art – Page 2 – Tiana Feng

A Gallery in Memory of Grandpa

March 11, 2013Art, Family3 Comments

Last week grandpa passed away, partly due to old age and also because he had a cancerous tumor in his liver. Our family didn’t know until he was too fragile to cure. He was 90.

My mom’s father was a lover of beautiful things. He loved to garden, care for his exotic fish and loved decorating the house with nicknacks and birds that were the source for an old photo collection of mine. He liked to sew clothes, taking old pieces and turning them into something new.

He was also a fine artist who hung his work proudly in the living room, kitchen and hallways of his house. He drew in various mediums including watercolour, pencil, crayons and sparkles. Besides canvas, he also drew on any surface he could find including old cardboard. I didn’t realize until recently that there were tons of them. Grandpa wanted his work to be seen by visitors. He never understood what the internet was, but I think he would have loved to share his art with the world. Below are a collection of his works I uploaded using Genius Scan for the iPhone.

Yim Pui Ng (1923-2013)

This one is drawn on the back of a ping-pong table. You can even see the legs sticking out in the photo:

As you know, I’m also a lover of the arts whether it be music, photography, fine art or written word. I now know, I have grandpa to thank for that.

Being An Imperfect Musician

November 19, 2012March 10, 2013Art, Entertainment, Inspiration, Life, Music1 Comment

I played piano today, and I enjoyed it. This was a statement I had not been able to say for a long time.

Over a year ago I had posted about rekindling my love for the instrument, but it never really happened. Life got in the way- or so I thought.

I blamed a lot of not playing on being busy, which I was with various internships. I also pushed the piano aside because Teddy (my precious little puppy) hated the sound and would howl whenever any instrument was played.

Though the above were contributing factors, none of them really explained why I was avoiding the piano. The truth was that in fourth year after a rather disastrous jury, I was tired and frustrated at the piano.

I am a big cognitive science junkie. In Levtin’s book This is Your Brain On Music he talks about how 10,000 hours of practice makes a great musician. I calculated that if I started piano when I was five and averaged about 2 hours a day since then (with the long hours in my advanced years evening out the early years and holidays) that it amounted to something like 12,410 hours. This was approximate number of hours I had spent at a piano from when I was 5 up to the day of my piano jury when I was 22 (I am currently 24).

It was disheartening having put in more than the required 10,000 hours and be far from “perfect”. This anxiety had caused me to be afraid of performing in front of other people. “What if I mess up?” was a constant worry during the hours spent in university practice rooms. The consequence of this unease was more intense practicing and the development of carpel tunnel (which I am happy to say I don’t have any more).

Today I sat at the piano without too much thought about it. I picked up a book of Chopin waltzes and simply started playing. I realized some of my strengths:
1. I am a great sight reader.
2. If I played a song once, my fingers will remember it forever no matter how long it’s been since I last played it.

Though imperfectly, it was nice to be playing again, especially the music of my favourite composer. Now that I am out of school (and finished RCM exams), I don’t have to be playing under the pretense of needing to be perfect or performing for somebody else. I can also explore pieces that excite me and not have to drill them to perfection. I want to continuously enjoy performing for myself. And for me, imperfect is okay.

Unplugged For A Day

September 5, 2012September 5, 2012Art, Photography, Social Media, Technology2 Comments

With a view like this. Who needs the internet?

As my previous post mentioned, I went to my uncle’s cottage last weekend. It was 3-4 hours up north, and a boat ride across the lake. I was surrounded by nature and 3G was sparse.

I previously wrote a post, Could You Give Up the Internet for $50 million? where I admitted that I could not give it up. However this weekend unplugged for a day I learned that I was able to (at least for a day). I also realized that there were benefits to it. It was stress-relieving. I didn’t need to constantly check my e-mail, think of what to tweet or give a damn about what my friends were posting on Facebook. I didn’t even have the urge to instagram photos of our BBQ’d food.

Instead I taught Teddy how to swim, went hiking and took some breath taking photos of my surroundings. The only time I did use my 3G was to download Sky Map, an app that names all the constellations in the night sky.

Though I will probably not quit social media or the internet, sometimes I wonder how much of the real world we’re missing as we sit in front of blinking screens.

It’s a big and beautiful world out there.

Cavalia’s Odysseo = Beautiful

August 16, 2012Art, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

For our anniversary, Nash bought me tickets to Cavalia’s Odysseo. I’ve never seen the original Cavalia so this was my first time at the horse-show. If you’re from Toronto, you’ve probably seen the ads with beautiful white horse everywhere: on the subway, the streets, even in online banner ads. Whatever they did definitely worked. It is the extended running of the show here and yesterday it was pretty much sold out.

