Richard’s Afternoon Walk

My husband and I have two cats, Albert and Richard. We start walking our cats after the pandemic. We have a lot of time staying at home (working), and sometimes we feel we need fresh air and sunshine, so do our cats.🌞

Our cats have different preferences when they stay outside. Albert likes to stay at the patio enjoying the sun, while Richard loves to walk around, exploring the parking lot in the community, peeking neighbors (within a safe social distancing 😂), or trying to hide under a car. I would usually stay outside with Richard, in case he runs away. 

Albert enjoying the sunshine.

Richard watching the neighbor.

I used to walk Richard with a harness and leash. Initially, he hated the harness. I remembered the first few times I got him to wear harness, he was so mad that he just sat there and would not want to walk. Then, gradually, he walked in a weird way, lowering his body while walking. Now, he could walk in a normal way with harness, but he still doesn’t like it. 😂

As I walk Richard, I get to know his behavior and he seems to enjoy my company. When he is going out from the patio and I’m still in the house, he would wait for me outside for a short time. If he is exploring the neighborhood and I call his name, he would come back and rub against me. So lovely! 

Recently, it’s getting warmer and warmer in Austin. Richard loves going outside and sometimes doesn’t want to go home. Then he would do his CUTE trick, asking me to let him stay outside: 

This is one of my happy and cutest moments with Richard. ❤️

Jenny ☺

Our Chinese New Year Feast of 2021

Well, this should have been my monthly blog for February, but I didn’t post it in time 😂. Anyway, I still want to share with you the fun thing I did in Feb, which was celebrating Chinese New Year with my family, Petit Ami(my husband), our two cats and me!

We usually would have a big meal with our friends in the US. But this year, because of the pandemic, we decided to celebrate at home. We still planned to cook a big meal and were going to challenge ourselves: cooking seven dishes for two adults and one chicken for two cats.

Here was our menu:

- Fish soup with pickled mustard greens 酸菜鮮魚湯
- Honey ham/bacon with toast 桂花蜜汁火腿佐吐司
- Stewed tofu with crab meat 蟹黃豆腐煲
- Drunken chicken 花雕醉雞
- Black fungus and cucumber salad 黃瓜木耳
- Peruvian ceviche with fish roe 秘魯生魚片佐魚子
- Stir fry Chinese cabbage 清炒白菜
- Unsalted baked chicken 無鹽烤雞

We spent a whole afternoon cooking these dishes, and…TA-DA!

 

Great teamwork to Petit Ami and me. 🎉

My favorite dish was stewed tofu with crab meat (蟹黃豆腐煲). This cuisine usually appears in restaurants, so I thought it might not be easy to cook. As I followed the instruction from Youtube, it was not that hard! And I had an interesting discovery: originally I thought the yellowish appearance of this dish is from crab roe (蟹黃), but actually it is the carrots and egg yolk that create the yummy yellow 💛.

I did two sketches for our Lunar New Year feast:

Also, to wish for a Happy New Year and full of love and happiness for my family, I drew a spring couple (春聯) and stuck it on the door. 

2021 is the year of Ox in Chinese zodiac. I wrote 好旺牛, wishing we will have a promising and fulfilling year! We are a happy family of four :D

Thanks for reading! Jenny ☺

Behind the Art: My Halloween in 2020

I would like to share some behind-the-scene story about my illustrations. My Halloween picture would be a perfect one as the first for Behind the Art series. 

2020 was the second year of me living in Austin, and because of Covid-19, my husband and I had a long time working from home, staying at home... We couldn't go out having a Halloween party with friends. So, for me, a safe way to celebrate Halloween is to draw a Halloween party! 😆

In Chinese culture, Lunar July is known as Ghost Month, in which the gate of hell will be open and ghosts will come out and wandering around in the human world. I feel that Halloween is like Lunar July, which it is a special day for western ghosts to have fun and celebrate. What if they are having a party in an Asian/Taiwanese style? What would it be like? This is my inspiration. 

Also, when I think of the most-iconic-halloween product, no doubt it should be pumpkins. But I think in Taiwan we have a seasonal food which is similar to pumpkin--it is Persimmon! Haha 😄 I think persimmons would be a great element for a Halloween party in a Taiwanese style. 

So, I searched for some references: Sanheyuan, persimmons and dried persimmons. And an easy and perfect cuisine for having a party in Asian way would be Hot Pot!  

My references. Sanheyuan is from Taiwanese TV drama A Boy Named Flora A.
The persimmons photos are from google search. 

It's a lot of fun creating a Halloween illustration by combining western and eastern elements. As I painted, I felt like I am having a Halloween party too!

To end my memory of Halloween in 2020, let me share with you my jack-o-lantern. 

Thanks for reading! Jenny ☺

 

Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021!

This year I am very happy to see my progress in illustrations. I am satisfied with what I have created, and will challenge myself to keep trying new things and making pictures which convey the messages I want to share with you all!

I will work hard, steps by steps to reach my goals as an illustrator. Wish all of us to become a better self in 2021!😊

Happy New Year!🍻

***

今年很開心在繪畫上看到自己的進步，明年也要給自己更多挑戰創作好作品！希望在插畫工作上認真、一步一腳印完成目標！

新年快樂～祝福大家2021年繼續成為更好的自己😎