Flash Back

Holiday on Bintan (August)

After much anticipation, my sister in law and her family finally arrived from UK on the 20th of August. Two days after they arrived, we set off on a ferry to Bintan for a much needed holiday. We had a couple of rainy days over the five days' stay on the island resort but we had lots of fun, laughter and bonding time with the kids overall. Hannah and Heather really enjoyed their cousins' company. We adults also had a relaxing time on the beach. It's just great leaving work and stress behind for a while to recharge. Beside playing and resting, we get to eat quite a bit - Thai, Indian, Japanese, Western. Thai and Japanese has got to be the Simpson's favourites. Of course time flies when we are having fun. Soon, we had to bid farewell. Thanks Caroline, Matt, Alfie and Joe for your visit. We look forward to having you over again.

(Click on the images to see enlarged pictures)

Book Launch for Chilli Padi

Join author Adeline Foo on Children's Day at the launch of her new book "Chilli Padi" at the Philatelic Museum.

Adeline shares the pride of her new book, illustrated by local artist Lee Kowling. "Chilli Padi" introduces young children to early Peranakan heritage, through the story of Puteh who is inspired by the author’s childhood memories of being brought up by her Peranakan grandmother. Adeline is also the author of The Beaded Slippers, The Kitchen God, Secret Hoarder, Midnight Tree and Lost in the Secret Garden. Her first book, Ben's Friends from the Rainforest, won the First Time Writers & Illustrators Publishing Initiative award in 2006.

Click the poster on above for information.

Have you seen my Gator mummy?

Here she comes with her Polliwalks.
Splishing splashing as she walks.
Worry no more the puddles and mud.
She can wear her Gator for a rubber dub-dub.
Let's wander down the beach for some fun.
Leave some footprints under the sun.
Gleefully trotting in the park.
From morning till noon to the day gets dark.
Imagination is what she needs.
She and her Gator are best friends indeed.
Yes, she loves her Polliwalks.
Keeping her feet happy wherever she walks.

These Polliwalks clogs are so inspiring that I actually penned a rhyme about them. Thanks to Leonny for telling us about these interestingly designed shoes on her wonderful blog "Our Everyday Things". Check it out and you may stand a chance to win home a pair of Polliwalks for your kids.

If you’d like to get them for your kids (or your nieces, nephews, friends’ kids, etc), right now they’re available for sale at the Zoo, BirdPark, a couple of OG outlets, and seven of Kiddy Palace’s stores! Retail Price: S$48.15 nett.


* Photos are taken by Leonny and Polliwalks.

Who is sleep?

Who is asleep?
Written by Anne Smith
Illustrated by Christine Lim Simpson
Medium - Watercolour
Publisher - Publishwrite

12 illustrations for a big format children's book for pre-schoolers. Prints are available. Comments are welcome ... as always.

Some thoughts on conservation

A long due post.

Discovered today is Beatrix Potter's birthday on Google. We are born on the same date but different month and year.

Lots had happened over the past few weeks. Dad had an operation to treat hernia over 5 weeks ago. He had his review and is fine. Mum stayed in the hospital last week for a few days. There was blood in her stool. The doctor admitted her for a scope. It was a relief that her condition was not serious. We think it's the side effect from the chemotherapy she was receiving. She is back at home now and is extremely cautious with her diet. We celebrated her 62nd birthday three weeks ago.





Hannah had her primary tap exam in June while Jon was in UK for 4 weeks. She practised very hard to make sure that she get through. Well done sweetie!

Heather had her turn to participate in her kindy's sports day two weeks ago. She was so fast that I only managed to capture one photo that is clear. Nevertheless we had great fun on that day.

























On the work front, I am still working on the big book on nocturnal animals. I have 7 more watercolour paintings to be done. I really enjoy working on the book and reading up on the rainforest and these amazing creatures that need our protection before they disappear due to deforestation and other manmade destruction.














