Mid-Autumn

Sep 22, 2024

Went back to my parents’ place for dinner on Tuesday because it was Mid-Autumn and I hoped they wouldn’t feel too lonely on the festive day. My parents were arguing over little things throughout dinner. The argument didn’t stop as they drove me home after dinner. I felt miserable seeing my parents bickering like that. Will they be alright after I move back to Canada in less than a month? Worried, but it’s beyond my control other than leaving the matter to God in my prayers.

Wednesday was a public holiday and I spent the day at home to finish some designs for my calligraphy work to serve as reference materials and also farewell gifts for my Chinese calligraphy class and other friends.

Continued cleaning my house and studio. My brother-in-law drove me to work on Friday so that I can bring back a mini 3D printer to the studio. Spent the entire afternoon at home on Saturday to clean up the apartment. Finally got to clearing out the mountain of waste (mostly cardboard packaging) in the living room. Dropped off the waste to a nearby recycling station in three trips. Felt accomplished and relieved after successfully tackling the heap of trash that had been sitting in the living room for years! After some hard work this week, I think I’m about 80% done cleaning up my apartment and work studio! Much more to do in coming weeks. 💪🏻

Sketch… Sunday Service

Sep 22, 2024

Before I Go Back to Canada…

Sep 15, 2024

Finished off my PP (Plant pots & Polypropylene) recycling project with more 3D printing tests and one last IG post. Cleaned up the studio mess resulting from the project and packed up many empty spools to pass to a friend who will hopefully be able to make many spools of recycled plastic filaments after I move back to Canada.

“Before I go back to Canada…” has become somewhat of a catch phrase in my daily conversations. There’s just about a month left and there’s still plenty of things I need to finish up. Glad that I at least was able to complete the PP Recycling project with satisfying results. A friend managed to find time to visit the studio for the first time before she flew to Canada for a business trip. The timing was good and I was able to show her the PP Recycling project before I try to turn that into a sustainable business after I move back to Canada.

Joined my fellowship for dinner yesterday. It wasn’t a farewell dinner per se, but I thought it might as well be as I doubt it will be possible to organize another meet up with so many b&s before I return to Canada. Will see how things go and how many friends I can meet and properly say farewell to in a month’s time.

Sketch… Sunday Service

Sep 15, 2024

PP Recycling

Sep 8, 2024

Took a day off on Monday. Took a trip to TST to get some art inspirations from HKMOA. The last time I was in the area was probably about half a year ago already. Spent the whole day there to see all the art and design stuff I wanted to see. Took my time to make sure I didn’t miss anything as it may very well be my last time in the area before I move back to Canada.

Spent much of my studio time working on the plant pot recycling project this past week. Countless hours was spent before a typhoon hit on Thursday and interrupted the work. I went back to the studio soon after the T8 was dropped the next day. Worked tirelessly the whole day and achieved some satisfactory results. I decided to go back to the studio the next morning and give it a second try. There was a little breakthrough in the process of turning the cleaned and shredded plant pots into 3DP filaments. The resulting 3D printed plant pot was not perfect but it was a big improvement and good enough for me to declare a success in the long-standing PP recycling project!

Very happy to see the proof-of-concept cradle-to-cradle design project I have been dreaming up for years finally bearing fruit. The next stage will be to transform the PP recycling idea into a sustainable business. Will try to do that after I return to Canada!

Sketch… Sunday Service

Sep 8, 2024

Picking Up Pace

Sep 1, 2024

Picked up my pace in clearing out my apt. Finally moved all the acrylic paintings I’ve done at home to the studio. My colleague and studio visitors seemed to love the cute colorful series that is quite different than my usual brush-and-ink style. Besides paintings, I also organized my clothings and had 3 bags of clothes donated.

I had friends visiting the studio on Wednesday and Thursday. Their visits helped motivate me in cleaning and organizing the studio. Also made considerable progress in the plant pot recycling project I hoped to finish up before moving back to Canada.

Watched the movie Look Back on Friday evening. Drew a cartoon with reference to the movie while staying relevant to the cartooning series I have been working on during my usual Sunday art therapy sessions. Will try to wrap up the story before I move back to Canada in about a month’s time. Add oil Tony!! 💪🏻🙏🏻

Clearing Up Projects…

Aug 25, 2024

Had been busy clearing up some projects at the studio this past week. Completed a small IKEA hack, updated the display of my studio’s mascot, and finally shredded some old plant pots for a recycling project I had been hoping to do many years ago!

Haven’t done too much in clearing out my apartment this past week, will need to pick up the pace this coming week.

Besides trying to finish up some studio projects, I had a busy week meeting old and new friends. My calligraphy classmate invited me to lunch on Wednesday, he introduced me to another classmate whom I never met before and was visiting the city after moving to UK for about a year. Afterwards, I went to visit a friend’s workshop in late afternoon to have my plant pots shredded. And Friday was busiest in terms of social activities. Met up a fellowship brother for lunch near home. Went back to the studio afterwards to pick up some stuff before heading out to visit a friend’s friend’s workshop for the first time. Couldn’t afford a longer conversation with the newly met friend’s friend because I was late to meeting up a couple of drinking buddies for dinner.

Still procrastinating, can I finish up all the projects I had been wanting to complete before leaving the city in a month’s time? May God continue to guide my steps. 🙏🏻

Shifting Gear…

Aug 18, 2024

Finally finished with the redesign of a temporary clothing rack at home to replace the old collapsing one. This new design actually collapsed a few times during assembling, hopefully it will stand for at least a month or so until I move out of the apt and out of the city.

Also made considerable progress in prototyping a scaled up Sky Tree for the vines to climb in the studio. This will likely be the last of the big projects for the studio while I’m still in the city for the next month or so.

After making considerable progress in cleaning up the studio and the apartment, I’m now more comfortable in telling my family and friends that I’ve tentatively set the date of my return to Canada to late September or early October, after the Mid-Autumn festival.

Still many things to finish up before I can leave the city more peacefully, time to shift to a higher gear, add oil! 💪🏻

End of Olympics

Aug 13, 2024

The little over 2 weeks of Olympic Games provided a good distraction from my daily routine of cleaning my home and studio. I seemed to be more engaged in watching the games this time than 3 years ago held in Tokyo amid the pandemic. HK did great with 2 golds and 2 bronzes, best result ever for the little city!

One of my most vivid memories of the Olympics was the one held in Beijing in 2008. I was still doing my master and watching the games from Canada. I don’t remember whether HK won any medal that time, but I was really proud seeing how well China had hosted the game and showing the world their unbelievably rapid development to become the world’s second biggest economy! That was one of the reasons why I decided to return to HK the next year.

Now in 2024, after experiencing the Umbrella Movement in 2014, Anti-Extradition Movement in 2019, 3 years of pandemic, and the hasty legislation of NSL and Article 23 in 2020 and 2024 respectively, I had witnessed the side of Beijing that’s completely different than the one I watched from afar in 2008. I have now lost hope in my birth city that’s ultimately being ruled by Beijing.

With the Olympic distraction over, it’s time to pick up the pace of cleaning up my home and studio and prepare for the return to my “Home and Native Land”. May God guide my steps. 🙏🏻

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