Live Drawing / TST + My First Video!

A few weeks ago in an effort to challenge myself I decided to set myself up in, Tsim Sha Tsui, a super busy part of Hong Kong near the harbour and try doing live portraits on the streets for the first time. It was terrifying but also really rewarding and fun.

Doing street portraits is something I've always wanted to try, but was terrified of. I had discussed the idea quietly to a few of my close friends and even mentioned it to my mom. They all thought it was a great idea and encouraged me to go for it. But I still wasn't sure. Wouldn't it be weird? No one invited me to do it? Can I really just set up on the street? What if I invite everyone to come and then I get kicked out or questioned by the police?
 

I've always been really into this idea of artists that took advantage of whatever small circumstances around them at the time and used it to bring their work out on to the street and use it as a chance to continually work on their craft. For example, I love the story of Jean-Michel Basquiat who as a young man sold painted t-shirts and postcards on the streets of Manhattan in order to make money. 

I wanted to do something like that!

Why not take advantage of Hong Kong's lack of busking regulations, I've seen lots of young people setting up in Mong Kok either doing caricatures or playing music. Why shouldn't I do it? While I'm still young and living in the city.

The older I get the more I realize that opportunity is not something that is given, you have to take it.

"Many people have the perception that you have to be granted power, when in reality, you just have to claim it. Power isn’t limited to the possession or command over others. Power is the currency of making $%!^ happen." -- Denna Varshavskaya

So I mustered up my courage and made a Facebook event to let my friends know and posted to my Instagram to tell my followers what I would be up to. I knew I would feel so much more comfortable if even a handful of my friends were around.

My friend Jessica and three super stylish girls who are studying at SCAD, they had seen my invite on Instagram and came out to support! Thanks so much girls for stopping by, you are all so wonderful.

As the night progressed, the more portraits I did, the more confident I became and it was evident (at least to me) that I was getting better. Throughout the day lots of beautiful stylish friends stopped by, including blogger Sybil Kot, aka The Style Voyager. Can you spot her? Hint: look for the signature hair flip!

Polaroids from street photographer Dicky Lai.

And without further ado, the video! Check it out for all the action that day as filmed by the super talented Josh Tam at Josh Takes Photos. He did a beautiful job of capturing the energy of the day. We started at 3pm and as the sun set and evening came around the pier was buzzing with lots of pedestrians and a handful of young local street musicians. It felt great to be sketching in that environment and to be a part of a group who were bring more art and creativity to the streets and people of Hong Kong, however transient.

 

The video and screenshots were all filmed by Josh Tam of Josh Takes Photos, get in touch with him here.

And some more link karma! Ann from Kremb de la Kremb stopped by to get a livesketch that day and wrote a really sweet post with lots of great photos, go check it out on her blog.

And as always, make sure you subscribe, and if you loved this post please share it with your friends using the social media buttons below!

Metamorphosis / Xu Bing at Asia Society

Before I left for my holiday in England I was lucky enough to be invited to preview 'It Begins with Metamorphosis' by the acclaimed Chinese artist Xu Bing at Asia Society. Acclaimed usually sounds like some frou-frou word which you use to describe someone who you know nothing about except that they're really famous. But in his case, Xu was rewarded the MacArthur Fellowship in 1999 (yes, the 'Genius Grant'!), so you know he's legit (bow down).

As you walk into the exhibition you are greeted by a large vase of mulberry cuttings, upon closer inspection you see that the stems are covered in small white silkworms feeding on the green leaves. As the show continues, the worms continue to devour the leaves leaving behind nothing but brown stems and the cocoons of the themselves entwined in silk.

I had never been to Asia Society until I went to see the Caravaggio exhibition a few months before, I had only seen pictures and it seemed like a magical secret place hidden amongst the trees high up in Admiralty with an illuminated walkway and peaceful Buddha sculptures. It didn't seem like a real place you could go to in Hong Kong, but alas love is a place and spring was in the air.

CLICK THROUGH to see more photos, sketches and what I wore from my luscious day at Xu Bing's 'It Begins with Metamorphosis' at Asia Society.

Streetstyle / Affordable Art Fair - 4 Best Looks Illustrated

Who: Lulu, works in finance.
Loving: For the print obsessed, artist Emma Hack was on site with a live art demonstration. Where she painted a model's body to camouflage her into an elaborate floral backdrop.

This past Friday, at the Arty-licious evening during the Affordable Art Fair, hundreds of chic art lovers convened to gather inspiration, drink a few cocktails and pick up some new pieces for their homes. So I stopped by pen and notebook in hand to illustrate some of the best looks from the evening and to find out what was on everyone's to-buy list for Sassyhongkong.com.

