This post is going to deviate from my usual rants of arts & crafts and rattan stuffs. It is about design. Trained as an industrial designer, i cannot help myself when i see a good product ; artistically done. Here is a series of wave done by my friend, Didi, who specializes in ceramic arts. I did ask him what it is all about (thanks to ym for this, -bridging the gap from Malaysia to Japan is just a nick of a time.) So, here are the brief descriptions after that small talk. Technically, it is an art form project created by using mold making technique, which is a challenge. Art form ceramics are mostly tied to studio works rather than the above mentioned, which explain the freedom in exploring forms related to one's creativity. As the name implies, "Wave", is a journey taken by us in experiencing life from birth to death. The work intends to capture the essence of our life experiences. Essences of our life choices, trials and tribulations, sweet and sour, success and fames are all represented through waves like forms creating a simple fluid rhythmic design. These rhythmic forms are movements portraying us, humans as one dynamic entity. Simplex (simple excellent) is one word that is in my mind right now. Frankly, I am having problems in choosing - to choose those beautifully artistic works or those two Korean girls :P? So, how do you feel about his works? Love to hear yours. Have a great day and hepi blogging ya.

Lately, I have come across with so many awards in blogsphere. So, i decide to make one, namely "you inspire me" award. There are so many works out there that have inspired me in many ways ( be those arts n crafts, business tips n tricks, life endeavors and such on.) What a better way to show your appreciation by making an award. Instead of only making one, i end up doing another extra 4, which would be perfect for this week theme. There you have it, multiple same award of "you inspire me.." Illos done are made by using black artline 04 ink pen and a pencil. It is only a matter of time before these awards start to land on somebody's page. hihi. 1..2..3..4..5..? but which one? Enjoy and Heppi Blogging ya..

Well, this post is just for fun. These are my third year students who are now busy with their furniture project (at "refining idea development"). I like to refer to them as "Naughty but Nice.." hehe. Hopefully in May 2008, i would be able to post all their works. Ohh, illos above are all theirs too. It is a good exercise to deviate from the usual rattan stuffs once in a while. So, enjoy and heppi blogging ya.

Well, i guess it is time for another "Illos.Fri" This is really a quick work. And i really really mean quick work. Less than an hour. Theme for this week is "theory". So here it goes. I believe that in order to gain what we really want, we must first recognize three things ; our mind @ brain, our heart @ passion and lastly, our legs @ actions. Having lack one of these, one might not achieve what he / she desires. Mind will be your objectives/ aims/ visions or things that you need to accomplish. Heart is your passion and action will lead towards your goals. Simply having a goal and an action will not produce an excellent result if you do not do it full heartedly. Having an idea and being passionate about it would not get you there if you do not take the action. Being passionate and simply doing it, may become unfruitful if your mind is not focused on strategies accomplishing the goals. So, there you have it - mind, heart, action - represented by three group of mixed colors (brown, red and turquoise) flowing out from the said elements. Styles? Ohh, since i love Van Gogh, i use stroke-like style imitating Mr Van Gogh brush strokes. Enjoy ya.

Gambar atas ni sebenarnya anyaman bakul rotan yang aku buat semasa bersenang lenang di rumah sambil menonton tv. :)

Ping, back to rattan crafts!! Remember earlier i had said about "my therapy" in my post. Well, these are few things that i have done in my spare time. I cant say that they are good in terms of skills, but i like to say here, put your mind and you may achieve your goals (cliche). Put all three mentioned above, and you may end up having something. :) So, on your left is a name card holder that you can use on your office desk; a great way to greet who ever come to your room/ desk. Not your usual name card holder one thing for sure. You can even use that rattan butterfly with your to-do notes. I have two on my office desk- as my name card holder and as post notes. Second is a bowl mixed with colored aluminum - striking red on the outside, matte gray on the inside with a slight color of uneven red on rattan. Don't expect me to weave that typical Malaysia rattan bowl / "bakul rotan." I simply leave the spoke in such a way to have that rugged look. Types of weaving are "pintal dua", "pintal tiga" and "pintal tiga songsang", nothing fancy though. I am sure that my skills are much lower than those of my students. Definitely i need more practices - practices make perfect. But, i like to stress that i do these out of curiosity trying to get the feel of weaving. I learn my way through informal learning by asking my students and seeing how they do theirs. My biggest challenge was to get the first few layers of weaving nice and tight since the spokes kept pushing them out. Well, now the bowl just needs a handful of sweet candies and chocolates and tada..it will serve its purpose. Hihi. Anyway, making these rattan crafts just prove my above theory. A little bit of imagination, a strong desire and some constant handwork, you can weave rattan too, though you have never done it before. Ohh, by the way, these are my 5th works and my 1st medium size weaving work. I guess, it will take like 10-20 medium size weaving works to get use to weaving. It is much easier designing them than actually do them..so rizal next time, have a heart on those students. haha. One thing for certain, i am deeply more in love with rattan crafts. Muaks muaks.

