Mary had a little gem

My journey of becoming an artist

[maryhadalittlegem]

Parker family’s trip to Europe 2018/2019

I was completely overwhelmed by their reaction when receiving this piece of work. It really made my day! This is a collection of great memories (and some funny ones) of the Parker family’s trip to Europe. 

I added little blue hues for the blue city, Chefchaouen (shades of black and white simply didn’t do justice to show how beautiful the place is).

Ok, here are some highlights:

The narrow streets and endless stairs along the Medina in Morocco. The family had to carry their luggage up the stairs to the hotel!

The Parker clan’s (memorable) two-hour camel ride across the Sahara desert... One new mode of transport ticked

Coffee: Lovelyn, who was never a coffee drinker prior to this trip, started appreciating coffee because a trip to Italy will never be complete without drinking coffee at the bar!

A Landcruiser carrying their luggage loosely tied onto the roof and driving across the desert. Luckily no luggage fell off during the journey

Amalfi coast: A memorable day as they celebrated Alex’s great VCE exam results

and finally... The Parker family loves sport and they managed to catch a soccer match at the Stadio Santiago Bernabéu. It was a match where Real Madrid beat against Rayo Vallecano, 1-0.

I hope this will continue to bring you great memories and draw a smile on your face whenever you look at this piece of artwork. 

[maryhadalittlegem]

Mel’s Travel to Europe 

So honored to be making this piece featuring all the wonderful memories of Mel’s holiday across many parts of Europe with her mum, Netty, and brother, Micky.... or is it Mike?

I had so much fun sketching this and I have to say that this is definitely one of my best to date... Felt as though I was there with them as well.

Here are some of the highlights of their highlights:

Cats: Can you tell from this piece of artwork that Mel is a cat lover? Also, can you spot all the cats in the photos? There are seven

Pizza margherita: I put many pizza in the sketch as Mel’s mum was a little sick of just eating pizza margherita throughout the trip (because Mel’s a vegetarian. Then again, you don’t need to be a vegetarian to be loving a pizza margherita)

Florence’s Duomo: This is the first time I’ve ever put some perspective and so much detail into the Duomo. It is, after all, my favourite basilica

Game of Throne: I’m not a fan of GOT, in fact, I got so spooked out after watching the first 5 minutes... too much violence for my liking. However, there are a few sketches in here that are from various scenes in the TV series... can you spot them all?

Doors: That beautiful door surrounded by plants crawling all over the wall in Rome; and also that gigantic door somewhere in Florence. Isn’t it wonderful that your sense of awareness is heightened when you travel? And that we are so much more aware of our surroundings?

They stumbled upon an abandoned house while on the road somewhere between Croatia and Slovenia. I guess it is a reminder that the country was at war not too long ago 

A random bowl of miso soup & a note on the wall: One of their Airbnb hosts was named Miso (hence the bowl of soup) and he had a very specific requirement on keeping the house in order. Kind of taking the fun out of house sharing but I guess he may have had some pretty bad experience prior

This is a birthday gift for Mel’s mum. Netty, if you happen to be reading this sometime in the future, I really hope you like it and that the artwork brings you to smile remembering the wonderful memories that you had with both Mel and Mick. 

[maryhadalittlegem]

Una giornata straordinaria ordinaria / an extraordinary ordinary day

We sometimes simply run on an auto pilot mode and neglect to appreciate the beauty in every day… I know I’m guilty of it. One of the big thing this journey has taught me is to learn to be present, even more than usual.

So I thought I should pen my regular day in Florence.

Allora. This was sometime during early May. It was a strange month, weather wise to the Florentines, as apparently the weather was meant to warm up but we still had what’s left of the winter chills (which I didn’t quite mind, really). I (sometimes) like rainy days in Florence, the city feels… calmer.

This day was just another ordinary day, but made just a little more special as I spent the day with my dear friend of almost 20 years! I’m really grateful to be able to go through this journey with her. It feels like time has not change even though our lives have very much changed since we first knew each other.

What you see in my sketchbook are the sights and thoughts for the day…

Although I can now speak sufficient Italian (debatable), we still miscommunicate all the time. Meeting up at a meeting point is a constant (and more frequently than not, my fault) confusion. We are getting better.

