ah-yi

2010-02-16T15:19:00.001-08:00

Time flies!
3 years ago I started to blog and didn't know what I was doing. There are 260 posts and many many comments from you!
It's time to have a new start! Although I feel a bit sad to leave this blogspace.

Please visit my new website/blog_ yuiMade.com

Many thanks, Friends!!

2010-02-01T10:16:00.000-08:00

紋黃蝶 2010 s/s
Whenever season changes I think about Mian pherhone's new book. Thanks to Higi from UGUiSU I just get the 2010 s/s book. I also get this magazine. It was one of my favorite fashion magazine + mina pherhone.
I'm so lucky and thank you again, Hiki.

2010-01-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

It's almost hard to believe that It had been nonstop raining here in LA for 7 days.

Thinking about food and making some home baking can cure the raining blue.
These pictures were taken in babycakes NYC. My favorite items are brownie and
lemon coconut donuts.

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hiyoko imai

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2010-01-18T17:12:00.000-08:00

It's raining in LA.
I feel that we are always skipping winter. Our bushes in the front yard are blooming now!

When we almost think that it would keep raining forever. It stopped!

Look at those thick clouds!
Made me feel that I'm living above the clouds!
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carl kleiner

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2010-01-11T15:44:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010!!

2 weeks right before 2010,
got a best package from oly !
thanks alot, dear friend.

went north to search for good boulangerie.

and also some inspirations.............

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2009-12-14T16:57:00.000-08:00

when sky is gray and doesn't stop raining

best thing to do is to weave an orange scarf

and to make a pumpkin pie
( it seems like the best pie I've ever made...)

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anothersomething.org

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2009-12-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

winter
in my house

&
in eaton canyon
which is only 15 mins away from us by car.

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strom hits california today. it's raining all day and freezing here.
I hope you all stay warm and dry!
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rabbit scarves

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2009-11-30T21:39:00.000-08:00

pie season

I made two pies for thanksgiving dinner. Pecan pie was good but I think I need to
work on apple pie recipe more....

The day after thanksgiving we went for a easy hike and went back to trail cafe.
Of course we ate more pies. Cranberry galette and ranger's pie were so good.

After went home, I used the extra pie dough to make another apple pie.
I can't help. I just want to make more pies...............

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* next time i want to make this strawberry galette with basil cream.
* I used this pie crust recipe. Very easy to make and delicious.
* I like the aroma in my kitchen when I bake pie. Even my shirt smells good.
I like the smiling faces when friends saw the pies.
Foods connect people and deliver warmth in this cold season.
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2009-11-23T10:02:00.000-08:00

weekend hiking in Griffith park

the trail cafe

All of the squirrels in the park are friendly with people. I guess too many people
are feeding them.

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this is the most beautiful video for book making, including printing, binding and
making paper for covers,.... sigh,.. so so nice and so inspiring!!

the complex of all of these

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All I'm thinking now is what to make for thanksgiving!

2009-11-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

winter life

It's so easy to get very dark sometimes now. I love this unusual blue light.

I'm reading Kaori Ekuni's books now. Chihlung found some of her book from library (china town branch) and it's translated in Chinese. I copy our cat sit next to the south window to get sun bath and crawl my back while I am reading the book.

I feel it's super luxury __ the sun, the big window and the japanese novels (in chinese).
The book I'm reading now is called " the bones under the sink" 流理台下的骨頭/流しのしたの骨.

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Those prints I did for "come darkness". It's available in my shop now.

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2009-11-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

come darkness, part two
second layer and third layer of printing_ letterpress

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waves 03_printed with metallic silver ink and dark navy

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before the storm_printed with metallic silver ink and dark navy

They are all printed with my little 5x8 Kelsey letterpress.
It was really a fun project to work on! I'm really honored and appreciate that I
can be part of show. I feel like to continue this series_come darkness!! I feel that I'm not
done with this topic yet..........................

The show is online now.

I also put the prints up in my shop soon. stay tuned!!
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2009-11-05T22:27:00.000-08:00

come darkness, part one

I want to show you some of the working process of the pieces I did for the group show called "come darkness".

I tried to print some wood blocks with sumi ink on different kind of papers. ( print making paper, lettra, water color paper, etc.)

(This is the one I mixed sumi ink with oil ink on Lettra cotton paper.)

I had special relationship with sumi ink.I grew up using sumi ink and brush to write the chinese characters in the writing class. One of the summer in my high school I begged my mom to let me study chinese painting. It was only one summer but I enjoyed a lot. I like to see the ink smearing on the paper. It's like brush is dancing on the paper and marking a beautiful landscape. After high school, I never touch them again. Till this summer I had a wood block print work shop at tortoise. The sumi ink was introduced to me again.

