My Joo Chiat Corner art series (part 2)

​The art journey inspired by Van Gogh continues with the depictions of the nooks and corners around my studio in the peranakan enclave, Joo Chiat, in eastern Singapore..  

The exploration begins within my studio where I was inspired by a neighbour to garden. Twas another trials and tribulations journey for one not predisposed to green fingers and a therapeutic journey to have some finally flourish and adorn my window view :)  As well as inspire me to paint still life!

      

                                    Kalanchoe of Joy, 24x18 inches, oil on canvas

With these yellow florals I had bought for chinese new year looking mightily familiar to me ~ reminiscent of a certain master's famous sunflowers ~ Kalanchoe of Joy was born with a composition that is a nod to Van Gogh, no less. The companion piece, Orchid of Life, is a special one as the Singapore national flower is an orchid. It was pure joy to watch these elegant blooms open one by one. And to paint them :) 

   

      

                                     Orchid of Life, 24x18 inches, oil on canvas

Enough smiling with the flowery, the next works are literally corner pieces. To live up to my art series' namesake, kidding ;p There is a beauty to architecture in corners. They anchor the place and provide a fascinating study of the crossing cultures and historical mix of the place. I believe that buildings are alive and witnesses to the tumultuous happenings around them in the passage of time. I don't like straight lines and so in spite of my love for painting buildings, they are never mathematically structural and always organic to my surreal feel for the sights and sounds of the scenes that touch me.

 

Joo Chiat Corner, 24x36 inches, oil on canvas 

Joo Chiat Corner holds a dear childhood memory to me. Twas an old bus route that I used to take with the bus huffing and puffing at the turn, oft getting stuck due to some parked vehicle. The same bus still goes by today but the road is now an improved one-way with a nice pavement. I miss the shops of old with the bustling traditional trades but I also like the mix of old and modern today with the contrasting architecture at both sides that have seen the times change. On the left we have the more Malay-Islamic style buildings leading to Geylang Serai. On the right are the more Chinese ones with some truly beautiful peranakan residences down the stretch. Joo Chiat Road itself is a bridge between malay Geylang Serai and chinese peranakan Katong areas, 2 distinct cultures. And so we have an interesting melting pot of 2 colourful architectural influences at this lovely corner that inspired my whimsical take. 

  

       

                The Corner Shophouse (joo chiat road), 30x20 inches, oil on canvas

Just further down Joo Chiat Road is an iconic shophouse in an angled corner, a 1928 building with impressive chinese dragons overlooking the buzz in the shops below. The building was originally bright yellow when I moved into the area and then painted over beige white which annoyed me at the loss of colour. But one day when I was walking by in the twilight, the dark mahogany motifs came alive and struck me how delicately intricate they were with many unknown ancient creatures woven into them if one were to look carefully. The motifs of this building are simply beautiful no matter what new paint coats adorn them or how the shops below have changed from traditional trades to a hip coffee joint today. And it is this slice of history, this moment in time, that I am capturing in The Corner Shophouse, just as the architectural beauty itself is a timeless testament travelling from the past to the present.

 
Pretty Alley (koon seng road), 24x18 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD
 

Insta enthusiasts and tourists often make a beeline for the Koon Seng Road shophouses near the middle junction of Joo Chiat Road, oft said to be the most colourful picturesque street in Singapore. If one really takes the time to explore the area, the real gems are the peeks of these peranakan beauties from the many backlanes and corridors. I stumbled across this Pretty Alley that frames possibly one of the most photographed green and pink houses with high alley windows dancing towards them together with the arching lamppost. My feline friend in the picture would agree with me that it is a beau-ootiful view :) 

Corridor View (koon seng road), 24x18 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD

​Finally, my sojourn ends with an entrancing Corridor View framing the last shophouse in the famous row. It's an intriguing one with a view within a view within a view, if you can spot what I am saying ;p

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Akureyri & Abstract Iceland

A trilogy of 3 paintings inspired by Iceland, aptly named the Land of Fire and Ice, as it evokes many a strong emotive feeling with its haunting landscapes, ever-changing expansive skies and clouds drama, wintry ice sculptured vistas, all in dramatic surrealistic otherworldly hues that one can only imagine exist in the real world. 

The land was chilling, the weather harsh, full of contradictions and extremes that only Mother Nature can render in all its glory without inhibition. And it was a blessing to witness, to experience, and at long last, to paint, the indelible images that stuck with the emotions infusing in the strokes of these 3 pieces, epitomising serenity, exuberance and unbridled imagination.

Title: Akureyri (O113) 
Description: Haunting landscape painting of northern Iceland with colourful twilight purple pink sunset skies, icy snow mountains and surreal ice lake reflections, in impasto impressionistic strokes reminiscent of Van Gogh. Icelandic Series 2014.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas. 
Dimensions: 61 x 61cm.

Title: Abstract Field (O112) 
Description: Abstract landscape painting of yellow orange fiery Icelandic wheat field in vibrant colours and rhythmic strokes, much like a child's pictorial. Icelandic Series 2014.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas. 
Dimensions: 61 x 61cm. 

