Posted on

Explore Practitioners 3: Candy Crafting – Karin Lew

If you were here in Singapore long enough, you’ll remember how popular the Sticky Sweets were. They had branches with open concept counters showing customers how they made their sweets. I never did stop to look at how their sweets were made and thus it led me to hunt down their last outlet in Clarke Quay to observe the candy making process. 

Process Documentation

These days, the shop usually caters to private orders who ask for customised designs. When I was at the shop, they happen to be making a customised order for PMC.SG which was required to look like this:

To do this, they told me they had to individually craft the alphabets and external layer of colour, before putting it all together and rolling/stretching out until the candy size is achieved. 

The sugar was first melted, then mixed with colouring and placed on the cold counter to harden a little again, before placing on the hot counter to mould out the letters and shape and then stretched and placed on the cold counter again. When it is cooled, the rods are then cut to the small pieces forming the candy.

Steps:

  1. Boil the sugar
  2. Cool it down
  3. Put the colouring and flavouring
  4. Stretch out the candy
  5. Lay on hot counter
  6. Cut out a section from diff colours to form the design and words
  7. Roll all the parts together
  8. Stretch it to candy size
  9. Move to the cold counter for it to harden
  10. Chop into bite-sized pieces
cooling down the candy after adding colour and flavour
Stretching out the candy
Moving to hot counter to cut out sections and shape the desired letters and shape
The letters are starting to appear!
Its a GIANT sticky tube!!!
Stretching out the candy
Cooling down the individual rods!
Final Product! Pretty cool huh

Tools Used

  • Hot counter
  • Cold Counter
  • Metal rod to shape candy
  • Scraper
  • Gloves 
  • Scissors

Worksite Documentation

At least a 2 counter space for the candy making process. Only a few required tools needed. Need counter to be wide as well for stretching out the candy 

Pain Points

One thing that really stood out to me was the tedious and time-consuming process in crafting out the letters and strokes individually. One must have adequate imagination and patience to form out the letters and then put them together

Another was how the candy had to be constantly stretched or pulled or moving or else it would harden up easily. One must be able to do it efficiently and easily. 

Posted on

Explore Practitioners 2: Jeweller/Beading – Clare Chang

The practice of jewellery is one that involves an artisan that uses a variety of materials to create wearable pieces such as bracelets, earrings, rings, and necklace. However, they might also expand this practice to creating jewellery pieces for bag adornment (like key chains). Jewellers are also skilled craftsmen in repairing and appraising jewellery pieces. 

Process Documentation

For a jeweller, the process of creation starts from ideation. This means that the jeweller has a to brainstorm after drawing inspiration from his/her environment. The jeweller I observed mentions that she feels that in her day-to-day life, she is able to draw inspiration. Such as from the weather, like rain drops or the shapes of clouds. In the following stage, is idea finalisation and then the technical work comes in. 
Steps:

  1. Preparing the materials needed by gathering the related materials (the gem stones, wires etc.) 
  2. Experimentation stage/Assembly: this is where the skeleton of the piece comes together
  3. Modification and refinement: this is where the piece of jewellery is almost in its final stage. The jeweller makes the choice of editing her initial design and testing it physically since it is now in full scale and completely tangible  
  4. Final Touches and Polishing: as the jewellery piece is finished, the jeweller is now ready to end all wires and buff the piece with a polishing cloth to ensure that the piece is free from any unwanted working materials. 

Tools Used

The main family of tools that a jeweller utilises are:

  1. Wires (of different thickness, materials and colours) 
  2. Beads/Gems 
  3. An assortment of cutters (Pictured Below) 

Worksite Documentation 

A jewellers worksite as I observed, is also portable. However, the main important thing that has to be available is.a sturdy, stable working surface.  The jeweller usually keeps all her items in a large tool box that she individually packages her different stones/beads. She uses a premade and store-bought tool box to segregate her items such as wires from ring moulds to beads and also keeps the cutting tools together. 

Pain Points

When asked, the jeweller mentioned that this is a craft that is honed over time. There are many minute details that someone first starting out would find tedious and difficult to pick up, let alone master. These are things like the technical skills to being an ideation to life. Wiring is something that is not easy to the beginner. 


