Kiss kiss

I don’t like to say goodbye to Mama. I know her feeling. I would just kiss her twice and go. And today I felt worse, I had to say goodbye to my baby DHA too. Hoo hoo.. Like usual, I didn’t look back. TET who drove me to airport told me how sad they looked. Uuh.. Please don’t tell me!

10:20 flight is convenient in a way. I didn’t have to rush in the morning but it’s still early to fly. But arrived home in Jakarta around 14:00, I felt like the day has gone. I felt tired and didn’t want to go out.

Malang trip was not in plan. I ‘forgot’ that I’m going to Bali on Wednesday so I didn’t combine the trip although it could be time, energy, and cost efficient. I was too lazy to pack for one week and want to attend jewelry study group tomorrow. No choice, I had to go back to Jakarta.

I’m happy to have decided to go to Malang. Nice to be with close friends and see how Mama and DHA doing. They didn’t get along very smoothly. Fifty five years difference. Many generation gaps. I tried to talk to each side but I was hardly ‘accepted’ either. I belong to other generation. So I just enjoyed them ‘negotiating’ what each other wanted. Tough. They should be okay..

So here I am in Jakarta. I plan to do my monthly duty today because I have full day tomorrow. I will also tidy my two new collages from Malang. I hope I have time to make more collages today.

Photo of Mama’s greenhouse project in the garden.

W e l l

I forgot that Malang is cold in dry season. I was chilled last night. The reunion took place under tent in university parking space. Not many friends from my year attended, only a few. The reunion was for year 1960-s to 2000-s. I only recognized some of my seniors. They remembered me of course although I thought I was not popular :-) I think they remembered me more as Papa’s daughter. Papa was professor in the university. Hm..

I mingled with BSD, NDA and some male friends (yea.. none of female friends). Seniors had funny games and enjoyed so much singing. I was on stage when group 1980-s was called to perform a show. My male friends sang dangdut hoo hoo… I stood in the back… joged! Ha ha..

It was fun. I went home around 23:30, chilled. I wore short sleeved top and long wrap skirt (glad.. safe from mosquito).

I checked two art challenges this morning and decided to answer one. It took awhile to think of something until I saw Yu Sih (Yu = big sister) – Mama’s helper – passed. She is a perfect model for my collage with “clean” as theme.

My girlfriend came over and chatted with Mama. We went out with DHA to have rujak petis for lunch. We went to a new kedai not far from home. It’s a clean garage of someone’s house. We saw a well inside a room (shown in photo). Strange. DHA giggled. He enjoyed the experience. He observed how the ladies prepared the food. And good to know that he liked… cow’s lips (cingur)!!

Malang Here I Come!

I decided to go to Malang yesterday. My uni friends, NDA, called me everyday since early this week about uni reunion in Malang this weekend. I was not interested. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and I was sure that I would not go. On Friday, another close friend – BSD – called. He would come and invited me to come to his new greenhouse business on Sunday. I thought… if I could get a seat to Malang on Saturday then I would go. And I got 13:00 flight.

So I went. Convenient time. I could enjoy my morning and pack slowly. But when I had a lot of time, I forgot things. I forgot to wear my cuffs hoo hoo.. It’s still near house, I asked the cab driver to return. It’s my charm, I need to wear anytime ha ha.

Airport was busy. Flight was full. I was lucky to sit in second row next to an Italian dad with teenage daughter who’s going to school in Malang. He taught me some Italian words: gracias, prego, bon appetito, ciao. Nice man.

By the way, I didn’t tell Mama that I would come. I didn’t tell NDA either although he called me again this morning. He really expected me to come ehm.. I only told BSD because I wanted to go with him to the reunion. NDA is in the committee, he must be busy.

Mama is good. DHA is good. He played a lot in his room; computer, game boy, scrabble,.. I think he learned quite a lot during his stay with Mama. He is more ‘sensitive’ to his surrounds; picked up telephone, turned off stove, checked the barking Monique,...

He knows where everything is. It’s nice that I could shout to get plate and things ha ha. He also observed food vendors passing our street. He walked and bought putu (coconut and palm sugar) for us this afternoon. Luxury that I didn’t enjoy when I was kid (Mama hardly allowed us buying food from street vendors). Nice experience!

I giggled listening to Mama and DHA talked. Mama used Javanese and DHA replied in English. I could not help smiling. Funny.

Okay, I better get ready to prepare self for tonight’s reunion although.. I haven’t gotten connection with BSD. He may stay in his uphill house where there is no cellphone network. So I don’t know. I may have to tell NDA that I’m here later if BSD doesn’t show up. He he.. Not well arranged.

Photo of my cuffs.

M ss ng

I sat in balcony cutting paper at 8:00. What a luxury! I didn’t expect to have a nice slow day. I thought I had to run from one bank to another, then lunch with KAT, and else. Suddenly, no bank no lunch. KAT could not make it.

I decided to have my face pampered today. It had been three months of not going to salon since I suffered acne two months ago. Nice time, good mood.

I liked to do things outside house in the morning, or anytime before noon. It’s nice to have afternoon free, doing things I like. And today RIT and I were lucky to be able to arrange time to meet after salon. She also went to salon, close to mine. We arrived in the same time at Setiabudi around 14:00 to have lunch. Perfect.

We had nice talk over pita bread and cannelloni. RIT started with I envy you. What? She thought.. I have a good life, I have destination to go, and I connect to people well (she saw me chatting with a waiter I know three years). Ooppss.. While I always think that my life is pretty good but I don’t have destination to go. Yea.. I have pretty good connection with people but the former two??

I once wondered about RIT’s life which spanned from lunch to lunch, salon to salon, Jakarta – Bangkok – London – Tel Aviv. She had a good life!! I don’t, she told me. She doesn’t feel empty, but something is missing. I told her that.. I feel the same! Missing.

We looked at each other. We are both prisoners of time. We are not able to relax. Always think, always plan. Two persons of two decades (we are born under same Chinese year) feel the same.

Then we talked about what to do to contribute more, to complete the missing parts, to enrich life more,… We are eager to be in class, to work for others, to connect to more people,.. Hm. I asked her to join Heritage tour guide course for National Museum next Heritage year. It’s three-month course, no pain, then we can choose what we want to do with the knowledge.

I learn everyday, about myself.

Photo of a recycled-rubber thong owned by an artist in Yogya. The owner carved his name on it to make sure no one would steal :-)

Pampering?

Pampering is not for me. I always know that. Body is here, mind is wandering.

I decided to color hair today. Perfect day. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. I’d made appointment yesterday. I also agreed to have Ida to come in the afternoon. It’s pampering day right?

Last night I got a phone call that DHA diploma was ready and should be picked up before twelve. Fine. I could ask staff to go. Then in the morning I knew I needed to go to DHA campus. Auch! Good cousin DIT helped. She went.

I had time for my art and else. What I thought it would be quiet morning turned out differently. I had many things to do around house. Water was still problem. I could not shower in my bathroom; cold tap flow was too weak. Last night I had very quick shower before water got too hot. Aaargh!

I was late for coloring appointment and afternoon with Ida. I know that there’s nothing I could do with time but I wanted to be in time for everything. Prisoner of time.

How I wish I could shut the world off when pampering. Hard. I could only shut my life when meeting friends. I kept cellphone away or silent and only checked it when free. And funny the feeling after life back.. chaos! Shops needed attention, friends needed info, staff called, also nice texts from friends who cared,… When I delayed replying, I could end up not replying at all. Grr.

Where was I? Ya, I felt imprisoned by Ida all afternoon. I dreamed to have my time back.. Forget about pampering.

