Cindy Pon's Blog, page 2

bird and lotus

it’s been a while since i’ve shared a brush

painting, right? i’ve noticed that if i’m working

hard on a novel, then my brush painting

isn’t usually plentiful, and vice versa. it seems

i have only a limited well of creativity, and must

divide it between words and ink. 8)

i spent a few lessons getting the perfect

composition, and then trying to catch the

perfect bird. i enjoyed working on these

paintings. (i’d say i attempted at least 8-10,

the less worthy will be trashed or used as

“wrapping paper”.) i used the lined pineapple

rice paper i had bought in taipei, and you

can see hints of the line in the painting.

i’m on the verge of being finished with

Serpentine edits, and will turn my focus on

the very sequel next.

As Artist in Residence

still happily immersed in Serpentine revisions.

am reading the entire manuscript aloud now–

a step that is always amazingly helpful in catching

awkward prose or dialogue, as well as

repition of words or phrases. revisions had taken

me away from updating about the china trip, but

many people have been asking me how it went, from

fellow chinese brush painting students to young adult

authors.

well, it went AMAZING! i honestly can’t imagine having

had a better time. i was in china for ten days but spent

the majority of it on the CIS HZ campus. although this first

trip to china was filled with highlights (heck, everything

was a highlight!) i can honestly say that the time

i spent with the students were the best parts for me.

this was a class of fun, creative, talented and bright

fifteen year olds, and the thing is, i remember fifteen

very well. it’s an odd thing to say, a quarter of a century

later (seriously, Father Time?), but it’s true. that year, my

mom actually sent me on my own study abraod program

to taiwan for a month in the summer. i lived in a dorm at

the Chinese Culture University–my first experience living

on my own and with peers (who quicky became friends).

we probably didn’t learn as much chinese language as we

should have, but we did learn about the culture, and we

connected with our roots, and it made an indelible

impression on me.

i got the opportuntity to talk to a few students (all

avid readers) who actually had time to read Silver

Phoenix, two of them even read Fury of the Phoenix.

i got to discuss young adult books and share some

of my favorite reads with them. and i also had the honor

of hearing their written work, some creative, and some

autobiographical, inside and outside the classroom.

*grabbing delicious gelato with Paul, Abi,

Lauren and Kameka, part of the library crew. all

the girls had also read Silver Phoenix–hoorah!

*i had arrived just in time for the Dragon Boat Festival!

the campus was near the canals, so we got to see the boats

paractice and race on sunday and monday. also, there were

many firecrackers set off–loudest BOOMS ever!

i led three creative writing workshops with a focus

on point of view and tense, sharing an excerpt from

L. K. Madigan’s Flash Burnout and Malinda Lo’s Huntress

that illustrated their uses perfetctly, in my opinion. and

also had the pleasure of hearing what they had written

in the timed exercise.

i had the pleasure of sitting in on some of their other

classes including art, drama, music, and a chorus practice

for their end of year performance. it was a true honor to

have been invited as a young adult author to their school,

and they welcomed me wonderfully, and i hope they enjoyed

their time with me as i did with them!

*the campus was beautiful. here’s the main

walkway.

*we started the week (monday) with an informal

interview between me and Paul, who had instigated

and arranged my visit (THANK YOU, PAUL! =) in the

open area adjacent to the school library. you can find the

uploaded video of the interview here.

*that night, i had the pleasure of being a guest at

Tama’s (music director at CIS) home for a delicious

dinner prepared him. Tama is from New Zealand and

Maori, and we discussed what a meal represented

in our respective cultures, among friends and family. he

was an *amazing* host. and the food was divine! (we had

salad, curried chicken and veggies, with rice–upon my

request, ha! thanks tama!)

*a delicious rhubarb and apple sponge cake

prepared by Tama. yuuuuum.

*hanging out with Kameka and Gabbie (left and right).

both are talented writers, as i had the pleasure of hearing

their timed writing pieces as well as their stories and poetry

from the school published thINK literary magazine. Gabbie

also read aloud an amazing poem to me. i felt so honored!

*we were given a tour of the sister school campus

(Greentown) and toured the art center of their

elementary school. i was so in love with this calligraphy

room for the kids. many of the calligraphy of the oldest

children there (eleven years old) were much better than

my own!

*another view of the amazing calligraphy room.

*cermaic houses, inns, and buidlings built by

the elementary school kids.

* i was treated to an amazing dinner at the 28

restaurant in the Hangzhou Hyatt courtesy of CIS

and hosted by Paul. we had the pleasure of Maya and

Tom accompanying us, a delightful adventurous couple,

both teaching english in Hangzhou.