Keep reading to see my four other favourite looks and some photos from the fair.

Tourist in my Own City / Ah Fong Shanghai Wonton Dumplings

Yesterday I had lunch at a really cozy spot near my house with a big Matisse print on the wall-- a little dumpling restaurant staffed by women where during the after lunch rush was full of lone diners like myself.

I had the "light meal" set which comes with a bowl of dumplings, your choice of side dish and a glass of soy milk for $39HKD. I opted for a comforting mug of hot Ovaltine for an extra 2 bucks since I'm trying to have less soy due to my thyroid. For the side, I chose the sweet vinegar ribs which were so delicious; tangy, savoury and sweet which went perfectly with the rice cake that came in the dumpling soup.

I read the new National Geographic about the world's first skiers. Since being back in Hong Kong I always ask for a Nat Geo subscription for my birthday, it's like getting a really informative present each month. 

阿芳餛飩
Ah Fong Shanghai Wonton
G/F, 40  Sung Kit Street, Hung Hom. Kowloon.

Where to find Cool Vintage Glasses in Hong Kong? Mei Yick Spectacles

Having nice glasses are my favourite thing, they tell people you are really artsy and smart and that you aren't like everyone else and they also help you see things. Also, contacts terrify me. I was about to blow my life saving's on these pair of Andy Wolf's but my goal before 2013 ends is to start a retirement fund so I had to reconsider my priorities.

So it was off to the Shum Shui Po and Mong Kong, Hong Kong's older districts to search for some affordable and unique frames, where I discovered Mei Yick Spectacles which specialize in deadstock frames.

 Photo: Think-silly.com

They have tons of interesting styles lining the tiny shop and the helpful owner brought down all the styles which might suit me. I ended up choosing a pair of clear cat eye frames with a bit of turquoise detailing which are also a bit bedazzled! I got Transition™ lenses put in, so I can always feel pretty and prepared whenever I go outside, but kind of douchey when I come to meet important people indoors and my glasses haven't Transition™ed back into normal from the sunlight.

The whole thing came out to under $1000 HKD, that's like $150 CAD for frames and lenses which is basically unheard of in Canada.

Mei Yick Spectacles
28 Tung Choi Street, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
It's on the "Ladies Market" street, behind the streetstalls.

Another place I love for eyeglass shopping in Hong Kong, not vintage and if you want to spend the big bucks and you already have a retirement fund is Pui Yi Optical.

Artsy Guide to HK / Jumping on Stonehenge at M+ Inflation

Last week my parents and I headed over to the West Kowloon Cultural Distract to check out the M+ Inflation exhibition. It was amazing day and so much fun, full of larger than life inflatable sculptures.

It was pretty windy day so a few of the exhibitions weren't open, but none the less there was still 4 ginormous inflatable sculptures to be seen/bounced on. My favourite being the life-size (!) inflatable Stonehenge called Sacrilege by British artist Jeremy Deller. It was like the worldest biggest most artful bouncy castle set against a panoramic backdrop of the Hong Kong harbour.

Woo! Raise the roof, oops... Sometimes bad things happen to good people and the bouncy Stonehenge castle can get dangerous.

Pencil sketch, coloured in Photoshop.

We had so much fun bouncing on Stonehenge sculpture, I always love art that's interactive and delightful and makes you feel like a kid again - that's the best kind of art I think. I loved it so much I even made a little sketch inspired by hopping around on it with my mom, if you glide a certain way on it you feel like a weightless astronaut.

Yes, that is a giant pile of poop. Literally. By US artist Paul McCarthy. A couple of weeks ago, bad weather punctured the inflatable piece, titled Complex Pile and the HK tabloids had a field day with their 'shit explosion' headlines. Further back to its left you can also see the roast pig sculpture by Chinese artist Cao Fei.

An upside down cockroach and a pair of legs. Falling into the Mundane World by Tam Wai Ping.

Finished the evening with really delicious udon at Inaniwa Udo Nab at the nearby Elements mall.

For more info, head over to the M+ website, it's so creatively designed and my little drawing of Sacrilege is featured in the SNAPS section as well. The exhibition runs until June 9, 2013.

Camping in Hong Kong | Sai Kung

I'm finally back with another Camping in Hong Kong post!

My friends and I went camping at Tai Long Wan, Sai Kung on a misty long weekend last spring. We slept right on the beach and fell asleep to the sound of crashing waves and played in the nighttime water with twinkling with little bioluminescence. This place is all white sand and crystal clear water, it's so beautiful you most certainly won't believe you're still in Hong Kong.

