When I was in art school there was a real sense of purpose, a need to make art a part of daily life, to have it so ingrained into your day, that going into the studio became second nature. Let's be honest here... that is not happening now, but even though I am not actually working in my studio I have to say that I am actively thinking about it everyday. And perhaps given that life with a toddler is unpredictable at  best, it can't be any different at the moment. Strangely though, the moments I do get to physically work in my studio, are intense and productive. All this waiting around, thinking time is proving to be quite beneficial.

When one is surrounded by people working creatively, it is relatively easy to sustain ones own creative thoughts. It's when you find yourself working in isolation that it is a bit harder to keep the flow of creative energy going. When I first moved to Singapore, I found this especially hard. The chaos and frantic pace of life I was used to in Chicago was missing- the seasons, the smells, the gritty metra and 'L' trains, crowded Michigan Avenue, the quieter neighbourhoods and the Chicago Art Institute, my personal haven and home away from home. I seriously wondered how I would find all this here in Singapore and the truth is I haven't. What I have found is something else entirely and it comes from waiting- literally.

In Chicago, the dynamic energy of doing things, of activity and movement and motion would spark thoughts and ideas and be the basis for work. In Singapore, the simple act of waiting and practicing patience, a slower pace and often a monotonous one, seems to create within me, this meditative mood where simple occurrences meld together with passing thoughts, if I am lucky enough. I often find myself going out of the way to put myself in situations where I am on long train rides across the city, or on a bus where I am able to watch the city run itself, in the hope of catching a glimpse of something other than high rise condominiums and offices, marbled lobbies and shopping malls. Sometimes, the act of waiting to pick up my daughter presents opportunities to capture moments of time; a puddle, a bird seated on a park bench, laundry blowing from the window of the HDB across the street, a single flower twirling its way down from the canopy overhead or the calico cat that suns itself every morning on the storm drains. All these things are there if you are present and waiting to capture them.

Road taken

Walk

Journey

Here are some simple shots I took while waiting for my daughter, or waiting to go home, or waiting to cross the road. What I find is. now, instead of dreading the thought of waiting, I see it as an exercise, a sort of training or even practise if you like, for that 'aha' moment, that zen space where you are exactly where you need to be, and see exactly what you are meant to see!