Update...

Hello, friends. I guess I wanted to express my thank you’s for those purchasing from my online shop in the wake of COVID-19. I am 24 on Wednesday, so that’s on hold too!

But here’s an announcement! I will be posting blogs probably even less than ever now—I am releasing a Patreon on my birthday. Please consider reading the reward tiers and supporting me in any way you can, and if you can’t, please consider sharing it :) On my website, sketchbooks will also cease to be updated as they are now a patreon reward. The older sketchbooks I have posted will remain on this space, however!

I hope that you are all safe, and taking care of yourselves at home. We can all get through this together.

Ringing in 2020

Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve typed away on here but it’s time for a 2020 post. It’s a blessing mostly to say that while 2019 was tough on my mood and mental health (though perhaps still a huge improvement from 2018 aka last year of Uni) , I’ve been blessed with a lot of work and have been able to keep busy. I only hope that I’ll get more projects for 2020, even though my brain and mood gets weird whenever I take one on! I’m working on it!

I’ve made 20 things for 2020, 10 of which are solely art-making related:

1. MAKE TRADITIONAL ARTWORK I miss sitting at my desk and painting sometimes. I also have all that paint from school…

2. EXPAND MERCH AND RE-LAUNCH ONLINE SHOP

3. BUILD NERVE TO EMAIL PEOPLE YOU WANT TO WORK FOR/WITH

4. MAKE BIGGER CERAMICS

5. FIGURE OUT TAXES???

6. APPLY TO THINGS Call for submissions, grants, contests, etc…

7. PRACTICE ART MAKING WITH SUSTAINABILITY IN MIND

8. DO SOME SORT OF MURAL?

9. MAKE CONTENT MORE ACCESSIBLE Like including detailed ALT-TEXT on advanced settings on Instagram posts.

10. MAKE PERSONAL ARTWORK And actually like it! Remind myself that drawing is still fun.

11. CONTINUE TO READ A BOOK A MONTH

12. DRINK MORE WATER EVERYDAY

13. EXPAND REPERTOIRE OF HOME-COOKED MEALS I cooked a lot in 2019 but I also want to try baking more!

14. LIMIT MEALS/COFFEE BOUGHT PER WEEK

15. STAY MINDFUL This is a broad term for how I will go about managing and internalizing thoughts and feelings in healthier ways.

16. LIMIT CLOTHING PURCHASES I want to thrift more and get timeless pieces.

17. BE SMARTER WITH MONEY Remembering to not hit the trigger on impulse purchases and remember money can be better spent on art-related matters…

18. REMEMBER YOUR HOBBIES, REDUCE SCREEN TIME

19. FIGURE OUT STORAGE SOLUTION FOR BEDROOM I am by no means a minimalist but I would like to find a way to maximize how I store/organize all my things in a pleasing way so that it’s not too overwhelming. My room is also my studio and workspace so it’s tough!

20. LEARN SOMETHING NEW

And there we go! 2020 is also the year of the rat, which is where I fall under. So I can only hope it’s a good yea for me, though I don’t know if that’s how it correlates in the law of the universe.

My Illustration Process

I usually like to read about how other artists and illustrators go about in their creative processes from how the step=by-step go about making something to what movies or books inspire them! I figured I could so something similar for myself. I’ve been actually taught to go about things this way in high school when they were prepping us for our portfolios and university in general. To be honest, I was more in depth in terms of process in High School compared to University. Maybe I’ll post my high school sketchbooks in the future in another post!

STEP ONE: BRAINSTORMING. If I get a piece of text or brief I usually start by reading it once, reading it again while underlining anything that strikes me as potential or important, and then read it a third time to really absorb it. This process is really unfiltered and I let myself write dumb stuff because even dumb stuff can web into other things. I mind-map which is like a non-stop association chain, usually it’s quick and intuitive until I run out of instant associations.

