First day jitters???

I dared once more to wriggle out of my comfort zone by enrolling in an art class that Marie found for me through the net.   This project of resuscitating my neurons and invigorating my brain cells, is turning out                          
                                          @@@@@@           
                                        @((   !     !  ))@
                                    @@@    ~~    @@
                                       @@     |   |   @@@
                                          \|___/** \____\|/
                                                 /***\
                                               /*****\
                                              /******\    
                                               _| | \\_  
                                              
                  

to be a great adventure.  I was hesitant like a child on the first day of school.  I skipped Tuesday and Wednesday then finally, pushed myself to GO!

I had everyone bring me to my first day of school including Sofia.  My materials were packed in her old baby bag.

So this is my classroom.  Neat!  The mess on the tables relaxed me and the fact that a classmate, Zondra excused herself not to be seated next to me.  I thought- good! I won't get her virus! heeeh! heeh!

My teacher's name is Dianne Kelly.  I was shy to take her picture but I was able to catch her artist hands in one of the demos.

It was a good session.  The gang was there to pick me up before the"bell rang" for fear perhaps that I am crying my heart out or causing trouble with my classmates. :)

We visited some interesting shops for my reward.  I got myself a basket from a thrift shop for my art materials.  Will be happy to go back for my second session (and to visit the shops again). 

 

dear jacob and Chew

what did I see yesterday?
I saw a train!  We stopped before the tracks and waited for the train to pass by.                


                            o  o   o o    o  o    o  o    o   oo  oo ooo o o o o
                       o
                   o                       
                 l    l choo-choo! chug a chug a chug a chug!!
                  OO_00 -00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0
 

 
 and an ibis waiting for the train to pass by too!

                                          @\
                                      /))))   \
                                  //)))))      \     
                                 /0              )
                                  /  /
                                  ^^

                                                                                  
I saw bridges and quiet water running through   

 
               .    8   .                   .    8   .                       

          8                 8      8                       8

   8                             8                             8
8 =x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x x x      ~~~~ ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    ~~~    ~~~~~ ~  ~~~~~~~~~~~

~   ~~~~     ~~     ~~~~~~~    ~  ~~~~~~~^~ 

did I see a firetruck?   yes I saw but not sure i can draw one for your brother and you-

                                             ~ ~
            let me see                \0-0/
                         
                            hmmmmm...

         []      

    lllllllllll   |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |  

  (llllllllllll--------BRISBANE FIRE DEP-------0    

    lllllllllll(  o  )===========(  o  )====

here's the blue firetruck i saw!

   *     * *     * *
   \/  ****    * \\|/* *     /                   
* *    **  *  \!                                  
  \/..% ''  \||||,,,|/''...\|/. /.. \/.\/%...?.... (can ?you? spot? the earthworms?)

then i gathered a bouquet of dandelions for Auntie Mommie's vase....

                                ~~~~~~~

                                                    oooo

                                             ooooooo oo           ~~~~~~                  

                                         00@000@00000

                                          @ oo oo @ ooo

                                              00  00  //  0   ~~~~

         /////^\\\\\    \\\\\              @  [[[ //
     ////////^\\\\\\\  \\\\\\                   [[//
       ]]]]]]]]] [   ]]]]]]]                   [[[        
        [[[[[[[[[[   ]]]]]]]                     [[[[        
 \\|*/ [[[[   ]]]]   ]]]]]]]    ]]]]]    ]]]]]]        [[[[[   [[[[       

    

on my way back home! 



                                       

                                        love always,
                                       IMA and Sofia


O this was fun to do!  :)
                                 

 

Doodads and Fantangles

Play should be simple and beauty, innocent, especially when an adult plays with her real, live doll!

 Scraps of construction paper reinvented to make a charming and playful hair doodads and fantangles!!!

handmade love

We received this first birthday invitation via the net and I got the hard copy when we arrived here in Brisbane.  Jute twine was used around the paper cut-out balloon.   The paper she used was from a page from Frankie magazine the left over of which I used in my paper bird project.

Marie decided not to buy a birthday cake for Soleil.  She wisely chose to buy a Betty Crocker instant chocolate cake and frosting.  I said wise because it was still something that she took an active part in from mixing to baking to decorating.  She obviously had fun and we enjoyed watching her!

