tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-929202194057449172024-02-08T14:31:14.024+08:00The artistic world of Sabina LeeSabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-50853718157787334762013-11-07T21:48:00.000+08:002013-11-07T21:48:52.588+08:00How to choose a piece of diamondEvery diamond lover should learn how to choose a piece of diamond. Most people have at least heard about the 4Cs in choosing a piece of diamond, although the inner intricacies are only appreciated by a few. In this post, I shall explain how I choose diamonds for my designs, and what advice I can give for anyone interested in buying a piece of carat size diamond.<br />
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The problem with every customer is <i>Given a limited budget how should I choose the best piece of diamond available?</i><br />
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The price of diamonds differs in regard to their 4Cs: carat (How large is it?), clarity (How much inclusions are there inside?), color (How white is it?) and cut (How does it compare with the ideal brilliant cut?)<br />
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With the same budget, you can buy a larger diamond with many inclusions, with brownish shade in color, and without much shine, or you can buy a much smaller one with no inclusion (we call <i>internal flawless</i>), the whitest D color and the best cut (<i>triple brilliant). </i>In between there lies all decisions. And such decision ultimately depends on your knowledge and your objective.<br />
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Take knowledge for example. You have to know where the inclusion lies to see how much it will affect the design of the piece of jewelry. And can the particular design hide the inclusion? The same clarity grading will often times mean quite different things. A discerning eye on beauty is needed here.<br />
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Another example. Choosing the right color involves decision not only on the carat stone. If you are thinking of designing a piece with complementary smaller diamonds (which is usually the case!), make sure that your designer or jeweler can support you with small diamonds of similar color grade. You don't want a D color Internal Flawless (IF) carat stone flanked by H color SI stones - all have to go well together.<br />
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The cut of diamond is responsible for its brilliant and shine. It is not given by nature but done by human being - a skilled diamond cutter. Nowadays most round diamonds are cut as brilliant cut. It was first
developed by Tolkowsky in 1919, but the modern brilliant cut was
gradually developed and generally accepted after World War II. The best brilliant cut will give the best shine.<br />
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My advice is therefore buy the diamond with the best cut that you can afford. It really doesn't matter if you have chosen a stone with D color and IF clarity, if it is not well proportioned, you will forever have a dull, lifeless looking diamond. Moreover diamond cut appreciation is <a href="http://sabinaleeartworld.blogspot.hk/2012/10/wine-and-dine-diamond-as-acquired-taste.html">acquired taste</a>, You may not be able to differentiate the effects of different cuts if you are new to diamond. A
piece of diamond is not a consumable item, when it is set into a
beautiful design, you will begin to become its fan and gradually you
will learn to appreciate how good (or how not so good) your diamond cut
is.<br />
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A final word on objective. Is it your first piece of diamond or are you thinking of buying it as part of your legacy? If you have the former objective, a "mass-market" stone of average price can serve your purpose, but you have the latter objective, the most affordable high quality stone should be your best choice. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlA9xLGzTx8ouEuBFlBDY0hn5EIq0rXSjUh71LfQ8PaAnk0mdywvxi-bI-5REpAhvU1hR8DZ3qhpGTCT7vSYmAFxUgHbdXUNthnCUs7j3diRLgOv83dwctBjsxEgpm3tbZjITQ8itzgw/s1600/brillant+cut+diamond.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlA9xLGzTx8ouEuBFlBDY0hn5EIq0rXSjUh71LfQ8PaAnk0mdywvxi-bI-5REpAhvU1hR8DZ3qhpGTCT7vSYmAFxUgHbdXUNthnCUs7j3diRLgOv83dwctBjsxEgpm3tbZjITQ8itzgw/s1600/brillant+cut+diamond.gif" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The proportion of brilliant cut diamonds</td></tr>
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<br />Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-22451261530510162942013-10-16T16:11:00.000+08:002013-10-16T16:11:09.620+08:00Art and craftsmanship Today a student without the necessary craft skills can enter an arts school. He (or she) may not be able to draw when he is accepted, and he may still does not know how to draw when he leaves arts school. Rightly or wrongly creative and conceptual thinking has become the main criterion in the enrollment process as well as in the teaching curriculum. Though after leaving arts school, an arts student still has to pick up whatever craft skills that are needed for his career. After all he cannot become a creative director on day one!<br />
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Not so in the old days. Most if not all painters in the Renaissance had to make a living taking on painting jobs, most from the nobility. We call them artistic paintings nowadays, but their patrons bought them or commissioned the jobs for the rendered superior craft skills. It was not uncommon for famous painters during that period to prepare certain colors by themselves. And it would only be reasonable for a painter to keep those particular color ingredients as his trade secret, so that he could render his paintings differently from other painters in the trade. To be good at his trade, a painter had to deliver a <i>better </i>painting through <i>better </i>craft skills using <i>better </i>supplies and tools. Those master pieces that could stand the test of time will be those that were <i>better </i>both in terms of craft skill and creativity.<br />
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Recently I read about the story of late famous Chinese painter Qi Baishi (齊白石). His paintings are now periodically auctioned worldwide at astronomical prices. Master Qi's paintings demonstrably delivered superb craft skills and he therefore asked for higher prices for his paintings then his contemporaries. And like all clients, his clients liked to bargain for a better price. There are many stories about the business side of this famous painter. For example it was said that when his clients entered his old studio in Beijing, they would first see a big sign: "I charge my paintings irrespective of friendship. Please respect yourself and pay according to my stipulated prices without bargaining" 賣畫不論交情,君子自重,請照潤格出錢。<br />
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And how did master Qi price his paintings or painting jobs?<br />
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There was one interesting story: he charged one dollar for one little chicken. Once a client asked him to paint five chickens and bargained to pay four. It had to be an old or important client, because finally he did paint five little chickens for him - with the last one half-hidden behind a tree! Similarly he had a fixed charge for each shrimp. And when an old client begged him to paint one more for him. He finally agreed and painted one more for him. All shrimps looked lively and energetic except this last little one. "I will give this one for you free, because it is already dead", master Qi said.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincX6K6fEPIdbb5nQBxmndFTSIsAqlT6v1WxBYdQOiO5hnTvikLoGc7zNFjQXSwQAFsopbKNwdlQlLjOgoGZodJ-Lxa_Tmt-QqkXeDDWtAUK19viD0Z3LrthMfyFXk1C3_FoRVIxplBM8/s1600/Qi+Bai+Shi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincX6K6fEPIdbb5nQBxmndFTSIsAqlT6v1WxBYdQOiO5hnTvikLoGc7zNFjQXSwQAFsopbKNwdlQlLjOgoGZodJ-Lxa_Tmt-QqkXeDDWtAUK19viD0Z3LrthMfyFXk1C3_FoRVIxplBM8/s1600/Qi+Bai+Shi.jpg" height="640" width="537" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Qi Baishi painting at his studio in Beijing</td></tr>
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<br />Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-13743317698605349472013-10-07T00:51:00.000+08:002013-10-07T12:31:34.072+08:00Unique gem-stone: Sparkling opalAs a brand jewelry designer, I have the most freedom to create my
collections every year. But like any jewelry designer, sometimes I will
be fascinated by some unique gem-stones, and will create a new
collection out of them. One example is my New age opal collection that
was inspired by a lot of faceted opals that one of my Brazilian
gem-stone cutters brought to me a few years ago. "Sabina, look at these
sparkling opals, do you like to create a collection out of them?" Opals
are usually opaque. I was intrigued by these sparkling ones.<br />
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After
negotiating a reasonable price for these stones, I start doing my
designs. By the way, as a designer, I also need to put myself in the
shoes of my final customers, can they afford the prices of the stones
that my stone dealers ask? On the other hand, I must also make a
meaningful purpose from my suppliers so that they will be glad to bring
me more interesting stones in the future. Having taking account of the
softness of the stones, and their rarity, I created my New Age
collection, and below is one of the Opal rings that I created, set with
Opal, diamonds and colored sapphires.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pqxi_6tXRgsJJrWDc1CGMeE_UtXUpXbqMcnlaZhg4ucxBsujV_3cxNRbZRoa_A4Gm50s9PRBa2R6cfra4V2vJVkQoUYfunGm0_eXUHb5upVXn8LaZ3iwRL9zkRPmaknipBJs0h0ATrc/s1600/9+GreenG_new+age+opal+ring.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pqxi_6tXRgsJJrWDc1CGMeE_UtXUpXbqMcnlaZhg4ucxBsujV_3cxNRbZRoa_A4Gm50s9PRBa2R6cfra4V2vJVkQoUYfunGm0_eXUHb5upVXn8LaZ3iwRL9zkRPmaknipBJs0h0ATrc/s1600/9+GreenG_new+age+opal+ring.jpg" height="632" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green G. - New age Opal ring</td></tr>
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-2597018053797766982013-03-19T18:12:00.000+08:002013-10-07T01:20:13.546+08:00Gift-giving and fine jewelryFine jewelries are very personal. Watches are bought by brand, jewelries are bought to reflect a person's taste and personality. Sometimes that makes it difficult to buy a piece of jewelry as a gift. And the factor of culture also comes into the picture.<br />
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In Italy, a man buys jewelries for his lover or wife. About 70% of jewelries in Italy are bought by men for women. Why? Because Italian men believe themselves to be romantic. <i>I should know the taste and personality of my lady!</i> So claimed the Italian men. Perhaps it is true. Italian women do not complain!<br />