That traffic intersection. Somehow feels like that’s the border between peace and calmness; and crazy traffic and crowds.

An interesting art installation at a church. I read it up on the internet later and loved the message the artist is trying to convey.

Us finding shelter at a cafe and spent the entire afternoon talking and sketching. Just be… like we have no care in the world.

That pair of green leather shoes that I’ve been eyeing since February. I figured if I even have the intention to draw it, means I really want it.

[maryhadalittlegem]

Ti va un caffè? / Coffee? 

I love how coffee defines a country’s culture, amongst many other things of course. 

My dear (now Italian) friend has taught me to observe the way Italians order their coffee in the mornings and it is such a spectacle!

In Melbourne, takeaway coffee is such a norm that we see many people commuting to work with a cup of coffee (sometimes tea) on their hands. It is even cool (I think) to be holding a reusable cup... you know, the whole keeping the environment green thing.

In Italy, takeaway coffee is almost as strange as seeing Italian wearing thongs (I mean flip flops, not the thing that wedges in between your buttcheek) on the street! 

I love the concept of a bar in Italy. It is catered for everyone from day to night (we can get breakfast, lunch (some places even does hot food), aperitivo drinks, just drinks! and some even make gelati). In the mornings, people come in, order their coffee and croissant with whatever filling they like (it is called brioche in Florence, don’t ask why. My favorite is brioche alla crema/croissant with custard), eat standing on the bar and then carry on with their lives. 

One thing we noticed is that some coffee orders are really specific, even to the types of cups that they want it in... caffè con tazza grande (cafe espresso with a big cup) / caffè con tazza vetro (cafe espresso in a glass) etc. 

One of my teacher’s usual order is a caffè macchiato freddo (cafe macchiato, but cold?) and there’s a whole logic behind that. He has a long nose and he gets the foam onto his nose whenever he drinks a caffè macchiato (which usually comes with foamed milk). Therefore, with macchiato freddo (espresso with a tiny jar of fresh milk), he can drink his coffee with a little milk, without having any embarassing foamed nose incidents! HOW COOL IS THAT? 

Or is just me that is fascinated by such trivial things? 

Ok, the sketches on my sketchbook are part of my daily practice, in particular, to get the shape, shading and form correctly. But I thought it’d be cute to also add to what I have learned about coffee here as well. 

Below are some of the favorite coffee/cups to date.

Enjoy! Namaste

[maryhadalittlegem]

Il mio vicinato / my neighborhood

Finding a (decent and affordable) place for a short term stay was challenging, especially when my knowledge of the city was limited to just tourist spots. I took a big bet when I chose an unfamiliar neighborhood that is out of the city center area. 

Campo di Marte is not exactly a suburb but it is about a half hour walk into the city center. It means ‘the army camp’ in Italian, as this was a neighborhood that initially established as a training ground for the army. Today, it is a very beautiful, quiet (most of the time, other than soccer football season) and, best of all, most people here do not speak English, so it forces me to speak Italian.

So, here are some explanation to the things that I sketched. They are things that I love and will leave a permanent impression of the neighborhood. After all, sketches tell a thousand words...

The atmosphere: Stadio Franchi is home of ACF Fiorentina and it is just a stone throw away from home. The neighborhood really becomes alive whenever there is a match at the stadium. The whole neighborhood is filled with people dressed in purple. I love it as it reminds me of Melbourne during the footy season. Also, it is a time when my apartment vibrates with screams and stomps from my neighbor upstairs, he’s definitely very passionate about football.

The sound: There is an ambulance center near my place, so the sound of sirens will always remind me of Campo di Marte. Apparently, the ambulance services here are also used to fetch the senior citizens to their visits to the doctor.

The sights: With Fiesole and Settignano just a 15 minutes (bus ride) journey, it feels that we can get away from the hustle and bustle of the city at any time. Also, there’s something really beautiful about seeing hills with pastel yellow buildings. 