So before ending this post, I would like to recommend a book - The Elephant and the Tree. It is a wonderful book on conservation which was picked up by acclaimed Sandra Dijkstra Literary agency and Running Press. I met Jin Pyn, the author of this book, in 2006 but only got to speak to her this year during ACWIC. She is such a dynamic lady with a great passion in protecting the rainforest and wildlife. For more information about her and her story, please visit her website - The Elephant and the Tree and show your love for mother nature.

Moving on

Finally some progress with the new big book I am working on. Here a small section of the illustration.

A little fun with friends

I have not blogged about the girls for a while. We are into the end of the third week of the semester break and we haven't spend much quality time together. I never seem to be able to manage my time efficiently and productively during holidays. Time just slips through the tips of my fingers like running water. Deadline for my next big book is drawing nearer and I am still at the research stage. I can't quite sit down for more than 15 minutes without interruption from the kids. I ended up working at night till midnight or later, which is extremely unhealthy. I am about to go and sort out a scarily enormous pile of laundry that needs to be folded and put into the wardrobes.

This week, I managed to take the girls to see their friends. It is a must to go over to Victoria's house every holiday. We always ended up overstaying. It is simply wonderful seeing the girls spending time with their best friends, pretending to be twins and having a great memory about them. I had enjoyed chatting with Lisa all afternoon too. Today I brought Hannah and Heather to the library and Ikea. Thank god Smaland was not as crowded as the last time we went there. They had an hour of fun while I get to do a bit of sketching at the the cafe. I must admit I really like the coffee and some peace.












































Last Sunday Jon and I took the girls to the Night Safari. It's one place that I highly recommend to those visiting Singapore. We will be back at the zoo in August.

Time to revamp myself

I feel jet lag today. It's as though I just landed from another planet.

Last night after ACWIC, I brought Hannah and Heather to watch Moonbird. The play is based on Joyce Dunbar's beautiful story about a prince who is deaf and how his parents (the king and queen) come to accept his disability and learn to communicate with him in unspoken manner. This production by ITheatre had successful captivated me and my girls. I highly recommend you and your family to watch it next time when the theatrical company brings it back on stage. I hope they will.

Meeting Joyce in person at ACWIC is like meeting the president. She is one extraordinary person. Not only being a widely respected author of more than fifty books for children who travels to give talks on creativity, she also brings up two children, both are very successful in the arts field, and is actively involved with the organisation called In The Picture to promote literature that includes disable children. She really inspires me in the biggest way. She overcomes her deafness, personal obstacles and transforms difficulties into magical moments. Truly amazing.

Thank you Joyce for sharing your wisdom with me personally. Your encouragement will spur me on to become the illustrator I want to be. I hope we will meet again.

Mark McVeigh and Laurent Linn from Simon and Schuster spent an afternoon talking about their jobs as editor and art director. They went into details on the nuts and bolts of acquisition, covered several topics such as what editors like and dislike, the various aspects of book creation from start to finish, the structure of picture book and how they work together with the others in the publishing house. Edward Necarsulmer IV, director of literary agency McIntosh & Otis, shared with us on how to write a query letter and talked about how he as an agent works step by step with his client to guide a book from manuscript to publication. Together, the trio reinforced many interesting aspects that I have learned over the web and through communicating with other illustrators overseas, over the last two years. Aspiring writers and illustrators had definitely benefited from the sessions in one single day.

Laurent surprised me by his friendliness and generosity to share his knowledge as an illustrator, art director and book designer. He pointed out to me what he likes about my work and gave me plenty of advices on how I can improve my illustrations and what I could do to get notice. I really appreciate his patience and not chasing me away for asking so many questions and going to him several times. Thank you very very much your time, Laurent.

There is one person in the speaker's panel who had been particularly sweet. He's non other than John Danalis. He is calm, encouraging and is the kind of friend you would like to have for a long long time. I was fortunate to get the chance to chat with John a little about my work, my family and my mum. I am very touched when he gave me a book illustrated by his partner Stella Danalis. The book is entitled What The Sky Knows. I only opened the book when I got home. On the dedication page, Stella wrote - follow your dreams and reach for the star. It's exactly the same message as the angel card I pick up randomly one and a half years ago at my Belgium client's place. Then later in the evening on my way to Alliance Française to catch Moonbird, I spotted this large poster in front of me that says "Dream Big". Thank you John from the bottom of my heart.