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In Japan it is different. A Japanese man may buy a ring with a big diamond for his lover or wife. And she will be happy. But for designer pieces, the Japanese lady will take time to walk around the jewelers first. She has ample time for this important task because usually she will be a full time housewife. Then when the occasion comes, such as an anniversary, she will tacitly give hint to her lover or husband, which shop and which piece she likes.<br />
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American women like to buy jewelries by themselves. If she is a working lady, she will buy her own jewelry. If she is a full time housewife, she will indicate exactly what kind of jewelry she expects to get. Her lover or husband does not need to have any guess work.<br />
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Gift-giving for mothers or grandmothers is different. It is quite similar across cultures. A son or daughter usually choose diamond or colored gem stone in classic design with good craftsmanship. It is believed that the older generation prefer something of lasting value and not too fashionable. No complaint from the Mom too. She will be most delighted to receive any gifts from her children. Always no complain, as all good Moms do!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1a4Tz0yNAGh3J-lAehFhjarMZiNIpDsb1Xkj24mCCzYVN5gLpznK99aitI810LHgzi2kIPG0MStFYqaBMfHe1FNtZooYY05xxKL77MfxtSACErapMeXtDRFH0yq7PRmylk42uxnEgd5U/s1600/GreenG_PrestigeRose_sample.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1a4Tz0yNAGh3J-lAehFhjarMZiNIpDsb1Xkj24mCCzYVN5gLpznK99aitI810LHgzi2kIPG0MStFYqaBMfHe1FNtZooYY05xxKL77MfxtSACErapMeXtDRFH0yq7PRmylk42uxnEgd5U/s1600/GreenG_PrestigeRose_sample.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My all time classic Prestige Rose </td></tr>
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<br />Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-29330351882964597792012-12-03T16:00:00.002+08:002013-10-07T00:28:22.049+08:00Design and technical skillsToday's graphic designer must have a good working skill of professional creative software like Adobe's Creative Suite. Adobe tells us that the minimum Design Standard suite consists of the following pieces of software:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Photoshop: A pixel-based software that can do amazing things for images but is limited by the number of pixels in the original image. As a result, it is most appropriate for photo editing (the amateur version is Photoshop Elements, or even an iPhone can do elementary photo-editing)</li>
<li>Illustrator: A vector-based software for images. The benefit is that the image can be enlarged without losing its resolution, for more flexible output as well as for more detail editing, like a designer can zoom in as much as he wants without losing the details. The core tool for the graphic designer.</li>
<li>Adobe In-Design: A vector-based software with lower functionality when compared with Illustrator but has added features for creating complex book layouts as well as for making PDF presentation. </li>
</ol>
Our architecture, our fashion designer, and, of course, our jewelry designers, all have to be proficient in their respective technical skills. And things had not been different in the past. During the period of the Renaissance, when it was finally fully open or legit to paint personal portraits for the common people, painters and artists had to compete among themselves to win the most lucrative clients. With the supporting industries like pigments manufacturing still budding, to deliver what markets called <i>a unique selling point, </i>painters in the 14th and 15th centuries oftentimes had to prepare special colors from natural ingredients by themselves, and keeping such formula as secret as today's Coke formula.<br />
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With progress in division of labor, in today's established design studios, some specialists will only be responsible for editing photos while others will only do vector-based graphic designs. The art director may not be proficient in any technical skills but he will certainly need to be knowledgeable about their capabilities and therefore can instruct his subordinates to venture into solving technical design problems. Such problems that he believes able to be solved, although he may be less than technical to solve the problem himself.<br />
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In today's jewelry workshop, a special-purpose telescope for micro-setting small gem-stones is a must. A jewelry design like me need not (and usually not) be able to do the job as good as the best craftsman, but surely we must be able to create great designs that can challenge the technical skills of our best stone-setters. In all industries, good designs usually demand the employment of the state-of-the-art technical skills.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZiMINqnyCJnad4tk6o73HqK_iMp2DhAYu0qqn7qIhCbCT03tibDDjITW1Nu6er4F2kM_yCfYZqgx3crk2Tj36X_kxBb2djcJnU3yHLV-gFlSNCJZ1LijA96mhA_1lZEha6j6MpJP8HY/s1600/micro-setting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZiMINqnyCJnad4tk6o73HqK_iMp2DhAYu0qqn7qIhCbCT03tibDDjITW1Nu6er4F2kM_yCfYZqgx3crk2Tj36X_kxBb2djcJnU3yHLV-gFlSNCJZ1LijA96mhA_1lZEha6j6MpJP8HY/s1600/micro-setting.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Telescope for micro-setting gem stones</td></tr>
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-60754694804216839322012-12-01T19:15:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:29:22.674+08:00Harmony and DesignWhen we designers speak of Harmony as a design principle, we usually mean a good design is expected to have all its parts fitted together aesthetically, or organically, resulting in delivering a focal point of interest in completion. Any element that does not contribute to the integrity of the whole shall be taken away. As with all endeavors involving human, it has to fit in with the taste of a discerning viewer, the <i>reasonable man</i> of our legal assumption. As such, the harmony principle faces the following areas of <i>complications</i> which unfolds itself when facing the taste of a discerning or knowledgeable human subject.
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Firstly, too harmonious a design will be boring. Like music, when all the melody notes come from harmonious Major and Minor Chords, the piece will be sweet, but will become boring hearing it a few times. We need notes to generate dischord at the right time, to deliver surprise and suspense, in order to give us more lasting aesthetics. A designer job is the same as a musician, to create element of dischord to drive away the monotony of an expected comfort.
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Secondly, people have changing taste within the definition of harmony, or people define harmony-in-practice differently. In the era of Kings and Queens, Prince and Princess, elaborate decorations would be considered to be harmonious designs. Beginning from the era of Bauhaus on the 1920-30s, in response to the immense possibility of mass manufacturing, people started to appreciate designs with the barest elements to define a new design. In our modern world in which the spirit of free choices runs supreme, designers have almost infinite freedom to tailor their designs to an increasing number of commercially viable niche markets.
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Thirdly, the fast pace of the modern world makes people getting bored even more easily. Previously unacceptable disharmony become harmony, and designers are trying newer and newer approach to test and to extent the taste of the consumers. Music is one area where creativity runs at a wild pace. With the modern sound synthesizer, undreamed of sounds (chord, dischord or noise depending on one's taste) are being made everyday, some will forever be considered as noise, and some will be included into the main stream harmonic sound one day - becoming an acquired taste through frequent exposure!
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Below is one of my Shangri-La ring, with the well-balanced centre stone set within the garden of a natural habitat of flora and funa, a mixture of chord and dischord. A lasting piece of art.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-5NfKHGb2KzdSjdaA07sfF7LZwGlyfvOVFcsv7Gdnbm49jBGIr05hcZ61ugXT4P8aXLJd4QUWziXTz0TVeVpJNWOwpWuqEpM8GGA2WRYpV59F9rdG4zE96SEF4Gby4JA6jHVhO42-V0/s1600/GreenG_Shangri+La+cocktail+ring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-5NfKHGb2KzdSjdaA07sfF7LZwGlyfvOVFcsv7Gdnbm49jBGIr05hcZ61ugXT4P8aXLJd4QUWziXTz0TVeVpJNWOwpWuqEpM8GGA2WRYpV59F9rdG4zE96SEF4Gby4JA6jHVhO42-V0/s400/GreenG_Shangri+La+cocktail+ring.jpg" height="374" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sabina Lee - Shangri-La ring</td></tr>
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-2414045398917070512012-11-27T12:24:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:30:07.891+08:00Artist as cultural historianWhen we visited museums around the world, we revisited our own culture or cultures of other peoples and nationalities, some of these cultures may be still living and flourishing, whereas, sadly, others may have been dead for a long time, on the latter the Inca culture comes into my mind. Oftentimes the artifacts were practical or decorative items made by the artisans and artists, the better ones were usually commissioned by royalties, or wealthy families who had the luxury to spend on more discerning things in life. Most if not all were not made to be preserved for the cultural heritage of the people. How could <a href="http://sabinaleeartworld.blogspot.hk/2012/11/mona-lisas-smile.html">Mona Lisa</a> have imagined her portrait would become the most important piece in Louvre today! When things were unexpectedly heading towards the wrong direction, people would be too busy fleeing or fighting for their lives, and artisans would likely to be drafted as a last resort! One major exception to this order-of-thing is the Chinese scroll painting masterpiece: <i>Along the River During the Qingming Festival</i> - 清明上河圖。 It was meant to become a cultural heritage when it was painted. Let's first look at how it was being introduced in Wikipedia:
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"It is a panoramic painting by Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145). It captures the daily life of people and the landscape of the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng, from the Song period. The theme celebrates the festive spirit and worldly commotion at the Qingming Festival, rather than the holiday's ceremonial aspects, such as tomb sweeping and prayers. The entire piece was painted in hand scroll format and the content reveals the lifestyle of all levels of the society from rich to poor as well as different economic activities in rural areas and the city. It offers glimpses of period clothing and architecture. As an artistic creation, the piece has been revered and court artists of subsequent dynasties have made several re-interpretive replicas. It is considered to be the most renowned work among all Chinese paintings and it has been called 'China's Mona Lisa.'"
