Character

Greetings! So nice to wake up early this morning and receive an email from Behance's Chief Curator Oscar Ramos Orosco. My Lesser Known Dumptys Series has just been featured on Character Design Served's front page. Go check out and appreciate the featured project and make my head really big, like these characters. Actually, they don't have a head, just one big ovoid body with thin stick-like extremities.

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Wings

 

Insouciance  

 Pen and ink. 8"x11" on 11"x13" Bristol Board

Both the devil and the angels have wings, so do butterflies, bees and flies. When the devil loses his wings, he grows another pair. When you clip an angel's wings, he dies; so will a butterfly, a bee and a fly. So why punish the devil for his deeds by taking away everyone's wings?

Here's something...sometimes long marriages are overrated - seventy years!!!

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Thinking Of Getting Some Wings...

Hot and sour...

Sweet and sour...

Barbecue...

Okay, not those kind. We had a wonderful birthday celebration dinner for my daughter yesterday. Thanks to my husband for arranging all of that. Yes, he did. He even took charge of the card and gift. I was supposed to arrange for a cake and that is why there was no cake. I am a lousy mother. I will make up for it sometime next week when we have exercised away all the dinner calories we ingested. :) Last year I arranged for a cake and it was untouched for a week in the refrigerator. My husband told me to take it to work so it will be eaten. well, it was my daughter's cake, why should I take the whole cake to work? So I had to make a sacrifice by eating a slice... Oh well, after all mothers are expected to make sacrifices. Hehehe!




I have not done any drawing for a while. Oh let me take that back. Actually I have been drawing but not everyday. So I feel like I have not been drawing. I want to draw something for Illustration Friday but it is difficult to start. Sometimes looking at my old drawings inspire me to draw because I always see something I need to correct. Maybe after I scrub and mop the kitchen floor, clean the showers and toilets, finish my laundry, dust, tidy up...I will have a chance to light my new beeswax candles that were delivered yesterday. That may inspire me to draw something new for Wings. In the meantime, below are pen and ink drawings on 9"x12" Bristol boards. They are part of the Arabesque Series I did two or three years ago.




Yesterday I went for my annual physical exam. My doctor told me to go out in the sun for at least fifteen minutes. She does not want me to keep taking high doses of prescription Vitamin D. She said that I should be able to obtain Vitamin D naturally through diet and naturally from the sun. My children told me that my doctor is right. They said I look like a like a vampire and my legs are too white. What the heck? I do not look like a vampire but come to think of it, vampires have wings. Hmn...




What about dancing to this tune? My children wonder why I have music like this in my iPod and iTunes library. I actually have a couple of Ragheb Alama's songs. They were included in two CD albums (World Groove and Cleopatra Cafe) I bought many years ago when they were little children and when I would spontaneously belly dance while oil painting. I found this video in You Tube. Just close your eyes and soak the rhythm. Soon you will find yourself belly dancing...although I did not expect belly dancing mice!

Okay, time to mop the floor. Music, maestro!

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Celebrate Life! Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!!!

My Dearest Em, Soar!!! 

8"x11" Black and colored pigment and India ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board

Here's a quick drawing I started this morning (while waiting at my doctor's office, heheh!). 

Today is my beautiful daughter's birthday. She, who gives me so much joy and happiness and makes me very proud. Together with her brother, they give me a wonderful reason to wake up every morning and do my best. 

I love you very much Em. May you have a wonderful celebration and may this be a wonderful beginning of another adventure. Tsup Tsup Tsup!!!

Today is also Walk For Life, Celebrate Life Day!

Today is also the day I was supposed to celebrate my 25th anniversary as a R.N./Clinical Analyst at my company. Actually it was last year but they delayed the luncheon. I missed it. Instead I  took the day off and spent it with my husband.

Today is the day  to celebrate life's blessings, like I do everyday.

Today, I changed my name to Shuronda. I will tell the story next time. Gotta get ready for a celebration.

