"Uptown Cat" Exhibition

The paintings displayed at the Lobby of the Kuching Cat Museum.


This afternoon I visited an exhibition of paintings by four Kuching artists on the subject of cats. The painting exhibition was held at the Kuching Cat Museum, located at the Kuching North City Building at Petrajaya. The word 'Kuching' in Malay means cat. Kuching is therefore very much a cat city. On display were various paintings executed in different media. It seems to me that this painting exhibition is the most contemporary on cats.

The above acrylic painting is done by Ramsay Ong on tree bark cloth of the 'Tekalong' tree or wild breadfruit tree. Tree barks are traditionally used as garments but here Ramsay uses it as a visual painting media rich in texture.

Stephanie Eng's work on acrylic depicting two cats.

Above, Narong Daun uses fabric dye on silk textile.

Michael Lim's batik rendition of the Malay civet cat.

Kuching Reservoir Park

Kuching Reservoir Park today.

Today I went to visit Kuching Reservoir Park which is located at Pearse Road , a 10 minutes walking distance from Kuching City centre. There is a vivid and memorable story that I would like to share here of the park which I painted in mixed media ( water colour, felt pen and crayons) way back in 1982. This painting , now 27 years old is still in my custody and will be displayed at my 2nd solo exhibition scheduled in October this year in Kuching. As I see it today the very colourful ixora shrubs that nestled below the two trees are gone.

'Kuching Reservoir Park' in mixed media, circa 1982, 22x29 cm, Artist Collection.

Gone too is the rich collection of water lily plants that floated in abundance in the pond. The side of the ponds where the two trees stood were protected by 'belian' timber planks and posts. Today however the embankment is protected by stone pitching. After 27 years the trees have really grown up and pleased to see today that the municipal council have tagged the names of the trees on the tree trunks ( viz 'Bintagor Laut' and 'Penanga Laut'). The Japanese bridge still retain its red colour but the railing that is seen at the far background is no more there. The railings were fixed on top of the reservoir wall then to allow visitors to have a higher view of the ponds. In recent years the dam wall was demolished and thus the red railing. The dam was erected more than 100 years ago to store water and filter them for the consumption of Kuching town population. Today it merely functions as a public park.

What captivated me then was the interplay of the sun's rays against the juxtaposition of colours of the liles, water, leaves, flowers and the red railings. Despite the lack of flowering shrubs around the place now, this is being compensated by the lush greenery. When I walked through the park this morning the cheerful twittering and flight of birds were plenty and the shouts of children followed every where they ran . I felt very happy today to have recorded the park 27 years ago in a painting as testimony of me being there. "I was here".

( Click here to see more of my paintings done many, many years ago)

Last minute shopping at Satok

Today ( 29th Sept'08) is the second last day to do shopping for the Hari Raya on account that the Hari Raya will fall on the 1st of October throughout Malaysia, giving a full 30 days of fasting this year. At Satok tents are being put up to enable the customers do last minute shopping . Tomorrow will be the last day for shopping, come rain or shine.

Macy Grey's incredible saga continues

"We are back on the road again" shouted Macy Grey. She and her mama Daisy, brother Einstein and little sister Inul are travelling on their 9th trip back to Kuching on the 27th of September. Here's Macy taking a pose on the back of a ram stone sculpture at the Sibu Park situated at the center of Sibu town. The journey back started at Bintulu around 9.30 am and they arrived Sibu at 12.30 pm. The whole journey to Kuching took 9 hours. To see more happenings during their journey find out here. They have now covered a total travelling distance of 10,800 km. Not bad for a Malaysian record . Come this October they will be celebrating the Hari Raya together with their foster parents in Kuching.

Kuching Sunday Flower Market

Kuching's Sunday market at Satok Road actually starts open on Saturday afternoon around 1.00 pm. Today I dropped by at the flower section of the Sunday market.

There are plenty of gardeners, nursery owners and landscapers who sell their plants here every Saturday right on till Sunday. I bought two new species of heliconia and one new hibiscus hybrid to add to my collection today. I didn't buy the cattleya orchid below but instead just took a picture of it because it looks so amazingly showy.

Margherita Court

'Margherita Court'

On Monday I visited the Sarawak Art Museum . The Art Museum was established in 2006. Currently held there is an art exhibition organised by the Museum and in collaboration with other departments like the Tourism ministry etc.
The above painting is done by watercolourist Lam Siong Onn who was born in 1937 at Kuching.
Below are some info on the painting and artist.
Date taken: 9 June 08

Shopping at India Street

This is the view of India Street during the Gawai shopping. Busy as always and a great place to see...well people..the peoples of Sarawak and of course tourists and visitors to Kuching city.
And now here's below INDIA STREET seen in the eyes of a local artist.

Oh , Yes that explains it. I was at the Art Exhibition entitled 'Sarawak First Generation of Fine Art Artists: a Retrospective Exhibition', on Monday 9th of June Organised by the Sarawak Musem, it showcased the works of six Chinese artists. Lam Siong Onn being one of the exhibitors was born in Kuching in 1937

He specialises in water colour using a combination of wet- on -wet technique and wet- on-dry ones. In other paintings( not shown in this blog) he was greatly impacted by the cubistic tradition. He is presently still painting.