Les Fleurs Decorative Painting

Romancing the fleas

My friend Intan's romantic cushions remind me of a romantic city. Paris is a romantic city to a lot of people but perhaps not to everyone. Well, romantic or not, I do enjoy visiting the flea markets there. There are so much to see and hope for, with thousands of vendors and their flea items. However, contrary to the popular belief, it is not that easy to find real bargains. At least from my perspective and rather limited budget. But I do enjoy, and miss, the charming and festive-like atmosphere. I guess I do get a kick out of being there, amidst thousands of second-hand goods and vintage items, antiques and old furniture, decorative objects, memorabilias, collectibles, unknown paintings and art pieces, faux jewelries and colourful accessories, bric-à-bracs, surplus goods and clothings, household junks, etc., with the hope of finding some real gems. That of course, takes a lot of time and patience, and a lot of euros.

Ramadhan break from Mont Kiara

I will not be at the Mont Kiara Bazaar during the fasting month of Ramadhan. I'll just take a break from the outdoor marketing activities for a while, and spend more time on indoor teaching activities and at home with the family. But I may still be going to the BSC Bazaar if convenient.

Since I am going to be at home on Sundays, instead of at the Month Kiara Bazaar, the regular students are already asking for Sunday classes. That would mean an occupied weekend for me as I will still run my Saturday seminars and projects. I will have a class for 3 of them this morning. But at least I will have the afternoon free for Ramadhan-related activities.

Unfortunately, that will also mean that the clients at Mont Kiara won't be seeing me and my handpainted items there for a while. One of them called me yesterday evening - the lady wanted to get one or two pieces of decorative items for herself and as a gift to a friend of hers. She had gone to the Mont Kiara Bazaar last Sunday with the friend and noticed her friend's great interest in the painted decorative items at my booth. She did not immediately buy any as she had wanted to give her friend a surprise, probably for a certain occasion. But since I would not be there today, we had to meet at a mutually convenient location last night, and I had the experience of selling things out of my car boot. Too bad for her, the one that she really wanted was sold last Sunday. So I had to unpack all the items in the car boot for her to see. What an experience, it was like selling nasi lemak or kuih muih out of car boot by the roadside, next to a McDonnald's in this case. Ah well, I'm glad the nice lady found 2 items that she liked and left as a happy customer.

A Rosy Day

Today has been an unusually good day. I wish I could have more days like today. Business at BSC Saturday Bazaar went very well, perhaps too well that I am now short of painted items for tomorrow's Mont Kiara Sunday Bazaar. Ah well, a happy problem but nonetheless still a problem. Some regular clients at Mont Kiara would be a little disappointed tomorrow.

It is nice to know that there are visitors of this blog of mine who would take the trouble to come and visit me at BSC Bazaar this morning. Good to see the growing interest in decorative painting in this country, although I must say that we have a long way to go compared to, say, Australia and New Zealand. USA and Europe of course, are in a different league altogether.

The afternoon seminar, the Roses Project, went very well too I must say. The students were so pleased with their accomplishments this afternoon, painting roses. A rosy day indeed. Their brush strokes have improved a lot and colour selections are more lively. They are so happy with their creations today and are looking forward to seminars on other floral themes, sceneries, etc. I am very happy to see their progress and enthusiasm.

I had a great time in the evening too. The family decided to eat out and eat well to celebrate, in advance, my eldest daughter's birthday. It is actually 2 days away but we decided to take advantage of the weekend. We went Japanese, a common culinary interest of the birthday girl and I. I am kind of tired now, and don't feel like preparing for tomorrow's bazaar at Mont Kiara. It's been a hard and enjoyable day with the bazaar customers, the seminar students, and the family. And I am so glad to have spent the time with all of them today.

Another tough weekend ahead

Looks like it is going to be another hectic weekend ahead. I managed to get a booth at BSC Saturday Bazaar again, in addition to the usual booth at Mont Kiara Sunday Bazaar. Add to that a class for my students on Friday and a decorative painting project seminar for participants at Amcorp Mall on Saturday afternoon. There goes my weekend time for family again.

I am always in a dilemma when deciding my weekend schedules. It is never easy to make the choice between students, customers and family without feeling guilty whichever way the vote goes. Weekend is the time when everyone seems to make the time for things they are not able to fit their time for during the week. But on the other hand, children go to school during weekdays and stay at home during weekends. Oh well, I suppose one cannot have everthing in life, and will continue to make difficult choices, one way or another.

Decorative Painting & Art

Handpainted by Aniza

Decorative Artist

BSC Saturday Flea Bazaar

The current rainy season has made it a little inconvenient for me to be at the regular Mont Kiara Sunday flea bazaar. As the venue at the Mont Kiara-Wisma Sunrise foyer is a big open space, rain, which has been heavy and frequent lately, creates a bit of a havoc whenever it happens.

So, as an alternative, I decided to try out the Bangsar Shopping Complex flea bazaar in Bangsar (they call it International Bazar for some reason, and the regular Saturday bazaar at BSC has something to do with NAWEM, the Women's Business Network). It wasn't easy to get a booth there as there are only about 20 booths in total, compared to 70 or 80 stalls/booths, or more, at Mont Kiara. But the place is well covered and sheltered, very close to the shops and quite comfortable. (Picture: VirtualTourist)

I managed to get a space there for today and the day went quite well. The crowd was good despite the lack of choices compared to Mont Kiara. Some of them are regular Mont Kiara visitors. And I am also supposed to be at Mont Kiara tomorrow as the availability of a booth at BSC was communicated to me rather late. Oh well, I need to catch up with the family. My son has been away on a camping trip since Friday and will be back tomorrow afternoon. After all, I don't have much stock of painted items left. Last week, two craft and home decoration outlets, one in Gombak and the other in Subang Jaya, took quite a number of items for sale to their customers. Besides, I have agreed to the request of 2 students who want their class tomorrow morning.