Also, the jeweller mentioned that with age, beading or jewellery work could becomes more difficult. She compared it to the practice of sewing, where having to thread the wire through a small opening in beads might become tough for older people who have shakier hands and declining eyesights.

Posted on

Explore Practitioner 3: Life Drawing – Darren

Process Documentation/Practice:

I joined a life drawing session by accident (didn’t know what life drawing meant). It was an event organized by the Hive in Lavender, where people gather to draw a nude model. It was definitely a different experience — one that was rather shocking/surprising as it was my first life drawing session. It was indeed enjoyable.

The session started at about 7pm.

All the participants have arrived and collected the materials provided for drawing just outside the main studio.

We were briefed on how the session was going to go — the model will do 4 poses (each for 20 mins) with a 5-minute interval between each pose so that the model can rest.  

After the brief, classical music was played at a low volume and the model walked into the center and stayed in his first pose. I was shocked. You could hear giggles from the other participants. The artists and myself then started drawing the model in whichever angle we are positioned in.

At each 5 minute break, we would go around looking at each other’s pieces.

After 4 poses, the drawing session was over.

Tools Used:

  • Standing Artboard
  • Charcoal
  • Pencil
  • Kneadable Eraser
  • Crocodile Clip
  • Spotlights on model

Worksite:

The worksite was an open space with a table in the middle for model to pose in surrounded by the standing art boards and spotlights. It wasn’t cluttered and there was room for people to walk around the room if they wish to draw the model at a different perspective.

Personal Insights/Pain Points:

I felt that one has to have familiarity with the drawing tools in order to draw nice pieces. For instance, it was my first time using charcoal and I had no idea how much strength I should be applying on the paper for an intended effect. Much practice for human anatomy was also needed as the human anatomy is very complex — coming in different forms and shapes. After the 2nd pose, I felt that my hands were getting a little tired from holding up (there was no support for your hand as you draw). Lastly, I felt hard to manage so many tools and keeping hold of my other completed sheets at a place was hard. I went around asking and chatting with others and noted that it was a matter of practice indeed and they just simply place all the other stuff on the floor or another surface. I felt that the overall experience was rather therapeutic.

Posted on

Explore Practitioner 2: Sweet-Making – Darren

Process Documentation/Practice:

We paid a visit to Sticky, a business that makes custom rock candy confectionery. The candy is completely hand-made. After asking the practitioners permission to observe and partake in the process, we were able to see the entire process of making a custom order.

Sticky had an order for a custom design — required a website’s URL. So it was pretty interesting to see how they produced the characters one at a time.

They first had to melt the sugar into a working paste for about 20 minutes. Once melted, they can start the process of making the candy. They have 3 different colors – blue, white, and orange paste for the custom order.

They place the slabs on the cooling rack first and then kneaded it. After a few rounds of kneading, the slabs were stretched on a hook to make it more elastic to work with.   

After kneading, they put it on the warm table to work on it.

Once done, they will snip parts of the bigger slab and work on the details from inside-out — starting with the URL. They mold the pieces and then shaped it properly to get the desired effect. The shape is then reinforced with a metal rod.

The process repeats until the entire character is done, wrap it with the white paste and then finally prepare the outer layer.

The outer layer is wrapped around and then they start pulling the giant candy into the smaller signature tubes which is cooled down further with a fan.

Once cooled, the small individual tubes are then cut into the recognizable Sticky candy we know.

Tools:

  • Gloves
  • Scraper
  • Metal Rod
  • Hook for stretching the candy
  • Scissors
  • Fan for cooling down candy

Worksite:

The worksite is open to the public to observe the candy-making proces but only staff could enter the actual site. They have a rack of food coloring and a ‘kitchen’ at the back to prepare the sugar paste for working. In the front, they have large desks – one for keeping the candy paste warm and another that is cool to harden the candy. All their tools are just placed on the desks.

Personal Insights/Pain Points:

I never knew that the candy-making process would be so long and exhausting! You could see the practitioners breaking out a sweat especially with the kneading and forming of the characters. It is pretty labor intensive for pieces with a lot more detail. You need to have an eye to see the characters forming — I didn’t notice it until only halfway through! There was no mold and every detail was formed by the 2 artisans.

