another kill...

i went to the backyard to water the grass because they are not green. then i noticed the above, feathers and stuff but my cat 'wawa' wasn't around. i knew there had been another kill...i looked for her but she just wasn't around. i really don't understand why she has to kill birds. i looked around for the rest of the body but there was nothing else. i wondered where the head and the body was because in the past, she never ate the bird.

i went back to take these photos, then i saw, the head was right there! gross! gross! gross! i think wawa needs my attention badly. so another kill on a sunday afternoon...

the head...gross!

duanwu festival

dragon boat destival in taiwan



my mama's taiwanese hamburger!

"the dragon boat festival (端午節) is held on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. the festival memorializes the chinese poet qu yuan (c. 340 BC-278 BC) of the warring states period. he committed suicide by drowning himself in a river because he was disgusted by the corruption of the chu government. the local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw 粽子 (zongzi) , glutinous rice wrapped in corn leaves into the river to feed the fish so they would not eat qu yuan's body. they also sat on long, narrow paddle boats called dragon boats, and tried to scare the fish away by the thundering sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking carved dragon head on the boat's prow." more here.

cilantro, fat pork, salted vegetables, crushed peanuts with sugar, and bun.
(plus my mama's secret ways of making the fat pork!)

the process to get ready!

my mama made taiwanese oilly rice instead of the 粽子 (zongzi) and taiwanese hamburger. oh one bite it takes you to taiwan! i don't remember something specific we did but i remember all the dragon boat races that would show on TV and it was always so exciting!

go here for more photos!

it was also nice for dinner as my best friend peter and his twin brother came over to eat with us. it was like when when we were 14!

not to brag, my mama make the best taiwanese hamburger in the world. when she cooks, she cooks with open arms. any one who knows us have tasted one or more of her dish. she's the best chef from taiwan. i'm not just saying it because she's my mama, it's a fact! :)

yum yum yum!

feature of the week: rusticgoth

"give it back"

this week, i am presenting rusticgoth's "give it back". it is what it says! with definitely a dark aura, it is sweet. wouldn't that be great if we can just take back literally the love we once gave to someone who wasn't worth it or even worth it?! she has prints available in her etsy store, be sure to check out her other amazing pieces!

to find out more on rustic goth, she has a blog, here.

as a member of etsy dark team, i decided to feature an item every wednesday from one of our members! this wasn't my idea, i borrowed it from one of our team member, todoteordream! be sure to check out our site or search for etsydarkteam when you are on etsy!

"i won't offer it again"

i must brag, after spending a little more time in rusticgoth's etsy shop, here, i grabbed this! "i won't offer it again" and the above "give it back" print. "i won't offer it again" is an original! yeh i'm so excited and i will wait patiently to it's arrival!

be back next wednesday for feature of the week!

pre eternus vita

pre "eternus vita"
14 x 18 canvas
acrylic
5.2009

what i've been painting the last 2 days. it's titled "eternus vita", almost finished. just wanted to share what i've been painting...my goal is to finish this one before i start on something else! i have a few pieces waiting to be finished!

sometimes in life, it takes a huge storm and sacrifices to gain an ultimate prize...absolute happiness. as said by che guevara, “many will call me an adventurer - and that i am, only one of a different sort: one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitudes.” i truly agree with this quote, however, i've come to realize or question, to risk his own skin to prove his platitudes to people with intellect or common senses makes sense. but what about those who aren't mentally developed or have no common senses, then it's not worth it, isn't it? to risk my own skin to prove my platitudes to humans who act like insects or animals, i'm not sure it's worth my skin...i guess that's why i am not che.

happiness is a continuous life time of efforts but to have the fortune to feel that often is probably rare for many people.

positivity attracts positivity, negativity attracts negativity. both are contagious but only you can be the judge of how you are and who are around you! :)

i think the biggest turn was the passing of "j". my relationships with my family and friends have progressed better than ever. i feel that it's because we need to remember daily how beautiful life is and it can end at any random moment. we may not please the whole world but at least with those who we hold dear to our heart, that's the important thing.

“let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.”~che guevara.

i will talk about "eternus vita" once i'm finished. hint: it's regarding how life is eternal!

online traffic school

i just finished my online traffic school for the first time! it was really cool and it is sooooooo much better than going to traffic school in person!

i chose www.gototrafficschool.com, i only checked the prices for 2 other sites and this one was the cheapest which was $13.95 for california. the only thing i found confusing was all these extra optional things for extra prices, which you don't need, in my opinion. you had the option of just studying the whole course on line, order a hard copy of the course to be mailed to you, or a dvd to be mailed to you also. it was not necessary.

the site is really cool, it keeps tracks of your time. i was required almost 7 hours for this online course. after you are finished with the course, you can then take the test. there were only 50 questions. if you don't pass, it says you can take it over and over again until you pass without any extra charge. i passed on the first try, without putting my whole heart into it. :) yeh! i got 8 wrong out of 50!