I was taught to use oil based ink or rubber based ink for printing blocks in my letterpress class. I never thought of using other different of medium. When I saw the sumi ink at the workshop. I almost screamed. It is so familiar but I almost forgot......

When Mav contacted me and told me the theme for the show I thought of sumi ink again!!

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If you are in portland tomorrow you should go check out the show.

Chelliswilson
17 Pleasant Street
Portland, Maine.

This is first layer of printing. I will be back this weekend to show you more.

Have a good one!!
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2009-11-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

we had breakfast in Amandine this morning because we had a meeting very early(6:45am) in the other side of town. My perfect life will be living very closed to this bakery.

The apricot tart was so good.
We never leave there with empty hands, this is the bread we got this time.

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I'm gradually backing to normal now. Will start to show you something I did for the group show- Come Darkness . Mav got some sneak peeks from the show.

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2009-10-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

I did some wood block printing ! I like the texture of it. (The roughness and the softness)

cat is enjoying the Fall morning light.

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2009-10-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

light in my house now
so gentle and soft!

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still quite busy right now! but two more weeks I will be able to take some breaks
and blog more.

I enjoy "Fall" in LA.
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2009-10-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

something from last year
I never got the chance to show you those scarves I weaved from last year. I send them to"Reform School" and next thing I knew was they were all sold out. I regret that I didn't save one for myself.
It's getting chilly now. Time to weave more!!

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Jockum Nordström

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2009-09-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Swiss Fondue_
New linen tea towel from flea market.

I made rosemary flat bread/pizza for Sunday breakfast.

I also made organic rose and goji berry tea.

Lunch time, I made garlic pizza. It was thinner crust. It turned out very good.
(I used my vintage pyrex glassware lid as bread stone. I use the square glassware for baking no-knead bread due to my very compact oven. The pretty pot is totally abused.)

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one of my favorite blogs now_ anna gleeson

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2009-09-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Inspiration
from the book called " Moorish Style"

We got several books from library. They are all about Moorish style.
I'm so fascinated with all the details and patterns. Can't stop look at it. Just too beautiful.

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2009-09-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

my best friend, yuko's apartment.

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a blog filled with nice children's books

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2009-09-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

The place I want to be now.
I need seriously cool and clean air!!

I took these photos back in May While we were in Portland.

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I admire Makoto Kagoshima. Click on clay squirrel so you can see the making sequence.

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2009-08-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

Smoky air+ Heat+ Vietnamese coffee

Although we are not that closed to those wild fires, we still can see the smoke clearly and sometimes we can see the fire lighting up the mountains at night.
Air quality is really bad and heat makes me dizzy and sleepy.
Only thing can save me now is Vietnamese coffee and I am going to make another one now.

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wilkintie _ beautiful letterpress art prints.
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2009-08-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

summer table

no knead bread + homemade pineapple compote+ yogurt + pecans

tomato from friend's garden+ delicious plums from market ( it smells like rose)

tomatoes from our garden

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I have a big deadline coming up in a week so bear with me. I will come back soon.

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2009-08-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

Leaves printing workshop with Mitsuru koga at Tortoise

we went hunting for leaves which we thought we were going to do leaf cutouts but actually we were printing with leaves and not cutting them.

Koga san demostrated how to print with leaves.

These are the envelopes he made with the leaves printed paper. He let us pick one as a gift from him. Sweet! His prints are so delicate and so nice. It captures the most beautiful grain and texture of leaves.

These are the ones I made, and I love the ones with grass.

In tortoise you still can see some of the sea stone vase and sculptures by Koga san. The are so fine!

(see it bigger)

(another view)

The leaf cutout art from Koga san.

It was a very nice work shop!! I'm glad that I went. It was so nice to meet Koga san.

2009-08-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Carving & carving is
what I have been doing!

It's a carving and watermelons summer for me. That's why I don't post enough lately!

LEAF CUTOUTS -Mitsuru Koga Exhibition in tortoise.
I will go check this show and also attend the leaf cutouts workshop.

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2009-08-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

A simple Sunday morning breakfast. it was a gray day. not much light and no shadows.

Since we have a California native plans garden so we don't have any flowers are blooming now. All the popies are dried out and waiting another reborn next spring. Sage's flowers are so subtle. They bend in the whole landscape. This makes me a little bit sad. I want some colors!!

Thanks to the newly planted herbs, dills and Asian basil. Some flowers are blooming in our back yard. They are still very tiny but I think next year they will grow bigger and better.

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like to read through small stump photo dairy , so many beautiful flower arrangements...

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2009-07-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

summer colors

colors in my kitchen_Popsicle (Caribbean flavor).

and a nice shop in Brentwood country mart.

We didn't spent too much time there just browsed the windows and next time I will make sure that I check this beautiful shops. Love all the woodblock printing fabrics there!

