Design piece: You can’t earn grace.

(C) Lizzaeh, 2010.

Alrights, so I’ve finally decided to get back into the groove of designing regularly. Too many things have distracted me of late.

Finally purchased my own domain (after procrastinating for so long, yes), for real this time and not just talked about it. For now it’ll probably just be a place for me to put up my current portfolio to get more freelance work. More details on that when I get it up and running proper.

If anyone is interested/needs design work/want to do collaborations I’m available for hire.
(Except for the bit on collaborations.)

Do support my cause and contribute to the Send-Liz-To-Design-School fund by hiring me or linking me up with people who might want to.

For the yet to be informed, I have decided to pursue design as a career (much to the chagrin of most obviously, my mother), and am looking into doing some foundation courses leading up to a Masters’ program in Communication/Graphic Design once I’m done with this degree. It will not be an easy journey, I know. I have no art/design background, I know. What makes me think postgraduate design school will accept a student with no background such as myself, I know. A designer’s life isn’t a walk in the park or the best paying job, I know.

But being away from home in the heart of art and culture, and being exposed to a society so vastly different from what I’ve been brought up to believe is normal, has convinced me to stop postponing my dreams and not be afraid to step out beyond the safety of my limited horizon.

So keep me in your prayers. And if any time I ever feel like giving up, give me a slap on my back and remind me to stick to it.

After all, dreams wouldn’t be called dreams if they were always easily attainable.

Have a good day my Singaporean friends… It’s bed time here in Lugano.

Meeting an old friend.

So I met up with Ee Wei yesterday. She was my senior in TK and we had some pretty colorful history back then. She’s studying music at the Conservatory here in Lugano and is someone I haven’t been in touch with for years really.

But we had a good time catching up, and I visited her cosy little apartment somewhere further away from where I live.

Entrance to the little abode.

It’s just one lovely warm room, with a little kitchen and the bathroom in the corridor.

The life of a musician…. is definitely a hard and difficult one. Much respect.

Bassoon reeds. It’s been a while.

And she made a lovely soupy, bee hoon lunch.

Her post-it wall with many, many lovely lovely quotes. In many ways she and I are very similar.
Her handwriting has changed slightly! I still vividly remember what it looks like cause in TK we had a culture of writing notes to other girls a lot (don’t ask me why) and folding them into nice little pockets with each other’s names written in fancy curls and stuff. It used to be rounded and fatter and she used to draw these really memorable smiley faces. Haha.

But handwritings change, as do the personality behind the handwriting.

I really like this quote.

The other side of the wall and her alcohol gifts from performances.

Borrowed Prozac Nation from her to read. Finally some English reading material.

Then we took a walk down her usual running path by a little lake in a quieter residential part of Lugano I’ve not been to yet, so it was really nice. Weather was poor for photos but it was still a hauntingly cloudy day.

That’s her on platform. She calls this the ‘pretty end’ of the lake where she normally runs to. And indeed it was rather pretty.

(Told you the clouds were haunting that day…)

And photo! Out of focus cause I didn’t check. But it’s the only one we took that day.

And here’s a nice little doggie and his humans to end off while we were walking back.

This was one of my happiest days in Lugano so far, really enjoyed myself and the quiet a lot.

May go for a nice long walk tomorrow if the weather is good while some of the others head to Milan.

Sketchy things.

This is the notebook Jeremy gave Chiang, Shiu and I during Christmas.

Mine’s the Beetle cause that’s the car I want.
Shiu has the Jeep and I can’t remember what WL’s is.

I’m not much of an artist. Just doodle some. So here’s a few of the pages I’ve filled here in Switzerland.

Like I said I really love this stuff.

Doodled while accompanying Jun when she was watercolor-ing.

On the train passing through Swiss landscape in February when there was still quite a bit of snow.

All I remembered about Bern. The clock tower, nice windows, birds, and lots of tram lines.

I hate to say this but the Swiss army boys look really good in their uniforms. They do, really.

Badly referenced from one of the graveyard pictures. My com was in mid-hang trying to save or open something so I was occupying my hands.

(Mildly depressed but inspired after Prof’s mini lecture on “If you don’t know what you want to do with your life, someone else will plan it for you.”)

Conceptualizing for my mini personal type experiment titled How “I” loves “U”.

Final piece below.

Click for larger view on DeviantArt.

Saturday tomorrow, just spent about 4 hours playing cards with my hostel mates. And there’s a birthday party tomorrow where we’d be cooking curry. Pictures, maybe.

Another week gone by here in Lugano…

A little bit more Lugano.

Last weekend Jun went a-painting, so we went a-wandering a little too.
She’s good at watercolor.

And spring is coming so the gelato stalls are opening all over town which is absolutely awesome.

(I really love European fashion. It’s so much more creative.)

(The artist being reeeeeally serious.)

(The art emerges!)

Liz cannot paint, so she spent her time doodling instead. Maybe I’ll upload pictures of some of the doodles next time. I’m using the mini-Cooper notebook Jeremy got us for Christmas. (Which means yes I’m neglecting the Zurich moleskine that WL bought me…for now. Sorry!)

When sick of pasta,

Engage in every means possible to create food that does not involve pasta.
(Normally this also means just eating cereal/biscuits/crackers/chocolate/ovomaltine. But occasionally I try to cook something different.)

Color difference reflects nice natural light in the afternoons and the most impossibly gross dim yellow lighting in the evenings.

Graveyard Book.

Trust Neil Gaiman to make the graveyard a happier and less frightening place.

Little bits of Swiss.

A small village off Gelterkinden, Basel, Zurich, Luzern and Bern.

Last shot is what our neighbours do during parties when they smoke (sigh). And leave that outside on the kitchen window ledge (sighs again).

Bellagio (Como), Italy

Sorry, it’s been a while since I last posted.