For this illustration, it was about Human Augmentation. TLDR: uploading information to the brain for instant knowledge opposed to having to “learn” it through a traditional schooling way. Sometimes I ask myself questions and try to answer them myself. Sometimes I start with an image to deconstruct from the text to see if I can synthesize it in a clever way.

STEP TWO: THUMBNAIL SKETCHES. These are really really rough and usually just to see something in my head on paper, look at composition and most importantly: build up from. To be honest, I would show these to profs as sketches in Uni! During this job, I didn’t show this step as acceptable sketches to pitch. If you can tell, the main ideas I took from the mind-map/ brain-storm session were: the image of head being picked apart and decorated by tiny scientists, scientist creating their ideal knowledge upload like choosing stats for characters in DND/video games, A scientist as a librarian and the brain as a library, and using the “fruit of knowledge” concept from my good ol’ catholic upbringing as a way to acquire new skill set. Can you tell? Maybe not, which is why I wouldn’t present sketches at this stage.

STEP THREE: POLISHING SKETCHES FOR PRESENTATION. My rule of thumb is to pick three ideas and really roll with them to polish a bit for presentation. Though it is good to have more than three ideas! If more than three are presented though, I feel like there’s too much opportunity for clients to try and mish-mash all the options (which might cause a convoluted image comprised of five ideas from five sketches. In the case all three fail, you have other ideas to send that they might actually like better. Others may say that sketches have to look even more polished than this! I write them a brief+core idea blurb as well. I send these over and wait for their decision!

STEP FOUR: BUILDING FROM A SKETCH OR A “DRAFT”. At this point, a desired idea has been chosen. Sometimes, you don’t get so lucky the first time and have to generate more ideas and look/build from your brainstorm again. This has happened twice or three times out of the 31 I’ve done for them! Interestingly, sometimes ideas that don’t make my top 3 end up getting chosen and approved, so don’t feel discouraged!

As you can see, the fruit of knowledge concept is the one that was liked best. This is also the one I wanted to do the most out of the three! I thought it would be fun if we had weird technologically enhanced fruit that would upload new knowings straight into your brain (indicated as being stored in folders like on a computer that you can just access and view). The books I wanted to look like birds or something, to just up-the-anty on the fairytale like vibe. Though a little more hostile, they don’t want to be abandoned in the new times.

For this project my timeline was sketch, draft, final in a few days a part. I made my drafts very close to the final so that the final would just have to be any tweaks and an over all cleaner look.

STEP FIVE: THE FINAL! In an ideal world working on the final is just polishing things up, adding some little special touches and tweaking anything the client pointed out. In University, especially during my thesis, this was rarely the case. However, I’m glad to say that during this project that ideal scenario was mostly the case! Luckily for this project, the colour scheme was already decided and it was a matter of just places what colours where.

I don’t think my process is especially unique nor is this always how I make things. Especially for personal work, things happen more organically and on a whim.

WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS LIKE? I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW! Thanks for reading this far!

Current Rotation

It’s been a while since I’ve made a post. Actually, this is the second time writing this because I somehow lost all the blog test and ctrl+z didn’t salvage a bunch of text that I never saved at any point. A couple of things have past (like turning 23)! Before I make a post about a month long  project with Brookfield Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It was my first job post post-secondary and I’ve been blessed for it to be a big debt-clearing one. The power of being active on instagram! Despite the new algorithm...

To be honest, I am not money-savvy. I know some hot tips and watch The Financial Diet while I get ready for outings to take in some two-cents wherever I can to manage my own few cents. I bought this little notebook at work that looks like a fancy copy of Le Petit Prince. The layout is purposefully for recording and managing finances. This book is meticulous to keep up day to day, but I do so to constantly be confronted with how much I am spending. It works the best if I’m recording within hours of spending (or at least at the end of the day), so that I can see how much i’ve spent on this day and be mindful entering the next. Though I fall of he wagon sometimes and don’t record for a week then I see how much money I spent (it’s a lot, usually!). I am impulsive and weak against a good time. But I am trying to change that!