A beautiful cake from Mommy!  How can this not be handmade with LOVE?

Just looking at this picture convinces me that she looooved her birthday cake!  She definitely enjoyed not only the texture but the taste as well.

Proof of the matter - no one can deny that our lovely Sofia voted her Mom Marie cake as THE BEST!

Pancit cooked by Daddy was made from vermicelli noodles, chicken, mushrooms, beans, and garlic

Here's the proof!  Nadia and her eyes will tell not to mention the evidence dangling from her chin!

Kobe made a huge bite, sinking his teeth well into the juicy burger.

Daddy Vitty busy in his grill cooking the best burger of the day.

Carlos and Sara

 Young and old, everyone was happy!  This simple celebration was unpretentious but definitely gorgeous and full of love!

John Sullivan

Nadia will be celebrating her first birthday in less than two weeks and Marie plans to lend her the "happy birthday" buntings she made on Sofia's birthday. 

 Sugar and I are just too happy to have spent Soleil's birthday with her wishing her more beautiful birthdays to come!

Ors

Grandpa John and Grandma Ditas

christmas as unique as thumbprints

The idea of paper snowflakes is from free people and for my application of this inspiration, I used Mont Marte sketchpad for thickness.  With the help of Marie, we started cutting spontaneously with sharp scissors.  And like a gift, we opened the folded square excitedly and surprised with the uniqueness of each pattern and design.

I remember a book I scanned more than a year ago about how the unique structures of water would respond to the  positive and negative contexts of words. I wonder and I am not sure though, if our mood and feelings were affecting the outcomes of our paper cut-outs.

Marie is my daughter-in-law and has a baby, Sofia Soleil,  whose birthday we celebrated last November 18.  We sort of decorated the house before the party and went with the idea of handmade decorations straight from the heart!  She glued the snowflakes together  creating an irregularly shaped screen on her glass door. 

 The second layer on the other glass panel created a dimensional effect.  This is where I glued the snowflakes individually.

the sizes could make it more interesting like the effect these small ones make.

some snowflakes on the Christmas tree to integrate the look of the surrounding areas

 I got these birds from a Frankie magazine poster left-over of Marie's previous project.  The cut-outs are glued on and backed from a recycled cereal carton box.

 Using them as templates, I made some more out of white sketch pad paper and made cut-out wings from construction paper scraps.

You can see more of the wings using a color that has a greater contrast.

Two paper fans were glued together to create a complete circle.  I cut small slits on the folded edges to allow the tree lights to shine through it.

My husband was wondering why I did not put a star instead- he meant a five or six pointed one- but we can always break away from ideas that we have been accustomed to.  After all stars are really balls of fire and the points are created by  atmospheric interventions seen from where we are.

I think the two pages I tore from OK magazine that we now see as the star on top of this Christmas tree deserve the justification of buying one issue that features Jennifer Aniston - fabulous at 40! (LOL)

This is a tree most suitable for a new family spending their first Christmas with a one year old baby.  Now you know why the tree is inside the playpen!!! 

we are walking

we walked to the train station but did not ride the train
walked to a playing field but did not play.

walked to a dog park but did not have a dog with us
so we walked by
and smiled at one fat marmalade dog
with a rosy cheeked owner.

walked past houses we did not know
who live there
but guessed how they live  and what they do
and don't do at all.

some yards had gardens
some gardens have plants
others had.
some have nothing     
others have trash.    
                                     
we walked around and around   O
straight ahead           ^ 
turned left                  <------
walked over bridges  ==========/

and we walked and walked.
my partner and I
walked back to
where someone waits,
to where we live for the moment.
 =====H
             H========H
                                  H===============H
                                                                      H=========
                                                                                           //
                                                                                         //
                                                                                       //
                                                                                      //

sofia soleil's birthday invitations handmade by Marie

Sofia Soleil looking out of her door perch

so we actually flew from the tropical sun

where the wind is getting cold

and blowing christmas fragrance in the air

to

where a birthday will be celebrated.

a first one

in her beautiful life.

we walked into her door 

and she is happy.

very happy.

delighted 

to see

familiar faces

from her

birth.

she can walk!

green street

Inspired by farmama, I had to see how my idea would materialize.  So I crossed the dark path leading to my studio with my son Juaqui, who was still up preparing his lessons for tomorrow.