The food: I cannot not talk about my love of Italian food! I’m very fortunate to have the best gelato just across my apartment and it is also a pasticceria! (a number of locals told me that Badiani makes the best gelato. If the locals say it is good, it IS good, I think)... I find the concept of pasticceria here amazing. You can have breakfast (Italian style breakfast which is anything with sugar and carbs), dessert and gelato, coffee, lunch and alcoholic drinks all at the same place! Some pasticceria even serves apperitivo! (What is an apperitivo you may ask? It is a pre-dinner drink where you usually pay for a drink and it comes with a buffet of finger food)

Also, my current favourite restaurant is Caffe Dogali which is around the neighbourhood as well. The restaurant is really cozy, serves a great selection of apperitivo, amazing pasta selection and makes good Aperol Spritz (just the right amount of Aperol). Their coccoli (a fried bread balls, as seen on the sketch) with prosciutto and stracchino (a milk cheese) is my all time favourite! I’m not good at describing but it is DELICIOUS and I could eat that every day! I tried the vegetarian version (see photo below) and it tasted equally as good!

I’ve included some photos of the neighborhood. It is quite badly taken as it was taken using an iPhone during my walks but it gives some perspective.

Once again, thank you for reading and giving me the pleasure to share my stories. 

Namaste!

[maryhadalittlegem]

Corridoio Vasariano / Vasari’s Corridor

The Corridoio Vasariano was one of the few things that the teachers and students talked about a lot during my first week in school. So I was intrigued... did some reading and got my ‘storia dell’arte’ teacher to tell me more about it. In a nutshell, it is an elevated corridor that connects a few buildings together (even crossing the river). 

I walked past many parts of the corridor so frequently and never realised what they were. So here’s what I found:

1. The corridor was commissioned by the Duke of Cosimo de Medici (they were the most important family that made Florence what it is today) coinciding his son’s wedding (Francesco Medici). The idea of the corridor was to allow the Medici family members to walk freely between their office (Palazzo Vecchio) and their residence (Palazzo Pitti) without interruption and a need for security guards. Also, some said it was to show their privileged status. 

2. The corridor is an elevated pathway that connects Palazzo Vecchio (the building with a replica of David statue at the front), through to the Galleria degli Uffizi, then by the River Arno, above Ponte Vecchio, through many buildings and ends at Palazzo Pitti. Due to the family’s power back then, they were able to build the corridor passing by many private houses / shops, with the exception of one family who did not allow them to build the corridor passing their residence. Hence they built the corridor around that building. 

3. The name Vasari was given as it was designed by Giorgio Vasari (a very important artist and architect) and he built it in just five months, which was really quick back in the days. 

4. Ponte Vecchio was then a butcher’s market (as it was easier to throw the waste into the river). But the Duke did not want the stench of meat going up the corridor and so the butchers' markets were asked to move (they were given another market nearby the Sant’Ambrogio Market). The shops were replaced with goldsmith which became a jewelry market instead (until today).

5. The corridor also passes the Chiesa Santa Felicita (church). It has a balcony above which allows the family to join the mass without joining interrupting the general public.

6. The corridor had mostly small rounded windows with limited lighting. However, some of the windows along the corridor above Ponte Vecchio were enlarged in the 1930s as part of Adolf Hitler’s official visit to Rome and Florence. It was to show to him the panoramic view of the River Arno. Apparently, he was so impressed by the view and hence the only bridge that wasn’t destroyed in World War 2. 

7. The corridor contains private collections of the Medici’s artworks and are all portrait paintings. 

8. Parts of the corridor and Galleria degli Uffizi were damaged by the Mafia during a bombing in 1993. I think it was during the period where the government had a major crackdown of the Mafia and it was a sign of ‘threat’ to the government. A stolen Fiat car exploded at a small alleyway nearby and it destroyed many artworks and some structure of both buildings. Sadly a few people who lived nearby were killed too.

So here they are... some useless new things that I learned here. It is interesting how there are many buildings here that seemed so ordinary but contains such interesting history. 

Namaste, storia-nerd.

[maryhadalittlegem]

Il fine settimana primo a Firenze / First weekend in Florence

Going back to school after a long period of time in the workforce (about 15 years) was a little shock to my system. For a start, it didn’t occur to me that there’s this two things called homework and exams. Secondly, learning a new language is challenging but I’m slowly seeing myself being more confident in speaking Italian now. But thirdly, the painting and art history class are lots of fun and that helped overcome the shock.