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The artist (張擇端) was a top royal painter of the (North) Song Dynasty. He spent 10 years to complete the painting. Apparently he was either commissioned directly by the Emperor himself or had obtained his royal approval in undertaking this time-consumption painting job. For what purpose was the painting meant to fulfill? It was done with a special cultural mission. The Song Dynasty was the most prosperous, most civilized and most cultural country in the whole world in those days. Scholars from far away places went to the capital to study the classics and her cultural heritage, so much so, some foreigners, after obtaining outstanding results in the nation-wide open examination organized by the Emperor, became high-ranking mandarins. The idea of doing the scroll painting was to immortalize the high culture of the Song Dynasty that the Emperor as well as his mandarins fully understood.
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It was unfortunate that Song was then faced with militarily powerful states up North, coveting the resources in Song. First came the downfall of the Northern cities, and the whole administration fled to the South crowning a new Emperor (the old one was taken hostage in the North). A new capital was established in the South of Yangtze, in the city of Hangzhou. Despite military defeat, South Song, as it was called by historians, continued to flourish culturally and commercial, so much so, the Emperor had extra resources to pay hefty ransoms to the Northern invaders annually. And Hangzhou, like the previous capital Bianjing depicted in the painting, continued to become the New York or Paris of the world, culturally and commercially speaking.
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The new Mogul power proved to be too ambitious to be satisfied with ransom-taking. After the fall of the South Song Dynasty, the new Mogul Emperor liked the scroll painting so much that he kept it as his treasure in his Royal Palace. And probably because of it, he vowed to recreate the culture as depicted in the painting, whether or not he was successful in doing so is another story. Fate had it that the scroll painting fell into different hands, some of them top painters of their time. And they loved it so much that they imitated it and recreated almost exact copies of the original. So much so, there was the original now in Beijing's National Musuem, and the the best copy (painted in Qing Dynasty) was also considered a natitional treasure at Taipei's National museum.
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Had it not been the beauty of the scroll painting, this important document on China's cultural history, depicting the best cultural city of the civilized world would not have survived up to this day - not one, but two paintings. The following video is on scroll painting number two, a cultural treasure in Taipei's National Museum.
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-13246363601197692542012-11-26T18:43:00.001+08:002013-10-07T00:31:45.572+08:00Pattern – the mother of all designsEverybody can make his or her own pattern using the simplest of software like a Photoshop Elements. You draw a line-shape on paper, scan it, open your Photoshop, rotate it, say 45 degree left, to make two different shapes, add color to the enclosed areas, duplicate your two colored shapes, and finally arrange them to fill out the space. Now you have created your own unique pattern.
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For famous patterns, in Hong Kong, one does not need to go all the way to mention Andy Warhol’s repeating Marilyn Monroe or Campbell Soup. Calligraphy graffiti by late self-proclaimed “King of Kowloon” Mr. Tsang Tsou Cho made his famous patterns around the city for years, and the one in Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier is now protected as monumental. His first major commercial recognition came when Sotheby's auctioned a board, painted by Tsang, for HK$55,000 on October 31, 2004. Pattern is for everybody.
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We see patterns every day when we open our eyes in the morning, our pillow, bed sheets, our wall papers and our pajama. It is the key element in fashion design, in some product design, in our environmental decoration. Many fashion apparels are chosen just because of the more attractive pattern of their fabrics. Kids select their own snowboards and helmets by comparing different patterns. In a cosmopolitan city like Hong Kong, hoardings in construction works, in particular those of shopping arcades, are oftentimes decorated with attractive patterns, making an otherwise unsightly site looks interesting, and any inconvenience to the pedestrians made more bearable. Pattern is the mother of all designs.
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Designers give us many patterns, nature gives us more. The black and gold spotted coat of a leopard makes her sexy, whereas the two black patches surrounding her eyes make the giant panda lovely. The variety of multicolored patterns of marine lives in coral reefs is a major reason behind an average citizen's effort towards their conservation, and motivated many to spend a day or two taking a short experience scuba diving course for a closer encounter with those colorful living patterns.
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I love interpreting nature’s patterns in many of my jewelry designs. For example in my rose-buds ring below, I built a pattern out of a rose bud and its twig.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRZ6E2cvKNw8XhGTbLmFZuqTv7-kDe9v6yJ2MmpUS6cRy4pu-k5aYPQxCMSU9aczBpmHmBlg7dUbHr8FN9q-aETfIBJklzHEyX9rGZh5CJWTR4M2YuCoWJunYvKEqf3c6fcG3lT1MvTY/s1600/Green+G+Rose+buds+ring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRZ6E2cvKNw8XhGTbLmFZuqTv7-kDe9v6yJ2MmpUS6cRy4pu-k5aYPQxCMSU9aczBpmHmBlg7dUbHr8FN9q-aETfIBJklzHEyX9rGZh5CJWTR4M2YuCoWJunYvKEqf3c6fcG3lT1MvTY/s400/Green+G+Rose+buds+ring.jpg" height="400" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sabina Lee - Rose buds ring</td></tr>
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-79682885828550782302012-11-24T15:46:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:32:14.493+08:00Mona Lisa’s smileMona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is the most famous painting of the <a href="http://www.louvre.fr/en" target="blank">Musée du Louvre</a> in Paris. Everyday thousands of viewers were mesmerized by her smile. On extremely busy days, the museum staff steadily ushers viewers past the painting in order to keep the crowds moving at a steady pace. Therefore if you have visualized yourself standing in front of Mona Lisa for hours while contemplating the meaning behind her smile, you would be disappointed. In fact, pausing in front of her is often not permitted because it interferes with crowd control.
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Have you, like me, wondered how Mona Lisa managed to keep the same smiling face for days that presumably would have taken Leonardo Da Vinci to finish the painting? What was her inner experience during the time of da Vinci’s artistic creation? And where lies the art of da Vinci, I mean presumably the painting was not just an exact recreation of nature - which can be done much better with today’s photographic technology.
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Today, we usually don’t have the experience or luxury of having a painter to paint a portrait for us. When we took pictures for our passport or other photo IDs, we delivered a blank look, trying to conceal any possible inner emotion, lest our inner self might be revealed to an official who might look at it with suspicious eyes one day, our jet-lagged smile might just be interpreted as concealing some sinister secret. And therefore most ID pictures look unattractive and we don’t want to show them to our friends.
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When we take casual pictures, like during Christmas parties, we try to deliver the best impression and try to immortalize it onto the mind of future viewers of our picture. I noticed most of my friends’ smile on their social pictures almost look exactly the same, irrespective of the setting, occasion, environment or the mood when he or she was taking the picture. We conceal and we deliver what we believe to be our <i>best</i> image. And some will be proud to tell you that “I look much prettier on camera!” or "People say I'm photogenic" And the speaker will be happy. Which statement can be translated as “I can deliver the best of me when someone takes a picture of me.” And seemingly we have all turned into a modern day Mona Lisa with our best smiling faces. Or is it so? Let's speculate a bit on the psychology of Mona Lisa.
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Assuming that we share the same human psychology, I would say that the facial expression of Mona Lisa would have continual subtle changes through the days when her portrait was being painted. She would most likely be fresher in the morning, getting a bit restless as the hours pass, perhaps pondering about the chores on next evening’s dinner when some important guests would be coming over for a casual meal, day-dreaming for nothing in particular…etc etc. What was in her mind at that particular moment would have affected her facial expression subtly. And such subtleties most likely couldn't escape the discerning eyes of the artist. The more the artist could empathize with his human subject as a living passionate person, the more information he would get, and the more likely he would be <i>confused</i> as to how to paint just one image instead of the many images that have impressed on him.