John is the author and illustrator of three children’s titles, Dog 37 being the most recent. He has illustrated text books as well as numerous other fiction titles including Licking Lizard, The Girl In The Cave, and Loku and The Shark Attack. He has also run a studio called Peripheral Vision with Stella and offers workshops at schools and organisations. John is passionate about helping young people connect with and cultivate the storyteller within.

On the first and second day of ACWIC, I had the opportunity to attend two excellent sessions by two reputable publishing firms. Selena from Scholastic and Kelly from Pageone shared their perspectives on book distribution in Singapore and overseas. I now have a better vision to whom I can send my ideas to.

I am glad that I attended this year's conference. Thank you Susan, Selena and Aunty Ros for looking after the girls so that I can go to the conference. Also many thanks to the hardworking people (Rama, Carol, Christina, Serene) at the National Book Development Council for flying in all the experts. I definitely look forward to the future events.

The conference ended yesterday. There are so many things that I have to do to get closer to my dream. I need a few days to quiet my mind and catch that fish, then revamp ... revamp ... revamp.

Tonight, Jon and I are going to take the girls to the Night Safari. I am illustrating a big book on nocturnal animals in the rainforest. The zoo has got to be one favourite place for me to find inspiration.

The end

Everyone likes for a perfect ending. Unfortunately sometime the ending is not quite perfect.

Today the writer and I ended our collaboration for the book that was selected for publication under First Time Writers and Illustrators Publishing Initiative 2008. It is one of the hardest day of my life. I have been working around the clock, seizing every minute I can get, to come up with the illustrations for the book and yet in the end I had no second option to get my work published. Despite much disappointment, I have learned many invaluable lessons from this one experience. I will continue to hone my skill, take some time out learn to write and read more about the legal and business aspect of publishing. I believe that another opportunity is already on my way.

I am off to illustrate two more big books due in August for my regular publisher. One of the books is about nocturnal animals. I love painting the night scene. Those hours of darkness is both mysterious and fascinating.

My favourite client, who is from Belgium, has commissioned me to paint a couple more illustrations for her greeting cards. I love working with her. She has been a mentor to me and keep encouraging me to reach for the star. I am thankful that she includes me in her journey.

Before I end this post, I would like to share with you some of the sketches that I had done for this 48 pages picture book. I have removed the text but I believe a picture says a thousand words ... feel free to fill in your own words. Enjoy!

Ranting

Heather recovered from a fever that lasted 2 days and Hannah just finished her mid-year exams while I am exhausted, period. Mum went through her third round of chemo and does not feel fantastic. Thank god I have my dad and sister who takes care of her. I accompanied my dad for his monthly routine check up at the hospital yesterday. We waited for 4 hours to see the doctor. He has some problems with his prostate and small intestine. Doctor suggested surgery if he feels any necessity. Dad said he will continue the drugs and see how it goes. He's most concern about who will take care of mum.

Me? My external hard disk went to heaven on Monday. I have no back up of the data .... actually I did backed them up in DVDs but someone accidentally threw them out when we moved house. Sigh! Anyway, I had sent the disks out to the pro to recover all my precious photos. That's where my last have-not-banked-in cheque going. I hope this will be my very last time having such problem.

On the work front, I have tried my best to squeeze in any time I get (waiting at hospital and between kid's extra classes, Heather's naptime, get up at 5 in the morning, etc) to do some sketches and research. I have only 10 weeks left to complete about 30 paintings (extended from 32 pages to 48 pages + cover). I finished 2 watercolour illustrations for a client who will be heading back to Holland in summer. I have a couple more requests from her which I can only start after my book is 100% completed.

I am running late again. Still, I wish you a good week ahead. Ta.