Therefore, for my first weekend, I decided to explore a little town that is very close to Florence, Fiesole. It is a beautiful little town and best of all it is really close to where I live (I can see the town from my window). 

Here are some things that I learned about Fiesole and have sketched it in my little sketchbook as well.

Number 1. Fiesole is on a hilltop and it has the BEST panoramic view of Florence. You can see that Florence is a very BIG city. Look at that view! It’s a little cloudy but you could see the Duomo from here, if you look really carefully/squint your eyes! 

Number 2. It is a town probably started during the Etruscan times (we can see the ruined walls here and there). Also traditionally it was home to the rich Florentines (and it still is). We took a nice stroll home from Fiesole and stumbled upon this street called Via Vecchio Fiesolana. The houses there were BEAUTIFUL, grand and they have the perfect views!

Number 3. It was a place where Leonardo Da Vincci first experimented flying! How cool is that! 

Number 4. OK. I may say this every time I try a new restaurant, but I had the best fresh made taglitalle al ragu, ever (at that time).

Number 5. This is not about Fiesole but food related. There is a range of sweets selling in every patisserie only at this time of the year as part of the carnival season. I understand that the sweets are part of the celebration prior to Lent (I may be wrong as I’m still learning). Something along the line of enjoying sweet things before giving up during Lent. I have sweet tooth so I would try anything! Here’s a Cenci (deep fried dough with lots of icing sugar, tasted a bit lemony too) and frittelle riso (deep fried sweet rice balls). They were DELICIOUS! Sinful... but delicious!

Number 6. Borrowed an Italian book at a mobile library, hoping to improve my Italian. And judging by the picture, it may be a raunchy novel, but hey, isn’t that the quickest way to learn a language?

Comunque (anyway), I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed sharing it. Namaste

[maryhadalittlegem]

This is a little account of my first experience with the Italian bureaucracy

Given this will be my one and only experience dealing with the Italian government, I didn’t mind it and took it as part of the Italian experience. However, if I would have to do this regularly, I would really hate it!

So... I need to get a couple of paperworks done as part of my Italy stay, simply because I have no association with the EU (other than being a recurring tourist that contributes an unnecessary amount of money to get little momentoes).

Paperwork 1: Permesso di soggiorno, which means permission to stay. Even though I have got the long term visa, it wasn’t enough. I need to get a permission to live here and can only do this at the town that I’m living in. It didn’t make sense right? But who am I to argue with a system when everyone has been following? I also read about many people who had a really painful experience so I was quite prepared... or so I thought. 

So here goes.. (you can follow the red numbering and lines on my sketch, I just had to pen this once in a lifetime experience) :)

STEP 1. Went to a post office/ Poste Italiane (first thing the lady told me was “no, non parlo Inglese!”/ “No, I don’t speak English!”) and asked for a permesso form. It took me half an hour just to get the form eventhoguh I was the only 3 customers there because their computer system was down and would not accept any customers. The form was in full Italian and it had over 5 leaflets. Panicked and didn’t know who to go to...

STEP 2. So I went to school for help. Finally met the lady whom I’ve been corresponding and she asked me to return at 2pm as she’ll be available to help me

STEP 3. I had to do a pitstop at a nearby tabacchi (tobacco shops that sells everything) to get a ‘tax-stamp’ that cost me a whopping EUR13, which is to be attached to the form

So while waiting for time, I decided to process my paperwork 2: codici fiscale. This COMPLETELY doesn’t make sense as I do not work here... But I needed it for a few formal documentations and according to the locals... “I know, it doesn’t make sense but everyone has to do it!”. So here goes...

STEP 4. Went to a questura (police station) thinking it was the right place (I have gotten really confused with all the bits of advice received by then). With limited Italian, I figured that the receptionist said I have to go to this place called the “Agenzia delle Entrate”. Googled up, found two agenzia and decided to pick a random first which is about 20 minutes walk

STEP 5. Reached the Agenzia delle Entrate. Through their hand gesture, I learnt that this agenzia doesn’t process codici fiscale and they gave me another address. That is on the other side of the town and was a 30 minutes walk. The office closes at 12.30pm and it was 11.30am, but I was determined to get it done and over with... so, I ran there!