Photo of my collage about noise from neighbor.

Boost!

Wednesday and no bazaar. I felt good to have one free day for self. I stayed at home.

New activities make me good in delegating some household chores I liked to do in the past; like mopping floor ha ha. Now I better use my morning to sketch and write. I know I can delegate more works to make more time for self but I better do one by one. I’m happy with present arrangement.

I ironed in the morning, then shared good time with a friend. I started to do collage I sketched last night but it seemed the idea didn’t flow well. I talked to RIN on the phone for an hour. Uh uh… not many things to do.

I opened my textile cupboard to check its humidity while enjoying the variety. I chose one to replace the one near TV. I chose batik from Tuban (shown in photo) in faded colors because sun shines on the spot every afternoon.

Now I’m listening to Four Seasons played by Vanessa Mae. I need to boost my energy!!

I learned, I longed

Today was hot. Even in aircon-ed room I felt sweaty hot. Because of the chaos morning? Yea… almost no water! Yesterday half Jakartan experienced five-hour blackout in the afternoon. My water pump stopped after the electricity back. I had to use water efficiently, like turning on-off the running water while in shower. Like last Sunday, when one of my Yahoo account was down for hours, I was reminded that life is not always running smooth :-)

I went to KAT’s house again for study group. Many ladies attended. It’s always fun to visit someone’s house. Admiring crockery, tablecloth, ceramic, paintings, dogs, everything in the house. Women stuff.

Today was about beads on Indo textiles. It’s an interesting topic. Three of NIE’s cloths were shown. Wow adorable! Always. It made me want to check my collection. It sits in the cupboard too long now. I always have passion for ethnic textiles. My cupboard is loaded now, I stopped shopping but.. I also forgot to show. That’s my homework for tomorrow; take some out to display. I learn everyday.

No lunch today. Many ladies are heading to go holiday!! Again, I heard three weeks. How I wanted to close my ears.. I missed them before they really go.. I went straight home to pick up DHA. He needed to pack up his stuff in uncle’s house. He is going to visit Mama tomorrow. He is on 8:15 flight, so he better stays overnight in my place. It’s closer to airport.

I took him to Auntie’s house near my house. Auntie and cousins were surprised to see him tall. They reminded me that DHA looks like one of my other nephew. I looked again.. Yea.. nephews can be similar too, so the attitude. In a week, DHA has met almost all of his close relatives. He went to Bandung last Sunday to meet his Grandma. Good for him although I’m sure.. he didn’t recall everybody’s link.

We didn’t stay long. It was quite hot this afternoon. I longed for shower and did right away. So good now. Cool and ready to answer Studio Friday. I also have one artwork half done. I long for my art too..

Photo of kid's toys in Pasar Ikan, Jakarta.

Yea.. could have been worse..

I was ready for an adventure with DHA today. We went to ministry of education office to get his diploma an acknowledgment. It had been long time since I had to go thru government office procedure. It scared me. I kept thinking about many desks we had to go thru..

The office was just ten minutes from house. Piece of cake. I could also buy Amway stuff in the same building. Perfect! In the building, DHA missed the lift because it closed so quickly and no censor. It took awhile before we met in fourth floor.

The office was like.. an office. I mean no booth for public service. I went inside the glass door and tried to figure out how things worked. There were some eight men sitting and standing in empty space near the glass door. No clue. People just walked thru the crowd and shouted over the cubicles. Auch!

I approached the nearest desk with a busy lady. She told me that.. the office for us is in other place!! It’s near PS mall, 20 minutes drive in abnormal traffic. Glad the traffic was abnormal (normal in Jakarta = bad).

Getting a place to park was an experience. I drove up eight floors – in a narrow and dark parking building – to get a space. And the office in fifth floor was the same. One glass door had no life inside. One room was full of people but had a meeting. Uh oh.

Having asked someone near restroom, we found that there’s another glass door behind the lifts. Again, it’s the usual office without booth. When I asked a man, he pointed casually There! Where is there? Oh.. We were supposed to wait in a couch like in a living room, full of people, but they insisted us to sit! Being polite, we squeezed them to get two seats. Fun.

The officer handed DHA the form – three pages. Good DHA is old enough to fill in the form, I just supervised. In a few minutes, I handed the completed form and copies of document; he checked and interviewed DHA a bit. Back in one week. Done.

I was so happy. It finished in an hour or so since the wrong building. That’s great! Not bad eh? DHA said.. Yea.. could have been worse..

Photo of congklak -- traditional Javanese game board.

Senseless vs. Success

The past few weeks I observed people’s (including myself) sensitivity. Well, I didn’t do it intentionally. I observed cases and how people react to it.

I’m very sensitive to smell – good and bad. I can instantly detect if smell changes. But not many people, they don’t take this sense ‘seriously’ like any smell is the same. Hm.

There’s one incident, someone stepped on my toe and said that he didn’t know (didn’t feel?). Okay, maybe I have too flat thin toe that no one feels its existence ha ha..

And the most annoying thing is feel-less. Like one cannot feel what other feels -- just take the face value. Listen to someone’s need is easy; listen, then translate it into action. Done. But that’s not what I feel about listening. Sensing what one’s unexpressed need is more important. Now I become more complicated.

I’m not talking about other people then. I observed myself. I focus on things I like too much sometimes. So hard to divert, to share the attention. It’s good in a way that I have the focus but then I may… annoy people.
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I wrote above this afternoon. I must say.. I didn’t know what came to mind. I just wrote.. Strange ha ha.. I might be half asleep..

I could not believe myself. Today I final touched one collage and produced two fabulous collages. It’s been awhile I’m not satisfied with my artworks. Awkward. But today I’m successful to be a bit outside the box by using plain colored background. It looks nice. Object becomes well exposed. I’m lucky in Life of A Woman, I got the best material from one magazine. All fell into places. I love it.

And today I also found myself able to capture people’s characteristics – which amazed me. I never thought I could do even in the simplest way like I do now. I got the confidence after I made Lovely Short. A friend who suggested me to capture self said that Lovely Short is me. I thought and still think so.

This evening I made lower part of my closest friends in art group. NIE, PEN, RIT, AMA, and myself. I’m not good in face but I could try other part :-) I dare to say I’m 98% successful. I was amazed looking at the (half) bodies. I measured them well to be in the right proportion and pictured everybody’s style (dress, shoes, handbag). And what I like about it is.. I finished the artwork in two hours (including dinner). Now I know, I could work faster if I have strong idea. Of course, who can’t?

So that’s my day. I spent with collage and computer, vice versa. Also, I answered THREE art challenges!!

I am productive and found about myself more today!! Happy!!!

Photo of Let's have lunch! collage.

Outside The Box

I spent my morning to declutter more. Wonder about what kind of and how bad is the mess I have in the house? Not bad but.. disorganized. That’s what DHA told me. I could not agree more.

I was decluttering when he came the other day. I asked him what’s the difference between messy and disorganized. He said messy is dirty and disorganized; and disorganized is clean but things are not in place. Yea. I have stack of disarrayed magz under table since I started collage, two big trays of beads etc since I started 3-D artwork, a few piles of organized travel magz but piles,..

This morning I asked staff to take some art objects to workshop. I need them to have better presentation. KAT’s house has really given me inspiration. I liked her ‘disorganized-neat’ living. It’s warm and nice.

I remember AMA told us the other day about that morning she used RIT’s restroom and saw life for the first time (tooth paste not in place and else). Yes, RIT has super neat apartment. Like interior pictures in magz, uninhabited. Not my cup of tea.