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2009-07-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

summer breakfast

We are in our high 90 degrees everyday now! unbearable heat! hot! hot! hot!

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baden baden_ a lovely shop in japan.

oh, also a new bread recipe, soft and buttery.
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2009-07-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Sage tea for summer

I was a bit overwhelmed by work this morning. I need some fresh air and a little break so I picked some sage leaves from our back yard.

I made a pot of sage tea with sugar and lime.(+ sugar or a couple drops of honey)

It was really good!

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These Japanese match boxes from Meiji period are so inspiring.

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2009-07-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

summer heat!

The sky above our deck!
It's so hot these days! I think it's time to dine out in our back yard now.

How is your summer?? Mine is busy and busy. I hope I will have time to blog more.
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2009-07-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

Summer/
shadow

Best thing to do in Summer is chasing shadow.

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His work reminds me the days in University ( in Taiwan)...................................
Masahiro Karino

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2009-06-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

shadows

These fun shadows were popping up on the walls after we got over with the June Gloom.
Finally summer is here in LA.

But they will be hard to find for a while again.
We just put up curtains all over the windows so we can reduce the summer heat.

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2009-06-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hello !!

Thank you and xoxo.

It took me forever to finish type setting for this one and I was trying to look for the perfect "x" and "o".

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we shall see.

Happy Monday!
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2009-06-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

On my window

I don't have wall to pin up so my windows become my pinup surface.
Two things i was inspired lately!

knot # 3 exhibition by jung jung

And a poster from Adana

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2009-06-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

a good mail day

my first collection of wood types

Did a quick test print!
They are 7/8" Hamilton.

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wood type specimens

and it's fun to see other designers book collection

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2009-06-14T23:08:00.000-07:00

I printed them in red

on Japanese color papers.

and cut them up...........

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finally I had a SUNNY Sunday morning today!

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2009-06-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

We have too many GRAY days lately!!I need some nice colors around me!
Luckily I have a good mail day!Yurio Seki's book is here.

also Salvia by her.

I need to get these "dots" and stripes" postcards.

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I got these color paper in tortoise and according keiko these paper are for collage. They tear the paper and not cut them by scissors. I love the color texture of it. They are similar to Chinese calligraphic paper.

I don't think this really show the real colors.

and I did some portrait sketches with the paper!
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I also love the colors on this table.

2009-06-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

new carved block

He is very nosy.

When he is not hungry he is a curious pig.

It's still gloomy and grey here and I'm so used to take pictures with a lot of light......
so not many photos lately!!
Everything looks desaturated because of weather!

These are for my new project. Will show you the proofs soon. They are the characters for the stories of Paiwan people.

(copy right by yu-i chan & National Taiwan Museum)

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2009-06-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

on my desk

i've been carving lately......

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I'm logging off now because I need to upgrade my computer.....
hopefully everything will be back in normal soon.

have a nice weekend!
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2009-06-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

Polaroids from last summer/(yellow flowers+ apple beer+ orange blossom beer ...)

We have two weeks straight of gray sky. I have been wondering where summer is!!

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I've been waiting for summer to come so I can visit soda pop stop again!! They carry so so many
different kinds of sodas and beers. Apple beer and orange blossom beer were very good.
The cherry one was okay.....................

more story about the shop here.

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2009-05-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

I've been making bread for breakfast everyday.

naan

combination of no knead bread and Chinese green scallion pancake.

and today is walnut, raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg.
I'm going to try onion bread and olive bread.
I tried to use buckwheat flour to make no knead bread once. It was really
good.

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This recipe for naan is not bad. I found that use yogurt or milk to replace with
water adds very good aroma to the bread but you don't really need the egg though.

If you add eggs, butter and milk (replacing the water) for the no knead bread recipe
and it will become basic sweet bread recipe which can be cinnamon rolls and brioche.

Similar to no knead bread, Artisan bread in five minutes a day is a good book.
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2009-05-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

*people who make nice socks
_ Hansel from Basel

They are having sale on their online store for the past season collections.
Above are from their 09 fall collection.

photos are by nicholas haggard
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*people who make nice shoes and metal ware
_house
(only photos of tools here but you will find more nice products in the website)

If possible I want to take this shoes making class.
(via oly)

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have a nice weekend!

2009-05-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

after the wood block printing class
we walked along the water.

saw these boards and remembered i have a orange one sitting in basement............

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2009-05-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU!

This all I want to say to you!
Thank you for stopping by, leaving nice comments and visiting my little shop.

My little shop is turning 3 years old this month. It's so hard to believe and I know I can't make it without you.
I'm adding two (linoleum block+ prints) in the shop. Both of them are at the special price for this anniversary celebration.

Many many thanks!!
xoxo

I made a sleeve for the deer print.