i got my ticket in downtown la, given by a dirty cop. i think it was around 5pm, the sun was so bright, directly in my direction as i was heading home. i made a left turn somewhere, the next thing i knew, one of those cops on the bike stopped me. then i saw a few more of them stopping all the cars behind me at about the same time. supposedly, between the hours of xxx, left turn was illegal. right, when the driver cannot even see the sign. as the ticket was given to me, the sun had lowered even more, there were no more cops. dirty cops.

lastly, they will send the certificate directly to the court where your ticket was issued so you don't have to do a thing! unless your due date is the next few days then you would have to take it yourself to the court to make sure it is on time. like me! :)

so if you need to take traffic school, check them out www.gototraffischool.com, use this referal code, X2K-DEE-52M, you will save $2!

ciao ciao!

"mr. and mrs. rodriguez"
2008

in the last 2 months, 4 more of my most favorites were parted from me. "mr. and mrs. martinez" were the first favorite to go, here. it's a great thing but i have sentimental feelings towards certain ones. when i made them, how i made them, how long it took me, and how i named them...

"mr. and mrs. rodriguez" were one of the my first couples, if i remember correctly. they were purchased last week and that's when thought i needed to update all my loves that are now gone!

"amor a mexico"
2008

"amor a mexico" was designed with mexico in mind, obviously. the components were 925 sterling silver, swarovski crystals and rhinestones, czech glass beads, shell beads, hand carved yak bone skull beads.

"mr. and mrs. lopez"
2008

"mr. and mrs. lopez" had the highest viewers then they finally found a new home in australia! i remember i wanted to design them looking classy and sophisticated and they did turn out that way!

"salsa salsa ii"
2008

i must say, "salsa salsa ii" was inspired after the first "salsa salsa"  see below. so i had to duplicate them but i just couldn't allow myself to duplicate it 100%. so to keep the customers happy and myself, i stayed within the exact idea but with my own choices of colors and materials. so it wasn't purely my idea on this one although i prefer my "salsa salsa ii"! i need to continue to make a few more of these but they take a long time though worth it!

last note, all these i shared, i've made aceo limited editions on my best shots, you can find them at my grigiodesign etsy store, here.

100% deutscher schäferhund

"kazier"
this one i plan to make it into an aceo.

it's my favorite from over 80 shots!

today was such a beautiful day, the weather was perfect, it was as good as it can be! as i spent it with my family i was thinking of what i should blog about for today. then i remembered i photographed my brother's dog yesterday for fun.

the most beautiful deutscher schäferhund (german shepherd)! kaizer, he is 100% pure breed. he was born on december 8, 2004. his parents were champions!

i've been wanting to photograph him for a while now and finally remembered to take my camera to my mother's house. he's my brother's dog but more like our family dog. he spends most of the time guarding the house and with my parents.

i have to say, photographing a dog that is bigger than me was not the easiest experience. i had treats the whole time but i'm pretty happy with a couple photos! and his beauty just made it so much easier considering in my mother's backyard! i would have loved to take him out to the park or something but that would be trouble. he's so protective that when he sees other dogs or strangers, he shows his territory and he wants to take them down! seriously! and i won't be able to handle him, it would be him dragging me instead!

what a beauty!

he's sooooooo smart, when he saw my mom "touch" his towel, he knew to get into the shower because he knew it was time to be washed. without anyone saying anything! in addition, he rushes to the door with convictions when he knows my brother comes home, i find that really impressive. i can't even see who is outside yet!
he's so obedient to most of us, most of the time but to my brother, he is 10000% obedient! it's amazing to see that.

he makes faces when people leave to show them that he is going to be sad to be home alone or just with my parents! i rarely hear him bark but when he does, it can sound quite intimidating.

final thought, i remembered, on april 19th, approximately 6 sundays ago, while enjoying a relaxing day with some good friends out in canago park, i managed to check my emails. i got a random message from susan of yaffadreams, you can find her here.

she sent me this message, "you are soooooooo creative!" exact words. it felt so enduring to get a message like that out of the blue! so thank you susan! it's was so heartfelt and it just felt so great! i think it's the fact that you work so hard every day of your life as an artist, harder than any other professions because it is not up the par in our society compared to even a c.p.a.
but we do have to work harder because great art comes out of those who truly work hard at it! even if you believe how creative and talented you may be, if you don't work hard at it, just like anything else, it shows...that's why i believe artist and designers have to work even harder.

and on top of all, art is truly subjective. it's just not easy for any of us!

so anyhow, it was one of the most enduring thing you can get as an artist or designer from someone who may not know you at all but can see how creative you are by just looking at your work! truly truly truly enduring, i hold it close to my heart so i'm going to pay it forward. what a simple compliment can mean to another!

and tonight...

i hope this will be a blast! i will post the verdict tomorrow! until then...

eminem...he is back!

as i mentioned in march, here, i was so excited on tuesday, i picked this up from best buy! eminem grew up, he's matured, you can hear it in all the songs. he's back, really back, so excited! his style, matured in a very nice way. i smiled the whole time listening to it.

see the horror-inspired commercial for his new cd relapse banned from commercial...

it's a bit ridiculous but i love it cus i bought it! :) more on eminem or here.

feature of the week: idlehandsdesigns

"tie one off sutured heart necklace"
idlehandsdesigns

oh i'm in lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve with this!

