Oink Oink Thank You Oh Banana Abaca!

A Pig Visiting A Small Grove of Musa Textilis. Permanent Pigment Ink on 12"x9" Bristol Board. Double click image to enlarge. Musa textilis or abaca is a member of the banana family and without the fruit, it may be easily mistaken as a regular banana plant. It is indigenous to the Philippines. The plant is unlike other banana plants with its characteristic slender and pointed leaves. The fruits are full of large seeds and not practical for consumption but the abaca is a versatile plant used for hemp and cordage (Manila hemp), furniture and specialized paper used for tea and coffee bags, sausage casing paper, currency notes, cigarette filter papers, medical food preparation and disposal papers and high-quality writing paper. The original Manila folders and envelopes were originally made of abaca hemp. Today's Manila envelopes and folders are manufactured elsewhere using cheap and easily torn paper. The abaca plant consists of about 12 to 30 stalks radiating from a central root system and about 12 to 20 feet high. The abaca fiber is stripped from the stem not the leaf.


Do you know that the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano in Iceland has been erupting since March 26, 2010? The eruption creates pollutants (sulfuric acid) but volcanic eruptions cool down the earth's atmosphere and create the most beautiful skies. You may check my sidebar for the Natural Hazards link.


Okay! I am off to do some oil paintings but first a load of laundry and a quick one hour drawing to exercise my brain. In the past I use to paint still life oil paintings of Fiesta dishes for exercise but now I exercise with pen and ink drawings. I am drawing The Typhoon Queen. Her name is Bagyo-Bagyo which is the tenth month of the calendar in the Hiligaynon language:

Month - Bulan (meaning month or moon) in Ilonggo which is the conversational version of the language heavily influenced by Spanish and Hiligaynon which is the pure language:

January - Enero; Ulalong
February - Pebrero; Gagangkahoy
March - Marso; Dagangbulan
April - Abril; Kiling
May - Mayo; Himabuyan
June - Hunio; Kabay
July - Hulio; Hidapdapan
August - Agosto; Lubad-lubad
September - Septiyembre; Kangurolsol
October - Oktubre; Bagyo-bagyo
November - Nobiyembre; Panglot-diotay
December - Desiyembre; Panglot-daku

The Viking

This is not The Viking but he loves this painting. He saw it in my apartment in New Jersey 1984. It's a cover up painting. There are about four other paintings underneath. I told him he can have it. He left it with me. He asked me to bring it with me to Texas when I moved. I had no idea why he thought I would move. Two years later I moved to Texas.

I love my husband. I call him The Viking. He is of Norwegian, English and German decent. The photos on the left were taken around the time we met in the Philippines. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer and I was taking post graduate nursing studies in Manila. I have loved him since that evening I saw him from across the room at a Christmas party in 1979. Our glances met. He was wearing white polo shirt with thin horizontal stripes and blue jeans. He looked so handsome yet so gentle. He looked like a very kind man. All my impressions of him were true. I was so jolted and shaken, suddenly I felt my chest cavity tighten, I had to catch my breath. I whispered to myself "Oh my God! I just met my husband." It took another two hours of exchanging glances before I got so fed up that he was so shy, he did not approach me. I came with a friend and she was impatient. She wanted to leave. She told me that her chauffeur was waiting downstairs and was getting hungry. I told her to let the chauffeur come up and eat. She had none of it. I told her I was waiting for the American to approach me. She warned me about American men then she left me at the party. I approached The Viking, I was so nervous yet excited. He was so handsome with blond hair and mustache. We were both young. I said: "Hi, I saw you looking at me from across the room." He replied "You were looking at me too." I retorted "You looked first." He responded "Yes, please sit down next to me."I was wearing white rolled up long sleeved collared shirt tucked in my blue jeans. I sat down next to him. He said "I like your shoes." I was wearing custom made brown oxford shoes.

He complains about my shoes. He says I have so many shoes. He thinks I must have a hundred. I correct him. "One hundred and one, at least!" He exhales. I love my husband.