Thẩm Thúy Hằng, Watercolour Drawing Pop Stars

Thẩm Thúy Hằng, (1940 -)
Thẩm Thúy Hằng is a Vietnamese actress. During the 1950s and 1960s, she was a star of the film industry in South Vietnam.
Part of my study.  The hair style echoes in Amy Winehouse 70 years later.. something timeless about it.  I think.

Wonderful Watercolour Drawing, Oriental Beauty of the 60'!

Billie Holiday, Watercolour Sketch Pop Stars

I put a tint of cold blue in the picture…after listening to Billie's "Blue Moon".. I love the gardenia in her hair in the moon light. I am learning to use the scan and the new Photos of Mac… my head is really spinning like the dancing of Fred and Ginger in "Cheek to cheek"! :-)

Billie Holiday in Blue Moon, Watercolour Sketch

Celine Dion, Watercolour Sketch

I am struggling with the new photo app today.  I am a turtle on a steep learning curve.  I much prefer to be in the garden drawing plants.  Can't get the app to work so I look at the drawing file.  This image is one in a series ..  the look does haunt me a bit.

Watercolour Sketch, Pop Stars, Celine Dion

Sweet Corn, Kindness from Nature, Ballpoint Drawing

Sudden cold snaps caused by recent Pacific cyclone can affect produces like corn, lettuce and onions. I managed to find some fresh corn to celebrate summer, simple and sweet. Because of sharp contrast of hot and cold swaps, these corn might not last even in the fridge. I boiled them up and have them for breakfast the next morning... part of my adaptability to climate change!

One of the classic old tricks to speed up is to use eatables as still life subject. I had to draw as fast as I could... then I can have it.

The taste of these first corn of the crop is superb!:-)

Ballpoint Direct Sketch, Sweet Corn

Dahlia, Plant for Climate Change, Ballpoint

Dahlia are amazing. They have a wide rage of flowers and bloom types. All seem to do well in the climate change conditions. I love the flamboyant, gorgeous huge flower heads. However, the common small size with a centre full of pollen is ideal for bees. As I watched an average size bee enjoyed the take, another slightly bigger came. The smaller immediately flew away.. later on it came back when the bigger left. I managed to take note of the two. Further away there're bigger dahlia bush. There're bigger crowd of bees. It seems there are territories and there're taking turn places. Bees do not fight or I hadn't seen them fight yet.

I went for an observation. This year the bees are huge. They look happy! I think the bee crisis is over... at least at these dahlia bushes!

Ballpoint Garden Sketch, Dahlia, plant for climate change garden

Petunia in Climate Change Garden, Ballpoint

Another observation of the effect of climate change in my garden is petunia. It was a plant that came back from last year. It survives but not great due to snap cyclone cold wind and rain. The mix with hot air of summer season helps it to survive only just. The old summer with lots of blooming petunia has gone. It has some protection from under a dahlia bush. The branches are adaptive to tight place... by taking notes of my observation through drawing, I am mentally prepared myself to be adaptive.. It's not going to be easy to cope with sudden changes .. but we will survive! .. hopefully better than the petunia! Take care.

Petunia, Ballpoint

Fever Few, Plant for Climate Change Garden, Ballpoint

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This is a herbal plant that has some properties to be used for arthritis and migraine. I t is spreading and randomness with daisy like white flowers. It does not need much care. It can grow on poor soil, clay bank and cope with change in climate. The height about 1m make it ideal for backdrop of lower flowering plant, random in with taller flowering plant or just by themselves. It is an ideal feature for Fairy tale style cottage garden. For those who love simplicity, masses of pure white flowers against dark green is as fresh as a glass of champagne in a hot day.

I like to mix the random masses of fever few daisy whites with blue, mauve hydrangea and roses...

I do not like the taste of Fever Few much. Then I look at the behaviour of insects in the garden. They seem not to like these flowers either. The bees touched them and then moved away. Then I realised the plant can be used to deter insects. While loving nature, not many of us like to be disturbed all the time by buzzing insects.  I had a bite from a yellow jacket sometimes ago.  I was sore for three days. On a positive note, I think it was good for my immune system!..  It also raised my level of alertness and increased my observation skills! :-).  I think to have peace in the flowering garden, I'll have a place for myself. I think I'll plant fever few where I'd like to sit for a relaxing moment away from the buzzing bees!

When other plants are struggle with change in climate, this plant thrives without hard work, takes care of health as herbal, relaxes the mind with lively, elegant images and take care of the bees for your moment in the garden. It is indeed a fairy!

