I haven’t blogged in several months and have almost forgotten how to 😅

Redbubble Fan Art

My line art based on Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” is part of the official fan art via Redbubble.

I added a few tags and that caused the file to go into a second review, so it might take a few weeks for it to be visible on the site.

I might add some other sketches to my Redbubble shop in future.

Canva Design Challenge

Canva makes online graphic design such a simple process. I’ve used them countless times for past blogging visual content.

I submitted a design for the “waffles” theme of their weekly Canva design challenge.

In this challenge, you use Canva’s database of elements and graphics to create your design.

Mine was one of the winning entries and I got a free subscription to Canva for a year, yay!

#CanvaDesignChallenge is really fun and inspiring—you can check it out here if you’d like to take part.

I initially wanted to do a Parisian cafe type of background, then decided on a simpler room and window backdrop during my morning walk.

I decided to try this so that the focus would stay on The Waffles.

Hurricane Ian

The week I submitted my Canva design was the week that Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida.

It made landfall in my area and was truly something.

A few bullet point summaries:

• It was about 8-10 hours of ferocious winds (~ 150mph wind speed), with 3-4 hours being the peak of it as it was a slow-moving hurricane
• I thought I was going to die for 8 hours straight
• My partner and I stayed in the dryer room with our pets during the peak
• We had no electricity for 10 days thereafter
• Wifi took 3 weeks to be restored

Experiencing a Category 4/5 hurricane is very tiresome and hazardous. It made me deeply reflect on life and happiness!

I’ve been living in Florida for 6 plus years and have gotten increasingly tired of the climate.

I grew up in Singapore which has a similarly hot/humid climate for a good portion of the year.

I’ve gotten more sensitive to my surroundings as I’ve gotten older, which my therapist mentioned is quite common for many people (I get my therapy sessions through a Spring Health benefit at my workplace; very happy with it).

I’d love to eventually live in a spot closer to nature if that’s a possibility.

Art and Sketching

One of my good friends gave me a big sketchbook for my birthday this year.

I’ve been spending more time on sketching as a form of calming therapy in the post-hurricane weeks and months.

I’ve been extremely sporadic with drawing in the past, so I’d like to be more consistent with this hobby. I’ll probably be pausing other blogging/blog monetizing efforts for now as I prioritize according to things I enjoy doing.

I’d love to try creating some artwork to accompany my flash fiction chapbook.

As a teen, I greatly enjoyed sketching birds and portraits. I still do nowadays, with an additional interest in urban street sketches and the occasional landscape drawing.

I’m gonna try and improve some figure drawing skills in the meantime!