Update on mum: Chemotherapy

We have been informed by the oncologist at the National Cancer Centre (NCC at Singapore General Hospital) that mum has to receive chemotherapy. The result on her CT scan shown growth of the tumour on the lower spine. She had radiotherapy in November after feeling pain around her abdominal and back. The tumour grew from a few millimeters (after radiotherapy) to the present 2.7cm. Her oncologist had suggested using Gemzar combined with Carboplatin as her first-line treatment. Initially, the doctor offered clinical trial for her. But because she cannot read English, she got rejected. It is so unfair. There are so many elderly people in Singapore who have cancer and are illiterate, and, not to mention no insurance and CPF . The treatment costs like $2000 a month (excluding other medication and medical checkups) and may be long time in most cases. What options do we have? Will our government help? How much?

I am trying to cope with the stress level by deep breathing.

I hope I can manage so many things, major workload and crucial deadlines (Hannah's exams in May, August and October, extra intensive dance coaching (throughout May and June for exam), 2 outstanding paintings for a client who is leaving for Amsterdam in Summer, 34 illustrations for my book which is due in July (hopefully it's at end of that month), meetings with writer, publisher and bookseller through out the year, Frankfurt Book Fair in October, dad's hospital check ups .... that's all I can think of at the moment ... I am sure I am missing out something). So pardon me if I miss your birthday again.

Please pray for us, especially for my mum to feel painless during and after treatment, to experience no side effect from the drugs, to gain the mental and physical strength to fight the sickness and for good and responsible doctors and nurses to take care of mum. And for all of us to have extra time with our beloved mum and grandma, for all the support (including financial and logistic) that we can get to provide mum the necessary care and treatment, and, equally essential, the energy, good health and optimism that we need to live life to the fullest everyday.

Will keep you posted again soon.

And if you have any advice on chemotherapy or treatment for cancer (particularly lung and bone), please write to me. Thank you. May god bless you and your family with good health. Take care. Thank you for taking interest in us.

Feels like Miss Potter

I receive a good news 3 days ago. We have passed the selection panel. The National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) has accepted our work and will give us the grant to publish our book if we adhere to the deadlines and conditions outline by the organisation and publisher (SNP International Publishing).

We are very pleased with the result as the illustrations which we submitted to the organisers sort of went "missing". I was really glad the judges got to see the illos in the end during the interview and like them.

I will be working extremely hard over the next few months. Stay tuned to my blog for more details on the development.

Gotta get back to finish a couple of paintings. Have a fabulous week ahead of you!

Last but now least, thanks for all your kind words of encouragement and letters of support.

Missing child

If you saw a frantic mum, shouting out her child's name at Bedok Interchange, that was me. Yap, Heather did her disappearing act again. No, not her first time (at a mall) or second (at home ... yah ... hide behind our sofa and eat chocolates) or third (at the zoo with daddy). This is her fourth time and the worst we have ever felt because we were at a very busy place with all sorts of people, plus most the shops are small and crammed with goods, making it really hard to find her.

How did it happen? We were at a kid's apparel shop, looking at some clothes for Hannah and a friend's baby. One minute she was next to me, the next minute she was gone. I yelled very loudly and caught others attention, except my little girl's. Two kind passerby (mother and son) asked me if I have lost my child and helped me to look. A minute later, another came up and told me Heather was outside the supermarket, 200 metres from me. According to a vendor outside the supermarket, her gentle sobbing caught his attention and stop her from walking further. An old neighbour of ours, who happened to be selling pots next to the vendor, noticed Heather and told her to wait for me, who nearly break down in tears.

I really have to come up with a solution to prevent Heather from leaving my side. I told her to shout "mummy" when she cannot see me and should never walk away.

Anyway, it's a terrifying experience for both of us. I hope we have learned our lesson and be extra careful in future. I think she should carry a mobile phone with her when we are out.

Morning Inspiration

What do I do to get inspired?

Watch Micheal Smith's Chef at Home and Chef at Large on Asian Food Channel first thing in the morning.

We absolutely love the show and his homemade cuisines. And I love his house and kitchen on Prince Edward Island, Canada, too!

If I don't paint, I would be a chef. Ya ... another great opportunity to be creative.

Bon appetite!

Life is good ... so what's cooking?