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The personal rapport between the artist and his subject is very important for the artistic creation process. Fair to say when a painter/artist did painting job for a fee, he really had no choice, he had to do it good no matter whether he could stir up creative rapport with his human subject. He had to do it right, and better yet, his human subject would like to have himself or herself “Look prettier on canvas”, like our modern photogenic neighbors!
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In order to do create something as lasting as the Mona Lisa painting, something more must be there. In my previous post “<a href="http://sabinaleeartworld.blogspot.hk/2012/11/look-at-your-loved-one-picasso-way.html">Look at your loved one the Picasso way</a>”, I discussed Picasso’s approach on seeing and drawing his loved ones. For one thing, Picasso was not selling portraits, and therefore he could have the freedom to choose an artistic technique that he believed could fully deliver his passion towards his human subject. Working within his constraint of having to deliver a good looking realistic portrait, da Vinci had to deliver everything with only one singular perspective. And our painter/artist had to capture every emotion and passion he had with his human subject and deliver it with one singular expression. A facial expression not of a single fleeting moment that will better be captured by a modern camera, but facial expression that captures the eternity of the artist’s passion towards his human subject, recreated through his brushes on canvas.
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And that makes the true art of the Mona Lisa painting, same for Leonardo da Vinci, same for other artists doing realistic human portraits.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofeiub2pAABlqI4ygCCDc5ckIP5IMh9arCZs4X-biH6UxbMtVhSuTDJuyzg-YpZA3AJvGCpNe9qtkmfhQvw1phvCIdGQCZs4K0kZkEhC2MMKjPyKs0sR8EZVct_m422jygGsAS2lHCJ0/s1600/Mona_Lisa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofeiub2pAABlqI4ygCCDc5ckIP5IMh9arCZs4X-biH6UxbMtVhSuTDJuyzg-YpZA3AJvGCpNe9qtkmfhQvw1phvCIdGQCZs4K0kZkEhC2MMKjPyKs0sR8EZVct_m422jygGsAS2lHCJ0/s400/Mona_Lisa.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mona Lisa</td></tr>
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-56441274210656549862012-11-20T12:17:00.000+08:002012-11-29T15:49:32.006+08:00The soft power of the DragonDragon in Chinese culture and mythology has always been said to be a symbol of power, royalty and masculinity. Or is it really so? I tried to find an answer in I-Ching (易經) when I decided to design my Dragon collection. I-Ching is the oldest and most authoritative oracle book in China. Nowadays people continue to read and marvel its wisdom, mostly not so much for its supposed Divine or mythical power, but to the fact that it contains rich elements of Chinese culture. In those day, even the most venerated Confucius spent years studying I-Ching, and elevated it to one of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Books_and_Five_Classics" target = "Blank">Five Classics</a> (五經) in his teachings. I-Ching has the following to say on the Dragon in its first oracle, the all solid line Qian (乾) Oracle (my translation from Chinese):
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Being the budding dragon, one should stay deep under water and don't show off.
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Being with a second stage strength, one shall appear at the field, and fortune will come its way through a good mentor.
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Being at level three, one contributes and busily working hard; one should be careful to contribute diligently, but not making big mistakes!
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Being at level four, one should be courageous enough to express one's uniqueness and ability in actions.
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Being at level five, the Dragon has become a true leader in the sky, and shall meet with other Dragons there.
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Being at level six, being one of the best Dragons, one will be lonely and will regret being there!
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初九:潛龍,勿用。<br />
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九二:見龍在田,利見大人。<br />
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九三:君子終日乾乾,夕惕若,厲,无咎。<br />
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九四:或躍在淵,无咎。<br />
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九五:飛龍在天,利見大人。<br />
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上九:亢龍有悔。 <br />
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The Oracle expressed a most important element of the Chinese culture: Impress upon others only at the right moment and with the lowest possible level of assertiveness appropriate to the situation, even for one as powerful as the Dragon. Power should be softly apply and should be in an approachable style.
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Although such wisdom was created in the old Emperor-Dynasty period, it also makes some good sense, perhaps more so, in our modern liberal society, where we have to respect the feelings of our neighbors. It makes good sense to be humble, at the right moment. And it is soft power, rather than hard power. Feminine rather than masculine.<br />
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When I designed my Dragon line of jewelry, I tried to figure out a meaningful cultural sub-text of the Chinese dragon, and I concluded: A dragon is to be soft and happy! Here comes my Happy Dragon.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIw9XAHdx3HMNTCg05daqX1s2lgMKIF2zZUjXDeuE0DaQeBtRAh1bqsNVO9CJqDgbNmJydlmYJpreHzvMWboXkBO1SGkDL9LmxUjS0dkhmMnEKwgFW9HrqJ0gWYUJHowDVndrDW8p_s4/s1600/Green+G+dragon_dia%252C+red+sapphires%252C+black+dia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIw9XAHdx3HMNTCg05daqX1s2lgMKIF2zZUjXDeuE0DaQeBtRAh1bqsNVO9CJqDgbNmJydlmYJpreHzvMWboXkBO1SGkDL9LmxUjS0dkhmMnEKwgFW9HrqJ0gWYUJHowDVndrDW8p_s4/s400/Green+G+dragon_dia%252C+red+sapphires%252C+black+dia.jpg" height="400" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sabina Lee - Happy Dragon</td></tr>
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-29921614748529108872012-11-19T13:07:00.000+08:002012-11-29T15:49:43.633+08:00Lifestyle vs CultureIf Mac Donald and KFC can represent the American lifestyle, then it has successfully <i>converted</i> the Mainland Chinese, in particular their younger generation. And in Hong Kong, the newest American lifestyle inroad is Starbucks. A few years ago Starbucks was the IN-thing for the trendy, now it has become THE lifestyle place of Hong Kong young-at-hearts, it is always the younger generation who first takes on a new lifestyle product or concept. Now, we have Starbucks, together with its competitor Pacific Coffee, shops in University campuses, private and public hospitals, and mass-market shopping districts like Mongkok where the famous <a href="http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/see-do/highlight-attractions/top-10/ladies-market.jsp" target="Blank">Ladies' Market</a> is situated.
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Caffè latte is the most popular drink in Starbucks, and it is always the same coffee blend, like the recipe of KFC, always the same recipe, and like the same <i>old</i> burger beef in a Mac Donald. Actually KFC and Mac Donald offer some variation geographically, they serve local meat, that incidentally makes KFC taste better in Mainland China than in Hong Kong, due to the fact that Mainland China has a stronger culture in raising and doing chickens. With culture, a person develops a more discerning taste (with the meaning of taste not restricted to our taste buds). On the other hand, lifestyle is a fixation, a fixation to a certain way of living, to a certain symbol, to a certain identity. It is a cola War between Coke and Pepsi. And it is a friendly contest, sometimes in a fair blind tasting situation, for a connoisseur's taste buds for a culinary culture.
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If one can say Starbucks represent a coffee lifestyle, Nespresso shall represent a (branded) coffee culture. Last Saturday, Paul and I went to the <a href="http://www.elementshk.com/eng/index_popup.php" target="Blanks">Elements</a> Shopping Arcade. We visited the Nespresso shop there. They just launched their set of new seasonal flavours: Macadamia, Hazel nut and Coconut. The shop was busy with people eagerly tasting the new flavours, selecting the one(s) that they like and replenishing some old all-time favourites. Paul and I were among the passionate crowd.
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If Cartier's Love Ring represents a Lifestyle in fine jewelry, my <a href="http://sabinaleeartworld.blogspot.hk/2012/10/love-tree.html">Love Tree Ring</a> will humbly represent a niche culture in fine jewelry. And if lifestyle represents big business and a symbol of identity, culture will represent niche business and a signature of passion.
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Which one do you like? Lifestyle or culture? or Both?<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7em5g46-Q0_YB7GM-anbseD4UoxI1hnLNz7ntV5lU0ihi9JfB7tKSbNXk8wn1snSYwdG3m0rAavfpEd2r4I9pNXNZrdp6kVXbOtvoELb4MNzPM32SFMWSioOKj2vqR8p-l0UXDPeOiOU/s1600/Nespresso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7em5g46-Q0_YB7GM-anbseD4UoxI1hnLNz7ntV5lU0ihi9JfB7tKSbNXk8wn1snSYwdG3m0rAavfpEd2r4I9pNXNZrdp6kVXbOtvoELb4MNzPM32SFMWSioOKj2vqR8p-l0UXDPeOiOU/s400/Nespresso.jpg" height="378" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic Nespresso Machine</td></tr>
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-75329721024592170712012-11-17T12:08:00.000+08:002012-11-29T15:50:09.996+08:00The beauty of negative space in arts and designWhat is negative space? Essentially it means something that is not there. It is often used in graphic designs, and in logos design in particular. Recently I came across a blog called <i>Bored Panda</i> (by the way, an interesting "designed" name) featuring <a href="http://www.boredpanda.com/negative-space-logos/" target="blank">30 Clever Examples of Negative Space Logos</a>. It contains some interesting logos worth checking up. Yet, the most talked about "re-designed" logo is the Steve Job Apple logo by Hong Kong design student Jonathan Mak Long (see below). Mak, second year design student doing the Job-Apple for fun, was landed with a logo design job of Coke through Coke's advertising agency Ogilvy China (<a href="http://thenextweb.com/dd/2012/04/19/hong-kong-student-behind-steve-jobs-apple-logo-tribute-lands-coca-cola-ad-project/" target="Blank">full story</a>).
