Coffee Talk

Everything has a story to tell, why should your coffee cup be any different?

Coming to a Starbucks where I sit next to you.

Rowdy Pub Night

 Sketching in Cumberland's town pub. 

I have an artistic classmate who encouraged sketching to capture movement on the karaoke floor. He later reinforced a 5 seconds rule per post-it where he snatched it away at the end of the time limit. In rough chronological order.

Arguably the best use of the waitress's memo paper.

RE: Alice -Happy Birthday

Because you know Starbucks so well.

There is this bench inside the Starbucks by the Granville skytrain station that just organizes everyone arounds it, subtle but impressive.

Field Studio Days 2

My favourite cafe in Cumberland is a little shack that's half encased in glass, flanked by two patio gardens. Drawn after closing.

I returned two mornings later to experience for myself how it feels to sit inside this magnificent little shrine. The floor reveals the potential mobile nature of this cafe -it is built on a wooden crate; the glass sliding doors (there are no "windows"per se, only floor to ceiling glass doors) are obvious later adaptations to enclose the immediate area where a customer would order a drink. To access her chalk board menu in this front enclosure, the barista had to exit from the back of the shack then walk around the shack and enter through the sliding door like everyone else. While I sipped a green tea latte and ate my sweet bakery goods, groups of people entered and exited. This business is keeping busy.

Cumberland streetscape.

 Hostel staircase leading out.

Cupcake at the ferry terminal.

Field Studio Days

 Our hostel in section, a familiar home for nine days.

The barber shop as seen from across the street. I was sitting on a chair left out by a store closed for the day; they even left water dishes for dogs, signs of an intimate community. Sketch with left hand.

Recollection from swimming in the river.

Amanda and Ania making music during dinner party.

Students hard at work on maps.

The ferry ride to the island. Light and shadow to be a theme to explore in the future.

RE: Derek -Diagram Surroundings

By diagraming our surroundings, we always gain insights into place making.

A delightful little nook in the Tsawwassen ferry departure terminal. A focal point at the end of an allele of food stalls, this glass fireplace is surrounded by wooden block seatings -situated half indoors, half outdoors, completing a whimsical dialogue of inside/outside.

 Cumberland's town square is a small clearing along a continuous street facade. It did feel a little barren when it's not occupied by children and their parents in the morning (there is a busy coffee shop adjacent to the square). The benches are situated at different angles, I'd be interested to revisit once the trees mature. I suspect benches are angled towards trees, street, picnic table, and other benches in general.

Walking down a segment of the main street and chatting with Jane the local.

RE: Niall -Sweet Ride

While you were doing all the work driving... 

(ride from Nanaimo)

 Our journey back in sections:

RE: Miriam -Surreal Trip

A bank note from surreal Miriland where two oysters would trade for one cup of coffee. 

When it dawned on me that Oyster River Studio was held in Cumberland, south of Oyster River:

I may not have gotten to know Oyster River but Cumberland is a small town with a history in mining. As one lady remarked, "You won't find nice Kitsilano Victorian houses here, most of these houses were built to be simple accomodations for the miners."  The mines has since closed and younger generations have moved in, but still, Cumberland remained a quietly thriving town (with the occasional motorist's engine roaring outside the hostel). More to post.

RE: Peter & Jason -Baseball

Friday's baseball game rebroadcast to you by Napkin©

Commentary: There were the game, the light/shade cast by the roof, pigeons on rafters, and super-sized food/beverages. Simultaneously, the stands smelled like popcorn, the group started the 'wave' and the audience performed the funky chicken dance. Now you are up to date on Baseball Friday!

RE: THE Amigos -the forbidden city

Although I met you wonderful lot shortly after this trip to the forbidden city, if we had travelled together, we would have:

 Seen the many layers of the palace...

Tried to figure how they designed the royal gardens:

Stared at paving and get excited over alignments:

(A woman peered at my sketchbook and ventured a guess that I was Singaporean for looking asian while scribbling in English. May I be a honorary Singaporean, my real Singaporean pals?)

Finished off the evening by following the south axis and arrived at a street filled with food vendors. Interior of a small noodle restaurant:

What a way to travel!

RE: Roya -Beijing

Last summer, while I waited outside a subway station for you, a man in his twenties glanced over this sketch and commented in mandarin, 'Not bad.' The conversation was short but we parted with a wave. It seems universally agreed upon that the random person sketching next to you is always friendly and easy to talk to -chances are, they are right.

Deciphering rushed scribbles, sentiments on that park you brought me to after dinner.

 "Roya brought me to this amazing park. Now I truly believe when she says the park below her apartment is always bustling with activities. I believe that parks are vital in our everyday life, especially if one lives in an apartment or overtime routinely -this is one pace where we shed our day's trouble to be merry and partake in something larger than ourselves."

Shopping trip for the temporary disabled

If you have ever twisted your ankle and embarked on a shopping trip, you know you will eventually find your way next to to a potted plant, clothing racks, etc. -sitting. Luckily pen and paper are never lacking when you need it most in a mall, and you're never short on muses.

Chairs at the cosmetics, never fails.

Apparently there's ink on the labels that help security identify shoplifted items. For a moment there we thought those ink blotches were meant as graphic patches of blood to discourage shoplifters, hm... now there's an idea.

If you carefully observe the leopard print (or 'urban cougar print' as someone has so fondly volunteered), noticed the pattern repeats itself approx. every 4" at the scale of a shirt. Guys, observe discretely or better yet, look when the shirt is hung on a rack.

 Nearby library.

Life is Good.

A good friend of mine didn't even bat an eye when I asked for photos of her dorm room. Here's one good turn for another. 

Good Mood Food

On the bus

Ready, Set, Go!

A small sketch from 2006 jump starts this blog, may this be the first of many. Toast.