Snuff Bottles Painting?

The world has full of talents - be they architects, engineers, artists, dancers, singers, inventors and so on. For me to have my daughter drawn from a picture inside a snuff bottle not bigger than 4 cm in breadth is so incredible! This is my gift to her - the only one that exists in this whole wide world, painted by a famous artist in China.

Snuff bottles collectors are getting sophisticated and the variety that are coming into the market out of China are many. Few can be considered as collectables. Most will pass off as amateurish souvenirs. Most literature available today on snuff bottles is mainly in the Chinese language. Those that are available in English itself has become a collectable, as they are not available commercially.

I was advised by my collector friend, and I think it is of great wisdom is to BUY that which you truly like and want to be part of your life - an admirable companion. Otherwise, it really does not matter how much it costs, if you do not like the inside art that is trying to tell you the story.

Indeed, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Use a magnifying glass to dissect this "beauty" to see the fine drawing of hair, veins, muscles or the expression in the picture. Some artists can draw human expression that is so realistic that you feel you could be part of that emotion. Do visit exhibitions in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, if you have some interest. If you are lucky and know friends as collectors; go and view their collections.

If you are truly into it, you can even commission the artist, provided you know him well enough to draw paintings that you like. They will be very costly. But you cannot take your wealth along with you. Why not, just spend it wisely and enjoy the fruit of that expense?

This is just the tip of the iceberg to start you thinking about what is important in your life.

Comments

Keeping Fit and Sleeping Good

A couple of HP alumni mentioned about folding bikes, exercise, and alumni meet up to me. It did not take me long to decide that the idea was good and aligned to my life goals. I did some research on folding bikes and to my surprise; this is an exploding industry, as more people become more environmentally friendly. It was reported that the OCBC Cycle 2101 (March) in Singapore this year drew 9500 versus 5000 cyclists last year. The Taipei Cycle exhibition is one where bike enthusiasts will be happy to attend. The magazine, Spin Asia is a must read to have a better appreciation of this industry (http://www.motorculture.com.sg/page27.html). I decided to purchase the Birdy Touring (http://www.birdy.com.au/) which has 24 gears (3 x 8) to allow me to have more flexibility to build up my stamina. I like the idea of the monocoque frame and the discounted pricing by DigiNexx helps to come to the decision. Since April 9, I have been using the Upper Thomson, Venus and Old Upper Thomson Road. I tr...

Having Time for Self, Family and Friends

Singapore is a small island with an incredibly efficient infrastructure. By choosing to leave home early for work, I took only 15~20 minutes to reach office which is about 20 km away. A two way trip is less than 60 minutes. During my stay in Kuala Lumpur, it took me three hours for these two trips. This happened only if I leave office late to avoid the horrendous traffic jam. This is a saving of two hours per day which is ten hours a week! This is an awfully lots of hours to spend for personal leisure, family and friends. Another good time saver is bill payment by a system called GIRO, where invoice is automatically deducted from my accounts and payment by internet. Both are easy and accurate. Imagine lining up in a queue to pay your bill either at the post office; government office or a bank. Each time I have to spend an hour just to do this chore. Good bye to these non value added chores; thanks to the electronic payment system! Each of us have only 24 hours a day, and time saved mea...

Change and More Changes

Last week, I had yet another farewell lunch for two colleagues, whom I have known for a long time. There have been too many of such lunches in these past couple of years. They marked the changing of culture in a company, famed for its care for its employees then. How things have changed! And it will continue to change. Like Darwin's theory on evolution, one has to adapt to the changes as a part of the cycle ends(ending phase) and move through a period of uncertainty (neutral phase) before emerging into a new environment (new beginning phase). Life will continue to be a series of minor and major changes. The lesson in life to live a good life is to take the changes as they come as part of the corporate life cycle. For entrepreneur, the water will certainly be more choppy. I have seen my brother emerging from losing almost all, rebuilding the wealth and back to business as usual, at least for a while. He is living a good life and enjoying it. I have learnt much from his experience. ...

Sight to Insight

Search This Blog