Instead of making papier mache lanterns, I experimented on bottles.  I would normally collect empty jars, but the ones in my cabinet did not have their proper lids anymore and will just be perfect for my christmas and everyday lanterns.

I asked my friends from the Thursday Group of Antipolo artists (and we meet on Fridays of course!) the paint that would be best to use on glass.  I did not have the Pebeo glass and ceramic paint that was recommended, so I went ahead with Acrylic.  I decided that permanence will not be my thing anyway and since glass would break eventually, I went ahead with acrylic.  (of course I was dying to start the project, that is why) 

painted glass or bottle lantern for the bazaar

dramatic when lighted 

painted all around

the size of the candle will matter,  tea light would be more subtle as an after thought

Am I happy with my first work?  Oh well, it took me 2 hours to finish painting, the paint won't dry fast, but I was surprised with the finished product.  Yes, it takes little to make me happy!

love thoughts for mommy

Jacob wanted to make a special card for his Mommy.  I brought out my markers and my set of gel crayons for him to use.  I love the twister markers of Crayola because I do not have to worry about caps rolling under the bed or ending up in Golda's mouth.  Lyra Gel Kreiden or gel crayons are so easy to use.  It spreads very well on paper and gives instant gratification to young artists like Jacob. 

His projects or drawings revolve around just one thing these days - earthworms!!  I forgot to take photos of the first stage of drawings.  There was a blue earthworm where the black portion is now.

When I asked him where the earthworm was, he said, "covered with soil".  There is a green flower and several suns where he mixed red and white because he wanted pink.  Then he experimented with more mixes of primary colors: red and blue, blue and green, red and black while predicting the outcome accurately. 

He wrote the word Mommz and a heart beside it.  He colored "o" red and drew a string for a red balloon.  Below the page is his signature.

Here is all his love for his mom poured on paper.

The Crabs in Singapore

Singapore, April 2004

They say that the best place to shop for gadgets is Singapore.  I'm not sure ... or did we go to the wrong country?   These businessmen did not like us to canvass at all!  Above is a snippet of that experience from 2 stores.

You will understand why instead of posting some pictures, I ended up with this drawing!

Clearly, Singapore's version of the Filipino "crab mentality".

TAMING THE WILD GREED

Wild greed will feed on anything.  It's not even hungry.  It's just sad, lonely, unfulfilled, tired, stressed or simply compulsive. 

Wild greed's weakness is silence.  It cannot focus on silence.  Every part of the body must keep itself busy munching, chewing, grinding except  the brain that's paralyzed and numb.

Know your wild greed.  It's a very primitive response to survival.  Keep in touch with it and recognize its presence.  It can turn out to be your friend.  It can tell you where you are.  It can be your teacher.  It can teach you something. 

On being human: empty nest

This may not have lasted for a long time, but it did swoop down on me and made me lose some balance for a while -- to think that I was too busy minding other people's business.

Personal, physical, emotional, spiritual changes, you can run the whole gamut of human experience - I have gone through them ( and still a work in progress).  I went high with success, satisfaction, enlightenment, friendship, contentment, challenges on one end of the spectrum and on the other end -- went wobbly with menopause, empty nest, growing old, senility, self doubt, spiritual dryness, death, weight, sickness, career change, losses...

Here's one I tracked down from my journal more than 6 years ago.

I.  Empty nest.

 Two rooms were vacant and where my other son slept, at the foot of our bed, was vacant too.

 Alone!

My husband slept soundly, while I missed my children. 

So I visualized them in my drawings,  coming home calling our names and our dogs.

This happened so fast, and before I knew it, they were all over our place again, all over us with their wives and husband and children.

not bad!

My drawings made me laugh so hard after I made them that the drama was over in a day.


II.  Death

And this one made me laugh harder!!

tears on paper

III.  Sacrifices

Things were considered very seriously as I was writing this several years ago but I rolled on the floor crying and bursting to the seams reading it again a few days ago!

And I can't believe what I wrote as my final sacrifice: " I will not buy anything for myself - anything I already have!

 

(in fairness, it worked very well indeed)

Oh the things I did to keep my sanity!