Posted on

Explore Practitioner 1: Leather Crafting – Darren

Process Documentation:

I joined a class to craft a leather cardholder. The practitioner started off with a piece of conditioned leather that has a cutout drawn in pencil. We would cut it out with a penknife guided by a ruler for the straight parts and free-hand for the curved edges. We were also told to use a good amount of force for smooth edges.


Once the shape has been cut out, using a leather hole-puncher, holes of differing sizes are made in the sides of the cutout for the cardholder’s opening and holder. Three edges were folded multiple time and held it together by screwing a metal piece to form the pocket of the cardholder.


Oil is applied to the edges with a balm to smoothen the edges and protect it from external damage. At this stage the wallet is more or less done and the final step is to customize indentations.

To make an indentation, a small indentation kit is provided with different characters that can be left on your leather product. To make an indentation, you dap a little water on the area for indentation with water. It is then hammered lightly to prevent it from punching through the product. You are done whenever you are satisfied with your design!

Processed with VSCO with f2 preset

Me testing out the indentation tool on a smaller strip of leather before on my finished product.

Tools:

  • Penknife, ruler, and cutting board for cutting out shape of wallet
  • Wearable Craftsman Apron for protection
  • Hole-puncher
  • Oil Balm Applicator
  • Hammer and Indentation toolset to leave your desired mark on leather product

Worksite:

The worksite is a small craft workshop with proper benches, chairs, and desk lights for the practitioner to perform their craft with focus. Materials (leather and bits) are stored all around the workshop on hooks/shelves on walls. There was a part of the workshop with a big hydraulic press machine for bigger indents that can’t be done normally.

Personal Insights/Pain Points:

It’s a really cool practice that requires precision and concentration to get the job done. You can express creativity with your work with choice of color and indentation. However, once you mess up, it is almost irreversible — a mistake on a good piece of leather is hard to recover and costly (raw material is expensive). Overall, the craft itself is not as easy as it seems as you require accuracy and precision when cutting and imprinting on leather.  

Posted on

Exploring Practitioners: Veggie Hunt Cristine – Allison Kapps

Learning about how much food is wasted in Singapore and how to conserve and recycle it so that it is still used. Collecting this food as well.

Worksite Documentation

I participated in a volunteer group led by Cristine and other practitioners that approaches shopkeepers and asks them to give vegetables and fruits that they no longer want. This food hunt was done ta Pasir Panjang at late morning, while food producers were preparing the food they were planning on selling for the day. The centre was filled with people, everyone was constantly moving from place to place and the entire building smelled of fish.

Tools

  • Identification Cards
  • Trolleys
  • Large Boxes and bags
  • Delivery trucks
  • Closed toed shoes
  • Cellphones

Process Documentation

The experience began with an information session, where we all explained the dos and don’ts of interacting with vendors and the businesses. There was language that we had to adhere to in order to be more persuasive, and some overall tips to make the experience go by more smoothly. It was explained that often vendors would not sell food products that looked imperfect, either too small or too large or if they were bruised or did not fit specific standards.

We were each assigned to teams that focused on different food groups — some for vegetables and some for fruits. I met my team leader as part of the vegetable group. There was also a communications coordinator that was responsible for letting the rest of the team know about our progress, meeting places, and keep us on time. The entire collection period couldn’t last more than an hour and a half, so someone had to be keeping us on track.

We brought a large trolley and began approaching owners and vendors by asking if they had any food they wanted to give away that they did not plan on selling. Immediately vendors began giving us massive quantities of vegetables that appeared in perfectly eatable besides not looking standard.

Store owners were friendly, especially because many recognized the organization and understood what was needed. Some even helped stack boxes for us despite being very busy planning for the day’s work.

PAIN POINT: We would quickly fill up the capacity of our trolly and have to return to the truck to unload and then return to collect more.

At the end of the collection process, we returned to the area where the loading truck was and debriefed our session. There were so many products collected, all received for free and many in great condition! Our group could now select the products to bring home for ourselves, and the rest would be used to provide for charities or the poor.

Posted on

Explore Practitioners 2: Digital Illustrator – Jo-Ann Ng Yixian

I visited a friend, Caroline, who is a freelance digital illustrator – she mainly earns income from working with companies on projects like collateral designs but she also produces prints and merchandise to sell online. She graduated from NAFA 5 years ago and has been doing this ever since.