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Yet, the beauty of negative space doesn't lie in the above.
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Negative space is the clue to learn the creative activity of drawing, and to learn it fast! We all know how to draw, kids know how to draw and love to draw. But as adults, most of us stop the creative, and enjoyable, activity of drawing. "I can't draw!", meaning, "What I draw doesn't look like what I see out there!". To make matter worse, in today's art-schools, the skill of drawing is NOT always compulsory for an art student! Fair enough, an art student is supposed to be creative, art for art's sake, and drawing, for the most part, is technical in nature. And the professors are right, which leads us to an unavoidable conclusion: artistic talent is not essential to making good drawing, or better yet: Everyone can learn how to draw!
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The secret of all secrets in drawing is <i>Draw Negative space</i>. Simply put, to draw an object, any object, for example, a cup sitting right next to you, you have to draw the negative space, <i>instead of</i> the object itself. Now take a piece of paper, any paper, like an ordinary A4 paper from your copier tray. Then take a pencil (any pencil, not 2B, not charcoal, just an ordinary HB pencil). To draw the cup, forget it is a cup, forget it means anything to you, just track the outline of the cup <i>as if you are drawing the empty space</i>. Don't look at the cup, look at the empty space instead. Draw the empty space <i>as if</i> it is a solid object. Turn the corner as you trace the outline, and go on until our line meets itself (and Don't look at the cup!). After you have finished it, look at the final picture. You have drawn the negative space of the cup, and you have drawn a cup having the shape of the real cup. And you can fill in the rest of the drawing. Why not try it now?
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqM2qcG2RucB02O0UgP5JkCfE182atoyuHYX2xagkzm0IpKrnT2nHIHsbFpDOQjiqZLgRX698zGDnxmnnYe27jl7XO20FGlUKEvNKGWowf_gCCyyHC2_TYSG1Nm6oZWaD3oY4Jej7lLU/s1600/Apple+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqM2qcG2RucB02O0UgP5JkCfE182atoyuHYX2xagkzm0IpKrnT2nHIHsbFpDOQjiqZLgRX698zGDnxmnnYe27jl7XO20FGlUKEvNKGWowf_gCCyyHC2_TYSG1Nm6oZWaD3oY4Jej7lLU/s400/Apple+logo.png" height="500" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Job-Apple Logo</td></tr>
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-55881856742386787502012-11-16T17:25:00.000+08:002012-11-29T15:50:38.077+08:00The design of Chinese Classical GardensThe city of SuZhou 蘇州 is a must visit to any visitor who intends to stay for a few days in Shanghai. The last time I traveled to Shanghai, I did day-trips to Suzhou, strolling around its numerous Chinese Classical Gardens, mostly built from the Sung to Ming Dynasty, and the one I like most was the cozy Humble Administrator's Garden 拙政園.
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The nine famous Gardens in SuZhou has been included in the World Heritage List of Unesco, and acclaimed as "masterpieces of Chinese landscape garden design in which art, nature, and ideas are integrated perfectly to create ensembles of great beauty and peaceful harmony". An interesting question is: how does a Chinese Classical Garden's design differ from other architectural structures, and in particular, how does its aesthetics differ from its western counter-parts?
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<i>The Humble Administrator's Garden</i> had been the site of the residence of Suzhou notables since the 2nd century AD. It was built in Ming Dynasty by a Royal Inspector (御史) Mr. Wang (王献臣) who spent 16 years to build the Garden under the supervision of the famous painter and artist Mr. Man (文征明). The office of the Royal Inspectors was like today HK's ICAC (independent Commission Against Corruption), having a direct line of command from the Emperor. Apparently Wang couldn't win trust from his Emperor, and he therefore retired early to the South, bought the site, built a Garden there, and named himself <i>the Human Administrator</i>.
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The Garden's central section is a recreation of the scenery of the Lower Yangtze. Rising from the lake are the tree covered east and West Hills, each crowned by a pavilion. The variety of plant species is spectacular, and the main reason that it is named one of the Four Great Classical Gardens 四大名園 in China. Suzhou got two out of four (the other one is Lingering Garden 留園).
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The most prominent design feature of a Chinese Classical Garden is that it refuses to show you everything at one time. A visitor has to explore the interior like a maze. There are walls to block your view, with an entrance, often round, to lead you further in. From time to time there will be different shapes of openings, oftentimes with built in patterned decorative grids, that allow you to have a glimpse of what lies ahead, like a life painting hanging on the wall. The paths are winding, aiming at aiding you to view the interior, be it a pond or a pagoda, from different angles.
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Just when you feel tired, there will be a resting place in the form of a pavilion (舘), with wooden grids on the windows to artistically frame your view to the outside. On the way, the path will lead to to walk closer to a pond, where there will always be the sound of running water, with fish and sometimes tortoise too, glistening on a cloudless day. Meticulously manicured plants as miniature banyans or their like will be scattering here and there. And just when you feel too constrained by its winding path, there, on the next turn, will appear a miniature high-mount, which you can climb with a few steps, sometimes there will be a pagoda on top too, and you will have a panoramic view, not of the whole garden, but of the section that you have just visited, and you can trace with your eyes your various points of perspectives.
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In the west, architectures were built to impress, and sometimes to intimidate, people. And we say <i>Wow!</i> In Chinese Classic Gardens, we don't have a big Wow, but we have lots of little Wows, as planned by the designer of the garden as he managed the view of every step that we are going to take.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8jpVYY06y6egpYm9MB8_wCxcdUPX3av8Tn2Dd6kik3VAXxbO0djdBgY4LxxRl8V_KZX5RgpQqrZXsZRPUFiORHEmrr9Xd0pQd4gOuDipIicritS6XD_TlJgfycCoXuA_A5WzXsSxry4/s1600/Chinese+garden.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8jpVYY06y6egpYm9MB8_wCxcdUPX3av8Tn2Dd6kik3VAXxbO0djdBgY4LxxRl8V_KZX5RgpQqrZXsZRPUFiORHEmrr9Xd0pQd4gOuDipIicritS6XD_TlJgfycCoXuA_A5WzXsSxry4/s400/Chinese+garden.gif" height="408" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The layout plan of Humble Administrator's Garden</td></tr>
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-25436835832496760172012-11-13T15:47:00.000+08:002012-11-29T15:50:54.752+08:00IM Pei's conservation project: Miho MuseumRecently there has been an on-going debate in Hong Kong surrounding the Government's decision to build a man-made beach on the remote Lun Mei rocky beach in Tai Po, the New Territories. Some environmentalists claimed that they found sea-horse, an endangered species, there, and urged the Government to scrap their plan. The Government's senior marine conservation officer said a three-day drill to relocate species from Lung Mei to the nearby Ting Kok east coast in July had been successful, with 20 marine animals being moved, and the department was confident the main exercise would go smoothly when beach construction began. But the environmentalists are adamant on their demand.
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While the debate goes on, the remote beach became better known. It attracted some families for an weekend outing there, with some adults and kids acting less than friendly to the marine-lives found on the beach, turning stones, throwing them away from their natural habitat, catching them and even killing them, for a free-meal or just for the fun of doing it. The environmentalists were alarmed and have organized a 50-member "ecological guard" to monitor the site after they found remains of starfish and sea urchins littering the area.
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That reminds me of a documentary that I saw many years ago featuring IM Pei's conservation effort when in the 1900s he designed the Miho Museum for Shumei, an Shinto organization founded by Mihoko Koyama, one of the wealthiest Japanese women and the lady who founded the religious group. The stunning thing about the documentary was that a whole mountain was moved piece by piece to an interim location, with its plants, soils and everything; until the museum was completed underground when all would be transported back to be reconstructed exactly as before. I believe only the Japanese can support and execute this grand conservation project with such vision and precision!
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When IM Pei first saw the mountains, he exclaimed, "This is Shangri-La". And madam Mihoko (Miho being the name of the museum) agreed and spared no fund in supporting Pei's grand design to conserve one of Japan's many Shangri-Las. As its says on <a href="http://www.miho.or.jp/english/" target="_blank"">Miho's official website</a>:
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80% of the museum's structure is beneath the earth so as to preserve its natural environment and to assimilate it into the surrounding scenery. This unique design clearly demonstrates the intention of its architect, I. M. Pei, to create a paradise on earth. When he first visited the site, he was moved to declare, "This is Shangri-La."
