Who: Singapore-born Karen J. Fernandez, 60, founded Karenmade in 2018, an award-winning online retail business specialising in Singapore-themed gifts and souvenirs spun out of her photography.
She made the switch to photographic art and design after living and working in the United States and Britain in the corporate and non-profit sectors for nearly two decades.
Ms Fernandez bagged Expat Living magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Gifts twice – a silver award in 2023 and a gold in 2024. Her designs are also featured in the Singapore Government’s gifts registry for visiting dignitaries.
“My perfect weekend begins on Saturday morning when I hear the call from Heavens. It is a hawker stall at Ghim Moh Market which does the best appam in Singapore. The coconut-tinged aroma of the freshly made appam with its crispy corners and pillowy centre takes me back to my childhood days.
My Aunty Stella’s appam was legendary and always the highlight of our family breakfasts when I was a teenager.
Food, especially when savoured at leisure on the weekends, has that amazing power to transport one back in time.
Opposite Heavens is a no-fuss youtiao stall, which I go to after my appam fix. Washed down with a steaming cup of kopi-o, I’m carb-fuelled and ready to work up a sweat.
A Saturday afternoon spent moseying about Little India with my camera is my idea of an idyllic reprieve from the pressures of the week.
My husband disappears to do his own exploring and we agree to meet in a couple of hours. The narrow streets are always bustling and chaotic, but I find the sheer energy and exuberance of Little India’s alleyways and colonial-era shophouses exhilarating.
My first stop is always Buffalo Lane, where I never tire of watching the garland-makers deftly weave snowy-white jasmine, vermilion marigolds and lipstick-red roses for customers of every religion, from Buddhists to Hindus, who will adorn temple deities in the enclave.
After that, I’ll wander down the side streets with no particular destination in mind.
It’s the best way to chance upon fun discoveries. I always end up near Syed Alwi Road with its rows of historic shophouses.
As I stop for a cup of teh tarik and freshly cooked vadai at one of the coffee shops, I think about the first waves of immigrants who came to Singapore. Escaping calamities at home, they arrived at our port city in the 1800s hoping to make a better life for themselves.
Many prospered and their wealth was used to commission ornate shophouse facades with imported European tiles and pilasters embellished with auspicious Chinese motifs such as peonies and phoenixes.
Sunday mornings are reserved for inspiration, which I get by poring over photography books borrowed from the Library@Orchard.
I see everything in terms of light and shadow. And colours, textures and patterns mesmerise me. Photography books allow me to retread other photographers’ works showcased in their books. As I turn each page, I try to figure out where the camera would have been placed to capture such a stunning shot.
In the afternoon, as the sun begins to lose its ferocity, my husband and I head out to the Botanic Gardens. He goes for a brisk walk, while I use the soft afternoon light streaming through the plants to find ways to freeze-frame nature.
The exquisite patterns and shapes of the tropical foliage in the Foliage Garden are ideal for creating patterns on fabric or to inspire new architectural forms.
After my weekend ‘forest bathing’, I am ready to face a new week of creative challenges.”