I’ve adopted a new sort of diary. I first saw my friend Jane do this, where she has a planner meant to recording upcoming events and things to do but instead records big events and moments as they happen in the day slots. And decorates them with stickers! She says she’s been doing this since middle school. She helped me put the stickers on my diary, too. She’s in Korea now, so in a way this diary is also something that makes me think of her. Anyway, I started this diary on my 23rd birthday and wrote a letter to myself for me to read when I turn 24. The idea is that when I get to the end of this diary, recording my days, it’ll end on the letter to my 24-year-old-self.

This is my regular planner. The thing about working at a paper+gift shop is that you end up buying all your notebooks and stationary there! This one is actually utilized as a planner where I write down my to-do-lists, events, upcoming deadlines, etc. The layout allows a whole page of free space next to every weekly look so it can account for a lot of additional lists or things to remember. Or stupid notes and doodles.

...And of course, I always have some sort of sketchbook with me! 

What kind of books do you carry around with you? 

A Goodbye to 2018

I have found that 2018 has been collectively a rough year for everyone I’ve talked to and it goes the same for me. I think 2018 has been the year of big milestone events as well as big challenges. When I close my eyes and reflect upon the year I feel cold and tired. I remember the headaches following days of not sleeping. I remember the moments of coincidental and incredible bad luck! But there are flares of light that peek through for sure. I can say while 2018 was a time of tribulations, it was a time where my relationships and personal life have shone bright.

2018 IN REVIEW:

I’ve completed 75% of things, which to me isn’t bad! I usually keep my goals attainable and loose so that I don’t psychologically feel like a failure, but I do try to keep them challenging. I also like to write them, post it online and tell people just to keep myself accountable and obligated.

1. ✓ DO WORK YOU LIKE + LIKE TO SELL- COMPLETE: this comes from only producing work and even selling work just from class assignments. While I did like some things i’ve produced, a lot of the time they can’t help but be conformed to a certain class or prof’s interest. And I didn’t like the fact that I wasn’t making enough (or liking) personal work.

2. ✓ APPLY TO MORE ART SHOWS+TABLING EVENTS This wasn’t hard to beat because my first art show/tabling event in 2017 was also my one and only. In 2018 I’ve had group shows from school like HOMEWORK at Artscape, GRAD-EX (at OCADU) for my graduating show, 103B which my friends threw together, Canzine, a variety of holiday markets…! I get a rush adding things to my artist CV LOL.

3. ✓ SUBMIT TO MORE CONTESTS, AWARDS, CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Another one I got to complete out of default for not having done so in the past. Do I wish I applied to more? Absolutely, especially as a student! Did I win any awards or contests, no! But this is another one I want to take with me for 2019. It never hurts to try and apply for these things.

4. SET UP AN ONLINE STORE- I’ve forgiven myself for not completing this one for 2018. For 2018 I focused on making work. I didn’t accept that I’ve been producing enough until I’ve heard people say it to me on different occasions. Whatever work for sale I have created, I would put towards tabling events. Now that those are over, I’m leaving left-over stock to the online shop and making more for it this 2019!

5. ✓ READ MORE BOOKS: This was something I wanted to do more of because I missed the old me who would sit in the living room couch or even bring a book to dinner (and be told to stop) and read for hours! It used to take me 3 days to week to finish something but my adult life finds that hard. I usually invest in art books, short stories/anthologies, poetry collections and graphic novels because they’re easy to digest with the time I have. Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis is probably the only novel I’ve liked enough to finish in its entirety.

6. ✓TRAVEL MORE: This year was full of it! I spent a month an a half travelling to the Philippines with my family, a week in New York with my friends as a post-grad trip and then a week in the little town on Elora, Ontario with my partner. Growing up, I don’t travel minus school trips and the obligatory Philippines family trip that gets to happen every 5-6 years.

7. GET MY DRIVER’S LICENSE: I got my G1 in the summer after high school and approaching Uni, and I still couldn’t bring myself to complete anything past that. Using the card as just a form of I.D. To be honest, i’m not in a rush to drive (nor do I want to). But it is useful to learn so that I can if I have to. But this one will take me a lot to get around to doing.