Back to my effort to make disorganized-neat living, I returned all books to shelves. Forget about making it easy to access. I can walk to shelves to take it down anytime I need. I put everything back in place. Organized!

And more kick came from a comment in blucolage. It hit me quite hard ha ha. So funny. I was talking about my wish to be able to think outside the box in my latest work WWW. A girl from Taiwan thought that my head seems to float in photos of room (in most of my collage). And that’s very unrealistic, she says. I laughed, I reflected. She is right. Right about my head floats in room, but I don’t think it’s unrealistic. Room is the closest space to us; outdoor / garden is more ‘illusionary’ because we don’t do most of our activities there. No?

Whatever. It makes me looking around the room once again. What do I miss? Am I confined myself too much? Have I gone outside the box far enough?

Photo of cow bells under my computer desk. Its container, a Borneo wooden dragon, was sent to workshop. I feel warm looking at the bells. Ya?

Sad Summer

Yes quiet Friday. I didn’t do many but stayed quiet. A staff helped me to do major decluttering in the morning that left me less for the day. Good.

I planned to do 3-D artwork that has stopped the past few weeks. But not enough kick to do. Glad RAD asked me to have lunch. I didn’t have much time, just ran and met her. Nice chat for two hours. She’s going to earthquake site this evening. I admire her spirit – whatever her reason is. I could only help supporting her and friends.

I thought about my quiet Friday. I missed my art Friday. Summer always makes me sad, like season to me. When PEN said goodbye two weeks ago, she comforted me. Only three weeks! I would be here before you know.

It’s nice having RIT, AMA, NIE, KAT, CEN, and many during mid summer but it comes anyway.. AMA left in sudden because of political situation in her country. RIT, NIE, KAT and CEN would leave early August for three weeks to different countries. RIT would go even longer – till October. My heart stopped.

Three weeks. Feel like for ever. I missed my good friends…

Now I’m thinking to go for holiday (which surprisingly didn’t come to mind before). Independence day, mid August, is the best time to have fun with friends. Many big parties in Bali and Lombok. Do I really want to party in this situation? I feel bad for the situation, my businesses, my staffs, the whole community,.. Persons I know in Bali texting me almost every day asking me about how I’m doing, how’s Jakarta, when I visit them,.. So sad. If only I could hug them all and share the burden.

Ehm.. I sound so melancholy. Yea.. I am. I’m not able to hear three weeks. It sounds so long, too long,.. This is the time when I treasure my time with good friends and loved ones. I miss activities!

Collage of me and my new hair.

Nephew

I spent my day with ‘my mirror’, my nephew, DHA. He came to stay over night. I took him to bank and mall doing errands.

He enjoyed Jakarta along the way to mall. He commented about the development, the motorists, and the smog.

We shopped things for school and then I got my hair cut. I have the shortest since I have short hair. Our motto – PIE and I – every visit is different. He made quite dramatic change. I feel lucky to have fast growing hair. I can change style every two months. Nice.

DHA observed and learned a lot about variety and price of anything. He was surprised to know about the price of bread and bun. Ha ha.. He said that we could invite friends and have big party. So funny.

He enjoyed the trip back home thru different route. He tried to recall places and translate any Indo road sign to English. He concluded that Jakarta is like NY, LA, and DC in one. NY for crowd, LA for pollution, and DC for capital city.

Photo of DHA.

Wednesday Declutter Idea

Wednesday. After weeks of not having stall in Citos, we started again today. I felt tired when got up but sure I didn’t have option but to go. Early.

The bazaar was not good as before. They applied new rule that we cannot share stall anymore so the number of participants cut to half. Not interesting. In bazaar, the more the merrier. UB didn’t have option but participating, or.. no sale.

I went to a meeting at KAT’s around 12:30. She has a very nice house in nice residential area. Modern house with many nooks. She lived in South Africa and Japan before. The house is decorated with things from the regions. Very very nice. It inspired me to do more in the house with deco I have. It needs a lot of time! But ya.. should have time to do to touch my nest.

There were seven of us talking about the ideas to form an organization to promote Indonesian women artists. It’s still rough ideas. KAT needs to work hard to gather and narrow down the ideas from everybody. Two noted art critics were present, junior and senior. Nice to have them with their different point of views.

I learned that women artists have not gotten well recognition in the community, anywhere. We thought – with smile – women are complicated. Lack of drive to express self and make themselves ‘exist’ in the art community. Many factors. Women play many roles: as wife, mother, partner, worker sometimes,.. It’s not easy for a woman to be a ‘committed’ or full time or ‘long term’ artist because of the many roles she plays.

So the organization has to decide which stage of women artist should get attention from the organization. How to raise fund in this difficult time. And many others..

RIT and I had a chance to be in house tour with KAT. Fabulous architecture combined with KAT’s taste to make the space much warmer. Very inspiring to make me wanted to touch more of my nest. We enjoyed the tour so much.

I spent my evening mostly with FAH and family in his resto in Citos. Unique and nice family. Nice to have met them and listened a lil bit about their businesses. I urged UB to close early. I was really tired.

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And this morning, my nest got the fruit of my visit to KAT’s house yesterday. I spent more than two hours since before 6:00 to declutter bedroom and a bit in the living room. I was sweaty like having an hour workout but I feel super good. I had a chance to browse many NEW books I accumulate the last one year. So many nice books that I haven’t had a chance to read. Now I know which will get attention soon..

I start my new day now.. Fresh.

Photo of my dining table legs.

Leave Something Behind

Short morning again. Electrician came; I helped him to find the problem with aircon, then prepared room for nephew, did morning ritual in computer, did internet banking, had a quick breakfast, then showered… All was done in quick quick quick..

I got CLA’s apartment in time, 9:40. So many ladies came today, twice the number of yesterday. Good! Presentation in someone’s house always attracted more people. The house, the food, the convenience,… That’s!

Today’s presentation was about East Java beads. I never realized that beads made in East Java has acquired its own ‘name’. NIE elaborated the making of glass beads and some characteristics of beads from the region. Interesting. And it’s more interesting to know how time consuming is to make a bead which sold very cheap. Apparently the craftsmen are not the prisoner of time.

I enjoyed CLA’s collection of primitive arts. It’s good to see FRA’s work here and there. Every corner is well decorated. She is very active. Actively shopping. Nice place tho.

RIT, KAT, and I had a quick lunch nearby. It was fun to talk about how they started to think about how to spend the rest of life well. I liked the concept of “leave something behind” which constantly repeated in the conversation. The fact that women don’t have career ladder so their ‘career’ is raising the kids well.. And if they don’t have kid then… there should be a creation to be left behind. Hm..
It got me thinking.

And also about setting priority in life. How to minimize doing something useless.. It’s a tough discussion. What is useless? Yesterday we agreed that failed relationship shapes us, never wastes time. No useless. Perhaps it depends on how one views the problem. Hm.

My nephew, DHA, finally settled in my uncle’s house. Aircon was still problem when I got home. It looked like the aircon was waiting for me. I found the problem just after I parked car. They fiddled around with the electricity circuit all day. Glad that it was finally solved. Tomorrow he will do the repair. Pheew. After months.

So I went to uncle’s house to meet DHA first time after three years. He is a big boy now, 18 years. We could chat as two adults!! (so good to hear he called himself an adult..) He read my blog. He thought that I’m too open, like sharing the way I spent my morning. That’s for private journal, he said. Wow..

DHA is a talented writer. I peek some of his pieces in the internet. So I urged him to start a blog but he said he didn’t know how to express his feelings because he didn’t like to share his private life. I gave him tips to divide private and non. He will start a blog. Good!

