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For an unknown reason, i just love to draw and paint fortune cookies. This started after we dined out and my son showed me a fortune cookie still stuck in his pocket. At that point i was in the middle of my still life composition and that gave me an idea of including it. After that, i'm just stuck to it!

But these fortunate cookies are indeed amazing. How simple their color may be, but the different tones and shadings they possess are a challenge. The folds and shine of the plastic wrappings adds up to its beauty. And the endless possibilities these fortune cookies can be a part of my still life are very helpful especially in the planning stages.

To top it all, Fortune Cookies sends out messages of fortunes and number combinations that proves to be a winner in lottery!

I hope that with my still life paintings, you'll find your fortune. And that every new home that my painting dwells on, may it bring endless fortunes!

Normally, a work of art done in Pastels need to be framed under glass. It is the characteristics of the medium that this is traditionally done. And I'm a believer of this practice, pastel paintings have to be framed under floated glass. But as more and more advanced art conservation techniques are being developed, these products allows many possibilities a Pastel artist can try. And because of the cost of framing, the bulk and weight it adds on the painting and most galleries veering away to framed paintings, I am forced to set aside the traditional framed pastels but to try the more contemporary style of a glassless pastel paintings.

My primary concern is the conservation part of my paintings. I use a lot of time and labor to achieve my paintings, the last thing I need is to see them fade or totally ruined. And so my greatest part of my research is how and what to use to keep them the way they were painted. Weeks to months of anxious trials, I got to know the perfect formula according to the way I use my medium.

And so, if you see a work of mine done on wood panel and the rest on pastel paper, try to compare the difference. I'm sure they all have the same qualities of what a pastel paintings should be.

Go figure.

As a pastel artist I draw and paint at the same time. I draw to create a painting. So my art is a painting. People may think that pastel artworks are drawings and not considered paintings. In fact, some shows categorized my pastels as drawing. I don't mind. But for art lovers out there, especially those who likes pastels, my personal view on this arises from my years of doing pastels.

All artworks, may it be an oil, acrylic or whatever the medium, started from a drawing. Drawing is fundamental to painting same way with using pastels. But the beauty in pastels, I can create a finished artwork to be categorized as a drawing or I can make it a finished painting. So what's the difference?

When I finished an art leaving behind some of the papers (or whatever substrate used) exposed, that is a Drawing. But when I draw with my pastels leaving no traces of the paper, canvas or wood panels seen, I created a Painting.

Should an artist use a brush and paints to consider the artwork a painting? I don't think so. Or should I use a pencil or pen to create a drawing? I don't agree.

So in conclusion, it is not on the kind of medium that an artist use, but on how the artist creates the artwork for it to be a drawing or a painting. Both are masterpieces. A creation of mind, body and soul.

What's your thought?