The show took place inside the Cavalia tent situated near Cherry Beach. The stage was huge. It’s something like 27,000 square feet. It was elevated slightly so parts of the show would look like horses were coming at you from a distance. The visual aspect of the entire show was thought out ingeniously. The lights could change the ground from green grass to dry land, and could even create the illusion of a path. The background projected moving landscapes on screens that look like they could be 2 or 3 times the size of a regular movie theatre screen.

Crappy iPhone photo makes it look farther than we actually were

What I love most about the show is that the horses seemed happy. They were even allowed for moments of impromptu performance. The audience laughed in delight and how adorable it was. They applauded when it went the right way. It’s amazing how lovely they made a line of horses look. I also didn’t understand how some of the riders didn’t fall off when performing some of their tricks. There was plenty of rest between horse-tricks as well. African American dancers did plenty of neat tricks and interacted with the crowd. There was even some call and response singing to lyrics we didn’t know how to say! I later learnt that the group was part of the Kalabante which raises money to build schools in Guinea. Therefore part of your ticket is supporting a great cause.

Near the end of the show, the ground filled with water to create a lake where the horses splashed and danced majestically in the water. What I didn’t realize until halfway through the show was that the music was live! They had musicians in boxes at the top right and left of the stages, but it was only when they were purposely lit up that you could see them.

I loved Odysseo and it was definitely an anniversary to remember.

Lessons I Have Learnt from Draw Something

April 5, 2012April 5, 2012Art, iOS, Technology, Video Games3 Comments

elvis — Really horrible drawing I did of Elvis

If you don’t know already, Draw Something is the new mobile game sensation. It’s basically a set of Pictionary that you can play with your friends who have Apple and Android devices. I have been playing it for a couple of weeks now and through observation I have realized and learnt many things.

Celebrities are really hard to draw. I try my hardest not to use words when I am drawing clues. I think it’s cheating. However, when you get hit with a celebrity, it can become hard.

drake — This is Drake, boyfriend didn't get it.

britney — Name the first generic blonde person you can think of!

People draw people that look like themselves. Whenever the drawing requires the use of a person to describe something, they always seem to look like the person who drew the picture. I’m guilty of this too. My people always look like the doodles of me that I do on My Life In Drawings. Other people do this too though. My friends who have blonde hair draw blonde people. Those that have curly hair draw curly haired people. Even if it takes an extra step to do these things.

pegasus — Guess the hair colour of the person that drew this.

It can be used as a genius marketing plan. Companies should insert their names into this game. Subliminal advertising after all. And hey, if your logo isn’t recognizable for anybody to want to draw it, maybe you should do something about that.

Continue reading ➞ Lessons I Have Learnt from Draw Something

Photoset: Irresistible Smile

March 20, 2012Art, Pets, Photography, Teddy3 Comments

I haven’t uploaded a photo-set in a while. The weather here has been amazing and we let Teddy run around the yard. He loves it as you can tell by the expression on his face. I bet you it’s hard to look at these photos without smiling.

Look #6

March 6, 2012March 6, 201230 Day Challenge, Art, LifeLeave a Comment

Opted for some green today.

Look #4

March 4, 2012March 4, 201230 Day Challenge, Art, Life1 Comment

Today I blended light pinks and purples.

A Look A Day Challenge- Look #2

March 2, 201230 Day Challenge, Art, Fashion, Life1 Comment

Here is my second look of my March challenge.

Continue reading ➞ A Look A Day Challenge- Look #2

30 Day Challenge: March Edition- A Look A Day

March 1, 2012March 1, 201230 Day Challenge, Art, Life, Photography1 Comment

I conquered last month’s challenge of not having a drop of coffee. Today I completely forgot that I could finally have a cup. I don’t think I plan on jumping back into habit just yet. Perhaps my mind will change next week when I have work engagements which will need me up in the morning. But anyway, it’s a new month so time for another challenge.

20120301-114947 — This is only part of it

I think it’s time for something artistic. I realized while doing my video album reviews that it’s pretty fun to play with make up. I also realized, I have way too much makeup. When I was in university I was addicted to buying set after set of eye-shadow. Often they came with blushes, lip glosses and eye liners too. I have hundreds of colours at hand so this month I decided.. I will create a different look a day.

Continue reading ➞ 30 Day Challenge: March Edition- A Look A Day