I could see myself in him. I was like him in the past and I am still in some ways. He could make me cry when he was kid because I could feel what he felt. And I think I could still..

We talked for an hour or so. It was not easy to talk with him but I got him to talk.. finally. His Indonesian came out very slowly. It took time for him to express what he wanted. I preferred to talk with him in English to get quick highlight information but not after the transition. Uncle has set rule to only use Indonesian. Good enough for him.

So that’s what I left behind.. for today.

Photo of a poster at S.A.M.

Desirable Impurities

Today was my ‘big’ day. But.. I forgot things!! So terrible to have a hectic morning on my (considered) big day. I forgot that aircon in guest room has trouble and my nephew would come tomorrow. I forgot to make copy of handout about Irwan. I almost forgot to call taxi (I didn’t want to drive).. Uh.

I was in charge of organizing a trip to visit Irwan Williams -- a jeweler -- in Ciputat. Ciputat? Yes, for many Jakartans, Ciputat sounds a bit scary. Far and.. bad traffic. That’s my challenge. I had to make sure I presented the best ‘show’ to my summer study group friends to make the trip worth going. I wish PEN were here with me. We were supposed to organize the trip together. We did the initial visit together tho.

I tried to arrive as early as possible before the ladies. I got there at the same time with Irwan. Great! He instantly recognized his creation I wore. Nice quartz with silver setting. He was so pleased. Later he asked me where I come from. What? I have Western taste, he said.

Looking at Irwan’s creation and.. the place, no one would ever thought of the ‘connection’. His art is exquisitely beautiful and hi taste. And the place to house the creation was small room, no aircon, very simple (shown in photo, Irwan and fan on the table). Silver chokers and nice pendants are fixed on black velvet-ed boards, very simple,..

It was not bad. Twelve out of 26 showed up. Irwan planned to talk for 40 minutes and what happened was… two hours just passed. He talked about Indonesian gemstones, pearls, and his creation. He started business by selling Indonesian antiques back to year 1967 and jewelry came later. He got his passion of jewelry designing back the last few years. His inner designer, he called.

His talk inspired me to learn more about gemstone. Nice to hear the ladies talked about it fluently. I never paid enough attention to the division of stone although I love stone very much. And he is so good to answer all questions about stone and pearl. I could feel his love to Indonesia. Amazing.

I was really happy to see everybody enthusiastic and satisfied with new knowledge Irwan shared. I’m sure when the rest of the group knew what they would get, they would have made effort to come.

I went in KAT’s car to lunch. We talked more about Wednesday meeting and art community in Indonesia. The more I looked at her, the more I felt that I have known her long time. Strange. She is not new to me.

This time I had lunch with four other ladies of different ethnic group. We laughed realizing that we are all… petite in size! Even the American and the pregnant MAR. Nice lunch as usual with many things to talk about. Many said that they didn’t have enough time but after checking time… they all screamed and rushed to leave ha ha.

So nice that every week I had lunch with a new friend -- at least. This is about joining a new group, meeting new people. We are not always lucky to make friends every time, but.. it’s still fun. I should join one more group in the next Heritage year while keeping the old art group with old friends. It’s so nice to have new friends after losing some good friends before summer. My life as the one who stays..

Hey I got a nice phrase from Irwan today. Desirable impurities. He mentioned about it when he talked about technology which makes pearl flawless. I finished my artwork for IMT this afternoon with desirable impurities. It’s impure, but desirable for me. Enjoy It feels like home!

Weather Report

For a jobless homemaker like me, weekend should not be different than any other day. Meaning: everyday is weekend. But still, I feel the difference. Sure the rhythm is different. On Saturday, my staffs have ‘extra’ work like vacuuming cars, cleaning kilims sometimes, or washing windows. And on Sunday, all are off. Quiet.

I started the day feeling good and energized. I finished an artwork from draft quickly. Idea was fresh. My new style, It is all in your mind. A combination of hand work and head work (read: writing). I quite like it. I will do more in the future especially when the need to write can be combined with illustration. Nice idea of an art blogger friend.

I wrote a post in Indonesian then printing descriptions from blucolage for the real artwork. Finally. It had been in mind since long until RIT asked for explanations of each artwork. I showed her the book the other day. I was not comfortable to explain it offline. I asked her to check the online version which she didn’t want. She liked to know the story behind while she felt the artwork. Yea.. she liked rubbing the page to feel the texture. The moral is, with description attached, now I can share with others too. Happy!

I dug my Indonesian magazines to find nice Indonesia touch for next artwork. I want to answer IMT challenge of this week, numeral art. I had found some nice images but haven’t made the layout. I still soaked the strips ha ha.. Yea… new technique, image transfer, again.

Just now I took out a string of stone in black-n-white mix. Very nice. I’m in the middle of making a Wilma (wife of Flintstone) choker. I like Wilma choker, big stone strung without style, just string the stone in a row. But my Wilma choker would have a tiny yogi made of metal in the middle (shown in photo). I got all material from Bangkok. The yogi and the color are matched very well. Mystique…

Now before dark I could say, I’m happy productive today. A friend kept asking me about my weather report (read: mood). Nice these days that one can check other’s weather report thru blog. When RAD and I didn’t have communication for days, she checked ubudblu for update. As she only has dormant blog, I had to text her ha ha.

I’m happy to report my weather today although my day hasn’t come to end (not yet dark now): I realized about “it is all in your mind” (I know but I need realization every time thing hits), made two artworks (cross fingers because the second is still scattered), posted Indonesian post, printed descriptions, washed dirty Chiko, made Wilma choker, and posted this post. As evening is still young, I may produce more :-)

Semua Hanya Ada di Pikiran

Baru tadi aku ingat kalau aku sudah lama tidak menulis dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Sudah lupa pada komitmen awal dua bulan yang lalu, mungkin, untuk menulis dalam Bahasa Indonesia minimal satu kali dalam satu minggu.

Pagi ini aku bangun pagi seperti biasa. Chiko tidak pulang semalam. Seperti punya anak laki-laki remaja, mungkin, rasanya. Aku tidak bisa berangkat tidur dengan tenang karena perasaan yang mengganjal punya kesayangan masih beredar di luar sana. Tapi aku lega waktu bangun, aku mendengar suaranya minta makan. Dasar laki-laki.. eh dasar kucing!

Seperti biasa aku langsung buka komputer dan mengecek komentar atas karyaku. Semalam komentar masuk beruntun, senang rasanya mendengar komentar orang, terutama yang mengakui ideku orisinil ha ha. Tepatnya, aku memang selalu punya ide orisinil karena aku iseng ha ha. Pagi ini hanya ada satu komentar, meskipun lalu masuk beberapa sampai saat ini. Senaaang!

Aku tidak berlama-lama di komputer karena punya satu karya yang siap dikerjakan pagi ini. Semalam aku tidak mau menyelesaikannya karena lagi-lagi alasan penerangan. Jadi segar sekali rasanya untuk berkarya, dengan ide yang sudah bulat, di pagi hari pula.

Tidak sampai setengah jam It is all in your mind (foto diatas) selesai. Ini karya pertamaku mengkombinasi karya tangan dan karya pikiran (dalam bentuk tulisan). Aku tidak bisa menyebutnya puisi karena tidak memenuhi pakem, lebih ke gerutuan ha ha. Ya.. aku memang sedang menggerutu dengan diriku sendiri karena selalu punya pikiran mengenai kenapa orang bertindak ini-itu. Kenapa aku harus berpikir begitu? Itu hidup dia, keputusan dia, masalah dia. Aku tidak ada urusan. Jadi kalau aku merasa tidak nyaman karenanya, itu semua hanya pikiranku. Sial.