Take care everyone. Be good and do the right thing no matter how difficult.

Tsup!

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Of Tyrants And Martyrs: What Difference Does It Make?

HISTORY AS OUR TEACHER

"Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."George Santayana

When I was a teenager growing up in the Philippines, some people were concerned about the president consolidating his power by demonizing and quelling his opponents. He did everything to dismantle the opposition, weakening them, destroying them, even bombing them. The majority of the people did not believe that he will ever do anything to harm the country. He was popular, charming, intelligent, educated, spoke well, had an attractive family and many people idolized the man at a fanatical level. Truth was elusive and in its place were lies. He shut down any press organization that questioned his policies and jailed the editors with trumped up charges. The remaining press was a willing partner and became his propaganda machine. He gave entitlements to the people, gave them rice. They queued for giveaways during events which were prominently reported by the media. He visited disaster areas and posed for photo opportunities with victims and relief workers with flashy uniforms. They portrayed him as a benefactor of the poor. His wife sang with schoolchildren. He demonized the rich. 

Many incidents happened that made the public concerned and afraid for its safety. There were shootings, bombings and assassination attempts. The president's administration disarmed the people. The economy was getting worse due to uncontrolled spending, graft and corruption. There were food shortages. Inflation was high. A nation of rice eaters, some families had to eat ground corn. To save the country and establish peace, stability and security, he declared martial law. He abolished Congress, the Supreme Court and the Constitution. He jailed dissidents and opponents.  Some people were stunned, others knew it was coming, the majority seemed to welcome it. To them finally peace will reign.  They willingly gave up their liberty for farce security.

Thus began the tyrannical dictatorship that would destroy my birth country. The Philippines, once considered a developing nation in the sixties, became a banana republic and a Third World nation. The dictator looted the treasury. He banished his opponents. He nationalized private industries and corporations. He outright took corporations away from private citizens and redistributed them to his cronies. With the press as his propaganda machine they concocted an elaborate tale of how they were the chosen savior, the first lady as the reincarnation of an Egyptian queen. It's laughable now, but the Philippines a nation of intelligent men and women was held captive. During the dictatorship the country produced martyrs. We have forgotten most of their names, some disappeared and were never heard from again.

Fast forward: The economy in shambles. The opposition leader in exile returned and was assassinated in broad daylight at the airport tarmac. The people had enough. They staged a bloodless revolution - People Power. The dictator was exiled. The people returned to democracy. After more than thirty years and for a long time, the Philippines is still recovering. Corruption and cronyism are hard to uproot. The people learned a very painful lesson that seems to have been soon forgotten. Most young people today, especially those born in the eighties have no clue what my birth nation and its people endured. They seem more interested in Korean soap operas, game shows, Facebook, celebrity worship...Many of their parents are working abroad as the most educated domestic workers in countries that were way behind in academic, education and economic ratings in the sixties. The economy is still trying to recover and there are not enough jobs in the country. The dictator died but his family is back in government. Filipinos are so forgiving and forgetful.

Last month in the wake of a hold up-shooting incident in Manila, my former teacher commented how she longed for the days of martial law when all the guns were confiscated... what price are we willing to pay for presumed feeling of security?

Déjà vu

"It's déjà vu all over again." Yogi Berra

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Ang Djana Sang Manhattan

 ETCS along Libertad Street. Ballpoint pen drawing on Moleskine pocket notebook.

I was told their names were Mercurochrome, Iodine and Paregoric. They were so white and they looked like the sun was going to melt them as they squinted in the daylight. I never saw them play with the neighborhood kids. I think their father was a foreigner. He owned  the big band club along Lizares Avenue. I remember being awakened at four in the morning when the band marched along Libertad Street playing John Phillip Sousa. As it circled the block, the sound became faint until it finally faded.

