Kitch’ Café provided a really wonderful backdrop for my last exhibit. When I think about it now, the process of creating the artwork was greatly influenced by the decision to mount my pieces here.

I think all art directors (and designers in general) go through the same design thinking–it’s hard to isolate just one element amidst other aspects. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing for an artist–being conscious of the spaces where one’s work goes. I’m definitely working on making my art meaningful, with its own story to tell, even without the context of a place.

During opening night, I arrived at the shop early–and I was delighted to find the café bedecked in lovely soft lights, which gave everything a warm, romantic glow. (It was my first time to see the place at night, so I wasn’t sure if the tivoli lights were a year-round thing.) I really fell in love!

At one point, people started coming one after the other (some family, but friends mostly), and I had to entertain so many people at once. I was really, really floored. I’m not used to getting so much attention, and usually I just want my work to speak for me.

I was also really happy that some people stayed with me till the end! Since it was after-dinner hours, many ordered coffee and dessert. This was the selection in the pastry display that night:

People kept asking me if I did the art on the glass window. I wish I did!

As of this writing, I’ve been able to sell about half of the collection. One piece was bought by local TV host/actress Janice de Belen!! I was speechless and extremely grateful when I learned about it. It turns out that Janice’s food/lifestyle show Spoon shot an episode there last month, and that’s how she saw my work. It’s really so amazing how life throws these sweet surprises!

I’m not sure how to begin talking about my recent exhibit, so first I’d like to say THANK YOU to all those who made time to drop by, not just during the opening night on December 12, but over the rest of the exhibit period. (This one ran for a month, and we took down the pieces just last Thursday, January 12.) I’d also like to mention how incredibly supportive Kitch’ Café has been, and how honored I am to be the first person to exhibit in their shop.

I mentioned before how incredibly difficult and challenging it was to mount this exhibit. It really felt like a whole year, when in reality it only took about seven months. In the beginning, I envisioned a whole collection inspired by my two obsessions at the time (well, they still kinda are)–portraits, and French pastry (macarons, to be specific). To merge these two loves, I imagined the “Macaron Girls,” where a macaron flavor got personified, in a zodiac-sign kind of way.

Unfortunately, after completing the fourth piece (photo above, farthest left), I got exhausted, bored, and stuck. After taking a break, I changed course–not abandoning my French-inspired state of mind–and allowed myself to explore other subjects.

Having recently completed some background illustration work for Candy magazine, I was inspired to produce “Kitch’ Café in Paris” (above left, and shared here). I wanted to take a local café to Paris, instead of just painting a French cafe per se. Still, soon after, I couldn’t help but pay tribute to famed French patisserie Ladurée (not in this post, but shared here).

These last three pieces (titled, “Cloud & Cream,” “Blush & Bloom,” and “Ribbons & Roses”) were a surprise even to me. I’d already completed seven pieces, but I forced myself to come up with three more, if only to make a total of ten. I finished these in just under a week–right before the scheduled exhibit date!

Yet, if you were to ask me, these are my favorites of the bunch. It might be that I finally understood the medium better (I used higher quality, Arches paper here, too). It might have been getting a certain color palette right, and the happiness I felt doing intentional, cloudy washes. It was probably these, breaking free from expectations, and finding my groove after being steeped in so much internal doubt. They precisely express who I am at this point, and how I want people to perceive my work. To me, they represent that moment when an artist successfully marries obsession with self-awareness.

Above are some behind-the-scenes snaps of my little show opening in a couple of days (see previous post). They’re from the last three pieces I finished this week. For my friends–I really hope you can make it! This exhibit was a little over half a year in the making. I struggled with myself for months in the process (so much angst and confusion, but luckily it gave way to a clearing in the end!). Beyond any unifying style or theme, I hope this exhibit shows my humble progress as an artist, and my growth as an individual. I want to show a range of work that chronicles all the learnings and adventures I’ve taken this year.

Please join me on the opening of my second solo exhibit, entitled Rêverie: Illustrations of the Sweet Life, which will feature at least 10 recently completed pieces. This will be a quiet, intimate affair (but definitely open to the public) which I hope you’ll enjoy over a good cup of coffee–and perhaps a sweet little treat or two! (Plug: Their coffee is well-crafted and really yummy!)

The exhibit will run for a month, ending around January 11, 2012 (just in case you can’t make it then).

You can RSVP via Facebook here, and check out Kitch’ Café’s page here. Feel free to bring your friends and family (and any art enthusiasts or collectors you know, as my work will be for sale). Hope to see you there!

Because there are not enough words to express how I feel for this French patisserie. The moment I set foot in Paris, I know one of my first stops will be Ladurée. I’ve even told friends, if I had all the money in the world, I would collect all their boxes and packaging. It’s how pretty they are! And let’s not even get into the macarons they’re famous for (which connoisseurs have time and again named one of the best in the world). I’ve had the opportunity to bite into a few of them, but I imagine the experience to be even more amazing when done in Paris.