The hike to the beach is a little trecherous with all your camping gear but the trail still has cement pathways, wooden rails and stone steps. It gets pretty steep in parts and takes 2-3 hrs depending on your fitness level.

You'll be drenched in sweat but at the end of the hike you'll be rewarding with not one but two huge pristine beaches with the whitest sand you'll ever see in Hong Kong. The first beach has two little restaurants where you can get food, water and rent body boards. Rent the body boards! Tai Long Wan means Big Wave Beach in Chinese and the waves are big enough to surf on. You don't need any experience to body board and you'll end up gulping endless mouthfuls of salty water but you'll have so much fun doing it. After that you'll need protein so go back to the little restaurant and eat some "mountain spring tofu pudding".

Over the little hill at the end of the first beach is the bigger more secluded beach and that was where we set up our camping gear.

The ocean is deathless/

The islands rise and die/
Quietly come, quietly come/
A silent swaying breath.

–Agnes Martin

Being there that foggy weekend I was endlessly reminded of that Agnes Martin poem, maybe because the landscape was like one of her paintings, white and monochromatic but with endless depth if you stay and look beyond the mist.

Although the beach at Tai Long Wan isn't technically a campsite and doesn't have any amenities, we and the other 3 or 4 clumps of campers that were already set up there were not deterred. The beach is huge and very private so we walked over to the furthest point and pitched our tents by the edge.

The next morning we went for a hike in the hills surrounding the beach. It's a nice breezy little walk, there are rock bluffs and lots of interesting plants and insects to look at.

Once the weekend is over and you're back in Sai Kung town, end the night at one of the many seafood joints along the pier which is where we saw these horseshoe crabs, and if not there are lots of good Thai restaurants in the town to eat at as well.

Getting there: about 2-3hrs hike to the beach, the best way is to take the NR29 minibus to Sai Wan Pavilion and hike from there you can hike there following the trail. If you are feeling ritzy or lazy you can also hire boats to the beach from Sai Kung pier depending on the waves and weather.

My other Camping in Hong Kong post about Ngong Ping can be found here.

All photos on this post where taken by me on my Olympus Stylus 120 point and shoot film camera.

The Artsy Guide to Hong Kong: Fotanian 2013

When you move to a new city it can be hard to find pockets of cool creative people and fun alternative things to do. When I first moved to Hong Kong two years ago I thought it was a cultural wasteland, I hung out in Lan Kwai Fong and I was so unhappy.

Obviously I was wrong, Hong Kong isn't a cultural wasteland it actually has a very vibrant creative scene, you just have to look a bit deeper and I was about to get a taste when a Couchsurfing friend suggested I visit the Fotanian Open Studios.

This January the studio will again open to the public during the weekends of the 5th to the 20th (2pm to 7pm). You should go and get inspired, especially if your New Years resolution is to live a more creative life, who knows you just might make a few new analog camera toting hipster pals.
 

Nestled between the lush hills of the New Territories, Fotan is mostly an industrial area but with many factories moving north to China the buildings have been reconverted to spacious studios to local artists. While not technically legal, a lot of the artist also make their studios their home sweet home, so in addition to seeing some cool art it's also a real treat to check out the artists' living spaces as well.

After visiting all the printmakers, painters and artists, I'm sure you'll be feeling most inspired, but more urgently really hungry, so grab some dinner at the Dai Pai Dong down on Shan Mei St. and fill up on chicken congee, octopus mouths, Tsing Tao beer and fried oyster pancake.

There are over 250 studios open this year, it'd be insane to see them all (or maybe you're just insane enough to try) so in order to make your visit more enjoyable I've compiled a list of some must see artists for FOTANIAN 2013:

·  Wilson Shieh
Wilson Shieh is a painter whom often works in a modern reinterpretation of gongbi. This year the artist is giving out an extremely cool free posters for visitors to his studio featuring costumes worn by the late Hong Kong music superstar Anita Mui in the 1980s.

·  Au Hoi Lam and Qiang Studio
Qiang is a multidisciplinary studio featuring 5 women artists. This year they have also invited artist Carment Ho (何寶容) to exhibit alongside them.

·  Rental United

·  Drawing installations by Cath Brophy

·  Painter Wong Chun Hei, Steven

Special thanks to artist Sarah Lai for helping me with this list.
Photos 1-4 taken by me on a Minolta SRT-303.
Photos 5-7 are courtesy of the respective artists.

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