*the restaurant is famous for a few dishes, one

of them being this pyramid pork dish. i don’t usually

eat pork–but this was delicious!

*i sat in on a chorus practice for their end of

year performance led by Tama. they sounded good!

*Gabbie rocking out on drums after chorus practice!

*with Tama after his music class.

*hanging out with Abi.

*Charlotte pitched her portable ping pong net

from her Design Tech class to me. i was impressed!

*with Jessie and Sharon. Sharon is the other

english teacher at CIS, along with Paul.

so this was a very very brief recap of my amazing week

as a visiting young adult author at CIS Hangzhou. i wish

i had taken more pictures while i was on campus, but i was

too busy taking everything in, and enjoying my time there.

Yu Garden Views, Shanghai, June 2014

I’m currently revising Serpentine so my words are limited,

for all those who are looking for a China update. =) I’m not

very good with travelogues in general, preferring visuals, because

i actually keep a travel journal so all my thoughts and details

go in there. All parts of my China trip were amazing, with too

many highlights to count, but Shanghai was the first city I was

in on my own. And I had splurged on an amazing boutique hotel

on The Bund (worth every penny!) and there’s nothing like waking

up and walking through a city by yourself. I don’t think it’s an

experience I’ve had very much in my life, as I’ve been married near

twenty years (yep) and have always had a traveling partner with hub.

One of the major sights I wanted to see, within walking distance,

was the famous Yu Yuan (garden). As you can see, i’m fascinated

more by the architectural details than the actual fauna there–which

were beautiful as well. The garden itself sits in a warren of boutiques

and shops catering to tourists, and I enjoyed browsing through that

as well.

I got to the garden early (by 9.30am, I believe) and it was quiet

and nearly empty. Then I was in a shop that sold original Chinese

brush paintings and I spent too much money buying two originals

I really loved–by the time I reemerged near 11am, the garden was

very crowded. So I’m glad I went early for that peaceful morning

ambiance. (This was on a Monday, so I can’t imagine how busy it

would have been on a weekend.)

After, my high school friend treated me to steamed xiao long

bao (crab roe and regular) as well as veggie buns. All so delicious!

The ground floor has a hundred people long line for the take out

of xiao long bao, but the third floor, where we dined, had the more

pricy fare (with crab, etc.).

I only had one full day in Shanghai, and this was my morning. =)

Suzhou Views, June 2014

Hangzhou Views, June 2014

china visit and Serpentine book deal!

“Friends”. my latest chinese brush painting. 8)

i’ll be off to China for the first time next week as an

invited author to a private bilingual school in Hangzhou.

i’ll be working with a class of fourteen year olds–and to say

i’m excited is an utter understatement!

also, i’m thrilled to announce the deal for my next Xia duology!

Serpentine, the first book, will be published by Month9Books

in September 2015. hoorah!!

SERPENTINE: shape shifting like you’ve never

read before, #cuteasianboys, and an unconventional

sister friendship + immortals and demons. 8)

original Publishers Weekly deal announcement here.

it’s been a journey, and i’m so happy i can work with

Month9Books and Georgia McBride to bring these books

out into the YA reading world. i can’t wait until fall 2015! =D

currently reading:

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

iris

my brush art teacher had irises in the classroom

last night, yellow and deep purple ones, and i painted

this. the flower is too pink to me, from an artistic

view point. i got the color from mixing pink and deep

blue, but it is my “interpretation” of iris. ha!

having said that, i do love the strokes for both the

petals as well as the sweeping leaves, which resemble

orchid leaves. the subject itself was very peaceful for

me to paint, as all the strokes were quiet and flowing.

peaceful heart

my newest painting from last night.

i thought i’d talk a little bit about my process

for this painting. i tried to paint the bird probably

four times. i finally got a birdie that i liked last week,

and kept it to complete the painting this week.

last night, i flipped through flower books to find a

study i thought would go well with this bird. i painted the

two large blossoms first, then the branches, then put in

the leaves. i added the bud as one of the last things.

i asked my teacher for “Peaceful Heart” (An Xin) as the

calligraphy for this painting.

plum blossoms

i’ve been working on plum blossoms for the last month,

and finally finished a painting that i like last night. 8)

ladybug

this painting is dedicated in loving memory

to percy russell, a friend and mentor to me in

my chinese brush painting class these past twelve

years. he always laughed when i called him my

favorite “lao wai” (old foreigner =) and claimed that

he must have been chinese in a past life.

near the end of every class, he’d inevitably ask

me: so what masterpiece are you working on?

words cannot express how sorely he’ll be missed.

and how many lives he’d touched in his time here–

over four decades of which he spent as a student

of the brush.