Title: Pink Thoughts (O111) 
Description: Surreal whimsical Iceland city lake painting with pink twilight clouds, abstract blue white water reflections and brown orange autumn leaves. Reykjavik, Icelandic Series 2014.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas. 
Dimensions: 61 x 61cm. 

Purchase at: yen.artfire.com

Weeping Field

Possibly my most van gogh painting todate, if not least because of the thick impasto paint style, as well as the golden blue colour scheme. 

The painting is inspired by surreal scenery in the desolate pseudocraters fields of north Iceland where the Icelandic sun gave a poetic feel to beautiful wheat like plants glistening in the cool winter light and whispering mysterious murmurs to the winds. 

And that was the feel that I seek to convey in the abstract shapes. Whimsical yet sad.   

Title: Weeping Field (O110)
Description: Abstract landscape oil painting of sunny wheat field in bright vibrant orange yellow thick color strokes reminiscent of Van Gogh, inspired by surreal Iceland scenery. Icelandic Series 2014.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 30 x 30cm. 
Purchase at: yen.artfire.com 

Icelandic Church

After a hiatus of one year when I only painted three works on Iceland, I finally find the impetus to continue. It was a case of too much inspiration but unsure if I can execute that led to the block.. but I always I knew I would return.  

So it is, with the thick paint style reminiscent of Van Gogh that I long abandoned (or unconsciously avoided) that I did this surreal little piece of a tiny church in the small remote town of Reykholt.  Well, actually every place in Iceland is remote ;p  But this image taken during twilight, particularly brings out the lonesome building on the horizon feel.  And I do so love the Icelandic churches, with its unique architecture of clean lines and wooden structures.

In the end, whatever style, it is the surreal emotions that got translated onto canvas, which is the expressionist in me :)

Title: Icelandic Church (O109)
Description: Surreal Icelandic painting of little whimsical church on the horizon with evocative cloudscape of twilight sunset in dramatic pink purple orange hues, reminiscent of Van Gogh style. Icelandic Series 2014.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 30 x 30cm. 
Purchase at: yen.artfire.com 

Wanderer's Paradise

Madness yet a genius. This was what crossed my mind when I came across this unusual shack on a cliff edge, literally, while hiking the Jeju Olle Trail No. 7.  Mind you, it was quite a drop down that precarious ledge into treacherous terrain, wee..  
Yet I was at once wildly amused by the madness of the author, and terribly intrigued by the brilliance of it all, the more I studied it.  

Wooden planks to layout the spot, check.  Weather extremely hot, not much shade on this stretch of trail, tie shelter to tree branches, check.  Blow-away super strong winds characteristic of Jeju, use lots of strong ropes tied like a maze to secure the all-important showcase chair.. not to mention the almighty drop to heaven if it weren't, check.  And lastly a fantastic view point of the ocean, the rugged rocky coast, the distant islets, check. Now all there's left was to sit..  

Except I didn't quite have the courage of the mad one. The chair seemed sturdy enough when I sat my backpack on it. Stood behind was all I dared endeavour then in the bellowing winds. But the longing and regret endured way after. So being an artist which is a good skill to have when you can't live something, I painted the scene instead ;p Yes, the surreal dream of what it would be like to sit on that ledge - to rest, contemplate and admire with trepidation perhaps - the mad one's gateway to heaven, literally and metaphorically.

Title: Wanderer's Paradise 游子的天堂 (O98)
Description: Colourful surreal landscape painting inspired by a shack on a cliff edge the artist encountered while hiking the coast of Jeju Olle Trail No. 7. The scene depicts her dream sitting beholding the ocean, on a chair tied by a litany of ropes, the concoction of a mad genius perhaps, and a gateway to heaven, literally and metaphorically. Jeju Notes 2014.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 61 x 61cm.
Purchase at: yen.artfire.com

Solitaire

After a particularly long hot day's hike on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St James), we finally reached the village of Molinaseca. It wasn't just relief but a sense of pure discovery joy that greeted the tired pilgrims as we descended from the historic cobblestone Roman Bridge into the narrow main street of this wondrous place.

The quaint architecture and adornments seemed to lean over and speak to me, much like going into a city in ancient times, with the brick walls whispering sounds of pleasure and offering to share secrets from their glorious or perhaps decadent past, luring the visitor to uncover the mysterious charms of the place. Except that the merrymaking sounds were real, the freshness palpable, and the offer of cool respite from a hard day's journey very welcoming as we stepped into the fold of Molinaseca.

Too brief was the visit but I was determined to paint Molinaseca. So I have used a warm palette for the buildings and free colours for the objects, with everything coming alive in a reddish twilight setting to enscapulate the mysterious beckoning spirit of this magical gem of a village.

Title: Solitaire (O53)
Description: A work emoting the sense of wonder, the sense of marvel, the sense of possiblities.. as pilgrims descend into this magical gem of a village on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St James) pilgrim route called Molinaseca. Spain Camino 2011.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 91 x 61cm.
Purchase at: yen.artfire.com

1 comment:
teri close said...
This is Bodegon in contemporary form. Beautiful work of art!