We are always in the kitchen. Yes, even the girls are lil' chefs. In fact, the other day Hannah made herself and Heather lunch. She made onigiri with furitake served with tamogoyaki and blanched spinach. In case you don't know what they are, onigiri is a kind of Japanese rice (like sushi rice), furitake is a savoury condiment made of dried fish, seaweed, shiso and sesame seeds while tamogoyaki is Japanese rolled omelet. Yum! We are so proud and happy that our kids love cooking as much as us.












Last week, I made my third batch of kimchi. I stirred in some pork and turned those delicious preserved Korean vegetarian dish into a fried rice.







I also whipped up my own recipe to transform left-over stewed pork into a bowl of tasty rice dish with watercress, fried onions and fresh chillies.






Of the four of us, Jon is the best cook without shadow of a doubt. He has a hidden talent and enjoys being in the kitchen. The other night, he made us this very special salmon dish that he learnt from Charlie Trotter's show on Asian Food Channel. To make this dish, the salmon has to be poached in herbs infused olive oil for a few hours at a very low temperature. To accompany the fish is pan-fried brown rice cake and leek confit soup. The flavour is really delicate and the salmon melts in the mouth like butter on hot rolls.

If you want the recipes, drop me a note. Bon appetite!

Some thoughts today

Saturday is the busiest day for me. Every Saturday, I have to bring the girls for classes. Hannah will do her 1 hour tap dance at Tampines. Then she and Heather will go for an 1 hour and 45 minutes Chinese lesson at Kembangan. We usually start the day between 8.30 and 9am. After a nice breakfast, we will try to complete all the school work at home, if possible, before heading out. They finish everything and get home by 4pm. I encourage them to have a nap every weekend. I think sleep is so important for the development of the brain. In addition, I get to do a bit more work (drawing, painting, housekeeping, etc) while they nap.

Anyway, I happened to read an article in Weekend Today, a local tabloid, in the taxi on the way to Chinese language centre today. I am glad to read a little reminder and thought I ought to share with you about it.

The article, entitled The Modern Parent Trap, is written by Crispina Robert. She is also the Chief Editor of Young Parent magazine and a mother herself.

She wrote: "Unless money is an issue, most Singaporean children have a calendar that is busier than that of their CEO daddies. I have a sneaky feeling that the increased numbers of children seeking psychiatric help is not just due to awareness, and that there are vast numbers of little people with lots to handle. ... ... I imagine these children putting on a mini-suit and pulling in two shifts a day with weekend duty thrown in. At the age of seven! "

Sad but true - this is the way of life for most Singapore children. How did our society come to such madness? What are we turning our children into? Gone are the days when children play zero-point, hopscotch, five stones, scissors paper stone, Simon says, tug of war, police and thieves, eagle and chicken, etc.

I don't know what category of parenting I fall into. I try my best not to arrange any extra tuition for Hannah, who is in Primary 1, even when she has some difficulties with her work every now and then. I hope I don't have to do that at all through her entire education. The education system in Singapore is very tough. My daughter is doing 5 times more the work than me when I was at her age and we are only 27 years apart. The questions she gets in her P1 exam are what I got when I was in P3 and above.

With the kind of stress and speed we are living in, we have forgotten what is like to be a little child. We have forgotten how lucky we once were to have the opportunity to play in the mud, catch the butterflies, read Tin Tin cartoons, keep spiders as pets, pick wild berries (my husband's childhood past time), etc.

Recently, Hannah said she wants to play GuZheng, an oriental orchestra instrument, at her school. I would love her to learn it and had gotten the consent form from her teacher but I am very scarred that she is over-scheduled. At the moment, other than work from her full day school (which is pretty heavy and requires coaching from me and/or daddy everyday), she is doing ballet and tap (an hour per class per week that require practise which she has not put much effort in at home), Chinese at Berries (which only has a piece of worksheet per week) and swimming (she loves the exercise because she is good at it and it's fun). She is also interested in horse-riding, which she really really wants to do (since she had a go when we were in UK); but we haven't been able to afford and manage to fit any time for the activity.

Ok, back to the point again - "Are children over-indulged, over-scheduled and yet under-parented?" Think about it?

I hope that when our kids grow up, they won't blame us for taking away their childhood. I thank my parents for not taking away mine and never stop me from painting.

