It's been ages since I last managed to get on here! Since then I've had another exhibition as part of the SA living artists festival- that went really well and I managed to sell quite a few more pieces! All good news. Having to stay in the gallery everyday was a little bit of a bore but I managed to kill the time with reading travel books- I read an entire Rick Steve's travel book on Italy!!

We've managed to figure out where we want to go and map out an itinery from there. Took a while researching and all, but we got there, and now finally we have our tickets!!!

SO, we're leaving adelaide on 21st march next year (one day after my birthday- I just miss out on all the 26y.o and under travel deals in europe!! :( oh well) and we go to Hong Kong for 10 days. Hopefully- for phil's sake - we are able to get tickets for the rugby 7's cos we've actually planned to stay just until the end of the competition. At the moment, the website for the HK rugby 7's is completely crap and I got an email back from them that they don't even know when the tickets are on sale!

After that we fly to London and make our way around France, touching Spain by visiting Barcelona - (hoping my friend is still there and she hasn't moved to Lisbon yet) and then going to Italy. It should be good because we are going all the way down to the Amalfi coast! Then back up and into Vienna, Prague and Berlin. Then flying out again and stopping over in hongkong again just to pick up all the shopping we did before we flew to europe- and Im sure I'll probably have to get another suitcase! I won't be looking forward to coming back , as the day that I get back, I have to go see a client that afternoon! And then I have to rush to do the job in a week. Talk about rushing back into work!

Apart from that, life is cruising smoothly, am trying to get some more painting done for various group exhibitions. Will have a bigger one in next march just before we go away - as part of the Fringe, so that should be fun!

Phil had the Lantern (Mid Autumn Festival)- Im not quite sure what he's trying to achieve with his hands :)

Can't believe the launch was nearly a week ago. You spend all this time thinking and planning for it and its all over in a sec! It was lots of fun though and went really well. Lots more people came than I thought would turn up. Mum and kevin helped me prepare lots of food and I got sponsored sushi platters and danish platters! Thats what you get when your mum owns a sushi shop and your uncle owns a patisserie shop. :) Kevin did a great job with the bartender job, funny to know that a police commander is serving everyone alcohol! :D

I really had thought that we would be eating the left overs for a few days, but there was hardly anything left. (We had prepared a LOT of food!) And I had eaten nothing the whole time. Spent most of the evening just running around chatting to people with an empty, plastic cup in my hand cos I had no time to refill it!

Its all good news though, cos I've sold nearly half my paintings that were displayed! I had really good feedback and really appreciated everyone who made it!

Ben was a legend and took on the job of social photographer at the launch, so I can post some pics on here!

Jess the girl that helped me organise the exhibition was super, cos she was so helpful during the whole time!

So here are some pics:

Dr. Mike got dragged into the photo with Phil, Andy, lil Mylana and Ira.

Ben and Bianca (whose holding the camera ben?) :)

Lauren and her mum and dad and moi!

Jes, kiersten and lucy!

phil and kevin with corny clinking glass photo :D

Jason, phil & cutey Olivia, me and Brooke and Sarah-Jane (some of the SALife crew)

Jindou and Phil (luv this photo!) :D

Mister cheezys!!

There are more photos but its taking too long to upload them all so I'll try and link them on flickr.

It's a week and a half away from the exhibition opening night! Frantically trying to get things in order.. finally finished my last painting, (I wanted to fit another one in between now and hanging day- a week away. But I don't think time permits). Sent and handed out most of the invites. Going to hit the art schools today... but thats about it. I'll attach a small version of the invites for those of you who are overseas and can't come :( But know that you are very welcome to come, if you can fly over! :) All the paintings have hooks on them and now just trying to figure out what order Im going to put the paintings on the wall.


Apart from that I have been baking again, this time apple strudel muffins. They have a crumbly top of brown sugar and cinnamon.. YUM, Phil is devouring them quite quick.

Did I say in my last blog entry that I have been having allergies to things on my lips and finally after some skin tests, I found out I'm allergic to chicken? We tested in twice and the result was still the same. Can't believe it. Also Im a wee bit allergic to garlic and soy!!! Soy of all things. What am Im going to do being a Chinese and all? Apparently, Soy sauce, like red wine has a lot of histimine in it so its not uncommon for people to be allergic to it. Although the effect may be mild, so one wouldn't really notice it. Hope I grow out of this soon. I'm such a foodie! Sometimes I wish I never found out!

I found a great recipe for cupcakes on the net and decided I was going to make it. Bit of work for someone who has never made any cakes before. (Although I've made some other desserts and friands). I learnt not to substitute baking powder for the internet recipe for making your own baking powder (baking soda and cream of tartar), as it turned out a disaster. BUT, encouraged by Phil, and this time with his help, we made another batch.

