How has your July been? I hope you haven't melted in the heat wave!
On my end, summers have continued to be blazing where it's almost unbearable to even step out of an air-conditioned room -- I start sweating after just five minutes out on the street! A friend of mine recently said that heat waves in Europe are still better weather than summer in Hong Kong: our sweaty, humid, hard-to-breathe (even without masks!) summers last from late April and sometimes into mid-November! Fall is almost non-existent here.
(and I need to stop using newsletters as a way to complain about the weather...)
Anyway, things have been busy busy busy as I'm finally in the process of hitting a couple of milestones~
Shipping Announcement
After 8 months of restricted shipping, the Hong Kong Post Office has finally resumed airmail services to Canada, the USA, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand!! The fastest and most economical version (e-express) is still restricted, but at least I can mail them out! I've already sent out previous backlogged packages (email me if you can't find the tracking -- I lose the tracking as well after 3 months) but I am so, so glad that things are slowly returning to normal!
I've sent out all of the backlogged packages (and tracking numbers, if you've ordered decks) and mail (which don't have tracking), but let me know if you haven't received them or have no word from the post office!
Gwai Lenormand Updates
As of July, I finally finished rewriting and formatting the guidebook for the Gwai Lenormand! (insert celebratory trumpet noises). I've only written guidebooks twice and both times I struggled and cursed myself for volunteering to do this because writing is hard work. It's not entirely breezy to put down detailed descriptions and explanations for each of the 36 cards, but at the same time, I'm really glad I did it. I think through the act of writing, I also gained more clarity in reading the cards and explaining them to my querents/clients. Of course, this wouldn't be possible without the help of my lovely friends and de-facto editors who read all 23 pages worth of rambly and anecdotal writing; Karen, Emily, and Yiting <3
I also made stickers that I'm including with the Kickstarter orders -- but they look so cute I'm thinking of putting them in my shop. What do you think?
As with all of my Lenormand updates, I post them all on the Kickstarter campaign page, so if you're interested do take a read through them to follow the progress!
August Tarot Readings
I've also re-used my old bottled zodiac sticker designs to bring you tarot readings for this August over at my tarot-centric Instagram account. This time the readings are a little more love-focused, but as always, these are just general readings so take what resonates. Sun, Moon, and Rising signs apply :)
I've been having a lot of fun making these tarot readings each month -- I wish I had time to make them weekly but I think it's good not to bite off more than I can chew.
Again, let me know if a particular reading reads accurately to you (or not!).
Other Things I'm Up To
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I was working on a new series of food-themed paintings. Well, I'm really glad to say that I'll be showing the series at my first gallery solo exhibition slotted for September! shhh~ official announcements aren't out yet, but hey what's the point of a newsletter if not to make announcements here first? Just to share with you some of my work in progress...
Since confirming the show, I've been working hard to rush out the remaining 20 paintings I had in mind for the series -- but I'm still having a lot of fun making these. The food series honours my matriarchial family's cooking traditions while acting as a recording of home-style Cantonese dishes. You can see other work-in-progress sneak peeks here in this post and on my Instagram stories (Instagram is not great but I'm still reconciling with that fact and am not ready to leave the platform yet).
Yet despite this incredible opportunity, I've also been going through huge bouts of imposter syndrome, and have been feeling doubtful of my work. Honestly, I wish I had the time to sort through those feelings -- but right now, I don't have the choice but to push through and produce work. I would be a fool to turn down this opportunity just because I didn't feel like I was worthy.
Things I'm obsessed with:
At the archive I work at, we've been taking seminars on archiving over the past couple of weeks and one of the presentations was by Sami Wright and Harrison Walker of Northeast Document Conservation Center on how they essentially recreated facsimiles of 14 quickly deteriorating leather-bound ledgers. It was extremely humbling and fascinating to learn about their meticulous methods of digitising, modifying, and then even re-publishing the entire ledgers, stripping them of all the original wear and tear. This is probably the nerdiest thing about archiving I've talked about but if anyone else is into archiving, NEDCC has an extensive list of free resources and videos on archiving. Also if you're an archivist/archive worker too, please hit me up, I'd love to make friends.
I've also been binging David Attenborough documentaries lately (they're very good to paint to), but I was especially freaked out about his latest two: David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet and Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet (both available on Netflix). Not that I wasn't freaked out before about our climate crisis, but the documentaries were excellent reminders.
A traditional Cantonese sweet/baked goods shop opened in my neighbourhood last month and I've been obsessed with these peanut cookies (花生酥) -- so much that my mother has put a limit on how many I could eat just so I wouldn't inhale them all in one sitting. They're delightfully crumbly and buttery with the perfect amount of salty-sweet tastes that you can only get with traditional Chinese sweets. And I just found out you can get them locally online too! A lot of different brands are making these, but this one in particular, 'Golden Label' tastes exactly like the ones I had when I was a toddler and is reminiscent of the ones my mother had when she was a kid!
Another show I am just in love with is Netflix's currently airing hit k-drama, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, which follows lawyer Woo Yeonwoo who is on the autism spectrum, as she navigates the world through tough legal cases and learns to be her person. The show is an amazing watch, it is light-hearted, with subtle comedic effects that don't make a fool out of anyone, and manages to tug at your heartstrings with nuanced acts of friendship and familial love. It is a great first step to open up conversations about mental health and disorders, outside of the norm of featuring autistic people as side characters, burdens, story arcs or even in a negative light.