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-2236427864888990922012-11-12T16:25:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:51:15.332+08:00Look at your loved one the Picasso wayHow did Picasso look at his loved ones? A clue perhaps can be found in Antibes, a city in the South of France.
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People visiting the French Riviera often take as one of their destinations a visit to Nice, a nice popular resort town for the rich and the not so rich. The view of the beach is breathtaking and the scent of the gentle sea breeze is refreshing, unlike Hong Kong's more humid weather, the South of France is the place to sunbath and to cultivate a better skill on people watching. Those who prefer avoiding the tour groups can choose to visit a nearby small town called Antibes. And the artistic treasure here is the cozy <a href="http://antibes-juanlespins.com/tout-le-fil-de-linfo-evenements/2415-chemins-de-traverse-un-nouvel-accrochage-des-collections" target="_blank">Musee Picasso</a> housed within the stone walls of the Grimaldi Castle, itself an impressive sight, overlooking the waterfront.
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In 1946, Picasso left Paris for the south of France and spent several months working in what was once the guards' hall of the castle. His materials were what could be found locally during the period of postwar austerity - asbestos cement instead of canvas, boat paint procured from the quayside and household paintbrushes. What delighted me most were the large number of sculptural exhibits, giving visitors a renewed insight into understanding Picasso's paintings which were displaying side by side with the sculptures. Some exhibits were generous donations by Picasso's muse and second wife, the late Jacqueline Roque.
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The world around us becomes meaningful to us through our visual perception. We look at things through a single point of view. With a pair of predator's eyes, the vision of homo sapients is frontal and hence can almost be faithfully captured and transposed onto a two dimensional painting canvas. Most of us find no problem towards this way of perceiving the world, after all, we can move about and enrich our singular images. And we are justified in our complacency.
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Prominent modern painters, like Picasso, did not like to be constrained by this perceptual rendering on their creation. Different painters used different creative techniques trying to break through this constraint. Moving a bit ahead of my explanation, I find it interesting to see that after a great artist (or a group of great artists of similar orientation) created a new perceptual technique, we can all learn to see the world this way. And for all truthful creativity, it ends up touching our hearts, and we exclaim, "Isn't it the same way of seeing that I have been using in my daily life without my realizing it?"
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To look at a person or an article we are passionate about, we observe and study it in minute details, from all angles, amidst all moods and in every situation. Looking at one feature attentively, such as a silhouette of a nose, we forget about everything, and even forget about the eyes, the hair, and the mouth. We are consumed by a singular beauty, not only psychological, but, if we think about it carefully, also constrained by the law of physics, the law of selective perception, whose effect will blur our perception of the surrounding. And it is the sum total of these individual perceptions, which are not of the same scale and which cannot be connected together logically in our imagery or memory, that form our total perception of the person or article that we are passionate about. And the stronger our passion, the more images we have and treasure, and the more difficult we can communicate their totality to an unconcerned outsider. Like for a cat lover, every cat is different; but for some (hopefully not too many), a cat is just another cat!
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Picasso also did sculptures. As you can see from the exhibits in the Antibes Musee Picasso below, Picasso used the same rendering mentality in paintings and sculptures. And you can see his paintings in this regard were richer in meaning than his sculptures. And you can also appreciate his chosen way of artistic creation and communication determined his primary choice of medium - painting.
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Now that you understand how Picasso looked at his loved ones, do you remember when was the last time you looked at your loved one, the Picasso way?
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Musee Picasso in Antibes</td></tr>
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-23854155095077707602012-11-10T17:06:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:50:54.046+08:00The concept of minimalism in jewelry designMinimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts. Minimalism is any design or style in which the simplest and fewest elements are used to create the maximum effect (definition in Wikipedia).
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I design some of my jewelries using the minimalist concept where all non-essential features are eliminated. And with the simplest elements behind, they have to work harder and work smarter, so that maximum effect can be felt by my customers. In everyday life, when we meet someone for the first time, we usually speak more slowly in a more articulate manner. We use simpler words and phrases. We try to express ourselves with more complete sentences. We employ less technical words or phrases belonging to our respective sub-cultures or idiosyncrasies. In short, we won't act as minimalists. In being limiting to the absolutely essentials, the power of communicability drops below a certain threshold.
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Minimalist jewelry is however not the same as simple jewelry like a simple (may be very expensive) brilliant cut diamond set with four simple prongs. No extra message is being communicated by a piece of simple jewelry, except the core message "I'm wearing a diamond ring". Minimalism has to create the <i>maximum</i> effect, a special impact, to someone with a shared culture or at least a shared aesthetics, however simple it is being defined.
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Germany has a strong culture of minimalist jewelry with strong lines, angles and curves signifying a personality in love with precision, rationality and tradition. And it goes beyond jewelry design to German stone cutting of faceted colored stones, their skills still remain world number one, but too expensive to be worked only on the most exquisite stones. Women who do not share this culture find it difficult to appreciate German minimalist jewelries.
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The minimalism of my jewelries share the same aesthetics with discerning ladies who love the beauty of details, who love the softness of curves rather than the geometric precision of sharp turns and angels, and who love their passion to be expressed maximally in a most subtle way.
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My minimalism is expressed in my Love Tree ring (click <a href="http://sabinaleeartworld.blogspot.hk/2012/10/love-tree.html">HERE</a> for a previous post for details), and my minimalism is likewise expressed in the diamond ring below with four sets of signature petite double prongs, from my "Because of You" collection.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4frw3NY-U3sDVN_E43fkifT_6cXZ0UM32lUMNnfXAcbAab15XiKeTxfHVGuK6DOVFvta4GuFx7M8cEzKDfrh2thlmuBy1_adnJAtvWyuE-5DggWGwZqNGLXgZL2xUPcl-RssQ0qvsHy4/s1600/GreenG_Because+of+YOU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="397.5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4frw3NY-U3sDVN_E43fkifT_6cXZ0UM32lUMNnfXAcbAab15XiKeTxfHVGuK6DOVFvta4GuFx7M8cEzKDfrh2thlmuBy1_adnJAtvWyuE-5DggWGwZqNGLXgZL2xUPcl-RssQ0qvsHy4/s400/GreenG_Because+of+YOU.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sabina Lee - Because of You</td></tr>
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-63236514548901201302012-11-09T16:16:00.001+08:002013-10-07T00:50:33.898+08:00The Pantone 2013 Spring Color Report in JewelryMost of my designs are about flora and fauna, and the former in particular. Flora is a word of Latin origin referring to Flora, the goddess of flowers, and I am inspired by her. Nature is abandoned with colors, be those of flora or those of gem stones. As a jewelry designer, I have to select the colors of gem stones to deliver the richness of flowers in nature. In order that my jewelries can touch the heart of my clients, they have to touch me first, in other words I have to be an expert in colors first!
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Colors are usually analyzed by three parameters: its hue, its saturation and its brightness. There are infinite numbers of hue. Take the primary hue of red and yellow for example, there is whole spectrum of hues between them and they are different oranges. It is the same between any two primary hues of the six (red, yellow, green, cyan, blue and magenta). For gem-stones, saturation is an important criteria, high saturation, in easily understandable terms, is the pureness of a color, like the color of a piece of new fabric. On the other hand, lower saturation is the condition of less pure, like the color of a piece of washed-out fabric. And finally, when you add black to a color, you decrease its brightness.
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In choosing the color of my gem-stones, I have to match its hue, its saturation and its brightness with my project on hand. An important consideration for jewelry design is the budget or the projected price of the piece, not always the most expensive being the best, nor that another cheapest stone that can deliver similar results will be chosen (like cheaper amethyst instead of more expensive sapphires), in particular for fine jewelry where a lady may be choosing a piece for its lasting and heritable value rather than its initial monetary outlay.