Sometimes when our mother was already awake, we would hear her stirring in the kitchen. My sisters and I got up from bed and ran down to her. We begged her to let us get out of the house in our pajamas to watch the marching band. The day was dawning. Nanay let us walk down to the edge of the concrete driveway. The marching band was called "djana." Some days they wore their dress uniforms. 

The faint light of the breaking dawn silhouetted my sisters' faces. They were talking, smiling and giggling. They shared a joke. I was too young to join. My sisters Beck, Leah and Freah were frequently together, always laughing. I remember looking up a lot.

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New

So you all know there is a new oak species discovered in 2011, right? No? You did not know? Yes, in Mexico, it is Quercus delgadoana. Are you excited? I am. :) Yes, this is a quick one. I was on call yesterday so no playing for me. Happy Monday! You know I joined the International Oak Society, right? Yes, I did.

Quercus delgadoana S. Valencia, Nixon & L. M. Kelly (2011)  (Acorn and leaf not drawn on same scale). The plant grown under the name Quercus aff. eugeniifolia has now been described as a new species (Novon June 2011) Distribution: Mexico: (Hidalgo, Puebla, Veracruz)

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Morning Coffee

Blast from the past...

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Saturday, January 19th, 2013

Sometimes, I am so overcome with the idea and feeling of how much I love the people I love. I cannot breathe and see. Darn it, I am not being dramatic. It is what it is. I love my family. I love my friends. That makes me absolutely very happy. When I think of my life and what I do, I think in terms of  how much I can do to make them happy and help them achieve their dreams. I know this does not sound very fashionable among the progressives and feminists who want women to break every glass ceiling and  knock off the pedestals, to be out there, to do things for themselves and follow their dreams. These days, all I do, I do because I want to honor those I love. That gives me tremendous satisfaction. Thinking of myself, what I need and getting it does not make me that happy when I do it for that purpose alone. Maybe I am just a simple person and my desires are quite ordinary or maybe I am just blessed with having people near me who make me happy to love. Someday when I die, I want to be remembered not for the things I have done to which I have affixed my signature, those too I made sure I did right and well, but I want those I love to feel the love I had for them, like my sister Leah does to me, like my parents do to me. I suppose that is the nature of love. It does not die with the passing of life. Sometimes I have become my mother, although if I am half the woman she was, that would be quite a lot. Incidentally I also love this country. This is my home and the home of some of those I love. I pray that those who want to do it harm will fail, miserably.

Today I pray for those who were murdered by the terrorists in Algeria. I pray for the victims' families. Terrorism and terrorists are real. Contrary to some boastful and untrue pre-election pronunciations they are not on the run. They murdered our ambassador in Libya with impunity. Today, they murdered many citizens from different countries including the USA and the Philippines. The terrorists have not been disarmed. We are sending over $1 billion to Egypt where our embassy was burned and whose leader calls the Israelis descendants of pigs and apes. Instead we are campaigning to disarm law-abiding citizens of this country.

Our hearts may be in the right place but we are are not thinking things through. We are emotionally reacting using children as props, advancing political agenda instead of weighing sensible solutions for what will truly make our children and our communities safe. It is like some people I know who request rule programs because something bad happened but failed to address how to prevent the next bad thing from happening again. No meaningful dialogue will come out of any campaign where anyone with an opposing view is demonized. I have lived in this country since 1982 and I have never seen such divide. Meaningful civilized discourse is almost impossible. People operate on four percent of the truth that will advance their position. One party thinks the other of being evil and the other party thinks the other is just plain wrong. People hide in anonymity in the public forums and blogs as they spew vitriol against each other. True journalism is dead. In its place is sensationalism. Instead of reporting, reporters are the news.