Laman Seni Kuala Lumpur

This Sunday 15 August 2004, at 9.00am, the National Art Gallery of Malaysia, various agencies under the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, various artists' associations, painters, designers, artisans, craftspersons and art students will join forces to celebrate the opening of Laman Seni Kuala Lumpur (or the Kuala Lumpur Arts Market).

From September onwards, art and craft lovers can regularly visit Laman Seni Kuala Lumpur on the first Saturday of every month from 8.00am to 5.00pm, in the surroundings of the National Art Gallery, the National Theatre and Taman Tasik Titiwangsa.

Laman Seni is located on the leafy grounds of the National Art Gallery - Laman Puri, an area between the National Art Gallery and the National Theatre, and in the spacious car park between the National Art Gallery and the Titiwangsa Secondary School.

Visit the Laman Seni page for more details.

Decorative Painting & Art

Handpainted by Aniza

Decorative Artist

May God help the thief

It was surely a Sure Heboh to remember. But not for my decorative art escapade. For me this Sure Heboh has turned out to be Sure Hilang. My handbag was stolen!

Imagine, it's 5.30pm on a Sunday afternoon, at a place crammed with thousands and thousands of people, barely half an hour before my leaving the place where I have been for 3 days, where hundreds or probably thousands of cars are now jamming the roads in and out of the place ahead of the grand finale of Sure Heboh concert, I found out a devastating fact that my handbag had been stolen! It must have happened within half an hour before that. Gone are all personal belongings normally found in a woman's handbag - identity card, driver's license, credit and ATM cards, various other cards, and other personal knick-knacks, not to mention money and the car keys! How could anyone have the heart to have done this to me?

I am terribly upset. Very angry and upset. I can think of so many dreadful names to call the thief, I can imagine all kinds of vengeful and sadistic torture to teach the thief a valuable lesson, and I can also imagine all the time and suffering I now have to go through to get my life back to normal. What am I going to do tonight? Tomorrow? Next week? All the sufferings of the victims of snatch-theft and other crimes are now playing in my mind. And as I was making a police report at the mobile Police Unit on-site after the incident, I was informed of so many other cases that have been reported to the police today. Many people have lost their belongings and valuable things in the hands of wicked thieves and pick-pockets. Some have even lost their young children, and are still waiting to be reunited with them. What a day!

But for now I think I will choose to seek God's forgiveness for whatever wrongs I have done to deserve this punishment and the suffering. I pray to God for the thief never to repeat his or her crime, and that the thief will turn over a new leaf to become a person of good deeds, who will help our society to overcome the kind of crime he or she has inflicted on me and on other innocent, ordinary people.

The artists and the muftis

I couldn't help feeling a touch of glamour today being in the company of artists, celebrities and TV personalities at the Women@TV3 booth although I have to admit that I know very little about them on and off the screen. One lady visitor who saw me on TV3 Wanita Hari Ini last month and again on TV3 News last night came all the way from Kajang specifically to see me and my handpainted items at the Sure Heboh carnival.

Artists and celebrities were the crowd-pullers at the carnival. The "hottest-selling" item at the Women@TV3 booth was the opportunity to take photo shots with the celebrities for a token fee that would go towards charity. The common people came in droves and lined up patiently for their turn to be immortalised in the same photoframe as their icons. The afternoon shower did little to deter the crowds from visiting the TV3 booth to catch a glimse of the famed household names of the local media and entertainment industry. Realising the advantage of the occasion, my daughter who came to keep me company at the booth took the opportunity to conduct mini interviews with the famous personalities for her school project.

TV3 Sure Heboh appears to me as very much a Malay affair, the non-Malay visitors are very few are far between. The crowd may not be the ideal market for my type of decorative art. I guess it is much too elaborate for the big crowd who come to the carnival for the enchantment, entertainment value and bargain hunting. Mont Kiara has a better mix of affluent crowd for handpainted western decorative art items. At the carnival, there is no shortage of admiration and appreciation for the charm of handpainted pieces, but I can tell from the look on their faces when they discover the prices of the items. The majority of Malays are in the lower pecking order in the food chain.

The predominantly Malay crowds flocked the carnival site throughout the day until the evening. More people were on the way - roads leading to the Bukit Jalil stadium complex were congested as I was leaving at around 6pm. Perhaps, this might be one of the reason why the Council of Muftis is so concerned about the possible state of mind of the Malays who swamp the Sure Heboh carnival, particularly for the live concert of performing artists. I shall leave that subject to those who know better. I do not have a halo circling above my head.

TV3 Sure Heboh Carnival

(TV3's Sure Heboh Fiesta team with students. Pic: Berita Harian)

Instead of the usual Mont Kiara Sunday Flea Bazaar, I will be at the TV3 Sure Heboh Carnival in Bukit Jalil this weekend, Friday Jul 30 to Sunday Aug 1, daytime. Visit TV3 Wanita Hari Ini's or Women at TV3's booth for a sample of decorative art items and painting demonstration (check the programme schedule for timing of demo). Hope to see some decorative art collectors and fans, and budding artists (decorative painting I mean, not showbiz) there.

Decorative Painting & Art

Handpainted by Aniza

Decorative Artist

Mont Kiara Sunday Bazaar

Visit Mont Kiara Sunday Bazaar at the foyer of Plaza Mont Kiara and Wisma Sunrise for some fine handpainted decorative items, among a great variety of things you will find there. Ideal for gifts, decoration, collection, events and special ocassions.