The cupcakes I made was "Peruvian Caramel Filled Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream and Coconut". It is one sweet cupcake! If anyone ends up making this, I suggest you make mini ones, as the sweetness is "an assult on the tastebuds" (quoting phil). I also learnt by simmering a can of condensed milk for two hours, you end up with a very delicious caramel!

So here's a snap of my end product.. the raspberry buttercream on top is divine! I was eating it out of the bowl...

Okay, they look a bit home-made, but still very yummy. The cake was a bit dense, but you don't notice it after you add all the filling. So if you're interested, here's the recipe: http://cupcakeblog.com/index.php/category/themes/peruvian-inspired/

A visit from Phil's mum recently, meant a trip to the Barossa Valley on a cold and wet day. Still it was fun, although I didn't do any wine tasting, as I have an allergy (and not sure if it's to do with alcohol yet.) Went to the whispering wall, not a whole lot of whispering going on as it was raining so much, but still interesting. And of course, visits to a number of wineries! (hrmm I don't look impressed there, perhaps its because its the third freaking pic Phil was trying to take of me since I got out of the car when we arrived at Penfolds!)

Went to the wildlife park "Warrawong Sanctuary", there we patiently waited for ages to see a platypus, but it never surfaced! At least we got to see a koala climb the whole length of a tree and make some scary noises, and some lazy ass kangaroos :)

Am pretty nervous about the upcoming exhibition, only two a bit a weeks to go! Still painting and trying to get everything in order. Think I'm going to chicken out in speech (me + speech= speechless) and get the girl who's helping me organise it to do it for me!

The backyard is pretty much finished, what with the paving done and reed fence up, hiding the ugly corrugated iron fence behind! Even bought a bbq for a great price and some outdoor furniture. Phil has already tested the bbq out, and it works fine!

Art wise, exhibition is in full swing. Its going to be from 25th June into mid of July. Will most probably have a launch on 28th. Still trying to get lots of paintings done plus all the promo stuff that goes with it! So, am a tid busy. But we'll get there. Have got a new webpage on flickr, its www.flickr.com/photos/michelle_lee , still I have to update that, not many paintings I have done recently on there yet.

Phil's mum is coming to visit tomorrow, so hopefully there will be more photos on here cos we will prolly do a couple of road trips then!

ciao!

We went to an Indian festival by the Torrens river last weekend - lots of yummy food, interesting performances and most important of all (for me-hehe) Henna! I had to wait for a while to get the design done on my hand but it was worth it. The woman did a beautiful job! Its so peaceful when you get henna on your hand because of the aromatic smells and you kind of focus on how the artist is drawing it on your hand and forget about everything else. This inspired me to research what actually goes into the henna paste.. and believe it or not, you can put just lemon juice.. or a whole lot of stuff like, coke, sweets.. etc.. you name it! Interesting...

So here's a couple of pics of it:

Before: (the paste was all dried but still stuck on my hand)


After: (the next day)



I have also heard from an art gallery who is interested to have me exhibit at their gallery for SALA (south australia living artist) festival! So I'm pretty stoked! It will be a joint exhibition of all women (apparently.. but i guess it could change.) exhibiting works in different mediums.
I'm going to meet the gallery owner this Saturday,  and check out the space there. Its in Bowden, which is an up and coming suburb, especially thriving on art and culture. 
Lots of artists have studios there which is good news  :) Funnily enough, one of the houses
Phil and I considered purchasing was in Bowden!

I have finally managed to get a few of my paintings up on Flickr.com, so here's the link: www.flickr.com/photos/7375691@N02

It was my birthday on Tuesday and I have finally left the 18-25 age group and jumped into the 26-30(something) age group! Mum and me went and found a really nice restaurant to have lunch 
- in Willunga - a bit of a drive but the food was well worth it. 
They brought the food out in the order that they think you should taste it. 
Later on got together with the extended family to celebrate both Anita (my cousin) and my bday together which was pretty cool :)

Also went out for a dinner with some friends on sat night at Ky chow- and headed to La Boheme later on- love that bar- so frenchy, so chic ;P I am trying to get my art work to exhibit there, because I love the atmosphere there! (though they got pretty bad lighting)!

I'll post some photos up since I haven't done that for a while :) Though, they are not in any particular order...



Phil is in love with his PSP :)



Ira with Mylana at my bday dinner :) (she was soo well behaved!)



Phil pulling a face of some sort!


Karl and Mr. Big smiles


Note: the knife's position :)

Phil and I were back in NZ for his Omi's funeral, it was a very sad and emotional farewell but still a great send-off. It was also good to see his family and friends again, albeit the circumstances. We managed to get to the art gallery this time, but the gallery with most of the contemporary art in it was closed because they were getting ready for the Auckland Triennial, which I would have loved to see! Still, I got to see some amazing works, especially interesting was a live installation we came across on the street!