Sketch of the necessary tools Caroline says she needs to do her job.
(yes snacks are very important)

Tools:
As illustrated in the sketch above:
– Seagate 4TB Harddisk, to store all her digital files (She has 5 of these)
– Sippycup Waterbottle, to keep hydrated but to prevent any spillage accidents
– Pantone Color Booklet, to color check with clients, printers, etc.
– Wrist guard, because of her drawing injuries, tendinitis, so it helps her to work for longer hours without excessively straining it but it is still important for her to take breaks!
– WACOM Intuos 4 Tablet + Pen, about 6 years old and still working good

Interestingly, she pastes a piece of thick tracing paper on top of the drawing field of the tablet to protect the surface and prevent it from being too scratched up – which will reduce the sensitivity in the long run.
Many new models of tablets have been released since the Intuos 4 but Caroline has never really bothered to ‘upgrade’ because she feels like she is very comfortable with this and it does the job. 

Worksite: 
She mainly works in the comfort of her own room (which she was not very comfortable with me taking pictures of since it was messy and a private space for her).

Portability: 
On occasion she brings out her iPad (and Apple pencil) for meetings with companies to do quick sketches on the spot, but she works with this Intuos 4 at-home set up 95% of the time and is most comfortable with.
It would be possible to migrate to spaces like cafes or coworking spaces of course, but electricity plugs will be needed due to long working hours and it is important for her to be comfortable in the work environment if not she gets art blocked.

Ng Yixian Jo-Ann (A0142014B) – Practitioner 2/3

Posted on

Explore Practitioners 3: Ceramics Clay (Firing) – Chia Li Hui

As I went to a pottery workshop for my second practitioners, I decided to look for ceramics clay workshop next. Although most people find that they are the same thing, there is actually a slight difference between them. Ceramics are not only made up of clay, it also includes other materials like glazes. On the other hand, pottery is solely made up of clay. For this documentation, I will focus on the firing process; The aim is to heat the ceramic clay to the optimal level of melting.

Process Documentation

Steps:

  1. Throwing the ceramic clay
  2. Trimming it into your desired shape
  3. Apply wax at foot ring of the clay.
  4. Bisque Firing – To convert the greenware into glasslike. As greenware is fragile, it is important to deal with it carefully when loading it into the pottery kiln. From there, increase the temperature slowly as if it is heated too quickly, it may cause the clay to burst.
  5. When the clay reaches approximately 499°C, the clay is completely dehydrated – the pot is now a ceramic material. However, continue firing until it reaches 944°C, the ceramic will become less fragile and will be prepared to accept the application of glazes.
  6. Turn off the pottery kiln and wait for the ceramic to cool before removing it.
  7. Apply a layer of glaze using the paint brushes to the cooled ceramics and leave it to dry.
  8. Load into the pottery kiln for the second round of heating: glaze firing.
  9. Slowly heat the pottery kiln to the proper temperature to bring the clay and glazes to maturity and then slowly cool it again. Same as step 5, wait till the ceramic is cooled before removing it.
  10. The ceramic should be rock-hard and water-resistant now.
  • After Bisque Firing

Tools used

  1. Wooden Carving tool
  2. Pottery Kiln
  3. Glaze Buckets
  4. Paint Brushes
  5. Sponge
  6. Wax

Thoughts

I find the worksite really big and spacious which is easy for us to move around. After attending this workshop, I realised ceramics clay art is something that needs lots of practice and consist of many different skills. I really respect ceramics clay artist as it takes a lot of patience to even get a hang of the different skills. I was really glad to be able to attend this workshop as I find that this workshop is an eye-opener for me and at the same time, participate slightly in the process.

Posted on

Exploring Practitioners 2: Home-Based Salon – Rachel Teo

Creative Practice: 

Mrs Chin is a home-based hair stylist. She has been in this profession for more than 20 years, but have been home-based for about 15 years. She does all kinds of hair services: hair cuts, straightening/curling, treatments, colour dying, wash and blowing, and styling. 

Workplace Documentation:

Her workplace consists of two workstations, consisting of a cushioned chair and mirror table top each. This meant that at any one time, she only attends to two clients at most. As her workplace is home-based, she is the only hair stylist, and has no assistant. Both workstations are situated right beside each other, due to the space constraints of her home, but this enables her to attend to both clients at the same time, as they are right beside each other. There is also a hair-washing station, consists of a lay-down salon chair, and an attached wash basin.