I am off to chase some butterflies, jump into the pool and have an ice cream with my babes after they wake up from their siesta. Hack the rain! If life is short, childhood is shorter.

Read full article "The Modern Parent Trap" here.
(I think it's more like "The Modern Singaporean Parent Trap" as it is happening among us, the Singapore parents.)

Shortlisted

We were called in for an interview to review our entry for the First-Time Writers and Illustrators Publishing Initiative 2008! Lynn and I met a panel of judges on Saturday and had lots of fun (at least for me and Lynn). The result will be out next week. Whatever the outcome, we know we have the potential to leap. I am quite excited and I can't wait to start working on it again. In the meantime, I must complete a couple of illos for some greeting cards for a client from Belgium. A project which I have put aside for a long time. I have targeted a week to do it so wish me luck and inspiration.
On Thursday, I bought a printer with scanning function. I like the one which Janine had and had been so kind to let me print my stuff anytime. However, the model (Epson Stylus CX2900) is phrasing out so I bought the newer version, Epson Stylus CX5500. I am glad that it was a good bet. The printout was better than expected and waterproof too, even though it's inkjet. It's a superb buy for $148.
Picture courtesy of Epson

What else is happening? I have updated my online portfolio. Rewrote the bit about me. To read click here.

Oh! I have nearly forgotten the much needed short holiday we had in Bintan Nirwana over Easter weekend with my mum, dad and sister. We stayed in cabana and had so much fun on the beautiful beach. We were so lucky to have three good days under the sun while it was raining back at home. The girls and Jon went kayaking while I got to relax on the beach, paint and take pictures (lots!). Although my folks and Dawn (who is a vegetarian) had a little bit of difficulties with the food (being gastronomically less adventurous than us), they had a wonderful time with the winkers. Jon had some trill jet skiing. Hannah and Heather managed to go to the kids' club and playground at the resort hotel in the morning before we left to head home. But they didn't get to dip into the pools. They were sad leaving Bintan. In fact, Heather cried! Anyway, we will go back again in August when my sister and brother in law visit us with their boys. Can't wait!

April will be a hectic month for us. With my book and Hannah's exam in May, I think I can only update my blog once a month. I do miss those days when I get to read other blogs and correspond with other artists especially those I admire a lot. So, friends you are in my thoughts even when I am offline. Drop me a note, as I always say.

I wish you all a great month ahead. Take care of yourself. Smile. :) I try very hard to do that at least three times a day! See ya soon!

Marching on

Hello friends! I am back without a break!

The girls went back to school on Monday after a week of break from school. We were busy preparing for Hannah's ballet exam during the first few days, which was right after my last project for a competition. After 4 months of practise and one whole week of drilling and perfecting the moves, it was finally over last Wednesday. Hannah didn't say much about the exam other than the words "fine" and "I am the only one who understand her English". She really does not care about how well or bad she did in front of the examiner from the Royal Academy of Dance.

Right after the exam, the girls went to their best friend's house to play. Sooner than you can blink, they had forgotten their mummy. But that's ok, I have my companies - their friends' mummy. We all partied hard and had lots of fun over this short holiday.

This week, I managed to get a bit of time in the afternoon to update my overdue blogs and catch up with housework which should be done before this weekend as we will be spending a few days in Bintan with my family. So let's pray for good weather.

Here are some illustrations for First Time Writers and Illustrators Publishing Initiative 2008, a yearly event organised by the National Book Development Council of Singapore. I collaborated with Lynn, a mother who is aspired to be a children's book writer, on this project. I had less than a week to come out with the illos for her book. I managed to complete 1 full colour version with watercolour and 2 tight black and white sketches. Tell me what you think.

I need a break

Fullstop.

The Felt Elephants

That's the title of the book I just completed. Here are a few from the 16 illustrations I have done. I think I would do a better job if I have an extra few days. I always encounter problem getting the "true" colours in the scanned illos and I reckon the images lost about 10 to 15% of the details, especially the watercolour effect. Can any reader out there can recommend a scanner, a printer or any solution to the problem? Leave me a comment. Thanks!