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2009-05-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

Woodblock printing class in tortoise
I went to this woodblock printing class today. Shodo Iwagaki is a monk from Japan and he taught us how to carve and print.

The invitation he made for the show and the class.

We were asked to create some graphic with square, circle and triangle since it's a short class.

This is what I did! I'm afraid that I'm not "zen" enough. It's kind of fun that shodo pointed out the imperfect parts of the print and he said he likes the way it is." It's part of character of wood block printing......"

I like his free form bag. Things are just simple held together by a big sheet of fabric.

The fabric he designed.

His "Zen talk" postcard. I learned some of the Zen poetry before. It's really inspiring to see some of them being interpreted into graphic forms.

The lovely birds in tortoise. Tortoise is a dangerous place! I want everything there.

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Today is a busy Sunday! Tired but happy!!

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2009-05-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

some sketches for the new project,

waiting the red birds to dry so i can send out some surprises to friends and my family.

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2009-05-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

Trying to germinate seeds in paper towel. I did with basil, fennel, dill, heirloom tomato and strawberry.

What we ate tonight!

I also made some personal cards for myself.

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ice cream for free

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2009-05-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Flea Market
The best outdoor activity in spring is to go shopping in flea market.

I run into my best flea market pal, yuko, and I got too excited to take more pictures.
I started to go flea market because of yuko. She has good eyes for other people's junks.
We always have a lot of fun browsing in flea market.
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2009-04-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

To travel is to live _ Hans Christian Anderson

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For me travel is to stop by all the nice cafes, sipping your coffee while you observe people passing by.

Mexican spicy cafe mocha is for my cold hands

so I can sketch

& sketch

a little bit of cafe/food coma .......... to ease my tiredness and excitement

also dream about the next trip and hope it will happen soon.

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2009-04-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Vintage mood

I love my new/old leather weaving bag from HOLME. (via here)
Also check their sold out items. There were some really nice scarves.

I had a good reading weekend. I can't afford buying more books now, no space and no extra money so why not borrow? I'm lucky to live very closed to a library.

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more vintage love, store 518

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2009-04-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

good morning

Indian Chai + Chinese scallion cake for a cold and gray day.

Flower from our garden.
Have a nice weekend!

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2009-04-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

more pictures from the trip

Another cool hotel in Portland, Kennedy School. It was an elementary school.

The coolest signage in Mississippi Ave.

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2009-04-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

More photos from the trip to NW.

It's super hot today in LA ( at one point it hit 100 degrees) Oh! How I miss those raining and gray days.

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Jason Rosenberg
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2009-04-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

How was your Easter's Sunday?
As you see, I've been busy tracking down the cherry trees.
I was in some places are cold and raining a lot.

Have a nice weekend!

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Looks like Bird has a lot of goodies from Tsumuri Chisato.

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2009-04-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

* *

Spring break! Will be back soon!

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2009-04-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

today's breakfast

I can't live without a lots of fruits everyday!

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etsy links for beautiful textiles

yati-ka, ikat Design

blue star shawl with hoodie

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beautiful lines & shapes vol.7
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amy's bake dozen

I owe Amy a big apology for dropping out from this lovely shop because of my job situation.

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2009-03-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

more carving and more letterpress

I hope you won't get bored with my carving and letterpress posts.
Did the second colors for the swallows.There will be a third colors on it later on.

A proof for my thank you cards. I really like this orange but this is not the color I will be using..

I carved another " love", I don't like the first one. I worked on it too much and then I broke it and all the edges become crumble. It's hard to tell when to stop, sometimes I pay too much attention to the tiny details and I destroy the whole thing at the end. Specially after proofing with vandercook, I will look at the proof and keep working on some imperfect areas. It always ends up worse. I'm better without proofing maybe?? The swallows and deer print were without proofing and they came out very nice............................
oh my god, am I murmuring too much!! Maybe just like my instructor said, I push myself too hard!!!

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Bauhaus Accomadation.
I love that red cabinet and hard edges lines of Bauhaus building. Simply brilliant.

Have a nice week!
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2009-03-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

iida umbrella shop イイダ傘店

postcard set

コマバッグ

I found this beautiful shop thru Kei Bu Sha where I do window shopping all the time.
It's exciting to see that they are selling lines & shapes in the shop now.
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2009-03-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

Chinese say when you see swallows, spring is here!! (They also bring good news!)
I've printed these swallows last Saturday! I'm adding some more details(second color) and texts (third color) later.
Will show you the finally result !

Test printing different wood types.

and I pick this one at the end!

Oh My dear!!

the final!
(not exactly because I'm trying to find a match'g envelope and print something on it as well)

It seems like every single projects take more than 3 weeks to finish........
Also I'm totally in love with those vintage wood types, just like my instructor said,
" they are living types".

