

Have a great weekend!

-the weekend artist-

The Weekend Artist Series #3-01: Two Weddings and a Fashion Show

Reception Venue: Philippine Army Officers Club is all set!
A wedding reception I helped organize for a couple close to my heart.

For 3 months I stayed away from writing about my creative projects and my life. I finally found my need to write again.

What kept me away for three months?

1. Work happened...it was Fashion Week season last October. My job eats so much of my time specially with all the details we wanted to put into our SS13 show.

2. I accepted new projects for wedding coordinating for special friends and of course together with my dear friends/partners.

3. FAMILY. My sister from LA and my nephew arrived for a 3 week vacation!

Plus our grandmother got sick. She has been in and out of the hospital for the past 2 months. It has been hard seeing my mom and her siblings worry about her.

I had to really prioritize all things. Now that everything has settled into a somewhat semi-normal lull that is my life, I have this need again to try to express myself artistically. This blog has somewhat been instrumental for me to pursue again my love for traditional art and well at least practice or rather somewhat discipline me to share on any creative insights I have.

Not bothering to go through the long route of explaining everything that happened I will just be sharing more of what I'm doing with the Two Weddings and maybe slip in some Fashion Show tidbits(or not). Here are some more photos from previous weddings I have organized with my dear friends. Hope I won't bore you with sharing these creative treats from all my organizing events =)

Have a great day ahead!

Registration Pads all adorned with graphics specially made for the bride and groom.
I simply did a re-layout for the registration to tie-in with all the elements.

Scented Vials for Guests and Drinks from Singapore
were treats given out during one of the weddings we organized.
(My dear friend/partner did the Vials packaging for the couple)
-photos courtesy of the bride and groom-

Moodboard I helped pick for one of the weddings I am currently organizing.
(Photos from Pinterest)

-the weekend artist-

Mad Tea Party 2012

Some wonderful inspiration... what if there really is a door that leads me to Wonderland! 

A set of keys that opens the door to so many possibilities.

So with a stroke of a brush and some sweet paint I conjured up my own Mad Tea Party!

Swirls of pastel delicacies to share with each and everyone of you!

Im sharing with all of you my very own watercolor painting of a cupcake filled party!
(I have been dreaming of one for a long time!)

Have some of my mom's pita recipe as well with your cup of coffee or tea!

(check here for how I made this recipe art: 

http://theweekendartist.blogspot.com/2012/04/weekend-artist-series-food-art-1-01.html )

My last year's party guest arrived late just in time to finish off the cupcakes!

Head on over to A Fanciful Twist for more sweet stuff!

http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/a_fanciful_twist/2012/07/mad-tea-party-2012.html#comments

(The first 2 pics on this post are random pics from the internet)


Thanks for stopping by and hope I have satisfied your sweet tooth!

-the weekend artist-

the weekend artist inspiration #12: The Happiness Project

How has your week been so far? Mine has started out stressful at work and with me ending up all day at home the day after sleeping from fever-like symptoms. So here I am still wide awake since I slept almost the whole day in. 

Im currently reading 'The Happiness Project' in my quest to find true happiness though I think I am a fairly happy person I just need to find answers to my life questionsI don't make sense right?!!). One of my life questions is how far do I want to pursue art in my career? Whether I put in more hours to learning? Learning what?

I'm planning to start on my 'Happiness Project' in august so I bought this Little Prince organizer specifically to keep track on my progress.

I started doodling on it already along with some quotes from the book that I don't want to forget. Again another notebook/organizer to add to my growing collection.

Before I end this post I just wanna share to all that Graphika Manila 2012 is here again on August 11, 2012 at the SMX. I am a big fan of digital art since I started my career out in that field. I'm planning to go if my schedule will accommodate it. 

For more info on Graphika Manila 2012 just visit their link here http://www.graphikamanila.com/

goodnight

-the weekend artist-

the weekend artist big idea #4 Mad Tea Party 2012

I can't believe it's that time of the year again and I just found out today! 

Vanessa of http://afancifultwist.typepad.com is hosting the Mad Tea Party 2012 now on it's 5th year. 

It will be my 2nd year to join and I do hope I can outdo my last years party! 

Any suggestions? Hope you can share with me. 

Hop on over on July 28 and see what all this wonderful fuss is all about!

P.S. here's the link to my last years Mad Tea Party! 

http://theweekendartist.blogspot.com/2011/06/mad-tea-party-2011-by-weekend-artist.html

goodnight!

-the weekend artist-

the weekend artist series: Paper Art #1: Wedding Invitations Designs

Who doesn't love weddings? I so love them I organize them as a sideline. 