"inspired by kenley's use of rope on project runway. i too am thinking of ways to get a rope around your neck.

made with my hands using sterling silver. this piece is three dimensional (hollow), 1 inch in width, 1 & 1/4 inches in height and 1/2 an inch in depth at it's highest point. sutured with silver wire and strung on a 2 mm silver rolo chain (shown above). the chain is 15 inches in length and is adjustable to 16 inches with a lobster claw clasp. finished with a dark patina."~idlehandsdesigns

as one of the newest member of etsy dark team, i decided to feature an item every wednesday from one of our members! this wasn't my idea, i borrowed it from one of our team member, todoteordream! be sure to check out our site or search for etsydarkteam when you are on etsy!

be back next wednesday for feature of the week!

i love...winner

june 15th giveaways:

"los ingredientes"

"bloom"

the above earrings will be the giveaway for june, you can see it at my etsy store. i had decided in honor of "j", i will be giving 2 giveaways! "los ingredientes" is one of my favorites because it's really long and it's grey = grigio! i will duplicate it but the skulls will not look exactly the same due to the nature of "hand painted".

all you have to do is send me a message through email or convo me through my etsy store. i will randomly select a winner from the email messages. your email address will be only used for the giveaway for the month. i will notify the winner by email and i will post your name on this blog!

may 15, 2009 giveaway winner >>>

"i love..."

congratulations to:

sandy jackson of new york!

jakob valentine

"she devil"
this takes my breath away, i just love love love it!

i'm bouncing back nicely compared to the last two weeks. i know that i must keep going with my optimistic view in life, with art. "j" was the cause for me to be here today and continue my mission. i will never forget him and i know that i will create even more and better works in everything i do. for myself, for "j", for my familly, for humanity...:)

mondays are always the busiest so after a few hours of hard work, i find it necessary to share my new find artist of the week! i really enjoy the process of discovering an artist with real nice works and talents. when i fall in love with their works, i just wish to collect everything they make! this process truly helps my heart, i don't really know how to explain it in words but the joy i feel finding what other artists create, is speechless!

jakob valentine...what a nice name to begin with! i had some time to search for more things on the devil and i discovered jakob valentine! take a look at his etsy store, love love love it!

"frida kahlo"

jakob valentine is an artist from el paso, texas. he paint and sculpt at speed of full force of 100,000,000,000,000 plus his furry kitty, calcifer!

"i love all dark & ghoulishly cute things & collect everything from asian art, books, toys & vinyl figures, to posters, films, vintage clothing & more! i am fascinated with the 1920's/30's/40's & 50's hollywood movies & the fashion...i also love to collect day of the dead collectibles & is why i sculpt what i sculpt! so without further ado, here is my shoppe on etsy.com & ENJOY!" ~ jakob valentine, and here.

"santa muerte"

obviously, he is creative and extremely detailed with his pieces. my favorites are all shown here, but "she devil" and "frida kahlo" are my #1s. i can't decide which one i should get first...i will share when i do!

i'm not crazy, i believe i have a good eye for unique arts. there are gazillions of artists out there, just as there are gazillions of actors or actresses or even doctors. but jakob valentine is a true talent in my books!

anyways, be sure to check out jakob valentine's etsy store and his myspace page, here.

"diablo"

my tattos

healing my soul at home this weekend was the best decision i've made...

while chillin' at home, i thought i'd update my blog by sharing my tattoos...i thought of tattoos because i have decided to get 3 other ones in the near future and cover one of my existing tattoo (not shown). yeah, it's that bad.

here they are...

"grigio"
2007
huntington park

frutiger, i designed it with my all time favorite typeface. my first tattoo, on my left hand side wrist.

" 南無妙法蓮華經 "
nam-myoho-renge-kyo
2007
huntington park

it only made sense for me to tattoo this down my spine. :)

"pig" amida 阿弥陀
april 2008
taiwan

ronni was born during the year of pig. buddhsim derived from india, so it only made sense to me...:) hindu astrology pig symbol. on my right inside wrist.