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This is from my inbox yesterday.
a blog about children book.

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2009-03-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

I love those sages in our front yard, they have very delicate purple flowers and the leaves smell like passion fruit. (we have the ones for cooking with fish and meat too but I can't resist the smell of passion fruit..........)

We decided to bring some of them into the house. Put them in little tea cups.

But half hour later, ...................................
our cats think they are their toys..............

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a very nice set of photo

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2009-03-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

the life of jamdani

I was so inspired to read the article about the jamdani and how it transformed into Dosa's beautiful scarves and garments.

Can't do the direct link here but go to the special project and click on the life of the jamdani. you can read the article and whole set of pictures.

I hope I will go visit their show room "Dosa 818" soon.

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2009-03-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

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have a nice weekend!!

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2009-03-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

I baked some madeleines but not in shell shapes.
No tea, no coffee but I have mins perhonen 's 2009 catalog. The main theme is family portrait. Normal people are better than models.

(click to see it bigger)

2009-03-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

itis edition
another reason makes me miss Taipei so MUCH!!

They also have a internet shop which is super nice!!

also their blog.......................................................................................................
see more pictures of their beautiful store/studio here, and here.

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2009-03-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

tsumori chisato/ 2008 spring collection

All images are from humor!

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also, nice postcard collection from humor.
photograph/styling　by 小橋淳子

2009-03-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

process

This project is not finished yet !! I need to print the text in the next class..... and then another card comes with it.

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Have you heard about" the impossible project"??
If they can make impossible become possible, that will be so so nice!

Since "Gocco" had been saved, why not Polaroid???

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I like this "good morning" music video from Taiwan.

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2009-02-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

***

I carved some rubber stamps last night. I think I prefer lino blocks. It's harder but it's good to be in a slow pace. Nice thing about the rubber blocks is that you can print them by hand easily.

I can't wait for tomorrow's letterpress class.

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have a nice weekend!

2009-02-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

::

I printed the bird last weekend.

and some more proofs for the new blocks I carved.....

I'm reading "The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen" now. I admire Andersen.
See more of his paper cuttings here.

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2009-02-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

Six night tales

1st night, Rabbit and Moon

2nd night, Orchid Yard

3rd night, Mushrooms

4th nights, Woods

5th night, Roots

6th night, Danger in the garden, Rabbits and Wolf

Here are my new prints which were featured in the Tinlark gallery, Los Angeles last month. I just put some of them up in my Etsy now. They are the biggest print I've ever done, 11.2x15.2 inches. Also shipping are free for these new prints.

My new works are mixtures of childhood memories and imaginary night. They take place in the house where I used to stay with my grandparents and my big family.

The house is a very long house. It consists of a storefront, a courtyard and orchid garden, a living room with an altar, a small bedroom, a dining room, a kitchen, another bedroom and then a huge backyard garden in the Chinese style (rocks and water). All the elements are arranged in a linear sequence one after the other.
There is a stair to my grandpa’s bedroom the second floor that folds away flush with the ceiling. It’s hard to recognize.
There are 3 different settings and styles that co-exist in the house. On the second floor, in the Japanese style, my grandpa’s bedroom has a raised wood floor with tatami mats and wood frame sliding doors. Then, in the European style, my grandmother’s bedroom is filled with all the things she collected during her trips to Europe. And finally, the Chinese style is represented by the altar and gardens.

These 6 night tales also represent the forbidden world which kids are not allowed to enter. The world of darkness is left behind when all the kids are forced to go to bed early but dreams hunt the remnants of the witching hours.

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I feel I have much more to say and many more things to show you but I will just log out now.

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2009-02-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

sketches

Thinking about what to carve for new blocks so I did some sketches!! What do you think?

It's amazing to see myself to do lot of hand sketches now. Right now I didn't transfer the digital sketches on to the blocks I just simply hand draw the pattern on the block directly.........

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If you are interesting about the japanese flower arrangement zine which I posted the other day, you can get your copy here.

2009-02-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

my v-day

Letterpress class was canceled so we went here to have breakfast. I ordered a warm breakfast tart.

then we stopped by Kinokuniya and saw this beautiful giant poster...have no clues about the artist but it looks like a kozyndan art to me.
updates:Tessar let me knows that those posters are done by PCP. Thanks a lot, Tessar!!

before getting on the freeway we stopped by ooga booga. such a little cute shop in China town.

immediately when we got home, I started to do some test printings on fabric with the blocks I carved.

I also craved a rubber block.

I have to say, it's easier to print with press than printing by hand. the press keeps very good consistency of ink. it's easier to print on paper than on fabric.. Rubber block is easier to print on fabric than linoleum block.....................................

I will try out more different kind of things later this weekend.......