Hello.. i am back. It has been a while. I do feel guilty for not posting a note mentioning that i would be away for a while. I was about to do it when suddenly my hp started to kaput. Arghh.. Then, on the same day, i had to rush for a 6-day workshop which was dead tiring but fun. Hp, Labtops, digicam were not allowed during the session. So, that would explain the zero activity on my site and nada on the "do's blog thing activities like entrecard and such." So, to all my awesome readers, I am really sorry. My mistake..my bad.. and, i would like say thank you, thank you to all of you, whom have been good to "restnrileks."

p/s : Ohh boy..rizal you seems to have lots of catching up to do. Illos Friday-Theory ?..sweat sweat..fuh

To those who dont have any idea what is "Illustration Friday", here is a brief taken from the site.
[ Illustration Friday is a weekly creative outlet/participatory art exhibit for illustrators and artists of all skill levels. It was designed to challenge participants creatively. We believe that every person has a little creative bone in their body. Illustration Friday just gives a no-pressure, fun excuse to use it. No clients looking for a particular thing. No one judging the outcome of the work. It's a chance to experiment and explore and play with visual art. So welcome, novices and pros alike.-penelope dullaghan and brianna privett]

So, this week theme (8 - 14 February) is "choose". So there you go. I am doing this just for fun as the site says. Still, i don't think i am ready to upload my work there. I think i will give it a couple of try here first. Frankly, I would prefer not to have the "choose" word on my work, but to make it easier for my awesome readers, i opt em. Leaving just a "question mark" would be suffice too i guess. I use pen-ink and color pencils. So my awesome reader, please choose left or right and why do you choose the way you choose. Frankly, both have their pros and cons. hehe. Terima Kasih and thank you in advance.

Cheers and Hepi Blogging ya.

I was out of ideas really. But then, some people might say.. "How come you are out of ideas? There are many things around you that you can use for ideas." Yeah..yeah..okay. Maybe i have too many things to do now. Well, if my goal is to have at least 100 posts by the end of this year, i should post something then. My new goal too is to post my own artsy crafty work every week starting this week (though it may turn out to be a crap haha, and thanks to Emila and Mangosteenskin for inspiring me yaa.) So, here it is, my homework done for this week. The idea is actually taken from Mangoosteenskin's Taun Tikus art work. But then, i just mix them all up with my own cartoon (yeah..do you see those rats), some vector works (i realize the oranges are too vector) and a scanned picture of bamboo. Hehe, a rat cartoon is a must since we are all still in this festive CNY season. Ohh, my own wicker basket is almost done (yeah that weekly therapy session) - but nothing fancy though. I am sure i cant even beat my students if skills are compared - 1 to 10, i would give myself a 2. hehehe. Hopefully i would be able to post em in few days time. Well, i leave it all to you. Cheers and Hepi Blogging Yaa..

p/s : and thanks to all my awesome readers and commenters

So far, I have sent three of these to my blogger friends . Glad they like em. Check em out here : (edited 4.5.08)
Emila
Mangosteenskin
Kak Idaedited 4.08.08


Rizal,rizal.. apa-apa ajelah tajuk engkau letak. Ehem ehem. Seperti biasa, latihan diberi untuk melihat hasilnya. Konsep, bukan sesuatu yang baru, cuma olahan tanpa rekaan yang perlu disiapkan dalam jangkamasa hari yang tertentu. Mengapa ambil masa sampai berhari-hari? Wajarnya, sebab perlu mencari bahan mengikut aturan jadual stor yang telah ditetapkan oleh aku sendiri..hehe. Okay lah, idea asal untuk projek produk kraf rotan ni, bertitik tolak daripada cenderamata puncanya. Untuk diberi kepada salah seorang kakitangan yang bakal berpindah ke cawangan lain. Fikir-fikir, takkan lah asyik-asyik bakul rotan sahaja. Nasib baik, sebelum ni ada buat tempahan bingkai gambar untuk latihan di dalam kelas. Alang-alang buat satu, baik teruskan beberapa lagi, boleh lihat hasilnya. :) Jadi, tanpa membuang masa, sudi-sudikanlah klik kalau hendak lihat gambarnya dengan lebih jelas lagi ya.

Frankly, my schedule is quite tight right now, thus, hampering me from giving more time to my 2008 baby project aka restnrileks.blogspot. Haha. I am juggling my life here. My intention is to have 100 posts by the end of this year (considering i have only picked up my pace since December 2007). Well, that would require me at least 10 posts per month wouldn't i?. Hope i can make it. Now back to rattan crafts/ works. Once again i post works of my students - still, it is an open-free-to-do whatever-you-want type of quick project. This has become a weekly basis type of project; apart from their main core which needs to be done at the end of the semester (currently on brainstorming sketching session). The idea came from trying to find a suitable rattan craft for one of our colleague who would be going to another department. Simply put, a farewell gift. I was getting bored of doing basketry and yet, i didnt have the luxury of time making a new design/product. Aha, then i realized that previously, i had ordered customized wooden picture frames. That would be a good alternative. So, i started with one and then, made it into a project. Finally, the one on the left was given as a farewell gift to my colleague. So, here there are. The best way i picture them is, to have a set of 3 (horizontal), 4 (2x2) or 9 (3x3) hanging creating a focal point on a plain hot colored wall. Design can be uniquely independent of each other or as series of related themes. Single frame would best if left alone on a shelf/cabinet or group together with your other artistic decorative items. If the rattan works above are too small to see, do click to get a better and clearer view ya. So, i end with "Cheers, have a great day and heppi blogging ya.."

As promised earlier, so here are doodles made by my students. Few made using a ruler and circle/ellipse template which i think is out of context. Doodling is about free hand movement. Nevertheless, i wont be too harsh on them. Hehe..(chuckle). I am not going to describe more in details here. Just hope that you enjoy the pictures. Will post more often later. Currently i am in a tight schedule here. So, in the meantime, cheers and heppi blogging ya.