Ada satu hal yang aku sadari sampai saat ini (hari belum berakhir). Ternyata panggilan itu penting untuk berfungsi dengan baik. Contoh: aku baru saja mencetak keterangan yang aku tulis di blucolage untuk aku pasang di halaman sebelah karyaku. Aku sudah berencana sejak lama tapi belum juga terwujud sampai tadi. Dan ternyata mudah dan cepat. Jadi yang penting bukan teknisnya, tapi lebih pada kemauannya. Kan?

Kembali pada intinya, semua hanya ada di pikiran.

Simplify!!

I woke up early, before 6:00. Chiko made terrible noise. I wondered where’s everybody so I got up to let Chiko out. Ugh. It’s good tho. I started my day early.

Silent cyber, no traffic. I checked Enjoy the moment I made last night. Oh glad. Good colors. Colors often surprised me because the effect can be different at night and in daylight.

This week’s IF theme is challenging: Sacrifice. There’s only one idea that popped up since last night – life of a mother. I didn’t want to think further, I better stuck to the initial idea. I started sketching.

Again, Belinha inspired me. She often has small pieces in her artwork. I challenged my patience this morning to do the same. I decided to give the mother three kids!! Five is perfect but… that’s beyond my limit ha ha.

I almost lost patience half way. Finding the right color for element was time consuming, although that is the art and the fun!! I got bored looking at my magazine’s torn pages.

I was happy after finishing the third kid. Pheeew! I felt like I raised the kids myself. Chaos. I used gold and silver pens to dramatize the scene. Satisfied. It looks a bit different than my previous artworks although one can still see the red thread (in fact, I wanted to go out of my style. Cannot!)

Time went slow. Good! I could do more. I looked around frustrating. I wanted to declutter since long. I didn’t have choice but.. to do. I have thought to simplify my life more since last week. I closed two credit cards which I didn’t use the last five years, only paid the annual. I kept one. Enough, even for traveling. If I want Le Panthere de Cartier, someone should get for me. Not from my credit card ha ha..

I also closed two accounts in the same bank last week. I already have two active accounts. In the past I liked to have extra for different purposes. Now, simplify! I also stop subscribing the pay movie channels (there were three). Remember my stacks of not-yet-watched DVDs and low-usage broken TV? I don't remember the last time I watched movie from TV. Two years? Simplify!

I realized that I have stuffs more than I need. I remember PEN who always bought things in two, for Jakarta and Oz houses. I often laughed at her. Does she really want to wear same clothing here and in Oz? Ha ha..

Stuff is stuff. It’s already there. What I can do is stop buying. Want to see one example? Shown in photo is my aroma oil kit. I have three similar kits for living, bed, and dining rooms. Each has lots of aroma oil bottle!! How can I expect my life to be simplified?

I made it!!

Another social day. I went lunch with KAT, RIT and AMA. KAT is new here, not yet a year but she already traveled back to the US six times for a business she runs. She said she feels tired and wants to settle down in Jakarta this summer. This is not ordinary summer for me. I have friends around! At least more than I used to have in other summers.

We had lunch in a Japanese resto near PS mall. Nice resto. We did not eat much. In the end, we were all surprised. This is when we missed PEN who used to pamper us with variety.

And the whole conversation was about what is happening in Mid East. Ehm.. I don’t like to share my political opinion. It’s something I observe, not to comment. But nice to hear people’s opinions, different than what I read in newspaper.

Just before we ended, KAT invited us to join first meeting of a new organization she participates to promote women artists in Indonesia. It’s National Museum of Women in the Arts in DC’s project. Very interesting.

We stopped by a supermarket before home. I always enjoyed supermarket I seldom went to. It’s a huge supermarket in CBD. I enjoyed the stuffs except many come in big packages. Nice visit!

Driving home was a challenge. I felt very hungry!! Ha ha. I imagined what to eat while driving. Got home; I hurriedly washing face n else, changed and went straight to fridge. Oh. What happened with me? Then I passed out for half an hour after checking emails and blogs. So tired like an old woman. He he.

And, my day was ended nicely. I’m so happy to know that my artwork (shown in photo) is in this week’s Spotlight in IMT (July 13). That’s something! I was kind of predicted that this time my artwork would be highlighted. I made it! Yay!

Waiting For A Kick

I always thought big when I didn’t have time. Once I had time? All big plans were gone.

I emptied my schedule today for big things. Good start. I got up around 6:00. Early bird catches worms. Did morning ritual. Not many new except what you saw above. Belinha gave me idea. I tried to make one with the late Cici’s pictures. Small pixel I made with O2.

I made one paper collage, very simple, before spending time with Ida. Scrubbing. She came just in time I needed to pamper self. I felt fresh after lunch. Still it didn’t kick me to do something.

I made new creative mess with new brass cups I got last Sunday and empty glass containers ex niece's baby food and Starbuck coffee. I poured seed beads from its plastic bag into the containers and placed beads in an old plate. I made materials ready to be explored and created nice atmosphere using vintage stuff. Still, it didn’t kick me to start something.

I planned to print. I have cut and pasted, and tidied the pages. Still, it didn’t kick me to print something.

I looked around living room and spent thirty minutes watching my broken TV (black line under disproportionate image). It’s broken again the last few weeks. The last time, four years ago, repair-man told me that TV was broken because of low usage. Ha ha.. Yea, only a few hours a week. Not more than five hours in total. Poor TV, not enough audience.

Now what? A book is sitting in front of me. Calling. Shall I listen to it or waiting for another kick to do something?

Going Cheap

In the morning, I regretted my decision to go with RIT and AMA to a craft fair today. I felt like staying at home doing my thing. I was so tired of going out. But I thought twice, it would not be fair. I should keep my word. So I went.

I did banking first before going to RIT’s apartment. I decided to car pool with her. I was too lazy to drive. I needed company, good one.

Craft fair was good as usual. We missed PEN so much. She’s the one who liked to buy snacks and food. We needed her to ‘kick’ us to buy such thing. I bought batik material for Mama and… burners for fragranced oil. I bought two burners with deep bowl (no need to refill to finish one tea-light candle) and one bowl to replace one which was broken. I got three new then. Why do I need that many? Yea.. I never had enough. I put one burner in each room and these new burners will replace the existing shallow bowls. I bought more oils too. I could not resist because I burn all the time and I like to try new aroma.

RIT and AMA were in their low. They didn’t have enough sleep last night. Their yawn was very contagious. I felt same fatigue. I didn’t have enough hard sport recently. I need timeeeeeee!!!! Ugh!

Two hours passed, we were out. Too hungry to continue. One o’clock already. I chose the resto today. I chose one that has good food but quick serving. I needed to go home soon.

Food was good. RIT and AMA enjoyed it so much and when it came to pay… They enjoyed it even more. Four nice Chinese dishes in a good atmosphere resto in a hip resto building, we paid USD 10! I was ready to go home but others wanted to have coffee. Okay, I bought buns then. We decided to have coffee in the bread shop.

They were amazed by the price of my nine buns! USD 4. And the coffee too! For one black coffee and two lattes plus two almond cakes (not slice), we paid USD 10 (including tips). We giggled a lot.. Too good to be true. We spent USD 6.5 each person for good lunch and good coffee plus whole cake!

It was a beautiful day with nice friendships. I never regret it. I got home tired again. I lighted oil burner with frangipani aroma this time. It opens my whole system. I really love aroma oil.. Time for art now. I did sketching last night.

