ART - WISTFUL

Finally managed to complete a normal-sized artwork!! Entitled 'Wistful', 7 x 11" on paper. I took about a week to finish this, 5 hours just on the sky alone, the blue wasn't supposed to come out this dark but really had no idea how to work the clouds lol. Try try try again. This was created with markers, white and silver pen. I specially made a trip to the art store and busted 60 bucks for refills and blue markers for this artwork!

Also Maria of A Zeal of Zebras did a write-up on ACEOs available at Etsy, check out her blog post here: Buy Art!

Thank you for including my little pieces Maria! If you like pop and lowbrow art you should visit her blog now for some eye candy!

THE HORROR THAT IS CALLED COMEX 2009

The Singapore Comex 2009 is the largest computer & electronics expo held here from 10-14 Sept. I have avoided all computer conventions (about 2-3 large scale ones annually) since 2005 because of the immense crowd but this year my brother wanted to take a look and it was a free drive, I might as well check out the latest cameras on sale (btw I can't drive and don't need to since we have public transport here).

My initial expression when imagining the crowd:

I had already expected a huge turnout from my last experience. There's got to be like a million visitors but the papers reported about 710,000 or so, I don't know how they count the heads but anyhow it was just PACKED.

This is the Nikon booth I was zooming in for but the counter (a polygonal shape with staff on the inside) was lined up with customers trying out the cameras... so like one camera you have three people huddling over it. I mean I didn't even get to peek at the cameras. Gave up after 10 minutes and wanted to leave. Oh yes my 2nd option was Olympus behind there but I am not looking for a 12 megapixel compact camera but a 6-7 megapixel because the sensors are small anyhow.

So I hung out on the outside while my brother browsed monitors. See the escalators were full. Five storeys of electronics so about 10 sets of escalators all packed. Notice it is still daylight.

Fast forward night - an hour before closing and the escalators were still congested lol! Hats off to security.

This part isn't as bad as the console games alley which was mainly just shoving your way through. I got my foot ran over by a stroller and got 'molested' by another woman who was shoving from the opposite direction.

Ah yes confetti. Techies are neanderthals at heart, really. Just be careful how you walk and this is why you shouldn't bring strollers.

I didn't buy anything. The papers reported record-breaking sales of $63 million(!) That means that the recession here is all mumble and grumble but most Singaporeans aren't really starving homeless, just less money to spend on luxuries... and this rings true because the travel fair had record-breaking sales too. They say it's 'pent-up demand' from 2008 when people travelled less. As far as I'm concerned I'm always stuck on the struggling-artist rung with occasional splurges on (mostly) food & art books; not richer nor poorer, just needed to work harder for my cash.

And I haven't been blogging regularly but will visit & comment on your blogs soon and thank you for all your visits!

DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBIT

The Dead Sea Scroll Exhibition in Singapore on 30th August. The event is open from 27 Aug - 20 Sept, ticket prices are S$13.50 to $20.00 depending on which day you go!

The Arts House at the Old Parliament. This used to be the Parliament House in the early days, it now hosts occasional events and performances. I once set up a booth for one of their bazaar events here... let's just say it was a ghost-town bazaar. On this day, however, it was so crowded we couldn't find parking nearby.

According to the pamphlet:

In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd boy in the small settlement of Qumran went in search of his goats which had strayed away. He threw a rock into a dark cave but instead of hearing hooves of goats, the unexpected cracking sound of clay pots led him into the caves where he found jars filled with the first 7 manuscripts of the Dead Sea scrolls. They had been preserved for 2,000 years by the salty atmosphere surrounding the Dead Sea. Over the next 9 years more than 800 documents were unearthed, many in fragments."

You can zoom in my photos to read the description. The actual piece is the smaller one on a beige background. The larger one is an infrared scan because the fragments of the scroll (written on animal hide) were darkened from age. There are about 18,000 fragments and 4 were displayed here.

Hebrew Torah scroll (the law) : Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. This handwritten scroll on parchment is approx. 400 years old. It was scribed in Poland and survived the Nazi Holocaust there during WW2.

Another Torah.

Mesopotamian pictography in clay (that tablet in the box). It is over 5,000 years old.

The work of William Tyndale and Richard Taverner. This bible is from the year 1551 in the reign of King Edward VI, is the Taverner Old Testament and the Tydale New Testament translation.

The world's first printed book with moveable type in 1455. The first and thus most valuable printed book in history is a bible.

The other rooms featured an exbibit of the history of the translated Bible, related books and 4 people: Erasmus, William Tyndale, Martin Luther and John Calvin.

For more pictures (texts acompanying the displays), visit my Facebook album::

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035083&id=1347191705&l=366e0550aa