Spinning Ladies

This week, I did some sketches of the ladies at the spinning group I join regularly.

I did two sketches from life, and the rest from photographs. These sketches are small, done on watercolour postcards. I wanted to do these little portraits as a way of expressing my gratitude to this group of lovely people who had welcomed me with such warmth and generosity that I have rarely encountered.  

Painting from Photographs

the photo

the painting

At my watercolour class today, I did a demonstration of how to paint a landscape using a photograph as reference. As the human eye is quite different from the camera lens, I have stretched out the areas in the distant horizon to give more visual interest to the composition of the piece. The result is quite satisfying.

Daphne of the Bush

Daphne, Raku Glazed Sculpture by Artist Bee

I made this sculpture of a kneeling headless female figure some time ago. I decided to do away with arms and gave her wings instead. After it was glazed and fired, I placed a branch of gum leaves onto it. My daughter at once said it reminded her of Daphne, the nymph in Greek mythology who turned into a tree when pursued by Apollos. This piece is currently being exhibited at the City of Stirling Art awards exhibition in Cedric Street, Stirling, WA. 

Art Awards

Last night I attended the City of Stirling Art Awards Opening with my family. My daughter and I had submitted entries - she, a drawing and I, a sculpture. There were over 300 entries and 287 pieces were in the exhibition. There were many artworks of excellence, though we all had our own favourites. Nor did we agree with the judges about the most deserving pieces. In the end, beauty does indeed reside in the eyes of the beholder, and to each his own. I am, however, impressed with the overall standard of the works displayed. I am particularly drawn to the winning work in the drawing and sculpture categories. 


As a mother, I am immensely proud of my daughter's work. To me, she is a winner. So here I share it with the world:

Tryptych by J. Huang

Gone Spinning

I have been spinning. Not the extreme sport, but spinning yarn. I was an inadvertent spinner (as explained in my spinning blog). That, in addition to my current art mural project and classes, is taking up a fair bit of my time. It's all good! I have not been posting here as often as I hoped, but I will do my best. Today, I am pleased to feature my Boab Tree sculpture:

Boab Tree Sculpture by Artist Bee 2011
(Raku Clay)

Art time

I am going back to my sculpture class again tomorrow. Not teaching, but learning. I enjoy being in class as a student as much as being a teacher. I love learning new things. Although this is a really busy period, the only way I can get to do some art for myself is to attend those classes. For three whole hours I can make art uninterrupted by distractions. I look forward to that time with anticipation that I can get my creative juices flowing in a pleasant environment with like-minded people. My project from last term is still uncompleted, and I look forward to working on it again. In the past I have brought work home and found it difficult to finish except with very special effort to circumvent the continual distractions of phone calls, meal preparation, housework, and the relentless attention seeking antics of my children, both two legged and four legged ones. For me, class time is art time for now. I look forward to the day when art time can be most of the time! For now, at least I have three hours a week to spoil my artist self.

Part of my Ongoing sculpture project "Changing Hands"

Crafting words

It has been a really exhausting weekend, and I have been feverishly working on a grant application to be submitted this week. I heave a sigh of relief as it is now completed. Crafting words for an art grant is an art in itself, one that I have not had practice for some years now. Unfortunately, there are many times when the words become more important than the visual elements in the making of art. This brings to mind Tom Wolfe's book, "The Painted Word" , a good read which I highly recommend.


What I saw before me was the critic-in-chief of The New York Times saying: In looking at a painting today, "to lack a persuasive theory is to lack something crucial." I read it again. It didn't say "something helpful" or "enriching" or even "extremely valuable." No, the word was crucial.

In short: frankly, these days, without a theory to go with it, I can't see a painting.  

(exerpt from the book)

As for me, I still think a picture is worth a thousand words!

Rose Reflections Watercolour by Artist Bee