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2009-02-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

L O V E

^ Indian head wear^^

I'm running out of linoleum blocks now!! just can't stop carving!

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Happy Valentine's day!!

2009-02-08T22:38:00.000-08:00

-^-

I learned how to set types this week so didn't do any printing. We run a proof for the bird blocks though, so I can see if I need to work on them more or not.

Working on two new blocks now, my fingers are sore but I'm really happy.

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Just got a new zine about Japanese flower arrangement!
(My niece is taking flower arrangement classes in Taiwan. I am very jealous of her. She is only 12 years old. She is a lucky girl.)

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2009-02-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Finally these two birds were printed. I printed them with a vandercook.
It's very hard to stop carving so i carved two more blocks!! They will be printed next weekend and I will learn how to set types next week.

I didn't expect I would be introduced the linoleum block printing when I registered the letterpress class.
I am glad that I take the class. My goal is one day I can make a children book and I know it won't happen too soon, but I will work hard and keep learning. (Also I am still thinking of weaving class, I need more time and more money.)

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2009-01-25T17:21:00.000-08:00

*()*

I carved two birds this weekend!! This is the first time I tried to carve on linoleum block. I had a lot of fun!
Now I'm thinking maybe I should try to carve with wood block!!....I want this woodblock printing kit!!

how's your weekend??

Tomorrow is Chinese new year!! I made some turnip rice cakes for tonight. I knew I probably can find some decent ones in Chinese super market here, but I just missed so much the events/activities/traditions we would do in Taiwan. Specially those ridiculously loud firecrackers which we light on the Chinese new year's eve to get rid of the monster年獸(bad luck).

Happy Chinese new year !!

2009-01-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

My daily life suddenly is overflowed with unexpected work lately..... But ALL I'm thinking now is about spring scarves and shawls...........

something like the new collection from humanoid

this one

and this one......

or some of khadi shawls??
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I will be back with more posts about the show from last weekend and hopefully
I will be able to put some of new prints in the shop as well.

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2009-01-15T22:51:00.000-08:00

Tinlark gallery _Crossroads of the world

Saelee Oh's sweetest murals are all over the place.....

Two days before the opening

Tanya is installing her textile piece.

and I love the felt stones she made!!

My pieces are all ready to go on the wall now.

Souther salazar 's little men and balloons.

and of course you know there are more to see......................... .....................

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2009-01-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

rabbit is making mochi on the moon
This is the one of my favorite story about moon.
The Chinese version of rabbit in the moon story.

11X15 gocco screen print on arches 88. editions of12
see it bigger here.

I did six new prints (six night tales) for the upcoming group show in Tinlark gallery.
Please join us this Saturday for the opening reception and gallery's 2nd anniversary party.

read the press here!!

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Will be back with more pictures and stories of the new prints!!

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2009-01-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

After a good Sunday breakfast, I made Chinese steamed buns, called 花捲 (flower twist)/ Hua Juan.

Recipe from here. ( I forgot to put the oil in the dough, but they are still very tasty. I didn't add as much yeast as it said in the recipe, I just don't like the taste of yeast. ). I also tried to bake some of them. They turned out good too. Yummy!! I guess they can be different kind of forms. There are some similar buns in different forms and they all have their own names. I might make more of them but try different kind of forms or adding stuffing ( like red beans). But, Trust me! The twisting part is like crafting.......... unexpectedly & surprisingly fun to make.

I also like the twisted yarns!!

I made some belated holidays' gifts for friends.

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Barry McGee is the best!!

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2009-01-07T23:27:00.000-08:00

darkness+faded memories + story of rabbit and moon.
I have been working on new prints for my second group show.
It's almost done. I will be back soon.

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>triangle fantasy

2009-01-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

Happy new year!

The first day of 2009 was cold. It's nice because it's more like a real winter. "cold and humid."
We didn't do anything special for new year's eve so I baked cheese cake in the morning. Just needed some heat from the oven and also some fresh lemon zest aroma to start the first day of this year.
Also made cheery jam for the cake. ( I added some bourbon)

p.s.
I found this spider web in our front yard when we were running around and trying to deal with our old sewer line in the first day of 2009. (yes, it's clogged again) . It's life. When you were a bit desperate and you found something really simple and nice in front of you and it immediately comforts you........... for seconds you can totally forgot what's in your head and run back to house to get the camera..

I didn't have time to take breaks for this long weekend. But no complaints....
so below is sneak peak of what I've been busy lately.....
soon I will be able to talk more about this!

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Amy from pikaland interviewed me. Thanks a lot, Amy!!

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2008-12-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

happy holidays!!

finally i have a sit-down breakfast ! most of time i eat my breakfast in the car. the past a coupe of weeks were busy but full of challenges.

got some new polaroid films but half of them were jammed inside of the cartridge and this is one of them... a magical one with splashes of winter blue.

hope you are all well!!

