Finally Saw the Four Planets!

Yesterday I finally saw the four planets aligned at about 5.45 am. They are more visible early in the morning before the sun rise. From left to right, you see the Jupiter, the brightest planet Venus, Mars and lastly Saturn. In mid-June, we get to see five planets align when Mercury joins in the parade. 

Maybe I should buy a good telescope so I can see the ring around planet Saturn and other planets. 

Any idea what is the star at bottom right?

Mayday Band Concert in 2022 December

I'm happy that my cousin will be watching Mayday band concert with me in December this year. 

Finally, we can watch live concert after two long years of pandemic. I was supposed to watch Broadway musical On Your Feet in 2020 but it was canceled due to the pandemic. Hopefully covid infections can be reduced to single digit by November this year. 

Click here to order the ticket:  https://ticketmaster.sg/activity/detail/20_mayday

I hope they sing this song Perfume.

Blooming Peony

Beautiful exquisite shophouse design

 

Early Morning Clouds

Mesmerizing clouds this morning at my workplace. This morning, I could only see two planets Jupiter and Venus and the lovely crescent moon up the cloudy sky at Tampines. Recently, sun rises early and by 6.35 am, glimpse of sun ray peeking through the clouds. 

Jupiter, Venus and crescent moon

 

Butterfly in the Sky

Saw this beautiful sky yesterday morning. Sky brighten up early recently. I took this image at around 6.40 am yesterday at Tampines. It looks like a orange butterfly with the clouds swirling around it. 

 

Four Planets and Moon Aligned

Finally I managed to capture the four planets namely Jupiter, Venus(brightest dot), Mars, Saturn and the moon early this morning at around 6.30 am at Tampines.  This photo is not very clear and I had to zoom the image on my phone to see the planets which are very faint dots. Mercury will join the four planets in alignment in mid-June and we can see the five planets in alignment till early July. 

This Saturday 30 April is a special day when Venus and Jupiter will meet in conjunction. Maybe I wake up early to see the conjunction. 

You can read more about this rare planets alignment here.

Kissing Clouds

Could you see a couple kissing up in the sky? The positive and negative shape reminds me of yin and yang concept that generates sparks of universe. 

 

Jay Chou 周杰伦《双截棍》

Good news to all Jay Chou's fans! Jay Chou will be coming to Singapore this year for live concert at the National Stadium of Singapore on 17th and 18th December! Coincidently Mayday band will also be coming for live concert on 3rd December this year. I have to decide which concert to go to as their tickets are not cheap. The cheapest Mayday concert ticket is priced at $225.

周杰伦《双截棍》 Nunchucks is one of my favourite songs. 

周杰伦 双截棍☆

曲: 周杰倫 / 詞: 方文山

岩烧店的烟味弥漫 隔壁是国术馆
店里面的妈妈桑 茶道 有三段
教拳脚武术的老板 练铁沙掌 耍杨家枪
硬底子功夫最擅长 还会金钟罩铁步衫
他们儿子我习惯 从小就耳濡目染
什么刀枪跟棍棒 我都耍的有模有样
什么兵器最喜欢 双截棍柔中带刚
想要去河南嵩山 学少林跟武当
干什么(客) 干什么(客) oh~
干什么(客) 干什么(客)
干什么(客) 干什么(客)
一个马步向前 一记左钩拳 右钩拳
一句惹毛我的人有危险 一再重演
一根我不抽的烟 一放好多年 它一直在身边
干什么(客) 干什么(客)
快使用双截棍 哼哼哈兮
快使用双截棍 哼哼哈兮
习武之人切记 仁者无敌
是谁在练太极 风生水起
快使用双截棍 哼哼哈兮
快使用双截棍 哼哼哈兮
习武之人切记 仁者无敌
是谁在练太极 哼哼哈兮
把手举高 把手举高 我看不见你们
把手举高 把手举高 最后一次 跟我一起
快使用双截棍 哼哼哈兮
快使用双截棍 哼哼哈兮
习武之人切记 仁者无敌
是谁在练太极 风生水起
快使用双截棍 哼哼哈兮
快使用双截棍 哼哼哈兮
如果我有轻功 飞檐走壁
oh oh oh 一身正气
快使用双截棍 呵~
快使用双截棍 呵~
一身正气 呵~

Watercolour Painting- Peony and Fruits

Did some watercolour painting today on peony and fruits- lemon and pumpkin.