Photo of a wall painting at The Yoga Shop in Little India - Singapore.

Prisoners of Time

It’s Tuesday again. I ran doing my morning ritual because summer study group started at 9:30. Today we visited a silversmith workshop which did the famous Scandinavian designer Georg Jensen’s jewelry. It was where the famous designer Vivianna Torun worked. Now the workshop is run by an Indonesian jeweler, Torun’s ex business partner.

It was a house in an ordinary housing complex. The showroom was small and neat. We got together in the room to listen to the talk about Torun and the business. It is very interesting to know that a well known jewelry designer and sculptor had worked in Indonesia for 28 years. She passed away two years ago.

We also visited the workshop. There were about ten craftsmen working in a simple workshop with simple tools. NIE and I enjoyed the old wood log and tables more. It has really nice working bench from old days. They use simple technique too. We learned to appreciate silversmith’s work more since then.

The famous Torun’s design was Timelessness watch for Georg Jensen (as seen in photo). It symbolizes that we should not be prisoners of time. When we saw how these craftsmen worked, we talked about prisoners of time. They are able to do things repetitively and we are not. We are the prisoners of time because we don’t want to be trapped doing same thing for years! Perhaps not even for hours. We giggled realizing that we ARE the prisoners..

Really nice visit RIT and AMA organized. I went to FRA after the visit while waiting for the lady to do errands around the area. It was convenient because FRA is in the same area. I only stayed for twenty minutes at FRA but it was effective. I fetched my order from workshop, made few more orders, asked LIN to do this n that,.. Enough order till weekend.

I was thinking in the car about what I have accomplished so far with my art. I felt like I haven’t done much since long. A good friend reminded me yesterday that I should not estimate self too low. But that’s what I feel… I felt ashamed every time I met BEN, my art buddy. He does a lot with his art, he sells. NIE too. She’s going to have solo exhibition after many other exhibitions. What’s my standard then?

I don’t know. I got same organic resto last week around 13:00. Same crowd; RIT, AMA, MAR, plus CLA. Last week we had nice Jap girl and today we had CLA, French lady. I thought she was a shy lady. She’s been long time customer of FRA but we hardly talked. That’s why I thought she’s shy. But today I saw her completely different. Same from her side probably. We laughed laughed laughed a lot and loud. She was funny and authentic.

We didn’t let ourselves to be prisoners of time. We planned to have dessert while having foot reflexy in the spa adjacent to the resto but we cancelled it because it would take 1.5 hours. MAR and CLA had appointments and we thought it was too long.

But what we ended up? We finished lunch around 16:00!!! Three hours!! MAR and CLA rescheduled their appointments several times. Sure the conversation was super hot. From men’s finger shape, belief, French lady, jewelry in Israel, Jacques Brel, Sting, art,... We sat again when B job topic rose. More laughter while touching and measuring each other’s B… What a girl talk..

Day finished after 16:00 in Jakarta. We could not do anything else. We went straight home. We entered our time jail..

Bring the Music Back

Last night was funny. I was tired after long day outside in humid. I got home, showered and washed hair, and felt very fresh -- like I could be active few more hours. Yes, I wrote my post. But half way.. I made a lot of mistakes; grammar, diction, sequence,.. Hm.. I stopped writing. A good friend came online and we chatted. It was okay, I managed to stay awake.

I held my scrap magazine while chatting. Then I started to cut. When chat stopped, I was fully awake and in hi spirit. It was not easy to cut paper tho.. I didn’t make smooth cutting. I also missed some shapes that I should have paid more attention to get the right proportion. I finished it before 2:30. So nice!

I stay at home today because I’m going to have busy week. I checked my artwork. Ugh.. Not so good. Wrong color. Or, it could have been better. I posted anyway. It happened the theme matched this week’s challenge theme in Artwords. Gesture.

Then I checked my draft post. Aaargghh… Many mistakes: grammar and diction. I should not have told anybody that I have degree in English. Ha ha.. Preposition. I often missed that. Like Indonesian preposition. Change word, change preposition. Or, I should practice to be more patient in proof-reading before posting. Anyway. Whatever.

I finally finished my 3-D artwork, the lucky pig series. I wanted to prepare my next 3-D project but remembered that I still owe an artwork for IMT. I checked again the website. Glad, they simplified the technique. I don’t have to think about buying medium anymore. I made one sample. Not good enough but enough to start creating a real page.

Strange. The past few days I worked in total silence, no music at all. I used to listen to music during my waking hours. I decided to play it again when started soaking sticky tapes for collage. DJ Tiesto ha ha.. Sure it gives me energy like pumping it to high. I really have to see him playing next time he makes his stop in Indonesia. Very energizing music. The louder the better..

Hmm.. Got to check my sticky tapes now. I will spend rest of the night sticking paper..

Photo of signboard at Centrepoint - Singapore.

Vintage Sunday

A few days ago my cousins reminded me about UB would participate in bazaar near our housing complex on Sunday. I knew the plan since last month. I just nodded – not realizing the ‘impact’. I felt the impact the night before slept. Sunday? Get up early and go?

I slightly regretted. I should have told them not to take a stall on Sunday market. Too lazy to get up early then waste all day outdoor. Ugh! Too late. I prepared self like robot. I brought my small sketch book and a pencil. Wish I had time to sketch.

I was 30 minutes late, 8:30. Staff had prepared the stall nicely. AG is always reliable. Cousins were not there yet, so I walked around. Hey.. It’s a ‘serious’ bazaar. It occupied whole street, familiar street in my neighborhood that I never walked pass. Only by car.

My first buy was old tray with three glass bowls and lids. The sticker showed USD 0.5. I let the seller to change the price but she looked at me That’s the price! So I asked her Why? She said the family never used the tray. Her Ibu preferred to use new crockery. Okay, please wrap!

Then I bought nice red-beaded sandals I don’t need. I walked thru the long passage with stalls selling many kinds of thing. Food, vintage clothing, shoes, accessories (new and vintage), many nice things from home. Then I found this man..

He was busy unloading his old stuffs from boxes. I took time to check his tiny little things on the table. Later I found out he collected the things almost twenty years. Looking at his style, this business is not his main. He agreed. He does something else to make a living, he collected things for his passion of vintage thing.

He had several categories: mix of bronze / metal things, Zippo lighters from many eras, old souvenirs from all over the world, old bank notes,.. I only focused on the metal things. What I liked about him is that he knew his stuffs well. The series, the era, the material, where it comes from,… He touched everything with feeling, one by one, he checked the back and told me stories about it.

I decided to take silver plated plate – ‘copy’ of my meal plate back to my kid’s day (which Mama still keeps the ‘original’). A silver plated small cup with embossed rooster on it. Several tiny brass cups and plates for my beadwork. And a nice small bronze jar that I have plan what to do with it. I also took bank notes from years 1956 and 1945!! Indonesian independence year!

He put my stuffs on top of a box and looked at them with admiration, appreciation, then estimation,.. I waited for him to do his ritual; touching the thing and made calculation. He was not a common antique dealer. He did for passion, not (just) for money. I didn’t make him difficult by bargaining. He already offered me very good price. As the first buyer, he gave me fat discount. I only paid USD 20. Fair enough. I walked back happily and promised to return in the afternoon for more bank notes shopping.

I spent all afternoon chatting. Nice friend and relatives. Very merry when everybody got together. My auntie, niece, nephews, partners,… They enjoyed the afternoon breezy day. And juuust before dark I visited the “junk” stall again. His stall looked busier.

