I am a member of
Lincoln Artists Guild
MUSIC
I started writing music when I was 12. But I wasn't serious about it. I bought
a keyboard that allows me to record digitally my compositions about 6-7 years
ago and that was when I started writing and arranging music seriously. I have
performed live in Lawrence and Topeka many times, playing at local
restaurants, churches, folk houses, music stores, and also social functions.
I was featured on a local TV show FUSION produced by the Sunflower CableVision.
I have written many songs, drawing from historical and contemporary events and
figures, poems, stories, and, most of all, personal, emotional experiences.
Here it is. This is the cover of my music CD that I published in the summer of
1999. I have sold more than 80 copies!
People have categorized my music as new age. To me, I'd rather not classify it
that way. It's more about how and what I feel, how and what I think. And I
don't think 'how and what I feel, how and what I think' is new age.
PAINTING & CALLIGRAPHY
I won several awards in painting when I was a kid. I won a first prize in a
State-wide painting contest once when I was 8, if I remember correctly. Then,
from time to time, I won some painting contests. Back then, my favorite
medium was crayon. I learned how to manipulate crayon and was able to come up
with new techniques in applying crayon to the painting surface. Then I
got into oil painting from watching Ross on PBS. Then, I picked up oil and
soft pastel. I have also done Chinese paintings and caligraphy. I like pencil
painting and drawing as well. I have created several paintings using color
pencils. I have done several portraits in pencil. I also like to
illustrate--cartoons, caricatures, teddy bears, bunnies, kitties, etc.
What do I like most? I am not sure. It depends on my mood. I am most-skilled
at crayon, but I am getting tired of it these days. I like oil painting
because of its passion, pastel painting because of its freedom, Chinese
painting because of its simplicity, and pencil painting because of its process.
My painting subjects, though, are almost always about natural scenery such as
mountains, waters, trees, sunsets/sunrises, etc.
My favorite painters are Monet, Winslow Homer, Albert Bierstadt, Norman Rockwell, and BaDa ShanRen.
I have framed and given some of my paintings to dear friends.
PHOTOGRAPHY
I like taking pictures of scenery, natural scenery in particular. I like
trees, especially coniferous trees and trees without leaves. I didn't
start treating this interest seriously until I bought a then good Canon camera.
Now, I am improving my camera equipment as I find myself getting more and more
interested in photography. I will have to study and practice more. I am not
quite consistent yet. I will learn, I hope.
I have started a collection of my photographs 4-5 years ago. I have
paid more attention and been more careful, and experimented more to try to
improve myself. I am getting better. Hopefully I will someday be at least
a good amateur photographer.
I have given out my photographs (enlarged, matted, and framed) to close
friends.
Here are some of my photographs.
collection1
collection2
yosemite_view
WRITING
I love writing. But these days, because of work, I find less and less time for
it. I won a national first prize in a writing contest when I was 12. And
since then, I have been writing my novel, having this big wild dream about
publishing a novel that will become a literaturary item for generations to
come.
I am still writing my novel, a novel based in the 13th-14th century between the
second and sixth emperors of the Ming Dynasty of China. I have done much
background research for that time period, reading and searching for
information. How far am I from the completion of my book? I have completed
probably only 50% of it. It's in Chinese, by the way.
I have published quite a few articles/stories/short compositions on major
newspapers in Malaysia.
I also like to write poems and lyrics ... and I have written many. About 50%
of my songs have lyrics, and I have written most of them. Once I won some
sort of an award for a poem in 1997, selected by the National Library of
Poetry. The poem, titled "The Sky is Crying", goes like this:
The sky is crying --
Beyond the darkened face
stretch glimpses of a colorful smile
Beneath the entangled hair
shift actions of a wavy horizon
And a crystalline teardrop falls
Onto the edge of a blade of grass
Which way will it go?
Which way will it go?
Which way will it go?
To the right or to the left?
Or perhaps the grass will bend
To the gravity of the teardrop
To the momentum of the fall
The above poem has been published in Passages of Light (1998), Ballads of Our
Lives (2000), and America at the Millenium (2000).
I also won a poem-writing contest during the last year of my high school. It
was in Malay. It was a two-part poem titled 'Never did I ... but' (Tidak
Pernah ... Tetapi Aku), and the concluding part was sub-titled 'I am a tiger
cub' (Aku Anak Harimau).
I am also writing something with a dear friend. That's very cool. And it's
an on-going project. It IS going to happen, even if it takes 20, 30 years.
READING
I like reading. My favorite authors are Tom Clancy, Michael Crighton, and Jin
Yong. I also like Tolkien. I like suspense novels, highly technical novels,
filled with scientific, historical, or cultural details. I like novels that are
well thought out and with plots carefully and logically designed. I also like
novels with high emotional drama that would make me cry or laugh or think or
reflect ...
I like history and geography very much. I subscribe to the National
Geographic, and I am pretty sure that I will be a life-long member of the NGS.
I am particularly interested in Chinese history, the various dynasties and
various other aspects: culture, literature, religion, philosophy, wars, etc.
I am also interested in the history of Native Americans.
I am very interested in various religions and philosophies too.
CAMPING & HIKING
I love camping and hiking. I don't get to do it often. But every time that I
have gone, I have always enjoyed the trip tremendously. Been to Jack's Fork,
The Current River, The Eleven Point River, Rocky Mountain National Park.
Backpacked once. Phew.
SPORTS
I like sports, especially tennis, basketball, pingpong, and soccer. I grew up
playing soccer. I played basketball and pingpong when I was in grade school.
Then I played soccer in high school at the left-wing striker position because I
was better than my other teammates at using both my feet to dribble and strike
the ball. Then when I came to the University of Kansas, I picked up tennis
and have played the sport ever since.
I like bowling too. My personal best: 232! A game that included 7 strikes
and 3 spares, and a stretch of four strikes in a row.
These days, I mostly bike and play badminton. The bike trails here at Lincoln,
NE are pretty extensive.
This webpage is authored and maintained by
Leen-Kiat Soh.
Website created on February 4, 1999