Art Store at Tampines Century Square

I've been spending lots of money on art material recently at Art Friend and Popular bookstore. Even though I'm a member of Art Friend, enjoying 10% discount, I still spent a lot. 

Thankfully my kind friend who is also my colleague told me there is an art store at Tampines Century Square level 2, Umistrong Art Hub that also offers art lessons. I went to explore this Thursday and I was elated to see other affordable brands. 

I think it's the first store that sells individual watercolour papers instead of package set. I brought some watercolour papers of different weight to explore. 

Maybe next weekend, I will explore their Suntec City branch which also has a Gallery, studio and retail store. 

Update: Suntec city shop has closed.

Website: https://www.umistrong.com/

They also offer art lessons

You can choose from a wide range of watercolour papers of different weight

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I brought this gold highlighter and the globe sharpener which is quite good.

Taking Photo of My Photos

I brought a palm-sized photo printer Canon Selphy Square QX10 two years ago in 2020 as there was a good promotion with free 5 boxes of Selphy square photo papers. Each box of Selphy square costs about $21 with 20 photo papers. 

I paid $255.00 in 2020 for the Canon Selphy square photo printer. It is now priced at $219.00. 

I'm quite happy with the photo colour quality. I can print out photos from my phone by using wi-fi to link up with the printer and I can edit borders and even use the filters to edit the photos. The photo paper is like sticker. You can paste on your sketchbook or album. I'm quite happy with this purchase for the good quality photo at affordable price. 

Lovely Morning Sky

 

Overcast Sky at Gardens by the Bay

Dark overcast sky at Gardens by the Bay on this Wednesday with my friend. 

 

Precious Peony- Inspired to Write Chinese Poem

I'm inspired to write a Chinese poem on Peony after seeing it at Gardens by the Bay. Yeah I just wrote for fun and it's not exactly in the formal format. I plan to sketch and paint peony when I'm free. Lately I'm really busy with 3 courses. 

鲜艳牡丹绽花放

亮丽花朵笑盈盈

老老少少皆欢喜

开开心心赏牡丹

Art and Life

Recently, I learned about making mud and I was not happy with some of the work and wanted to throw some of the "ugly" work away. Then I recalled a good article I read years ago in 2018 May, 

Singaporean artist, Wee Hong Ling shared the following anecdote that changed her perspective. She attended a workshop conducted by American clay artist who shared that in the first 10 years of his career, he would throw away any art pieces that did not meet his expectation. Later, he realised that he had lost 10 years of information. 

Thus, I'm going to keep these "ugly" pieces and take note of why they turned out the way. Do read the following inspiring article. I hope you find it helpful. 

Time is a finite resource. What do you want to spend your time on? I know I want to spend more time on Art, Design and Reading. 

The Straits Times

When life deals you a curve ball, you can still have a ball

To read more, click here

At one such workshop conducted by American clay artist Jack Troy, she was struck by something he said. In the first 10 years of his career, the artist apparently placed a trash bin next to the kiln each time he unloaded his fired pieces. With a hammer, he would smash anything which did not meet his expectations and throw it into the bin.

 “He said: ‘After a while, I realised I had lost 10 years of information’,” recalls Ms Wee. A light bulb came on in her head when she heard that. “We do the same in our lives. We write off people and things which do not meet our expectations and throw them in the trash bin,” she says. When the realisation struck her that she was not only moulding clay but learning about life, she decided she would work with ceramics after completing her PhD.

“I had friends and neighbours who went to work that day and never came home. It was another wake-up call. If you want to do something you care about, you’d better not waste time. Those people who went to work that day never thought they were not going to come home.” The day she got her PhD in 2005, she threw away all her books, journals and academic papers. “That was the past. I needed more room for my art. If I were going to use those books again, they would be obsolete anyway.”

Making mud- Some dark and some bright- representing moments of life with bad and good. 

Watercolour background using salt and paper towel