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2008-12-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a nice thanksgiving dinner...
I am still thinking about the heat from the oven and the aroma from the herbs.

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soon my mission will be completed and i will return back to this space.
(I know that I've been missing a lot of things here....)

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2008-11-18T23:05:00.000-08:00

working & working

I have been working like a CAD monkey lately. Around 10 hours a day and 7 days a week ( plus 2 hours sit in the traffic everyday). I enjoy working but I also miss the things happening in this space.

I will be back soon!!

2008-11-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

Jurgen Lehl

Nambu ironware is very good too!!
more nice stuff in their blog.

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carolyn alexander

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2008-11-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Sea Maze
A continuous series of Princess Kavalan

Darkness
(set of 2 prints)

Twinkling
(set of 2 prints)

I'm still loving the story of princess Kavalan and still inspired by the amazing marine creatures details. I'm continuing to do more prints based on this lovely story. They are sets of 2 prints and available in my shop now. You will be surprised about it's low price and I think they will be good for Christmas gifts.
There will be more prints to come next week!!

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Nothing nicer than a sweet package landed at my door when I was totally exhausted and needed to take a good break. Then here is a package from London sitting in my porch, on it's custom form it said " sweets",... yehh, there are mango chutney, plum jam, ginger cookie, raisin fudges.....
oh,... thank you!! phyl, you are so sweet! I love you! your package also brings rain to LA. It has been raining lately! ( another yah!!)

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casa de tree
Nothing better than a vegan bento with ku:nel.

my vegan bento

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2008-10-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

moss

I've been weaving lately! I'm working hard on it so forgive me to be disappeared from this space for a couple of days.

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2008-10-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

maarten van severen's Atelier
( no more pictures because of the copy right)
follow the links to see more!!

there are more beautiful houses from OWI.
via here.

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thank you Martha for the perfect Yamamoto Jacket link.
will be my coming holiday project................................can't wait!!

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2008-10-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

Watch by Denis Guidone

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2008-10-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

Ryuji Nakamura

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2008-10-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

how to fold a lamp

I bought a roll of sketch paper from Ikea in the kid section. The reason why we chose this paper is because of the price. It's cheap so we can do a lot experiments before we know what we really want to make.

okay, let's start to make the lamp.

The above diagram is the pattern I did for this lamp. The straight and dotted lines are the folding lines on the front side of paper and the diagonal lines are the folding lines on the back side of paper. When I say " front" and back" sides of paper it doesn't mean this paper has front and back sides. Most of papers are not like fabric has identical right or wrong sides. It's just easier for me to differentiate the two folding patterns on two sides of same paper.

1. Start with straight lines first. you can mark lines on the paper. The way I did is marking the line only at the
top and bottom of the paper and then score the lines by rotary knife. You won't see the marks because they
will be hidden after assembling the lamp.

2. I did 40 columns so total is 40 inches long. 1 inch(for each column)x 40 x 1'-6 1/2" (tall)

3. Begin the first diagonal folding line from the 8th column (see the diagram above) and continue.....
remember the diagonal lines should be marked in the opposite side of the straight line's.

**The images below show the sample of paper from the book.
1cm( for each column)x78 x 24cm(tall)

4. After finishing the marking then we can start to fold the lines. One side at a time. If you score the lines
before folding , you find that the folding lines are much more crisp.

5. Start to pull the shape together after you finish folding.

** It will start to like this....... keep pull them together ( in and out).

Ok, in the meanwhile, let's talk to about the core. I got this core from Ikea. I think they are original for their paper lamp. I also got the low watt light bulbs from them. They are in very love temperature so it's safer for the paper lamp.

You can also make your own cord.
**My dear friend Sean made this for me from scratches. You can find all the parts in Home depot.

6. Finally! time to assemble the lamp.
I drilled two holes on the top and bottom and thread the holes with embroider string We have tried metal
wire or polyester string. I think I prefer embroider thread. Adjust the KNOT when you think it can hold the
shape well.

7. Glue the two ends together. You are done !!!

Trust me! It's not that difficult to make this lamp but it takes time. For this small size one (roughly 13" dia.), it took me around 6 to 8 hours to finish.

Let me know if you have more questions. This is just my way to finish the lamp. I think you probably have better idea than mine.

Have a nice weekend and have fun making lamp.

** will be back to share more experiences about the paper and some other patterns.

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2008-10-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

Mitsuru Koga

sea stone vases by Mitsuru Koga. Oct 9th to Nov. 2nd at tortoise.

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2008-09-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

Two fun magazines for weaving
* You can weave without a serious a floor loom, built your own looms with cardboard or foam board.