Hayley looking 'interesting' in a mirror at the Space Centre (forgot what the place was really called) at One Tree Hill Park.

Dani, Hayley and I came across some aliens as well ...

Phil decided to experiment with a new look ...

And so did Brendan!




We caught Preston having a bath as well!


And... Preston's mum-Belinda! (she knits very cool stuff) :)

The live installation we came across ...

Kristy was quite a pro at pouring the sake :)

And ... for some more final beers before flying back to Adelaide the next morning.

I forgot to add at the start that it was chinese new years eve the night before we flew off to NZ. We had a pretty giant banquet here.. including lobster- YUM.. and then also went to the temple to check out the lion dances - their crazy kung fu, and the fire works that was just let off at the car park across the road! It was packed there and it was a wicked atmosphere with monks chanting and loud drums beating! Lots of incense in the air... And of course, Phil and I got some red packets! :) That night we also saw the Moting Vultures, they played excellently on that exceptionally hot night at the Jetty Road Hotel! Well done guys! Check out Phil's blog for a video of Phil on the theremin!


Heres a couple of pics from Ben's farewell BBQ too...

Ben and Bianca :)

Salad talk ...

I've been slack, no excuses.. its already February! I have been working a couple a days a week at Michel's Patisserie (my uncles shop) for a while now, I tell you, all those cakes and pastries are very tempting! I didn't think I'd go back to working that fast (I mean its only a few days a week..) but the money sure helps with the art supplies. The art is going well, slowly but steadily... one of these days I'll get around to posting a pic or two of my work and face public scrutiny! Working with acrylics, then with oils.. thought I'd stick to oils, but now am considering going back to acrylics again..just trying different things out on canvas I guess.

I've also got a small freelance job for Nature Foundation SA, which is pretty cool, they are a not for profit organisation protecting native endangered animals and restoring agricultural land to native bushland. Am pretty busy with that, then comes along an ad I saw for a casual/freelance graphic designer at a publishing firm producing various trade mag titles. It pretty much suits me to a T, so I applied for it. I sent the application at around midnight and amazingly I got a call back in early arvo the next day to come in for an interview! Suddenly its a mad rush to get my portfolio done; the visuals done for the Nature Foundation!!! My poor painting has taken a back seat ... am feeling a bit bad about it actually because I really want to spend more time doing it. But a casual graphic design job would really be ideal and also the freelancing helps. (House renos and art = $$$)

On another note, Caroline my friend whos been living in Nanjing, China for a while now has come back to visit! Unfortunatley, her husband couldn't come back as well, as they're getting ready for the big move to beijing- pretty exciting stuff.

And, Ben, if you're reading this, IM GOING TO REALLY MISS YOU! But I will come and visit in melb and check out your tres luxurious apartment in the Melbourne docklands!

Oh yeh and had a great time at the BDO and after party! Thx RIO!

Happy new year! Phil and I spent a few days over Christmas time in Melbourne with my mum and Kevin. They had an xmas do for Kevin's family and so we helped to prepare for it... its not unlike my mum to overcook, over order etc when it comes to food, so lucky phil and I were able to help my mum with the cooking and preparations as she decided to make so many dishes.

Visited crown casino, city, brunswick st.. watched Volver.. FANTASTIC spanish movie starring penelope cruz.. and drank a lot of chai latte.. mmm.

It was so cold over there, that we had to put the heater on and wear jumpers and jeans. There was even snow on christmas day not too far from where we were but we didn't find out till we were back in Adelaide! Driving back was not much of a drama, as phil gave me a car tuner adaptor thingy for my ipod and so we had plenty of tunes to listen to on the way back. I also got introduce to the game of "car cricket" hehe.

When back in Adelaide, the weather became increasingly hot, today is 40 degrees!!! So it feels like we've had summer then winter then summer again. Bizarre.

New years was a pretty low key event, we decided at last minute to brave the crowds and catch the tram down to glenelg to watch the fireworks at the beach there. Just before midnight we even got to witness a drunken couple fight very loudly on the beach making a big spectacle of themselves ending up with the girl sobbing by herself just before the countdown and then think they made up after the fireworks were over. Hmm.

Next day, phil and I went to a adelaide vs melbourne cricket game at the adelaide oval. It was an interesting game with 8000 ppl attending, not too bad for a local crowd. We lost but that was not without some funny things happening like three fielders went to catch the ball (a real easy one to catch) and then all three thinking the other will catch it so the ball ended up falling on the ground between the three of them. Sad but funny :)

I gotta admit, its much better watching it in person without the drone of the commentator.. that ALWAYS puts me to sleep.. :)