What's funny is I still always get teary-eyed whenever the Dad walks her daughter 

down the aisle, whenever the couple say their vows, 

as well as during the couples first dance!

 So that is what I have been busy with during my time away from my blog 

for almost 2 months now apart from my job.

Actually I was at a family gathering recently when one of my aunts 

asked me about my blog and why I haven't been updating.

I told her that I haven't been working on it because 

I have been too busy with my day job 

and coordinating weddings during my free time.

 I haven't been painting lately or even finish my old projects. 

She suggested that I just share what I have been working on right now.

So here I am sharing a bit of what I am doing 

and for the coming weeks I will keep on sharing more.

Aside from wedding coordinating I have been accepting commission work

 for wedding invitation designs as well for a couple of years already. 

I think my love for paper is evident on why I still keep on accepting invites designing.

With weddings I still get to exercise my creative side from coordinating, 

selecting flowers, wedding gown designs and specially the invitations. 

I would be more than willing to share my experiences about starting a wedding coordinating business of your own here for those who want to ask. 

You can just drop me a note.

(All pictures included here are invites designed by me)

How about you wanna share what's been keeping you busy?

-the weekend artist-

WOYWW: Mixed Media 'Beach Love' WIP

I'm back for my 2nd week here at WOYWW! I had fun last week!

My desk shows my current project on my mini easle.

It's a mixed media project I am working on with the photo transfer stage already done.  

It is currently on the drying stage after a layer of Liquitex gel medium. 

Once it dries I'll be painting in some more details in acrylic. 

So you see my acrylic paints all laid out and ready once it dries.

I'll post the finished project here over the weekend.

I want to do more projects using this style as well.

How has your week been so far? 

Mine is pretty hectic with all my work deadlines! 

Can't wait for the weekend though and a much needed vacation trip! Yey!

Happy wednesday!

btw, If you don't have an idea what WOYWW is all about do visit Julia over at
http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/
the brains behind this wonderfully artistic event =)

the weekend artist series: Food Art #1-01: Recipe Art

Here's the finished Food Recipe Art I have been working on. 

You can find the details of the recipe in the painting but to those 

who want a clearer copy of the recipe here is the one my mom uses:

Chicken Pita Pockets

1. Heat oil(achuete oil 1/4 cup). Saute onions(1 sliced red onion) and garlic. 

Stir in shredded chicken breast(1 chicken breast, shredded). Season and add salt and pepper

2. Dip: combine 1/2 cup all-purpose cream, 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon, 2 tbsp garlic(minced)

3. Assemble prepared chicken into heated pita pocket. Place mango slices and cucumber(seeded and sliced). Add a drizzle of Garlic dip.

It's quite a healthy alternative snack or even meal 

because it is quite filling specially with corn.

I also dedicate this post to my friends over at the 

FOOD REVO PHILIPPINES in support of their crusade for healthier eating. 

Do stop over and like their page to get more details for the MAY 19th event. 

My dear friend joanie aka THE ARTIST CHEF is the Philippines Ambassador. 

Do check out her page as well.

Food Revo Philippines FB fanpage:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Food-Revolution-Philippines/360648807306139

The Artist Chef:

http://artist-chef.blogspot.com/

going back to my artwork...here are some progress shots:

I used watercolor for the fill and used Letraset Tria for the outlines.

I finished it with a metallic spray to create a 'vintage' look.

I had fun doing this artwork and will go out today 

to have it framed for my mom's kitchen.

have a great weekend!

-the weekend artist-

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday: WIP food recipe art

So here's my first post for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. 

Here's my desk and the WIP project I am working on 

inspired by Mom's healthy recipe(yum!). 

Here's a sneak peak of the food recipe art I'm working on.

Thanks to julia of http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ 

do check out all the other wonderful desks this wednesday! 

have a great wednesday!

-the weekend artist-

The Sketchbook Project: A Summer Portrait

Summer is definitely here.

I always sleep at a later time because of the heat. So I had the urge to paint before turning in.

I decided to paint in summer's orange shade.

I started with a rough sketch of my subjects face. 

And to speed things up didn't bother checking proportions.

I started with grey tones as base for the entire face.

Here's the final grey base. Paolo said he doesn't look like my subject...oh well!

I did it in less than an hour so that's a lot to ask(excuses!).

I finished it up with a an orange shade over paint(the first image) since I wanted it in a summer shade.

That's it for now I don't know if I'll still try to tweak it but there are so many mistakes I can point out.

I guess I will have to settle since I'm not even halfway done with the sketchbook.

I need some sleep!

gotta go!

btw, it's not the weekend yet and I'm already posting...I'm having a need to rush post a lot lately!

-the weekend artist-