“Special Day”

Jun 4, 2023

It was a super hot and muggy week. I started going back to work earlier in the morning for the sake of AC. After completing the custom chop for the studio’s new “resident artist”, I started prototyping some postcard-sized calligraphy artwork which I hope to make available online in coming weeks.

Today marks the 34th anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre. As expected, the annual candlelight vigil at Victoria Park was banned once again. Many people who attempted to commemorate the tragedy in public were arrested. One of the organizers of the annual vigil started a 34-hour hunger strike while under detention and was further punished as a result. Many government officials and public figures who once proudly protested the mainland’s bloody authoritarian regime and wished to bring justice, democracy, and freedom to the country now stand to oppose the activists who persisted in their belief. Some were even too coward to mention June 4th and refer the date as simply a “special day”.

It’s depressing to witness the city deteriorating so rapidly. Knowing there’s nothing I can offer to deter the situation felt powerless and hopeless. At times I would even feel afraid to voice out my opinions before friends whom I wasn’t certain of their political stance. This suppression, plus the aforementioned depression, powerlessness, and hopelessness make it especially challenging to stay mentally sane in this city. The super hot weather and the crowded environment made the situation even worse.

Oh God, I desperately need You, pls help me survive and strive in this deteriorating city. Pls continue to lead and guide my steps forward. 🙏🏻

Sketch… Sunday Service

Jun 4, 2023

Staycation

May 28, 2023

Had an unusually “busy” long weekend packed with a letterpress sharing session, a historic architectural tour, and a Chinese painting workshop. It started from the letterpress sharing session on Fri afternoon, I learnt about the inspiring story of Robert Morrison inventing the Hong Kong Font (香港字) letterpress to assist in preaching the gospel. I also serendipitously connected with a letterpress company who just happened to have recently moved to the same building of my studio! On Sat, I went to see a recently “discovered” remains of a water reservoir built in 1904 that was almost bulldozed by the gov. if not for the strong protest of local citizens. The historic excavation is actually right next to my church where I go for Sunday Service every week! And on Sun (today), I joined a workshop and had my first Chinese ink painting experience. After learning Chinese calligraphy for ~7 years, I felt at ease in copying the ink paintings of rocks and orchids, but it was very challenging to control the color tone and the ink’s wetness level.

It wasn’t a productive week work wise. I had put in uncountable hours on crafting a custom seal for the studio’s “resident artist” – KOKB (King of Kowloon Bay). There were a couple of days l worked till sunrise at home! The seal is more or less finished, new products should be ready to be sold online in coming weeks!

Thankful for the week-long staycation, will need to catch up with my Q2 projects this coming week, add oil! 💪🏻

Sketch… Sunday Service

May 28, 2023

Busy Week

May 21, 2023

It had been a busy week. Mon and Tue was spent mostly with my parents to renew IDs and accompany my mom to see her doctor. Squeezed in some adhoc time to work from home. The weekly seal carving class ended last week, but I found time to finish off a “masterpiece” that I started in the last class.

Went to a seminar on Friday afternoon to learn more about “co-op”, but it was really boring and it didn’t feel like it’ll have a future in the current local political environment. Decided to skip the Sat. morning session.

Without the weekly seal carving class, it felt like I had more time to allocate for the many Q2 projects I set out to do. Managed to finish the weekly 100 Chinese characters goal, but just barely, and it’s becoming more and more difficult as I move up to more complicated characters with increasing strokes. Also managed to do my running practice twice this past week. Was planning to run 10k yesterday, but the weather was too hot and muggy, I didn’t force myself to finish the run after completing 5k.

The evening 5k run last night altered my sleep rhythm. I slept for less than 4 hours and yet felt refreshed waking up before sunrise. Started my weekly art therapy painting session at home before joining the early morning Sunday Service at church. Returned home after church and finished off the last painting of the series for critically endangered animals (caricatures) that can be found in HK.

It was a pretty productive week, need to keep it up for the coming week, add oil! 💪🏻

Sketch… Sunday Service

May 21, 2023

Goodbye?

May 14, 2023

After 5 weekly classes, I said good bye to my seal carving teacher and classmate on Thur night. Though I probably wouldn’t recommend the instructor to others, I did learn from him what’s needed to carve my own seals for a recent project. During my calligraphy class that afternoon, my teacher said he’ll hand down to me a precious book on seals later. I said I just wanna borrow the book for reference, but he mentioned he’s over 80 years old and his son had no interest in calligraphy whatsoever. Felt like my teacher was preparing for the day to say goodbye to me, a student who had followed him for nearly 7 years.

Joined a community movie event for the first time on Friday to watch a local film A Light Never Goes out (燈火闌珊). The story was about “saying goodbye” to a loved one as well as the local neon sign industry. The movie was followed by a sharing session from the movie’s producer and someone from the funeral industry. Bidding farewell to friends and family had become frequent in recent years as many people left the city, the movie tried to put a positive spin to the sad situation, but I think it lacked a sense of hope.

Maybe there really isn’t hope for our deteriorating city, better to accept the sad reality than to believe in false hope? A famous artist reluctantly bid farewell to his 40 year career in drawing political satire comics after many open criticism from the government and police force. Sad, but like the neon signs, he’s just one of the many precious things being sacrificed in our deteriorating city.

I told my family my plan to move back to Canada later this year. Details and timeline is still very sketchy. Although reluctant to let me go, my understanding parents know that’s the right thing to do. I’m definitely not ready to say goodbye yet, nor do I know the exact date, could only take things one step at a time. May God continue to guide my steps ahead. 🙏🏻

Sketch… Sunday Service

May 14, 2023

Back On Track

May 7, 2023

After a bit of struggling with my own will power, and when I was just about to leave home for my second weekly running practice yesterday evening, my Fitbit watch couldn’t be turned on. I didn’t want to run my planned 10K practice without the watch to track my time and heart rate, so I took it as a sign that God wanted me to skip the much anticipated long practice.

With time to spare, I continued on with my Q2 calligraphy projects. Of the 1000 Chinese characters I planned to complete in Q2, I made it pass the mid 500 mark! It was a happy realization of hitting the milestone and knowing that I was back on track again.

I took a day off on Wed to have lunch buffet with my parents and a dinner meetup with an old CUHK classmate. To make up for the day off, I spent the public holiday on Mon working from home.

Instead of busy playing catch-up with my Q2 goals the week before, this past week seemed like a better balance of work and play. Besides calligraphy, I also started getting back to doing some 3DP work in the studio again. My seal carving course was also on track, will be finishing the last class this Thur.

With my projects back on track, I managed to even find time to join my fellowship for a casual evening outing to a park I had never been to even though it’s only 15min walk from home. Besides the occasional caring group meetups, I haven’t been to any fellowship gatherings for many years. The years of pandemic didn’t seem to have made any mark on our fellowship, b&s were still singing the same hymns and playing the same games as though time hadn’t passed and we all hadn’t aged. I still find it difficult to fit in.

All in all, this past week was a good week. It was good to be able to keep myself busy and yet keep my head above waters to take some breather and think about things, even though there’s no obvious answers to most of them.

Sketch… Sunday Service

May 7, 2023
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