8. MAKE MORE FOOD, EAT OUT LESS. EAT BETTER! Technically, I do cook more meals and have learned to make things with some great success. My partner and I love getting to grocery shop and cook meals when we get to see each other (we live in different cities during the school year)! But in the rest of the calendar year I don’t make legit meals and I eat out a lot!!

9. ✓LEARN TO LOVE+APPRECIATE YOUR THESIS. FIND PEACE. I am not going to lie. For the longest time, and it’s not uncommon among my peers either, I HATED my thesis while I was working on it. I was getting shittiest marks I’ve ever gotten since 1st to first half of 2nd year. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to pass thesis class. Debated whether I should have dropped it when I had the chance to focus on thesis solely for a 5th year. But now that I am finished, had my grad-show, and lived without it for a few months— I can say that I do like the work I’ve created. Sure, stylistically I want to venture off to something I should have pushed initially going into thesis. But all in all, It happened. It got noticed by a select number of people. And it’s gotten me some work for 2019!

10. ✓ FIND A NEW PART TIME JOB: I used to work in Toronto’s biggest shopping mall. The mall retail scene was starting to make me feel jaded and whatever charm/benefits it had in the beginning was changing. I now work at a little local shop that I’ve loved to visit since I was in High School! The pace and vibe is more up my alley. They pay isn’t as great as the old job, but I’d trade it over the stress.

11. DO A MURAL OF SOME SORT: I accidentally crossed it out, meaning to cross the one above it, but I didn’t do a mural this year! And it’s something I still want to keep my eye on doing.

12. ✓ A FUNCTIONAL WEBSITE LIVE. BLOG MORE! YES! During this last note, I would like to thank you for reading this far. I’ve always wanted my have my own website and I’m excited to add more things to it. And blog more.

I haven’t made a solid list of goals for 2019 yet / decided what I even want for myself this year. But see you in the next one when I do!

December Tabling

Things always get crazy in December. For me, I had to juggle personal-life errands in preparation for the holidays, work those holiday hours for my part-time job and also create new work for two holiday markets vendored at with Sabrina (@breetwo) and Wandy(@wandy_cheng). During this time we debuted as a collective called arc & dot. Originally as a way to get Wandy to make money abroad and table with us even while she travelled for the month, I think it might be a real thing to keep. Definitely something to look into for the upcoming New Year quickly creeping upon us.

OCADU ARTIST ALLEY HOLIDAY MARKET.

The thing about being a vendor is that it can actually be pretty exhausting to constantly be social and alert. Different events have different vibes and demographics as well—which can really determine how involved or how jaded I’ll might be feeling for the particular event. This year I’ve been privileged to vendor for markets and shows with little to no fees, and each had their own vibe for sure! You can really learn things like what sells to who, who are into what things. That things people like are not the same thing as what they’ll actually buy, anticipating what to showcase to what sort of event. I do hope to do more of these in 2019 when I can! But for the rest of 2018 and probably early 2019 I’d like to just take in and reflect on them. I don’t know how people do more than 3 of these a month!

sabrina with doraemon blueberry macaron

lots of ceramic pins I made that didn’t make it for artist alley but did debut at xpace’s holiday zine and market fair

cake made by @littlestarchild

Pinch+Bitch: The Therapeutic Times of Learning Ceramics

PINCH+BITCH: a term made up by my friend wandy cheng to describe the handling/pinching of clay during hand-building while working/catching-up/complaining about things with your friends!

The first batch of ceramics I made !

I had my last class at Clayarts Studio in the Junction (in Toronto) yesterday and I’ll miss it! Sometimes when you have have classes at 630-930 it get comfy and don’t want to go out but I always found that time flew whenever i was in the studio! Taking the class was very impulsive but I shelled out money I barely had at the time (still paying things off ha ha) and started classes two days later.

