A New Beginning...

My wife and I just came back to Malacca, and our shop, about 5 months ago. We had been away for over a year. My family needed us in Pahang and so we went up to do our part. There, we are in the construction business which is also about creating things, albeit in a much larger and more structured 3-dimensional way.

Upon our return to Malacca, we had to get started all over again as we had disposed of all the dyes we had previously. Our brushes, equipment and other instruments had to be resurrected from the boxes they had been put into. The shop was also a little dusty and needed a good clean. Despite our absence, it had been open as it was left in the care of a friend. He kindly agreed to just receiving whatever he could sell as payment. The shop was well-stocked with our work and thanks to him at least half of what we had left behind was sold. The half that remained needed to be laundered and ironed for a sweet-fresh smell and appearance. They are still considered new as they are unworn. As it is, dyed, waxed and painted materials go through several washings before they are considered ready to be used or worn. Another wash just meant that they are VERY clean.

Our return was welcomed by a regular client from Singapore. When we first met her in 2004, she was expecting her first child. She returned with her son, now 22 months old, and requested for some white cotton rompers she had brought from Singapore to be personalized. To us, this signaled a wonderful beginning as we had our first commission so soon after our hiatus. We had just returned 7 days prior to her visit. She also went through all our freshly laundered stock and bought more than 20 pieces comprising T-shirts, shorts and material. It was indeed a very positive and encouraging start for us. The commission motivated me to startwork faster and to get into the creative juices going once again. I also had to start on and complete an earlier commission requested by her sister for paintings of her cats. She had left with us 2 albums of photos of her cats.

The following is a picture of her son in our shop. Doesn't he look delighted and delightful?

In my next post, I'll share with you pictures of the rompers I designed for him. I will also share the paintings of the cats in future posts.