Back to school?

hello, i'm back in singapore again.

there's a lot to write about, so much has been going on. lately i figured out what's been stopping me from blogging more regularly is this feeling that i have to write about significant past events before writing about what i really feel like writing about at the moment. so i'm putting that aside for now to say...

damn was it hot today. hahaha.

i'm finally making use of the reading corner in our bedroom to, well, read. i have an industrial fan aimed at me and am dredging the bottom of a glass of iced kapeng barako.

i am also surfing for arts courses. over the past few weeks the possibility of being an illustrator has opened up for me. i've been drawing and painting since i was small, although i haven't been as dedicated to it as i was in childhood. while racking my brains for new ways to find work here in singapore, i figured i might work on building up a portfolio of work as an illustrator and see where i can ply it.

also, i've always thought that if i would ever go back to school, i would take fine arts or design. and here seems like a nice place to do it. hindi ako masyadong natuwa sa mga nakita ko sa national museum nila, pero one thing that really strikes about singapore is its design savvy. i love old things and i love manila's cultural mishmash of kitsch, but i also like this aspect of living in such a young city. things are so new and so... designed.

so i'm contemplating plowing some of my earnings (yes, i'm about to have earnings very soon) into a short course. so far i've turned up courses on abstract painting, basic western art (as opposed to chinese i guess) and visual communication at nafa, a school in a part of town that i really, really like.

can't decide quite yet. the visual communication course seems to be the best compromise of "wishful" and "useful" in that it complements my experience and will allow me to invent myself as a writer/designer. my preference in art runs to rather graphic styles as well. but at $1,200 per term (and the likely necessity of a mac) it seems quite pricey. i'm not making that much... yet.

the abstract painting course's focus on exploration of materials intrigues me. it hints at collage, which is one of my favorite art forms. i would love to pick up some new perspectives and techniques that i can use. and at half the price of the viscomm course, it's beginning to look really, really good.

western art is just to really give me basic drawing skills and teach me to focus. i'm not particularly excited by it, but it could be really be useful.

i've been sidetracked by tempting little offbeat classes. like batik painting at the substation! but what the hell would i do with that, right?