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Last but not least, a jewelry designer must be sensitive to the fashion trends in color and be able to spot the more lasting yet fashionable colors for her gem-stones. Pantone just published their 2013 Spring Fashion Color Report, and JCK (the organizer of the world number one jewelry show) selected my Endless Love ring set with purple sapphires (see below) to represent their Pantone <a href="http://www.jckonline.com/blogs/on-your-market/2012/10/22/african-violet-pantone-2013-spring-color-report-in-jewelry?utm_source=JCK+eNewsletters&utm_campaign=449affbfba-2012_10_24_Diamond_Wednesday10_24_2012&utm_medium=email"target="_blank">2013 Spring Color Report in Jewelry</a>. African Violet (Pantone 16-3520), one of the ten selected Pantone colors for next Spring's fashion.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1msqNmJuO4amgCBoO75cZNlTipRybVhS46N3fXqvZrBrcbEFZR5luFsulh1-jOco1EKbWeMLYkxLtLOBRCOKk1wqcEs3Ffqe3mtoMywMPf8lU9X0ha0l9cXHmvh1UcbUlPb3D9A4Zv-I/s1600/GreenG_Endless+Love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1msqNmJuO4amgCBoO75cZNlTipRybVhS46N3fXqvZrBrcbEFZR5luFsulh1-jOco1EKbWeMLYkxLtLOBRCOKk1wqcEs3Ffqe3mtoMywMPf8lU9X0ha0l9cXHmvh1UcbUlPb3D9A4Zv-I/s400/GreenG_Endless+Love.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="550.5" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sabina Lee - Endless Love ring</td></tr>
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-59161661037640880342012-11-08T19:40:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:50:18.074+08:00Sculpural designsMany years ago when I first visited the city of Barcelona in Spain, I was astonished by Antonio Gaudi's <a href="http://www.casabatllo.es/en/" target="_blank">Casa Battlo</a>. <i>Casa</i> means <i>house</i> in Spanish, and it was a building still inhabited by local residents. Gaudi didn't build the casa from scratch, he re-created it through re-building its outer facade in the early 1900s. With a face-lift, the building was transformed into a dream-like fantasy land in the heart of a middle-class residential area populated by mundane buildings. Gaudi's Casa used numerous shapely curvatures to signify an organic form, a <i>living</i> icon among concrete structures, and a pioneer of modern day sculptural architecture, serving the same aesthetic function among modern high-rises.
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Modern sculptural buildings usually not only create an organic outlook, like the Casa did, but they would incorporate an organic element in its total design-concept, that serves an integral part of the building's functional and experiential objectives. The <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/" target="_blank">Guggenheim Museum</a> by Frank Lloyd Wright, built in 1950s, is such an example. The exterior focal point of the museum is its signature spiral center. This center is an integral part of the personality of the museum in that it serves as the main curved exhibition wall spiraling up at the core of the museum. A visitor upon entering the museum will be standing at the bottom of the central void, inside the spiral and enjoy its magnificence from the perspective of an upward browse, right from its heart. The spiral also serves functionally as a ramp for visitors going up the floors (there are lifts too for those who do not choose to walk all the way up), and at the same time allowing them the special experience of leisurely walking up a similar ramp in most modern car parks, without fear of the impending danger of a sport car racing down (or alternatively enjoying the thrill of such imagination). In short, it is signified with different layers of meaning, in addition to its impressive organic outlook.
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My Dancing Roses were designed with a modernistic sculptural concept in mind. The structural base is as much aesthetically appealing as being functional. It serves to conceal the gadgets responsible in making the roses dance. Design-wise, it is therefore more Wright than Gaudi, though it looks as colorful as the Casa!
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The special meaning of my Dancing Roses was discussed in my previous post <a href="http://sabinaleeartworld.blogspot.hk/2012/10/dancing-to-jazz.html">Dancing to Jazz</a>, interested reader can click on the linkage to access the article.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPxmsFL20xZ5SSWbQCMyT_Y2uHhTlDbnuCZEB7Eijdtloy6oajTb5x7uCDlGp-hTyBsDLFM86vpjdrEbQHOmYAV4g1n3tNVswXKRDXI291iEIxl_uIqdrvFbKyv_O05RdciJt0cGg-Aw/s1600/GreenG_Dancing+Roses+rings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPxmsFL20xZ5SSWbQCMyT_Y2uHhTlDbnuCZEB7Eijdtloy6oajTb5x7uCDlGp-hTyBsDLFM86vpjdrEbQHOmYAV4g1n3tNVswXKRDXI291iEIxl_uIqdrvFbKyv_O05RdciJt0cGg-Aw/s400/GreenG_Dancing+Roses+rings.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sabina Lee - Dancing Roses</td></tr>
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-23069617651732287462012-11-06T18:37:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:50:05.339+08:00Designers inter-flowDesigners by temperament are not social animals, but they are expected to communicate to their clients and be able to deliver what their clients want, be it an approval of a prototype for mass production, or a piece of bespoke design for a private customer. But it is a rare opportunity for a group of professional designers from different fields coming together to present their views to an audience and to share their experience with one another in an open forum. Last year's Hong Kong Design Week Detour 2011 organized by PMQ, I was invited to participate in such an event.
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Most speakers were Hong Kong's first generation designers, and many, like me, ran their own design houses. I was the only fine jewelry designer being invited. The gentleman sitting next to me was the well-known product designer Alan Yip. Alan was famous for his sushi calculator, a rollable pocket electronic calculator <a href="http://www.alanyip.com.hk/eng/product/AY102.htm" target="_blank">Flexical</a>, and his newest designs include popular accessories for Apple. He set up his own product design company after a short but impressive career in several international companies.
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I presented my signature floral designs, with my design philosophy and some credits that most seasoned designers have the pleasure to pocket during their career. Some product categories, like my jewelry and Alan's Flexical, are meant to be lasting designs, which means they are going to be saleable for a long period of time. Some are not, like a fellow presenter, Jason Siu, a famous action figure designer running his own company, told us that he had to wait anxiously to see the response to his new baby, every season. We empathized with Jason's anxiety, but we can also appreciate, and perhaps envy, his overwhelming joy when one of his new babies shoot the roof!
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We all share the same view that Hong Kong clients are becoming more and more discerning, sophisticated and cosmopolitan in outlook. On the other hand, many Hong Kong designers got initial international recognitions from overseas professional bodies or critics, which is understandable because our design industry and her supports in Hong Kong is still young. We enjoyed the day, enriched by the exchanges with our fellow designers from different fields, and the venue with Cantonese Opera set is just stunning!
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Last but not least we vowed to educate the public on subjects related to arts and design, each in our own way. The launching of this blog last month, though a bit belated, was one of my humble contributions in this area.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hong Kong Design Week: Detour 2011</td></tr>
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-4135918673422832842012-11-05T15:32:00.005+08:002013-10-07T00:49:48.787+08:00Making an old tradition aliveGood pieces of jade have always been collector items for many Chinese, in particular members of the wealthy families. Jade is also considered to be a symbol of blessing, good luck, health and longevity, the names of goodies for all Chinese, and for as long as the history of their culture.
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Hong Kong has been a prominent centre of jade trading for many years, centering around the district of Jordan, near the then Jordan cross-harbour Ferry terminal, where some traders, mostly Chinese, from South East Asian countries eagerly made their bids and takes using ritualized hand signals hidden by the palm of their counterparts. Today the Government run <a href="http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/shop/where-to-shop/street-markets-and-shopping-streets/jade-market-and-jade-street.jsp" target="_blank">Jade Market</a> is still a major tourist attraction, where you will probably not be able to get the best bargain nor the best pieces, but certainly some good souvenirs at the right price.
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During recent years, the jade business has been booming in Mainland China because of the prospering economy there, driving up, in particular, the prices of the more expensive pieces. And with it comes the demand for jade jewelries with good designs. A few months ago, I was invited by a national banking corporation to give talks in Hangzhou on jade appreciation and jade design. Being rooted in Chinese culture and a jade lover since childhood, I got the benefit of having become an expert in appreciating the special greenish tones that Chinese value for the stone, as well as creating jewelries that respect and enhance the traditional jade culture for my customers.
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Sometimes my work, like the jade pendant below, will develop from a cultural theme that touches the heart of Chinese. And in all cases, I will put the piece of jade as the focal point, with my design enhancing the value of the stone, as well as giving it a modern look grounded in rich cultural soil. The value of the materials added (precious metals, like 18K gold, and precious gem-stones, usually point-size diamonds) will also need to match the value of the jade piece itself, so as not to overshadow or undercut the value of the centre piece. Only by respecting culture, can a designer truly make an old tradition alive.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blessings 五福臨門 by Sabina Lee</td></tr>
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-17133001557547468202012-11-02T12:07:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:49:35.621+08:00What mask do you wear?In theatrical art, the use of masks or mask-like painted faces are common, especially in traditional art forms. Peking opera has a special character type with a wide variety of painted faces for male roles, they are called Jing (净) and, to a lesser extend, the comedians Chou (丑) too. It makes the life of the audience easier, lest they might find it difficult expecting what to expect from the many characters on stage.
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And the same in Commedia dell Arte, Italian for ‘Play of Professional Artists'. They were travelling troupes performing at streets or market squares where it would attract viewers. It was a popular form of theater developed in Italy. Its popularity lasted from the 1500s through to the mid 1700s during which time, it spread through out Europe. They usually did physical comedies involving exaggerated and boisterous actions, a precursor to Charlie Chaplin, and a theatrical form still being taught in today's drama schools with performance being moved from streets to theater halls. All stock characters wear masks except the lovers - guess romantic love is the only area that no mask is allowed!