STEP 6. Reached the correct agenzia... filled in the form in Italian (good thing I had a photocopy of my own passport)... the fierce lady vetted my form; gave me an appointment number; waited patiently for my turn; went up to the right counter and 5 minutes later, I got my codici fiscale! WINNER!

One done and one more to go. So, now back to the permesso di soggiorno

STEP 7. The school coordinator helped me fill in the form, saved me a lot of headaches and then asked me to go to another bigger post office that processes this application (Grazie mille Victoria!)

STEP 8. Few days later, I followed diligently and arrived at the bigger Poste Italiane at precisely 8.30am. I was told that I will be receiving a temporary card and a slip with an appointment time with the police to get a proper permesso. However, I found out that the process has changed and they will be sending the appointment date via post instead

Today, I received an SMS with the appointment date with the police, but on a date that my visa ended! The school told me to ignore it as I have the temporary slip which is sufficient and that I do not have to do anything.

So this is my experience of dealing with the bureaucracy... It gave me things to do while trying to settle in, exercise and also familiarise around town. I also am finding myself quite religious suddenly, as I have been praying, hoping that nothing dodgy will happen with my stay (and also my future citizen application!).

Thank you for reading a rather detailed account. Grazie e ciao.

[maryhadalittlegem]

Given I have uprooted a few times in my lifetime, I thought that moving (short term) to another country will be a piece of cake.

Boy, I was completely wrong! For one, it has been almost a decade since I last did it; secondly, I was young, brave and never quite put much thoughts into anything that I do; and finally, they were all English speaking countries, therefore, language was no barrier.

Having said that, I’m enjoying every single moment despite the initial shock. After all, what could go wrong when I’m living in a carbohydrate-heaven? So these are the highlights of my first week, in no logical order…

Top: View of my train ride from Milan to Florence. Growing up in a tropical country, I always love the sight of snow

Middle: Took a morning stroll around the neighborhood where I was staying in Milan (also in an attempt to overcome jet lag) and ended up in a very Melbourne-style coffee shop for my morning coffee (sign of homesick-ness already?)

Bottom: My initial feel (”shock” was a little too strong a statement but quite fitting) during my first week here: cycling on the wrong other side of the road and with cars/bus/trucks just inches away from you, smokers puffing right to your face and dog faeces everywhere!

[maryhadalittlegem]

It all started out as a crazy idea (don’t they always do?) one year ago … fulfilling two major longing:

A lingering curiosity around living in Europe (I have a very “la la land” view of Europe but always know that it is not as beautiful as it seems in my head)

A strong desire to pursue the path of being in the art world

Fast forward to today, here I am! Florence is now my temporary home and I will be sharing my sights, experiences, and feelings on this new sketchbook.

So please continue to read/stalk as I will start to post and share. Hope you will like it.

Namaste, Maria (when in Rome, make your name Italian, vero?)

[maryhadalittlegem]

The art of being mindful

I have forgotten how fun (and important) it is to spend a weekend all by yourself. Being an extrovert, spending time alone was something that I never quite enjoy but have over the years really learnt to appreciate it! Never realised that I’m really fun to be with (sorry, I’m being really narcissistic here but just bear with me this time, again). It really was a good mind-cleanse and I felt so much more refreshed, both mentally and physically. Highly recommended to those who have not spend time alone for a while.

It also gave me a new inspiration to sketch this. Not sure what exactly, I guess it was a combination of a great yoga practice, meditation and most of all, being a lot more present with my surroundings which opened my eyes to many things that I wouldn’t notice on a normal day (hence a lot of nature details on this piece of work). I decided to give a splash of yellow surrounding my three favourite asana poses and the poses give an immense energy.

This is a very meaningful piece to me as it is a great representation and reminder to be mindful of everyday surrounding… Take in every breath, look up, and appreciate the beauty that nature has to offer.

I hope you enjoy this piece as much as I enjoyed sketching it.

By the way, I do commission work. So if you like any of my work or have anything that you want me to draw, please let me know. I’ll be honoured to make one for you.

