Yingge Ceramics Museum 鶯歌陶瓷博物館

Yingge is a town in the NewTaipeiCity that has long been famous for its ceramics production. The Yingge Ceramics Museum opened in 2000.

Yingee Ceramics Museum
Museum Sign
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Water Element at Front of Museum
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Front Entrance

The design of building is very modern. The mainly lobby is a four-story high open space with lot of natural lighting.

Yingee Ceramics Museum
Interior
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Interior
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Interior

The museum has exhibits that tell the history of ceramics. It also has changing exhibits displaying modern works.

Yingee Ceramics Museum
Interior
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Beautiful Roof Tiles!
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Colorful Tiles
Yingee Ceramics Museum
A Typical Kitchen in the Old Days.
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Traditional Cabinet Used in Kitchen
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Table Setting Design
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Table Setting Close-Up

The gift shop is filled with unique ceramic products.

Yingee Ceramics Museum
Salt & Pepper Shakers
Yingee Ceramics Museum
“Double Happiness” Mugs
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Soup Bowl

This was my personal favorite! The bather is actually a spoon!

Yingee Ceramics Museum
Visitor Center

The building behind the museum is the visitor center that is also a store showcases products from local artists.

The popsicles sold here are special because the sticks are plastic forks with little ceramic decorations!

Yingee Ceramics Museum
Yummy popsicles!
Yingee Ceramics Museum
Forks with Ceramic Flowers

Reblog: “Lighting 101 – Lighting Work Surfaces”

Great information on task lighting!

texpatstarling's avatarThe Texpat Starling

Task lighting or undercabinet lighting is an important part of any modern kitchen or office. Unfortunately it’s done improperly just about as many times as it’s done right. As an example, there’s a popular pin on my Pinterest feed (that I decided not to show or link to) that drives me crazy to look at. According to the pin they didn’t want to interrupt their tile backsplash, so they ran conduit under the counter to keep the lines clean. This also meant they didn’t have to make any weird cuts to the tiles and freed them from having to run wires in the walls that weren’t there to begin with – major savings most likely. Finally, it allowed them to put lots of plugs. All this is very practical. In fact, I think it’s an interesting solution. The picture above is similar except for one crucial detail. They reversed the…

View original post 556 more words

Take Control of the Business!

It seems so common that self-employed designers work day and night, weekdays and weekends. Many designers feel obligated to be available whenever and wherever their clients need them. Not me! I figured I had to take control before I go insane.

Having regular business hours was important to me. People can call, fax, and/or email me Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Meetings outside business hours must be pre-arranged. Although I work from home, I make an effort to be in office by 9, properly dressed with hair and makeup done. This way, I look forward to the end of day to get off work, and I look forward to weekends to enjoy my personal life.

Another compliant I hear from designers is they can never find time to learn new technology, go to seminars, or attend industry events. Well, you don’t find time, you MAKE TIME. I do spend part of my business hours doing things that do not bring profit but are important, i.e., lunch with a colleague, networking, and hanging out at some trade events. Unless absolutely necessary, I will not replace those appointments with last-minute client meetings.

I take my one-person operation seriously. Some may think I am inflexible. I believe I function the best when my business is structured.

‘MICHELLE CHIANG’ is a Brand

As a design professional, I feel it is important to market my own style.  There are tons of people with the same design and drafting skills I have, and many are more advanced and experienced than me, but nobody has the exact same style as mine.

My style reflects on all aspects of my life: the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the TV program I watch, the things I collect, the music I listen to, the places I visit, …etc.  Marketing my own style is what I call ‘branding’.

Like many designers, my business is simply an extension of myself and my individual ‘brand’.  My style dictates how I operate my business.  I believe when designers ‘brand’ themselves, they will attract the clientele that is suited for them.  As my business expand, a clearly defined brand image will attract the right talent to work with me.

I am not there yet.  But I look forward to the day people in the industry see ‘MICHELLE CHIANG‘ and immediately think hardworking, dedicated, honest, ethical, and intelligent. I also don’t mind to be known as ‘the woman with killer hair‘. 😉

One Lovely Blog Award

I was so honored to have this blog nominated by Angela of The Texpat Starling for the One Lovely Blog Award!

Here are the rules of acceptance:

  • Thank the person/people who nominated you and link back to them in your post.
  • Share seven possibly unknown things about yourself.
  • Nominate fifteen or so bloggers you admire.
  • Contact the chosen bloggers to let them know and link back to them.

Thank you, Angela, for nominating my blog! This is such a surprise for someone who just started blogging five months ago.

7 Possibly Unknown Things About Me:

  1. I am addicted to pens.
  2. My favorite place to visit while growing up in Taipei, Taiwan was my father’s friend’s eraser showroom. Every time we visited, my brother and I each was handed a small bag, and we would tour the display cases and point to what we wanted to have in our bags. The erasers came in all shapes: a set of markers, a miniature book, a cookie, a razor,… etc. Our absolute favorite was the set of carts with circus animals on them. Unfortunately, that was for display only.
  3. I have donated to ‘Locks of Love‘ five times since 2000.
  4. I wanted to be a race car driver when I was little. But once I learned how to drive, I find driving stressful.
  5. I always have makeup on if I am to be seen outside my home. This includes going to the mailbox.
  6. I refused to have an engagement ring. I wanted just one simple wedding ring (sapphire set in platinum) that I can wear everyday.

Rings

7. I handmade the navy blue bridal veil.

Bride with Blue Veil

I am nominating these blogs for the One Lovely Blog Award:

I don’t read enough blogs to nominate 15. (I did not list the non-English blogs that I enjoy.) But I promise all the blogs listed above were carefully selected. Some of the blogs have already been nominated for the award, but they deserved my nomination. Thank you for reading, and please visit these blogs. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.