First time on a throwing wheel

I’ve always wanted to do ceramics because two of my closest friends have taken up the practice. Wandy was the first before it was Sabrina and then me! I wish I took ceramics while I was in school to make use of the resources and studio but it was going to be a lot to balance thesis and a time-sensitive studio course. I could have shelled out $60 for the club and not get marked, but oh well!

WIP! I hope these will glaze nicely.

Bisque-fired ceramics

I’ve found that I’m more of a hand-builder rather than a thrower. Which isn’t surprising, but I wanted to be a natural at throwing and surprise myself. Honestly, I think it would have been fine if I practiced at it more!

Underglazing!

It was a good timing, I think, to make things for the upcoming holidays! i have made ceramics for myself, friends+fam but also holiday markets! Catch me at XSPACE on December 15 until 6PM!

Greasy hair but i’m all glazed up!

I want to thank Parker Dirks for the 8 weeks of mentorship where there was a lot of creative freedom and chill times! As well as Clayarts Studio for opening something so close to where I live lol.

INSPO: PODCASTS

THE MAIN SQUEEZE:

And That’s Why We Drink: This is probably my go-to and favourite podcast right now! Hosted by paranormal Em Schultz (team milkshake) and crime Christine (?)(team wine) who take turns telling one paranormal story and one crime story after the two talk about why they’re drinking that week. They are hilarious and genuine and make the dark stories they cover not as…dark. For those who truly want the spooky dark experience and just the stories—maybe skip this one. The two digress quite a bit (but because I’m so invested in their lives and commentary I don’t mind at all) and take a a good while before they jump into the stories. It’s more rewarding to listen to their podcast chronologically because then the personal tidbits all make sense, otherwise start whenever and skip everything else if you’re confused/uninterested. But they also have a sweet dog named Gio and a new kitten named Juniper!

Your Dreams My Nightmares: The is an illustration podcast hosted by illustrator Sam Weber with an impressive list of illustrator friends of his who all talk about their lives, the work place (freelancing), and more! As an illustrator myself it’s super interesting to know where all these people started. There hasn’t been any new uploads in a while, but you can listen to a couple of these throughout the week.

Getting Curious with Jonathon Van Ness: I found this when I needed more content after Queer Eye on Netflix season 2 released and I binged it all in a day. I love Jonathan’s personality and the premise of literally “getting curious” about things “regular” people don’t understand. The episodes follow a topic he’s “curious” about and having a conversation with a professional in the field to explain it while we all learn together. As well as interviews with his fellow fab five!

Rookie: I’m a fan of rookie magazine and have followed Tavi Gevinson on-and-off after I first came across her on a page of Teen Vogue back in my adolescence. In this podcast Tavi interviews people she “admires” to talk about “CREATIVITY, FEMINISM, POP CULTURE, LOVE, BODIES, POETRY, CANDY, AND MORE.”

Welcome to Nightvale: This is like a really weird audio book. Or more so, like listening to a daily newscast for a weird town and it’s weird happenings. Actually, that’s exactly what it is. The newscaster is named Cecil Baldwin, who takes you through the events and happenings in a weird town called Nightvale. I’ve followed this on and off for years and it is still going (now with a book series too) with a long list of episodes to binge.

S-Town: You can probably listen to this one where all audio can be found but it’s truly rewarding to go to the actual site that I’ve linked and just have it play on your laptop. But my all means take this podcast to go! If you follow Serial or This American Life, Brian Reed hosts it. It’s about a “man named John who despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it.” There’s murder, a family, there’s mystery and the story telling is perfect. Completed series.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS
(listen to on and off, but still enjoy):

Bon Appetit Foodcast, 99% Invisible, Art Curious Podcast, Lore, My Favourite Murder…

Anything else I should listen to?

Yonge-Dundas Square: Monthly Digital Art Exhibit

One of my pieces from thesis will be on display at Yonge-Dundas Square for the entire month of August on the three digital screens, rotating about every 5 minutes between ads and other artists' work. If you're ever in the area, please look up! 