Namaste

[maryhadalittlegem]

Aum

The Aum... a religious symbol for the Hindus and the Buddhists... and also widely preached in the yoga practices. It has so many interpretation but the one that I like (and can relate most) is that it symbolises the absence of desire, fear and anger. I can’t say I truly understand the importance of it yet as I’m still learning. However. this is my take on Aum in my art form. 

Sketching takes me out of my body and my mind... It feels completely quiet and at ease. 

Anyway. Hope you like this piece as much as I enjoyed sketching it.

Namaste.

[maryhadalittlegem]

Travel & draw: Spain & Portugal

I love drawing beautiful architecture and Europe is always the perfect place for it. This is a beautiful and challenging piece that I did for my Europe travel buddies. 

The cities and towns we visited were Segovia, Toledo, Madrid and Porto. Four beautiful places, each with its unique architecture, made drawing it to accurately represent them so much harder. This is definitely one of the most detailed pieces that I have done to date.

Here are some of the favourite features in this piece and photos of the location. Hopefully you can spot them above.

The Aqueduct of Segovia - How amazing it is that they were all just stones assembled together without using mortar to hold them together!

The spot at Gaia that my friend got hit by a jackpot (a bird dropped a bomb right onto his head while flying! What’s the odd of that happening?)

Alcázar of Segovia - Apparently that’s where Walt Disney got his inspiration for the Disney castle.

Livraria Lello - Frankly, I feel that it’s a tourist trap (charging an entrance fee into a bookshop just because J.K. Rowling got her inspiration for Harry Potter there?). Regardless, the facade of the bookshop was absolutely stunning! Just look at that!

Bodegas Rosell - That amazing Spanish restaurant near our Airbnb stay in Madrid. Sorry for the poor quality photo, that was the best that I could get after a great night out!

I really hope the new owner love this piece.

[maryhadalittlegem]

My intention, my sankalpa

I usually dread trips to my home country as I feel that it’s a waste of my annual leave and expensive flights. However, things took a different turn in my recent trip... I came back feeling a whole lot more rejuvenated (mentally, not psychically) and my intentions are a lot clearer now.

I was completely surprised by the support and ideas from my family and friends, especially mum and dad. It meant so much that they believe in me and that my plan can actually turn into something real. I feel like a kid all over again.

I’m excited but I’m nervous at the same time. I’m afraid of failure. But I have a burst in energy now.. I shall stay focused, I shall stay hungry and I just have to try.

So this is my purpose, my sankalpa (संकल्प) ... I love arts and my dream is to do artworks for life. I know it sounds naive. I hope that one day, my career journey will take its turn and that I will be living my dream.

Thank you to everyone who have been supporting me and sharing ideas.. It really means a lot to me. Keep reading and I can’t wait to share!

PS: Photo above was a candid photo of me sketching the beautiful scenery in Japan, at -7c!

[maryhadalittlegem]

Travel & draw: Nippon 日本 city

Japan was never in my list of places to visit, until a few years back when we decided to give it a go...

My first trip to Japan totally blow my mind! We went to the major three cities (as every first timer would) and there were just so much to absorb! Japan truly is a place with a mix of tradition, technology and a whole lot of quirkiness. 

This is my personal collection and is jam packed with memories of my first trip to Japan. It has some familiar sights but most of them are little stories and memories that happened during the trip. 

Let me share some familiar sights, hope you can spot them: Mount Fuji, Shibuya crossing, Glico man in Osaka, Tsukiji market, Kiyomizu-dera temple, Golden Kai just outside Shinjuku station, Shinkansen train, Osaka castle, Shinjuku Gyoen national garden and It’s a Small World in Tokyo Disneyland

Some personal highlights of the trip:

1. Family Mart: Our daily visits to convenient stores... morning, to get our breakfast (usually the rice rolls and hot coffee in a plastic bottle); and evening, for snacks, beer and ice-creams 

2. Yodobashi retail store: Our crazy quest to spend 5,000 yen just to avoid paying the 8% tax. Crazy moments like this definitely made it to the artwork (it’s at top row just left of Mt. Fuji, and has a little 5,000 yen sign on one of the window to represent our 5,000 yen spending quest)

3. Pokemon: My brother claimed that playing Pokemon Go in Japan has to be part of his first Japan experience. 

If you have any trips that you’d like a more personal method to capture your memories, please let me know. I’d be honoured to sketch one for you. 

Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed sketching it 

Namaste.

[maryhadalittlegem]

I travel and I draw... Europe 2015

This was one of my first completed “travel and draw” work from our five week travel around Europe in 2015. 

Given it was my partner’s first (non-work related) trip to Europe, we went to the key Europe destinations. It was really great to see how this trip opened his eyes to a whole new world. He pointed out a lot of little architectures that I would not have noticed. 

So when we returned from our holiday, I had the sudden inspiration to really pen it down. Not just the famous monuments and sights, but also little stories and highlights that happened along the way (thankfully nothing bad happened to us). And so, this is the completed work. And this was how my idea of sketching holiday memories started. Much better than Insta-story :) 

So let me share some unique features and see if you can spot them.

There’s two little cats: Visited my two best friends in Manchester. Sebastian and Maverick are their two fur-children (I think that’s what they call it these days). Think Seb and Mav weren’t quite jolly to have us around as we invaded their private space.

Four Corners coffee shop in London: We had a slightly unpleasant Airbnb stay in London but there’s a really nice little coffee shop just across the street. We went there every morning for our coffee before starting our day.  

Two handmade ceramic roosters that I really wanted to get this in a craft shop in Sacre-Coeur but my partner refused to let me get them. So instead of buying it, it went into my art work.

Garbage bags: We got quite lost looking for our Airbnb apartment in Paris, just to find out that the apartment is right in front of us but a bunch of big black garbage bags blocked the apartment number (apparently it was rubbish pickup day when we arrived).

Our Amsterdam Airbnb: It is a slightly lopsided apartment with very narrow stairs. I loved everything about that apartment. You can spot us both waving in the window

Dinner by Heston: We had to try one fine dining restaurant in London and ended up at Dinner by Heston (this was before it came to Melbourne). We were seated by the window overlooking a beautiful garden. I drew a view from the window.

The beautiful Parisian view at the window of our Airbnb stay: The Paris Airbnb is the smallest one that we’ve ever stayed in but it was cozy and has an amazing view. Nothing special in particular but it was great to see a small neighbourhood around and I imagined this is how the Parisians live.

Other familiar sights, hope you can spot them: Notre-Dame Cathedral, Conwy castle, the famous Formula One track in Monaco, Eiffel Tower, quirky street signs by Clet in Florence, leaning tower of Pisa, Roman Forum and the Colosseum, London Eye, Piazza Duomo, St Peter Basilica at the Vatican City, the gondola ride in Venice, Basilica Sacre-Coeur, Statue of David in Florence, Platform 9 and 3/4, Dr. Who’s Dalek from the BBC studio in Manchester, Museum of Natural History, Champ-Elysee, the Ponte Vecchio.

I hope you enjoyed this... Namaste. 

[maryhadalittlegem]

Impermanence

Every single piece in my sketch work brings a meaning or memory (be it good or bad) and helps tell the story. Let me share with you this piece.. it is part of the “Run Malaysia... Run” piece which I recently shared. 

The one above, is a sketch of my grandma’s coffee shop and its adjoining outdoor market on the left.. My grandma used to prepare drinks (crazy good local coffee) while my aunt cooks char kuey teow for customers (who were largely the sugar factory workers nearby). It is completely demolished now and everything that is left is just memory now. I guess that life is impermanent. Everything will fade away one day... including us. 

I realised that I do not have much photos (or any at all) of my grandma’s coffee shop so I had to rely a lot on memory. Thankfully before I finalised this, I found a 2012 Google Earth image of the shop and was able to made minor edits. In the Google Earth image, there stood my uncle (who has passed away) was standing at the front of the coffee shop. Therefore, the stickman at the front of the market represents my late uncle.

It is sad that the area was once a bustling village by the river bank is now a highway that connects two ends of the river. I guess this is what modernisation does to us. So this is a little piece of my family in this art work.. Ah-ma’s coffeeshop during its heydays. If you can see the Chinese sign above the shopfront says “Tan Family”. 

The photo below is where the coffee shop once was. It was taken a couple years back.

Sorry for being too personal again, something to do with writing and not knowing who is reading… makes me really honest. :)

I hope you enjoyed the story behind this little piece.  

Namaste