This time I selected statues of Buddha, Ganesh, Kwan-Im goddess, and a nice pill box. All are made of bronze. Then I knelt on the street with a girl I know – girlfriend of my cousin – selecting vintage accessories. She had selected a big bag full of accessories. I selected bangles. I found five tiny bangles with nice carvings. I selected the best in the bag, the guy told me. And when it came to pay… He asked me to decide the price. It took me long time to think. I didn’t like to price, I didn't want to be unfair. But he took my money right away.. USD 15 for all.. Hard to believe.. He sold everything very cheap. Almost at no value. He told me earlier about letting go of his possession or he would keep accumulating and never had the flow. He is very right!

I’m really happy to know a new supplier for junks. I need that. Later in the evening I met BEN – my art buddy. We talked about this junk collector and planned to shop together in the collector's house one day.

I’m glad to have gotten up early and have different way to spend a Sunday. Nothing is the same when we are open.

Body Talk

It’s Saturday and day passed quickly although I started quite early. What did I do in the morning? Ah yaa.. I finished two paper collages I had since yesterday. Night is my constraint now. Uh.. I sound like an old woman..

I felt young though today. My body talked to me. How? I spent whole afternoon drawing and cutting while having nice conversation (how did I manage multi-tasking? ha ha). That made my day passed quickly I think. But very invigorating! That counts!

I planned to visit FRA Papua supplier stall in a craft exhibition. But after all day at home, I felt too lazy to go out. I was in the middle of cutting trance. Like Belinha said; once you start, it’s hard to stop. She is very true. I didn’t even create three-dimensional artwork which the ideas were so bubbly in head the other day. New challenge has replaced.

And this evening I learned about how to transfer images from transparent film to object. It’s this week’s challenge at IMT. I’m glad to be reminded of the technique. I remembered that I used to transfer image from magazine or newspaper using packing tape when I was kid. Now I have sticker sheet, it can cover larger area. Glad to have creative mess (a good friend gave me the term).

Yea.. I love my creative mess in every nook of the house. I collect impossible stuff, I call. Things that I didn’t know what to do with when I bought… But later, I often created the most unimagineable creation of gift wrapping and greeting cards. Bless the mess!

What have I done today? Nothing much except learning many lessons. Art and body talk…

DAW, thanks for the keywords and else!!

Slashed!

Friday. I wanted to stay at home but I wanted to go out. I was in battle all morning while doing my morning chores (hooray! I managed to delegate my mopping chore to staff..)

I gave in. I texted RAD before yoga. My day depended on her because I didn’t want to see friend other than RAD. I texted her R u thinking of me? She replied when I was already sweaty. Yes. Lunch? Great, she bit my bait.

I chose our favorite mall, PI. She asked me to meet earlier. Aha.. she had nothing to do. Perfect. I finished one project (series of three) before prepared self to go. I came just in time. We chose Malaysian cuisine (again, for me). I didn’t eat much.. We talked non-stop for two hours. It was almost 14:00 and she didn’t check the time at all. Good.

We walked the shops. She bought one top. Then checking my skirt shop. Oh so nice to go with girlfriend. We bought two identical skirt and trousers. We giggled. We have uniform! She’s off after the shop. I continued to another shop who had sale. More long-sleeves tees for me. I like this brand’s tee. Covered but.. sexy cut! Perfect.

I did supermarket before went home. Traffic was good but I felt tired. I could only finish one more artwork from the series then I realized something.. My eyes. I could not work with tungsten lamps anymore. The other day I worried because I could not see letters in Ubudblu clearly. Ehm.. Sign of something?

So here I am now; trying to do more artwork with.. limitation. I may make paper collage. Belinha’s works are so inspiring. Shame on me. Don’t have the patience..

Photo was taken in a shop in Little India - Singapore.

Updating..

A friend from office asked me to have lunch yesterday. I hesitated. I wanted to finish some stuffs at home today. Small small things that need my attention. My summer cleaning. But.. meeting him was not easy. Or, from his side, meeting me was not easy. We both travel often so Where are you? means In what city are you now?

I agreed to meet him. It’s just nice to meet him after numerous rescheduled dates. Four months have passed since the last time we met. Traffic was still good. I combined the trip with errands.

We met in a new Malay bistro in Kemang. He brought me nice photography book of Indonesian photo journalist. Nice sephia photos with a line of poetry in each photo. Very peaceful pictures.

Funny with him. We are not close as friend, but close enough to talk for hours about many things. Anything. For me, it’s nice update of oil & gas problems and political issues in general. Also observing his three kids growing. And never ending discussion about traffic and driver. He is among who lives in the outskirt and has to leave home around 5:15 every morning to reach office before 3-in-1 regulation at 7:00. So often he has started working at 6:10, while I’m often still in bed. Jakarta.

We said goodbye after four hours chatting in the same place. From appetizer to dessert (forgot to have coffee). Purely no gossip. Just discussing things. Time flew.

I shopped for collage tools again. Also scribbling notebook for layout. I went to FRA for a few minutes to fetch little pop statues I had in mind to make paper-weight.

I don’t think I’m productive today. I just posted two artworks of yesterday at blucolage and tried new glue on new collage. I still learn how to glue without paper gets curly. Doing art is never ending learning.

Photo of a slogan at a juice stall in Changi Airport.

Burning Ideas

Wow I’m so productive today. My today started from 00:00 last night. I had severe headache before midnight. It was so bad that I hardly got up. I showered and took time to read before sleep. I flipped interior magazines again. Then ping! I got the idea to answer this week challenge at Illustration Friday. I’d been thinking for days.

I started to cut the magazine to make a collage, my favorite. This time I took Belinha’s style (thank you for inspiration, Belinha). Her style reminded me of other technique to make collage. I knew the trick in no time. And I was so happy to know that I’m not bad in drawing. And cutting using scissor was another challenge. My sis used to laugh at me for I could not cut straight line.

I was satisfied with the result. The cutting was smooth and my drawing… Oh. The hands look really nice with crab and veggie. Those sticky hands.. Only I made bubble while gluing. Lighting was not good at night and I was too unwell to work carefully.

I also like my second piece, the lips. I got the idea from Crawford’s lips. That suits “whisper” theme of Artwords. This web is not popular but I still like to follow. I need challenge, that’s the reason.

Today I swallowed quite many little frogs. I’m happy I have started to clear my way. It’s summer cleaning. And I started to make another piece in the afternoon. It took long time to draw… a horse! It just came to me. I’m not satisfied but still I like it.

Then another one inspired by Belinha again. Swedish interior magazine is perfect. Some pages display pictures of ‘empty’ space. So perfect as base of my collage. It has nice background, the empty space. Simply enjoy Blucolage for all artworks I mentioned above.

And yes, I remember, I also changed the background color of Ubudblu and Blucolage. I didn’t like the given color -- blue–green in Ubudblu. It looks dull for any font color. Now is more "blu" -- warm too. While Blucolage’s color was ‘cold’. Not easy to display artwork nicely in cold color. Now I put warm green and it looks better. I had the idea for long time but just this evening I remember to do it. It’s easier now to read HTML code unlike when I was new to blog six months ago. Combining colors took time. I have long chart of color. So intrigued to try all possibilities.

While I have in mind that today is Thursday, I almost end the day. I do not have plan for tomorrow but…

Photo: Front wall of S.A.M. last June.

Three - L

I had short morning. Checked email, had simple breakfast, and prepared self to go.. Summer study group starts very early every Tuesday, 9:30. PEN didn’t go so I didn’t have the luxury to have driver. Good it was in Kemang, my area. And traffic was good, like yesterday.