1. salvia vol.1.5

foam board loom & weaving with salvage fabric

2. Craft Magazine 08

actionweaver= Travis MEINOLF + cardboard pocket loom

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2008-09-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

making more.....

using leftover yarns from weaving to make a necklace/neck warmer.

trying to teach myself how to crochet, another necklace?? maybe?

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keep & share, beautiful knitwear from UK.

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2008-09-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

lately.......

good mail day!! lines & shapes vol.4 + Marzipan from Germany! Lucky me!!
(Thank you!! Mav. , Lena for the nice book and Phyllis for the sweets.) I love the packaging of the Marzipan.

(yum,,,,.......)

I did a baby shower invitation for my friend. This is the first time I do stationary. I think I had fun!!

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2008-09-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Last four prints for the princess Kavalan

05 Mr. salmon

06 Caves

07 nightfall

08 Castle

This is the first weekend that I will not be working after I've started to work on the art show. I you with this 4 images now. Just a short and simple post. Will be back soon! Have a good one! friends!

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2008-09-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

03 coral 01

04 coral 2

The first two prints ( waves & sea forest) took me forever to finish the sketches and printing. But starting from these two prints everything went smoothly. Also I started to pay more attention of the natural textures.
All the prints are available through the gallery.

If you are interested in any of the prints, you can contact Mylissa. (mylissa@littlebirdgallery.com)

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2008-09-09T23:09:00.000-07:00

Princess Kavalan

01 waves

02 sea forest

First, I want to say thank you! my friends. Thank you for stopping by last Saturday, also thank you for the flowers!!

Second, I would like to share some stories about the prints i made for this art show.
At the very beginning when I just started to work on the sketches, I wanted to do a children story book. I did a lot of research about the Chinese children stories. I talked to my friends and sisters in Taiwan and asked them which story is their favorite. I couldn't make up my mind to decide on which story to pick till Chihlung told me the story of " Pricess Kavalan". It's a Taiwanese aboriginal story! I immediately drawn to this story. It's so fascinating!! When i found this story it was 6 weeks before the show I realized that I won't be able to make a children book. I didn't want to give up on this story so I started to do a lot of the sketches based on this story
When I developed these sketches/setting at the same time I did a lot of abtract objects sketches. I have no idea where were those objects come from. They are like human tools, utensils. Something like mirror, hair comb,...etc. Then I had two totally different themes of sketches. This was 3 weeks before the show and also I got an email from Mylissa, gallery manager, asking me to give her the statement and Bio. There were more than 3 days I was struggling about the themes and statements. I wrote two different statements.....but at the end I settled for the story of " Pricess Kavalan". I hate writing but I had to say it's very helpful. Everything became very clear. After I finished the statement it's like a fresh start for me.
Below it's a short version of "Pricess Kavalan" ( my friend, Sean helped me to rewrite the story, thank you! Sean)

Pricess Kavalan, the only daughter of the Dragon King of the Esat Sea, and her forbidden romance with the Turtle General Lusheng. When the two eloped to land, the king followed with his crab and shrimp army and turned Lusheng and their son, Heping, into islands using his magic staff. Hearbroken, Kavakan used magical green pearl to transform herself into the fertil Lanyang Plain, and the frequet rains there are her tears when she thinks of her husband. Her regretful father dropped his staff which beames Jinmian Mountain and he fell and became the mountain range surrounding the Plain, never return to the East Sea.

For me, this is not really a love story between the pricess and the General but it's the love for the nature and the love for the lands and ocean where we live in.
(*Kavalan was one of the tribe living in Taiwan Island before Chinese immigrated to the island. All the islands and the Plain in the story are existing in the real world.)

Will come back to share more later!
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2008-09-05T11:34:00.001-07:00

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made bread for the breakfast

made another lamp for the gallery

stopped by gallery to dropped off the lamp and checked the installation.

sneak peeks of my work! I will have 8 gocco screen prints in the show. both framed and unframed prints will be available. ( will be back with more pictures of the prints and the opening)

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the show opens tomorrow night, hope to see you there!!

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Have a nice weekend!

2008-09-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last week

We went to visit Ace gallery and saw MELANIE PULLEN's works. We happened to be in La brea area so we decided to spent our lunch break in the gallery. We were a bit surprised what we saw in the show. They are fancy & beautiful images for the "War" theme.

This week

I am in a group show called " paper cut" which will open this Saturday. I couldn't believe that I finally finished everything last Friday. Honestly I enjoy doing this. I can't wait to show you more but here are some drafts and sketches I did.

Will come back on Friday and share more!!

Little bird gallery, 3195 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90039

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2008-08-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Black & White
Testing out our new Mamiya with fuji instant black & white films.

chihlung took this one!

and I took this one!

so much love for the black and white photos!

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onounit.com

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