Lots of people have asked me whether this was something I applied for. Actually, I was communicated through email from those who are in charge of sourcing art for this monthly exhibit. Signed some paper work and we were good to go! I can only imagine that this was found from Grad-ex, the other artists who are being shown for August with me were actually in the same room as me for the OCAD Grad-ex show!

On another note, I've been balancing my personal life and finding a part time job to fund my future endeavours and lifestyle of going out! I'm currently trying to make more prints and sticker packs I have in mind, but I am also looking into making more resin pins. I'm also looking into manufacturers for nice enamel pins... if anyone reading this knows, spread some knowledge this way! 

COMING SOON! JUNK TRUNK: A Garage Sale by TRIG

Before any of the content I mentioned was coming soon, spontaneously and much-need, a garage sale! My friends Wandy Cheng and Sabrina Tu (who I always mention on here) decided we need to declutter our lives+make some cold hard cash instead of bartering our stuff for other stuff on BUNZ like usual (it gets tiring after a few years). We will also be selling assorted illustrated goods+prints. More info on Facebook page page, accessible down below. See you there!

Click poster to be redirected to our Facebook page for more info! Share with your friends, bring your friends :)

The Rosedale Art Fair

It has been a while since I've last made a post and in that time a lot has happened which I hope to cover in the following weeks ahead. I still have yet to make some travel related posts about places I've been to (Philippines, New York, Elora-Ontario). But right now I'll cover something that happened just a few days of getting back from the Philippines (straight to work instead of rest!) and that was The Rosedale Art Fair.

The official graphic used on signage/posters.

Firstly, The Rosedale Art Fair is an annual weekend long event that took place at Scrivener Square  with big tents to showcase artists who applied and got accepted to show. There were also artists chosen through OCADU to show work in collaboration with local Rosedale-area businesses. I was paired with a flower shop called Thriving Metropolis Flowers, who were very kind and accommodating to me.

THE MAKING OF:

In the Philippines I was contacted by a friend of friends (but I would like to say we're friends now) who happened to be curating/organizing the event, Courtney Gillatly. With my struggle to find wi-fi, I saw the message request much much later after she had sent it. I told her I was interested, though thinking it was too late, but luckily there was one more spot left. I managed to land a spot, but knew that I had to start grinding some new stuff as soon as I landed back to Toronto for this event the following weekend.

Because this was a flower shop, I knew I could have fun drawing foliage and plants alongside my usual girls in fun outfits.

I had work from my thesis show and previous prints to use but I didn't know what to expect from this venue or event at all! Especially before having an in-person conversation with Ingrid (owner of Thriving Metropolis) and Courtney for the first time at the shop. I knew I wanted to make more paintings on display so I bought some wood panels as soon as I could and scheduled a work day with my friends who were also showcasing.

I saw this long wood panel that was 12x24 that could make for an interesting painting. Though I didn't know what to do with it when buying it. It's the biggest of them.

I'm always amazed at what I can push out at the hands of a crunch time deadline. I ended up creating four new paintings (though I planned to do six) in a very short time. Though I like them, I wished I could have made them in a more leisurely way. At least looking at them now, I can go back and spend more time on some areas that I know in my heart can be better--despite others telling me it's good enough.

THE SET UP:

Setting up at the shop took no longer than thirty minutes, which is a very short time compared to other set ups for other things, which usually took hours. Ingrid was very helpful and I suppose, as a florist, had a good handle on how colours and shape work in a space. We put some paintings out in the window and some prints sitting on the shelves. And with the space itself, covered in green foliage, it made my work look cooler than it probably was.

THE ART FAIR:

I was fortunate to be at shop where I didn't feel constrained to my little booth and could go out and see my friends /how they were doing. I do wish I stayed in the shop longer and interacted with others more, that's something I need to practice and hone with time. The area is outside of my friends and I's usual demographic which proved challenging in finding footing of things to talk about/make any sort of sale--but everything is valuable experience. If it is anything, it's first hand experience. Here are more photos of the final weekend display. 