Tools:

The main tools that she uses on an everyday basis are her scissors, shaver combs, hair clips, cape gown, as well as a brush to sweep away fallen hair on her client’s necks and shoulders – they are the basic tools needed to perform a simple haircut. Other tools consist of styling equipments – hair steamer, curler, straightener, rollers, dryer, treatment creams and hair dyes. 

Thoughts:

A basic hair-cut process can be performed anywhere as the tools required are compactable into a toolbelt, and does not need power to be operated. Advanced hair services such as colouring and styling however incorporated more tools that requires a power source. Additionally, there needs to be a chair for clients to be seated down while the hair service takes place. Essentially, this creative profession can be performed anywhere as long as the required tools and a power source are present. So maybe something can be designed to make it easy to carry all the required tools, doubles up as a chair, and incorporates a power source.

Posted on

Exploring Practitioners 1: Home-based Silkscreen Printing – Kaitlyn

Creative Practice

Clifford owns an art-fashion brand selling prints and apparel with original designs and for over 2 years, he has been using the silk-screen printing method for his tees.

Tools used

I did similar research on silkscreen printing a few weeks back, but I thought engaging in the practice with an experienced practitioner would offer me a different perspective, and allow me to compare his unique printing process with my previous research. Similar to my research findings, Clifford uses the following tools:

  • Wooden Squeegee
  • Printable material: shirt and canvas tote bag (any fabric)
  • Speedball fabric paint: green, white, black (any colour)

There were a few exceptions:

  • Pre-burned silk-screens – Rather than burning an artwork onto a silk screen at home using Diazophoto emulsion and Artwork positive, Clifford prefers to get it done professionally at a local printing shop. For greater precision and convenience, he finds $60 (for an A3-sized screen) worth every dollar.
  • Tape – Since Clifford does not own a printing machine, he uses tape for alignment.

Worksite / Set-up

Clifford doesn’t own a studio; rather he works from his living room, which is spacious, well-lit and well-ventilated. According to Clifford, these are ideal qualities of a work space used for silk-screen printing due to constant manoeuvres of screens and prints, and the paint involved. He divides his living room into 2 stations, both far apart from one another:

Printing Station, on the dining table
Drying Station, near the window

Flat surfaces are needed for both stations to print designs clearly and to prevent staining. 

Another important station is the washing zone, where he washes his screens in between prints.

Washing Station, in the bathroom

As for storage, he keeps all tools and paints in his bedroom cabinets, while the screens in the storeroom, just for cleanliness sake.  

Process

I was involved in designing an artwork a few weeks prior to prepare for this printing session. The design process was unexpectedly rigorous but necessary; sending multiple drafts back-and-forth between Clifford and I ensured that correct dimensions were used and keeping the printer in the loop ensured that details were apparent enough for printing. The design turned out better than I had expected. All we got left to do is print!

Silk-screen Clifford and I designed
  • 1. Demarcating alignment
  • 2. Adjusting silkscreen so the artwork is centralised
  • 3. Scooping paint onto the screen
  • 4. Adjusting amount of paint with squeegee

The first try turned out to be a complete fail because the paint had dried up (lumpy instead of viscous); the lime green colour was not bright enough; and the canvas tote was not the best material to print on (it was too textured).

  • 5. Removing screen to reveal failed outcome
  • 6. Trying to salvage the green paint by adding opaque white
  • 7. Washing away the lighter green paint
  • 8. Printing 3-4 layers of white on black back-to-back
Final outcome of the tote I printed

The tote bag was left to dry overnight in the drying area. 

Pain Points

Given that his studio is practically his living room, Clifford finds it a pain in the ass to ensure his prints don’t stain the floor, furniture and other prints, especially in the wind. The constant need to walk around also makes the process less efficient that it could have been in a proper screen printing studio. 

Afterthoughts

Trial and error is an inevitable but necessary part of the creative practice – we utilised the insides and outsides of the first bag to figure out what paint and how many coatings are required to achieve our desired print. Resourcefulness is also important especially if one doesn’t not have all the professional equipment typically found in a printing studio. While my previous research and ideation led me to practical and absurd designs, I might need to reconsider their appropriateness in a story world where experimentalists with resourceful mindsets are valued, such as that of Clifford’s scenario.