"ronin"
april 2008
taiwan

this is little c's middle name. on my left inside arm.

ronin in chinese is which is read rounin.
the chinese/japanese word rounin means "masterless samurai" and is composed of the kanji (read as "rou") meaning "wave; wandering" and (read as "nin") meaning "person" . the chinese character literally mean "wandering (or wave) person".
ronin were masterless samurai (samurai) though today the english word ronin implies one who is independent or one that "goes their own way" in the sense of a lone wolf.

death

leaving for "j" 's viewing in an hour...i've been reading about death, thought i share a quote...

"death will come to each of us some day. we can die having fought hard for our beliefs and convictions, or we can die having failed to do so. since the reality of death is the same in either case, isn't it far better that we set out on our journey toward the next existence in high spririts, with a bright smile on our faces, knowing that in everything we did, we did the very best we could, thrilling with the sense that "that was truly an interesting life"? ~diasaku ikeda

lotus seed

"lotus seed"
acrylic & digital
2009

"life is the foremost of all treasures. it is expounded that even the treasures of the entire major world system cannot equal the value of one's body and life. even the treasures that fill the major world system are no substitute for life."~nichiren daishonin

"lotus seed", an original acrylic painting and design, here. 人間革命 stands for human revolution in chinese characters.

i decided to design this piece from the painting. this was decided as a series from my "fortune baby". as i mentioned last week, here, that this was painted and designed from a personal experience. what do i do that isn't personal?!

so the story goes...
i was diagnoised with i.c.p. when i was pregnant with little c in 2006. i.c.p is known as "obstetric cholestasis (oc), refers to a specific liver condition in which the normal flow of bile is impaired in a woman's body resulting in itching that can vary in severity and type. the itching can be bothersome to severe itching and is often worse at night. there is rarely jaundice when suffering with i.c.p. although i.c.p. has been reported as early as a few weeks pregnant, it is more common for it to begin in the third trimester, when hormone concentrations are at their highest levels. the figure for the percentage of women for whom i.c.p. will recur in future pregnancies is still somewhat debated, but some sources claim it to be as high as 90%. i.c.p. is also referred to as cholestasis of pregnancy and pruritus gravidarum." for more info, here.

simply put, my obgyn informed me that with i.c.p. i had to be monitored weekly because of this disorder. otherwise, my little c could just stop breathing. what great news huh! i remember, due to i.c.p. i also had problems eating regularly, i couldn't eat normally, what a pregnant woman was suppose to. it was pretty tough and scary.

however, as a practitioner of nichiren buddhsim, we believe that "a fortune baby is born to a woman who practices buddhism while the child is in the womb. it is thought that through practicing buddhism while pregnant, your child will inevitably inherit the good fortune accumulated by actively participating in your faith by chanting..." for more info, here.

thus, the only thing i was able to do was to keep my faith and did my best to bring this fortune baby into this world, safely. and i did. he's a little fortune kid, full of life and energy, i almost forgot what i went through to bring him into this world!

so, with original photography and painting, my concept is to show that with courage as a mother, within me, i carried my unborn who is protected by the lotus flower. from my deep convictions, as a practitioner of nichiren buddhsim, i believed with my soul he was protected in a mystic way. "it is like the lotus seed, which contains both blossom and fruit. "~nichiren diashonin. my little c has now blossomed and became a little man! :)

14 x 18 canvas board
acrylic
2009

red

this was on sunday lunch, our whole family went for yum cha 飲茶 for mother's day. also known as dim sum, which is not the correct term. all of us sisters had this photo taken, it's funny so i had to share. the chinese writing on the back happened to say "for 4 people, $9.99"!

"untitled"
canvas board
acrylic
2009

so instead of finishing the other pieces, i had the urge to start on this. satan, i love the idea of him. no, i do not worship him in anyway. i'm still going through this birth and death issues. i meant to just make this piece for my customer but i kind of went off on just the idea of satan.

satan, why is he always portrayed with the color red with horns? as i began, i knew i wanted to paint a skull of him or her. then it lead to my thoughts of satan once loved, but he can still love right? so maybe that's why he is red? i guess it's hard to associate evil for me with red because i grew up with red as celebrations! especially new years! red at weddings, getting red envelopes, etc...

then i thought, satan can carry babies, not just one, but twins! he can be a she...she can fly away with her unborn babies which she loves dearly...even if she is satan!

happy mother's day!

happiest happiest happiest day to all mothers around the world! a human cannot understand the heart of a mother unless they are a mother...

"fortune baby"
acrylic & digital
2009

i woke up this morning and got a message from sundrasandrusi on etsy that she had featured "fortune baby" in her treasury, here. i took a screen shot (above) in case it disappears. be sure to check out her etsy store and her magical blog, here.

it felt really nice because it's mother's day and "fortune baby" is a piece directed at mothers, so what an honor! not only that, it's my latest creation! thank you sundrasandrusi!

for a brief description behind my painting, here.