I felt flat driving in no traffic street. So nice, I enjoyed driving more since I got my car fixed last month. It runs smoothly and quietly. I love my car, I feel we are one. We both have good ‘understanding’. Nice bond ha ha..

Today was about Minangkabau wedding ornaments. One of the speakers wore the wedding costume. She looked different with hairpiece and head-dress. We adored the outfit when she presented the paper. Very nice of her to wear such ‘torturing’ head-dress for us. Later before I went home, I lifted the ornaments. I believed it weighs more than 2 kgs. The original version, made of gold, weighs 6 kgs!! The bride has to wear it whole day, whole procession, six to eight hours. It is said it gives her ‘posture’.. Okay.. She has to stand up with straight back.. I can do that without 6 kgs on my head. Thank you.

Lunch was nice. I don’t remember I ever had small-group lunch with a Jap. So this is my first lunch with a Jap girl. SUM is a nice girl. She laughed a lot and was positive. Like MAR. So perfect to have her, MAR, and the “twin” RIT and AMA. We had a good laugh over healthy lunch at organic resto.

I felt low on the way back. I wonder… Where’s my hi mood yesterday? I feel drained. No art inspiration comes to mind. Uh.. I wasted the afternoon light by doing nothing. Reading book didn’t help me.

I called a good friend. It was only short talk but I felt good after hung up. So strange that a friend can cheer me up but if I pick wrong.. (s)he can give me the reverse.

My Ibu Scrubber called. She wanted to see me tomorrow because she needs money for grandkid's school. She said she wanted to cry for she didn’t know the way out. I felt bad for my own insecurity.

So back to the theory of being low. It’s all about perception. It’s about beliefs. Better to start practicing more of how to look, listen, and love (MG book page 35).

Photo of VB in Minangkabau wedding costume.

sEE with diffErEnt EyEs

I was still worry about broadband that didn’t work. I called the technician on his cellphone around 8:00 hoping that he could prioritize me. I didn’t hear from him till 10:00. Customer service line was busy. I was hopeless. At 11:00 just before I left home, Telkom called and asked me to try again. They had fixed the trouble. Aha! I really liked that they processed customer’s complaint. I thought they just listened to my problem. Great service in Indonesia. So rare.

I was happy going to Kemang. I was bubbly all the way with ideas. Lots of idea to do in workshop. Traffic was terrific especially in Kemang. Holiday has started. Everybody leaves. Great day!

I sent some ten items to workshop and brought home more items to do. So happy to see own shop with different eyes. That’s what I like to do lately – seeing with different eyes. It worked well tho.. I saw many beauties.

Surprisingly, I was happy grocery shopping too!! That’s rare. I didn’t really enjoy shopping before home because usually my heart had jumped home. My happiness took me to unusual shelves which have unusual food. I shopped some unusual food then. It was the result of grocery shopping with empty stomach. That’s okay.

I took out more material in my temporary studio on the floor. I like to work on the floor. But no idea. Where did all those bubbly ideas in the morning go? I read instead. Just before dark, I started again. I was curious to finish one artwork. With weak signal, it took longer to finish one simple artwork. Grr. But as always, if I managed to finish halfway, I would come to the end quickly. I’m happy now with my Miro Heal.

Photo: Stock of wooden base at FRA.

Pushed Me More

Now I really need more than 24 hours a day. I lose time to read (hardly spent more than ten minutes for newspaper), to write poetry, to exercise,… forget about watching DVD and TV show. What did I do?

I slept four hours last night. It’s getting shorter now. It’s only one study group and new art activities.. but time seemed slipping away. Ehm.

Broadband is still down. Technician has called and asked me to reset this n that while he reset in his end. Nothing happened. I think I have to wait till tomorrow. With dial-up, blogging took very long time. Another thing that consumed my time.

I defeated self today. I was invited by ex office friend to a party he had for son. I didn’t see him since I left office eight years ago. I knew I had to go but.. today was Sunday and it was hot out there.

Traffic was fine. His house was easy to find too. I met some old friends who already have at least two kids. They looked different, more mature sure, but different. They laughed at me. They said… time stops with me. Yea.. my life don’t change much. No extra responsibilities. More fun for sure.

So I’m happy that I have decided to go. Getting home, I collected my materials and worked on new object. A bit tricky to make, I needed my toes to hold the cord. I was sweaty to keep it straight. I believe every object would be new to me, in technique and idea; I have to be ready to learn anything new every time.

I’m happy with my second artwork. I have three others waiting. Still I haven’t come with comprehensive idea for my Buddha. It may come later.. Meanwhile, please enjoy Dress Me Up.

Photo: This is party in Banten with fresh-cut banana hanging on a pole -- ready to consume.

I Broke Another Eggshell!

Broadband is down all day. It surprised me because it hardly happened especially on weekend. First of July. I checked my staffs whether either had paid the monthly fee. One time I forgot, they forgot and service was down exactly on the first. Ugh!

I called customer service. Nice help but.. no change. Network down but that’s it! Next advice was.. Please wait, nothing you can do. So here I am without broadband, back to old mode of using dial-up. That was fine, I got the message.. Go off keyboard Himavant! Do your thing!!

So I did!! I had an idea in mind the last two days about my first three-dimensional art. I had selected the main idea last night. Then I need other material. I walked to bedroom but was stopped by Chiko who was lying on floor. Ehm.. It would be nice to lie next to him. I spreaded my Budha statues I bought in Bangkok on the floor next to Chiko. I lied on my stomach enjoying each tiny statue. Soo tiny.. There were 60 statues -- about 1-2 inch in height. I selected one for my art.

I checked my knick-knack drawers and saw lots of material. I selected what I needed then put everything on old wooden tray from my collection. I like being surrounded by things with patina. I’m not interested in tray bought in supermarket. It’s just nice to pump ideas with energized things.

Ehm. My first idea was not easy to realize. I needed some wires and the idea needed more research. Strange eh? Yea.. I had to Google Buddhist prayer beads to know how many beads in a mala. I got the information, then I had to Google stones in Tibet. Amber. Hya.. For me, creating art is not just creating form but building up concept. I make myself difficult? No.

Almost an hour passed and I hadn’t started working. I was not satisfied with my idea. It hadn’t come comprehensive. I better postponed. I went to next idea that had been in mind since long. I had the thing in my hand for long time last night… thinking, creating, amusing,… Artist must have spent a lot of time being with self. Now I know. I stopped writing poetry after I actively created collage. Mind was too busy thinking about something else, no time for words. Ehm.. That’s not good. I still have idle mind while brushing teeth, showering, or drying hair. No excuses for stop writing.

I was and still am now… SUPER HAPPY with my first three-dimensional artwork. I made it!!!! I broke the eggshell again!! My next ideas is queuing.. waiting to burst out.

I ran to meet FAH in shop but too late, FAH had to run to other meeting so I went to LIN’s house. Her mother passed away yesterday. She had been not well for some time. I had told LIN to look after her mother attentively by taking leave. But too late now.. Nice big family I met. LIN has worked at FRA for seven years. I know her family history. I met many of the family members. They are really nice people. I counted bless to have met people like all my staffs. Five of them have worked for me that long, seven years! They are my assets.

I went to mall to grocery shop. I bought many colors thread for material (do not have plan yet). I rushed home. I’m bubbling with my next one but I don’t think I have time now.. I need good light to work but let’s see after I post this one.

By the way, please enjoy my first three-dimensional artwork in blucolage. It is called Why fish?