Ballpoint, Fever Few, Plant for Climate Change Garden

One and a Half Daisies, Climate Change, Ballpoint

I love the look of a weeping blossom to enhance the Japanese features in my garden. However, blossom only last for about two weeks. I notice the trailing and mass flowering habit of African daisies. The colours are lovely too, mauve, white, bronze.. their long flowering season and low maintenance gave me an idea.. I'd like to make a weeping blossom look alike summer daisies umbrella! African daisies are fast growing plant I would full fill my dream of sitting under the flowering daisies umbrella in no time! Imagine an umbrella with daisies flowering for all summer days! :-)

The plan was in action. The daisies was supported with strings on a pole. Half a meter up, the plant becomes bushy. The growth of the plant sudden stop at half a meter. All the buds were not open as usual. They turned black and dropped off. At the beginning of this year, the summer time. The plant was positioned away from wind and have all the warm north sun. After all the effort, I have one and a half daisies! Daisies are the most easy to have in any garden.. but NOT anymore. It's the climate change!

One daisy is half open and the other is drooping. One and a half, that's all I have. My summer dream is shattered. I am keeping them in this drawing!

The leaves react to the cold snaps, heat, sudden rains by contracting to a third or fourth of normal size. They are also more curly than normal. I also made notes of flowers that were not there by recording the stalks where the buds dropped off. This year there're a lot of horntails. I included two dancing in the air.

I still have memories of lots of daisies hanging off walls in warm summer days.. what I see in front of me under effect of climate change we are facing, memories probably stay as memories forever.. Good bye daisies!.. Good bye the dream sitting under flowering summer daisies umbrella!.. Good bye daisies!.. Good bye!

Garden Sketch, Daisies in Climate Change

Sherlock, Weta and the Ants, Ballpoint Art

Time to pull up finished bulb plants, I was amazed to find a few seeds every time I pulled up a dead stalk. "Ah! this is how this bull plant multiply". I was so happy to learn that I could have some more next year! so I went and planted them. I found a weta, NZ native insect, under a tree. After examining it, it was not a shell. It was a dead weta because of the uneven colour! I was so proud of my observation! so I put it on a plastic garden scoop. Some ants were around so I waited for them to go away.... I looked at the dead weta and tempted to use it as a subject for drawing

Suddenly I saw the tail end of the weta moved from side to side. "Oh! my God it's still alive" " No it could not be" then I think of Sir David Attenborough of the art of flying of birds.. the wing mechanism. I thought there must be a mechanism at the tail end of the weta to make it move with air movement. There was no air movement around.... 

I thought of the case of Sherlock I watched late last night and could not understand the images and the things in the head! Then I realised it was something between our observation and the truth, illusion. Sometimes observations do not give us the truth but illusion instead and illusion can be so big that truth is an illusion! To know the truth we must use speculation, interpretation .. at the end the truth come to us through logic, science!

"Ah! the tail must be moved by the ants! There're must be more ants inside!" Another few minutes, I was right. I was so pleased that I could solve the mystery of the dead weta! :-D... and understand what Sherlock was going on about .. :-DD

After all the ants were going away (because of rocking barn scoop!), I moved the weta inside for drawing!.. It was a bit of a challenge. I was not sure whether it was a good idea either. Anyway, I tried at least I might have a chance to see where I fail!.. It was hard to see even under the glass. The weta was half eaten. Some parts were transparent, some were not... After a moment, I thought I had the drawing look like the weta.. then to finish off I add some ants!.. It was fun!

More, now I understand Sherlock Holmes' shows a bit more. All thanks to the dead weta... and.. the ants! :-DD

Marvellous Insect Ballpoint Drawing, Weta and the Ants

Connect with Nature, Impatient, Ballpoint Garden Sketch

After two day rain and cyclone wind, I went out in the garden. While waiting for better weather, I took little cuttings of impatient for drawing. They were a bit battered so I included the falling flower.

The hand made pottery art of the country died years ago but I still hang on to a few. They are perfect as a way to bring beauty of plants and flowers to the eyes.

Impatient has many colours, white, pink, salmon orange, light red, magenta..It is very easy to grow and perfect to fill in shady places. Because of a wide range of colour, I think it is perfect for floral home garden themes. More importantly, it shows great ability to cope with climate change.

Certainly this plant will bring charm, beauty and excitement to garden lovers! More joy and less work! Enjoy!

Beautiful Ballpoint Sketch, Impatient

Black Berries with Climate Change Effect, Ballpoint

After two days of rain, I went out and checked the black berries. It was hot when the wind stopped. Some berries were forced to be ripen early so they were under sized and the taste was not good. Many fell onto the ground. I managed to collect a few. I missed the drawing exercise. I made a selection and arranged them for a drawing. I noted that even there was no time gap between the time I cut the leaves off the plant and the arrangement on the table. The leaves immediately curved up like they were drying out. This is the effect of the intensity of the heat in the garden. It's the effect of climate change!... The story of climate change seems to be even in these small berries and its leaves! I wonder how the climate effect would be in larger scale of our food production in the near future..

After drawing, it's time to taste. It did not take long. The chemical free berries just turned into liquid when they touched the lips. They are extremely delicate with a little bent in taste at the end... I gave back a third to the birds and the rest for ice cream dessert after dinner..

Garden ripen black berries is my favourite little step in the relationship with nature..

Direct Ballpoint Sketch, Black Berries