Singapore - Creatures of the Wetlands

Anybody going to Singapore might not think that much nature thrives on the island.  It's usually considered a shopping mecca.  You would probably be surprised to hear that there are quite a few nature reserves and a wonderful mangrove and wetlands area called the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve which if you are into animals and birds is well worth the visit.  There is a huge array of water birds as you would expect and mangrove swamps are known for their kingfishers.  However, there is a fair amount of trees and vegetation so there are a lot of other birds too, some interesting ones being sunbirds and hornbills.

Crocs are around at certain times of the year and of course the large monitor lizards.  Spiders are a biggie here too - some beauts! Sorry, had to include one in my pic.  There is also a family of otters although unfortunately we never saw them.

We took a taxi from the centre of Singapore to the Wetlands.  It took about 40 minutes and the taxi cost £12 which in London terms is a steal.  On the way back we caught the shuttle bus which goes regularly from the Wetlands to the metro.

Mornings like this are real highlights in my holidays.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

One of the highlights of our trip to Singapore was a visit to the Singapore Botanic Gardens.  In the centre of the gardens there is an orchid garden which I just loved.  An orchid is the national flower of Singapore.

The theme for Photo Art Friday was paths so I thought I would use the overhanging pathways in the gardens plus the orchids to create a collage:

However, this next collage which I put together using one of the statues in the garden is my favourite:

Singapore - Patterns of Trade Exhibition

I have come back from my holiday in Singapore and Thailand absolutely bubbling with inspiration.  Just what I needed to get me going again.  I took 700+ pictures with my point-and-click and my husband took over 1000 with the DSLR.  Happy Days!

When I was in Singapore the Asian Civilisations Museum was holding an exhibition called Patterns of Trade: Indian Textiles for Export, 1400-1900. How lucky was that??

I was allowed to take pictures as long as I didn't use a flash and I took loads of pictures of the wonderful patterns to use as inspiration.  There was a video playing showing the way the Indians use the large wooden printing blocks and the level of accuracy with the repeating prints is astonishing.  Found the history of printing fascinating too.  The exhibition is on until June.

Soap Carving in Thailand

The beauty about going on holiday to a location which is entirely different to one's own is that you learn and see things which you wouldn't normally.

An art form which I had never seen before and which is practiced in Thailand is soap carving.  I bought this exquisite flower carved from soap which was presented in a beautifully painted lacquer container from a Thai lady who showed me how she carved the soap.

As soon as I got home I couldn't resist extracting the flower and seeing what I could do with it.  From one art form to another:

Big in Thailand is also fruit and vegtable carving:
Check this out: http://www.jmcreativedesigns.com/Vegetable%20Fruit%20Carvings.htm

I also discovered after some digging around that the Thais are not the only people to carve soap:
http://www.dimidumo.be/Lester%20Gaba%20text%203.htm

Phone Apps - Conclusion

I have to say that out of all the phone apps, Sketchbook Mobile was the best and one that I might use in the future if I want to fill in a spare moment.

However, phone apps are so fiddly to use and they do take some time to master, that I think if you are in a coffee shop with time to spare pull out a piece of paper and just start doodling and then scan it in later or photograph it.  Sometimes there's nothing to beat just drawing with a pencil.  My doodles are all more artistic and free flowing/thinking when draw with a pencil rather than trying to churn out something on a phone.

Here is a collage from pictures taken in Thailand to represent the tao of drawing!

Phone Drawing App No. 4

I've been away on holiday for 2 weeks and I was hoping to add blog posts while I was away but in the end internet access was sporadic and mostly not available from my own computer so I gave up in the end.

I added another drawing app to my phone just before I left so that I could try it out on the flight.  It's called Pocket Sketchbook and this was the free version.  It didn't have layers so, although I was able to load a photograph, I had to alter the photograph itself.  I found the drawing options quite limiting and the drawings I finally came up with weren't very good.  We visited Singapore and I tried to create a simple skyscraper silhouette for manipulation.  I also coloured over a lily that I had on the phone.

This the skyscraper:

The only thing I managed to come up with was a pattern.  Nothing else I seemed to do to it looked like anything special.

This is what I did to the lily:

However, I did so much manipulation to it, not sure the changes on the phone meant much and it would have been far easier to do on the PC.