One of the shop's regular customer even got me a coffee, so kind!

Thanks for sticking this far! Until next time...

103B: A Year In Review, A Group Show!

I've been gone a very long time being wrapped up in the final moments of my thesis and final year at OCAD with Grad-ex and in no time at all embarking on a month long family vacation to the Philippines! Ideally I would have wanted to blog in my downtime but it turns out there isn't a lot of down time and there isn't a lot of wifi here!

Currently still in the city of Manila, I'm typing away about a group show my friends and I (me,barely, because I am here so bless them) put on together almost a week ago in Toronto. It's sort of a behind-the-scenes or accompany show to our Grad-ex at OCAD, but this was coordinated without our school affiliation. The opening night took at 26 Augusta ave (home of 156 Studio Project Space) on May 22nd at 7pm. It consists of: Aliya Ghare, Caerina Abrenica, Elise Conlin, Janine Kwok, Jinke Wang, Molly Graham, Rohan Adel, Sabrina Tu, Shevon Lewis and myself!

We first got ear of a the space through a friend-of-a-friend type of connection and occurrence. As soon as things were tangible the gallery show started to manifest at the contribution and efforts of Wandy Cheng and Sabrina Tu (who are both dear to my heart!!). We thought it would be fun to do a following show, especially since thesis was so much work besides the final that people only get to usually see, and circled around a workspace and build-up. For someone who had to prepare for the show (bless Wandy for printing out my material I sent over from overseas) abroad, a show consisting of work we already have made it more fun and focus on how to make it homey and fun.
But that being said, the challenge for me was that llots of the things I wanted to show were in my little nook in Toronto. And I was always nervous that I wouldn't have wifi to send things over unless I booked it somewhere somehow from the province/rural area of the Philippines I was staying at during the time of show prep. While I couldn't be more hands-on or more in depth as I wanted to be, I think it worked out alright.

photo by Wandy Cheng

A big shout out again to Wandy and Sabrina, powerhouse queens of getting things done. Also thanks to "Mike" of 156 Studio Projects for the space. Valerie Poon took photos and the credit for them are all hers--her work can be found here. I'm looking forward to putting on more shows in general with amazing people!

I'm there in spirit, I hope someone photoshops me in or something

BOOKCLUB: The Management of Art Galleries

As I write this, I have just finished scrolling mindlessly on Instagram for about 2.5 hours to balance out the three days of constant late-night hustle+grind (in preparation for my little corner in the OCADU 103 GRADEX). There's still quite a bit I have to do for it in terms of preparing mercy for the GRADEX store as well as a little functional add-on for my display...but we'll see how it goes.

I read on commutes almost exclusively these days because when I'm not at school I'm working on things for school, this year my thesis. In my glory days, I was able to sit for hours with a book and finish them within days or a week. These days, I spend my commutes catching up on sleep or closing my eyes trying to brainstorm for things I have to think up concepts for. Since February, I've been slowly finishing The Management of Art Galleries 

I saw it at an Indigo and was attracted to such a bright pink and then lurked it online for a couple of weeks before caving. It was especially due to having a lot of talks with my friends about galleries (applying to them, those who have made them, wondering how they work, comparing some, etc.) and befriending other illustrators who step into the gallery scenes instead of solely editorial. It's refreshing because my program tends to have such an editorial-focused way of going about things.

I guess before I continue these type of posts aren't necessarily in-depth analysis or reviews, but more so as some insight as what's been inspiring me lately. Reading things, even if they're non-fiction or 

My Little Workspace

It's an ice storm in the middle of April, so due to being indoors I've decided to show what my workspace looks like after cleaning it out a little. I might have mentioned it before, but my little nook is literally a corner of controlled chaos.

My room is 40% art workspace and 60% room.