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In our common everyday language, we don't like being labeled as <i>wearing a mask</i>. We like to be considered as truthful, honest, baring our soul, instead of wearing the mask of a peddling salesman, even when we intend to convince others to take our views. To make our life easier (off-stage), we do expect people to wear mask in their different roles. Given the possible negative connotation of <i>hiding behind a mask</i>, we credit such behavior as <i>being professional</i>. A waiter or waitress is expected to wear a <i>happy mask</i>, whereas a customs officer at borders is expected to wear an <i>intimidating mask</i>. Both acted professionally.
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Sometimes a mask will fail on stage as well as off stage, the former we call "poor performance". Many years ago, a friend told me that he had this lousy secretary who filed his letters incorrectly and faxed his correspondence to the wrong number! He finally couldn't bear it any longer, and asked her into his office to confront her in person. Having educated in the best Univeristy, he acted in the most professional way of being a benevolent manager and wouldn't want to hurt the feeling of his secretary. He talked to her in a smiling face, and always explained her shortcomings with the classic "yes, but". Get the affirmative first before delivering the negative. After one hour of counseling, the boss became very nervous. He began to sense that his secretary was expecting he gonna tell her that he would give her a raise! In all desperations, he changed his mask and turned into a solemn face: "You're fired!"
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-13492192267935356632012-10-31T19:50:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:49:17.627+08:00Jackson Pollock and Chinese calligraphyA few days ago, Paul and I visited a couple, two of our very best friends, at a hospital and their new born baby boy aged 2 days. Nowadays hospitals in Hong Kong encourage family members, friends and relations to express their love through touching and handling a new born. Good for his psychology as well as for the development of his immune system, I believe. Babies always win our hearts!
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We can immediately be touched by people and things imbued with meaning derived from a common language or signifying system. In arts, it is called representational form, representing something we are familiar with, like a human portrait or a piece of familiar landscape. And the linkage is immediate. I was almost moved to tears by the baby that day at the ward by his mother's bed side. Non-representational abstract art forms, on the other hand, are not so immediate. Here, the artist employs his special method of communication. Without knowing or appreciating his communication method, a viewer can't easily understand his art, not to mention being moved by it.
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Jackson Pollock, the greatest American abstract painter is an example. His paintings were non-representational, and his method was splashing colors onto his canvas, a pioneer in abstract painting. Pollock was special, even without understanding his communication method, a discerning art lover oftentimes can identify his special paintings out of many abstract ones, and with the viewer's inner passion being stirred up by them!
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Pollock loved to use big canvas. He <i>drew</i> with dedication and passion. To understand his art, one needs to recreate how he did his work, how his splashed his canvas with his brushes and buckets of paints, how he viewed his canvas as his inner self, as he impulsively filled every corner of it with variations of his distinctive and distinguishing color patterns, signifying his inner emotion, which may or may not be triggered by some representational objects, and his urgency in expressing it, which he probably found impossible to represent in any representational form.
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It's like Chinese calligraphy, especially the running style (草書), where the literal meaning can't be easily deciphered (or can't be deciphered at all). Sometimes I would wonder, if a viewer can easily grasp the linguistic meaning of a great piece of running style calligraphy, would he be as much focused on the emotions thereby expressed or on appreciating the art-form itself? And isn't it the same with Pollock? The greatness of his abstract painting is precisely due to its being abstract!
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</b:if>Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-36991893498895158422012-10-27T15:42:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:48:58.108+08:00What makes a design beautiful?"I like this new toaster", "I like this new phone" or "I like this new house". They are all beautiful, otherwise people won't say they like it. How about, on closer examination, the lever of the toaster for lowering the bread will become hot after doing a few slices. And how about the phone is too slippery to handle, or in the most extreme case, you have to crawl into the house because they did the door wrong!
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Apple has surpassed traditional personal electronic companies like Sony many years ago. Some time ago I talked to some Apple fans, one thing they didn't like about their Apple adapters is that they are not interchangeable. "They sold you a new one with each new model!" Yet, they are willing to pay higher price for a Mac rather than getting a cheaper PC, and they always love their new adapter for AC power, because each looks lovely, cute, and compactly designed, with little design details that they never dream of that improve convenience just a little tiny bit. Such inconvenience they never ask Apple to take care of nor would they expect any company would care to improve in the first place. As little as an AC adapter!
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Good lessons for designers of every industry.
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-63626268442593738752012-10-25T15:55:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:48:29.367+08:00Wine and Dine (Diamond) as acquired tasteWe taste wine but we look at diamonds. The enjoyment of both is however similar, an acquired taste. Fair to say, most people can pick out the least desirable ones. Like the cheapest wines selling at Carrefour supermarkets in Paris, selling less than a bottle of Evian of the same size, will most likely be unpalatable, for those whose sole objective is getting drunk rather than for those seeking its taste. And likewise for diamonds. Moving up the spectrum, things will be different. The <i>taste</i> has to be acquired or learned.
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One of my friends, a successful investment banker, happened to be an active amateur wine-trader for some years before import tax was scraped in 2008, making his venture less profitable. He had an apartment storing his wines which he bought in bulk or semi-bulk and would resell them to small restaurant owners who preferred not to stock up too many bottles for an individual vintage. He didn't do it for the profit, he loved wine, and he would <i>cash in</i> his profit in bottles of wine and would sometimes shared them with friends, after the cost has been recouped (or timing-wise before the cost has been recouped, for most of the time). And his friends could therefore have an opportunity to taste some bottles of better vintage.
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The lesson was, look at its appearance, smell its aroma, taste it in the mouth (before swallowing), and feel its aftertaste. "Catch its overall taste and its complexity." Without the idea of how much a particular bottle of wine cost, it was almost like a blind-tasting training. And it worked, for most of us. Our taste gradually gravitated towards the more expensive ones!
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In diamond appreciation, we have the 4Cs, actually three only, because carat is more of a cost concept, though a bigger diamond certainly looks more lovely to any lady! Anyway, we have the color, clarity and cut to look at. Color and clarity are the diamond's inherent qualities, whereas the cuter is the magician that makes all the difference.
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As an artistic jewelry designer, I put a lot of emphasis in selecting good diamonds, as a way to enhance my design, as a way to create lasting value for my jewelries, and last but not least, to allow my customers to have the opportunity to learn to appreciate good diamonds, or to acquire a taste in diamonds.
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I shall talk about how I do my diamond selection in a future post. Stay tuned.
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92920219405744917.post-38214050580479769192012-10-24T15:28:00.000+08:002013-10-07T00:44:19.830+08:00Iphone5 and a matter of perspectiveI find the <i>Cheese</i> commercial of iphone5 on local TV very interesting. Years ago Paul had his frustrating experience making panoramic image using Photoshop Elements' photomerge tool. Kind of difficult to maintain steady movement and it would be too late to do a retake after finding out the images wouldn't merge, "now that we are home". Parallel lines from different angles of perspectives are unforgiving, when they won't vanish to the same point, they won't. Perspective 101.
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A student of Drawing will take his (or her) drawing board and a piece of charcoal, go to the country side, find a scenery with curves and vanishing parallel lines, preferably huts with gable roof, and off he goes with his creative drawing from <i>a single viewing point</i>, usually with two vanishing points where the parallels join. He is not allowed to move, because it will change his viewing point and with it a new drawing and a new perspective. In our everyday language, in particular in our democratic society, we say, "we need to hear (or see) different perspectives". And our everyday language doesn't lie.
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A photomerge image intends to trick the viewer into believing that an image composed from images of multiple perspectives has been taken by a camera from a single perspective. Artists have been using this concept of multiple perspectives for a long time, most notable for those in Hong Kong is traditional Chinese landscape paintings. It is interesting to note that straight lines that might defeat the trick are seldom used in those Chinese paintings (otherwise it will be like paintings by Picasso and other Cubist painters whose artistic objectives were quite different).
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The greatest challenge in art is of course not to trick the viewer but to capture the full beauty of reality for the benefit of the viewer. <a href="http://sabinaleeartworld.blogspot.hk/2012/10/stunning-monet_6658.html">Monet</a> was a genius here. In the area of multiple-perspectives, Monet insisted his mega water lily painting to be displayed in an oval room in Musée de l'Orangerie (see image below). If a viewer can stand at the centre of the curvature, turned his body slowly in either direction to scan-view the painting, he can recreate the reality of the scenery painted with multiple perspective. Monet didn't trick the viewer, he had succeeded in presenting the reality, imbued with his passion, to the viewer, and presented it in Einstein-like <i>curved space</i>! Of course, you have to visit the museum at odd-hours to avoid other viewers walking around.
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As for iphone5's <i>Cheese</i> commercial, the art director did a great job in making taking a panoramic image looks so easy with iphone5 - by using a white background.
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Sabinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244553255143289886noreply@blogger.com2