Mysterious Watercolour

Once in a while, a gem emerges unexpectedly. This piece of painting was sent to me eight hours ago from a Mr Clive McDonald. Clive said: "As far as I know it was commissioned by a distant relative of mine in the late 19th or early 20th century, while working in Malaya (then called) and has been passed down the family ever since." From my limited experience, and knowledge, and insufficiently inadequate, I am afraid, I think this is a picture of a highlands Chinese farm. It could be anywhere from Cameron Highlands to unknown places of lesser altitude. (Or it could be in Japan - the architecture looks like those of old Japan, I feel) Amazingly, this is a pretty accurate rendition of a farm house. The plants you see are probably some kind of vine - maybe longbeans? - and those with yellow flowers, I am guessing, are what Chinese mustards, called choysam in cantonese or sawi in Malay. At maturity, the flowers are lemon yellow in colour although here they appear to be quite a lot planted on such a small bed. I don't know what the blue flowered plants are though. Look underneath the eaves of the house - the tiny bunch of poles are bamboo used for making trellises for for climbing plants. I am more certain that this is a local scenery. There is a signature which appears to be a Chinese name, with a seal. I am not sure what the seal's inscriptions are because the image is too small to decipher - and because it is written in old Chinese script, it is even harder to understand. The signature also does'nt ring familiar. I cannot say who is the painter and if anyone out there knows or have a collection of paintings of similar signature and style, please share your views with Mr Clive McDonalds. This picture could be worth a fortune, who knows? The signature

More Abdullah Ariff's Works Coming Home?

I have just been contacted by another owner of Abdullah Ariff's works entitled Storm. Received the email below from a reader named Jim in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, he must have misspelt his email because the reply bounced as the mail daemon informed me. Hi, I have got a picture by this artist called the storm signed and dated 1956 Please, where would be the best place to sell this. Can you help please. Thanks Jim Are there more Abdullah Ariff out there and is our National Art Gallery interested in acquiring them? These are national treasures and I am amazed no one from the gallery has contacted me so that I could forward the owner' addresses. Are we waiting for these works to be lost forever? Picture right: Thumbnails of some of Ariff's works.

Abdullah Ariff Original Found!

Abdullah painted this in 1954 when he held his one-man shows in the US. Recently a reader wrote to me to find out more about this painting and would like to have it appraised and possibly sold - at a fair price. When I took a look of the painting, it turned out to be an Abdullah Ariff work. It was a painting of a riverine fisherman, with the usual signature colours used by the late artist. This was one of the pieces the watercolour pioneer did when he held his one-man show at North Carolina, and alsO the Mint Museum of Art at Charlotte, New York, way back in 1954. I am wondering if there are any party interested in the painting out there. I will put you in touch with the owner (he is from overseas) and you can deal direct with him. According to the current owner, the painting was almost gotten rid of once. So, if you are a collector of Abdullah Ariff's work, here's your chance to own it. Straying a bit from the topic, I think the National Art Gallery should make an attempt to purchase this piece as it is one the remaining works of the great artist-watercolourist that are still around. The painting has been framed and from the digital picture, seemed in good condition, too. Get in touch with me at editor@malaysian-watercolours.com . The artist's signature.

Breakers

This is my second piece on oil and probably my last. I am not painting oils any more. Not that it is not a good medium, I just find it pretty daunting trying to come up with a piece - although I must admit oil is much easier to control and any mistakes can be easily painted over. In terms of technique, if you have a good eye for detail, I think you can paint well in oil. Almost any texture can be emulated using oil, and any colour-shade can be put on canvas, if only you understand colour mixing well. This was inspired from memory of a seaside somewhere in the East Coast. Hope I have done this piece justice.

My Work In Oil - Home Coming

Done! This is my first work in oil as guided by local oil painter Sabri Salleh. I had a bad time trying my hand on this piece 16"x20" of a water taxi crossing the river in Kuching. Most of my problems came from trying to understand the various methods of using oil and trying out the mixes of solvents (linseed and turpentine). The colours used are W&N paints - I bought the basic set because I really don't know if I want to paint in oil again or just stick to watercolours, which, although is a tough medium to master, is at least less cumbersome to work with and faster. ps: No, this piece is not for sale.