In an ideal world my workspace isn't limited to one big desk with most of it being supply space rather than a workspace. I still live with my family and I work from my room on my laptop when I create digital illustrations for assignments or when I actually paint. I like to work here when it's really bright outside because it's next to the window, although my room is the room that gets the least amount of light in the house. Thats probably why my little plants and succulents aren't thriving as well as they could. What I think I would need to invest in is a proper desk chair because my back and shoulders has been really feeling it this year when I'm at my desk for too long. 

The empty space without anything on it? That's the actual workspace HA HA HA.

Handpainted some Dollarama figurines that sit on top of a wooden shelving system that I bartered to keep all my little knick-knacks in concealed order.

I think nearly every inch of this little nook is covered in little postcards, prints and cards I've collected since I finally got a room to myself.  I've also framed the giant cheque of $4000 dollars to free ramen for a year that I won in first year of University for always tweeting the ramen restaurant as a contest. It may be my biggest legacy yet.  The printer I have is bartered as well, I traded it for two skirts and lugged the heavy thing a couple of subway stations before I had to call my dad to save me. It's able to print on watercolour paper with a little struggle and do double sided printing for when I make zines so it ended up being a very useful trade.

BONUS: my altar at the door of my bed. Where I keep some candy, candles+incense, lights.

BONUS: My book shelf and one of my favourite characters, Kumamon. 

Perhaps in another post in another time I'll go over actual materials on my desk and inside various shelves that I use but I think this post is going to get too lengthy. 

22

Don't let my baby-faced and youthful exterior fool you, I've just turned 22 on April 1st.  Sorry if a certain line of Taylor Swift infiltrated your mind, she's been around for the whole weekend for me too. 

Lavender from Crown Flora Studios from Ethan

I've felt rattled ever since the day I turned 20 because while 18 is technically the legal age of being an adult, 20 just seems like the real adult age. They still treat you like a child at 18 for the most part. I've never liked the idea of growing older, even though it's a privilege robbed of others too soon. But every time I feel a weird heart beat, throbbing pain in my wrists, numbness in my fingers to the elbow, pain in my back and shoulders, and the list goes on--I can't help but wonder why I'm having what I can only assume are first signs to bigger problems. I can't imagine the invisible internal stuff I haven't felt yet. Sometimes I wonder why my soul chose such a weak physical vessel to settle in. But then I remind myself I've made it this way with my choices...

22 is going to be a big year.  I can feel it like a sailor who squints at the horizon and up at the distant clouds and knows something will happen. Graduation exhibition, graduation, a month and a half of travelling, then a life without school-- and then what? I've made a list of goals for 2018.

Maybe I'm trying to put those goals out there so that I can be accountable for them. Anyway, onwards in life another year older. Hopefully, another year wiser.

Welcome to the Blog!

I've made countless attempts at managing a blog, but this is another go. It took a while to start, but like most projects, I'm trying to learn to just START.  Now that it's attached to my *professional* art website, I feel more accountable! I'm the type of person who writes and journals on the daily within my sketchbooks so blogging never seemed to be a complimenting force in my life more so than a redundant one. Not the case now! While my journals and diaries were more so for myself and those I allowed to read it, this blog will serve as a device to get to know me and my art a little more: with the intention to be read and read on a larger scale. How you got here reading this now, with the trail and thread of different taps on a screen or clicks on your mouse, I have no idea. But that's the internet!

I intend for this blog to serve two reasons:
- to get to know me, the artist
-the world around me from my perspective
-and to give more information/context of my art

But I don't want this space to simply be a newsletter.The blog could have just been kept at my art: work in progresses, sketchbook pages, upcoming or ongoing events. But I usually go to read a creators someone's blog because I'm interested in who they are as a person and how their minds work, in a sense.  And while I consider myself an illustrator, I'm really interested in things such as: travel, food+drinks, lifestyle+wellbeing, fashion/makeup, books, writing+publication, etc. These are all things that inspire me and help me rest. 

The next few posts will probably be art oriented but also help you guys get to know me a little more. I don't know where this blog will go, to be honest, or if it will go anywhere. All feedback about content is welcome!