Earlier today, I spoke to a friend who recently got divorced from her husband. She lives alone with her eight year old son and sixteen year old daughter. Her neighbor's dog went to her yard and made a mess. She politely talked to her neighbor. That night, the neighbor knocked on her door, obviously intoxicated, he yelled at her and threatened to harm her. She closed the door on him and called the police. Consumed by fear, it took three hours for the police to show up. My friend went out to buy a gun, learned gun safety and had target shooting practice. She hopes and prays she will never have to use the gun. Any gun control measure should include sensible dialogue to prevent people like my friend from becoming victims.

On a lighter note, my niece is a candidate for graduation from her nursing college. Congratulations W! My neighbor J came from Portugal and brought me a can of sardines. Heheheh. I received my Sugru pack and salvaged my MacBook charger by reinforcing the weakened cable connections. I hope it will stay. I saw the little girl next door who I used to carry in my arms when she was a baby. She is now ten years old. She told me that she framed the photograph of me holding her when she was a baby. Her mother informed me that she idolizes me. I had no idea. I have not spoken to her in years. When I come home from work I am so tired and just want to go inside, close the door and relax. I should really wave to that little girl and say hello now and then. Excuse me, Frank is serenading me...

Oh, I almost forgot, I permanently deleted my Facebook art page but I reactivated my personal Facebook page. I started missing some friends' updates.  This was my personal update this morning:

"I know my friends and I may be preaching to the choir with this status update but here's something we can all share. It's an idea that may be difficult to live by in today's narcissistic, selfish and self-centered world. On Martin Luther King Day remember what he once said: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'""

Have a wonderful week!

Tsup!

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Wander Off Into Myths

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." Timothy 4:3-4

Signs of Spring. 8"x11" Pigment ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board

Whispers of Longing For Signs Of Spring In The Winter Of Discontent

What happened to hope?

And change?

Never have two words 

Been so maligned

And distorted

Since

Acorn

This is now

A country called united

So divided

A country once considered 

World leader

Made irrelevant

Insignificant

Mocked

And derided

Terrorists considered to be on the run

Killing Americans 

With impunity

Our leaders proudly proclaimed

Of having chased away terrorism

Quiet
Cried  during the parade of coffins
Touching image

Oh, that was just the 

Demagogue campaigning
To date truth is elusive

We have priorities

Celebrities and reality shows Tweets Sexting Sharing myths and urban legends Lies and distortions Instant communication  Shallow and empty Exhibitionists and stalkers Vile commentaries  in public dialogues Cowardly hiding behind anonymity Falling in-love virtually Friends by the thousands Never having met Make believe Killing hundreds in video games Smoking dope Free birth control pills Abortion on demand Young girls Their mothers need not know...

Free phones

Free food stamps

Free health care

Just making things 

A little more fair and more equal

So we take from one to give to the other

Perhaps wiping off the smiles 

From those who toiled and have

Will make the rest of us grin

Except we are now all equal

Slaves to debt

Don't worry

Here, take an anti-depressant

Do you have an 

Avtomat Kalashnikova at home?

Why not

Whatever for? 

Give up a little liberty 

Let drones hover above

Let Big Brother care for us

Because we are incapable?

Black boxes in our cars

Tracking devices on pill bottles

Please take off your shoes

Strip your coat

Raise your hands above your head

Do not move

There!

Didn't that make you feel 

A little more secure?

In Illinois 

Where I visited

1 in 3 living in poverty mostly in Chicago

513 killed 

In gun violence in 2012 

"144 American soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan in June, 228 Chicagoans had been killed during that same time period. Many of the dead were school age or teenagers."*

In one state.

Why were there no 

Executive Orders? ***

No press corps? No photo opportunities? No closeup of tear shedding in a press conference in the midst a football game?

Why wait 

For an insane antisocial evil

 To massacre little children? 

Because they were better looking 

And more effective props?
Despicable tyrants and demagogues love to use children as props.

Let's blame someone

Let's blame something

Just blame

Maybe we should talk?

No one listens

We cannot hear above the shouting
Or the silence of those who favor gun control but worry about their own survival

In the next election
More photo opportunities
More fawning.

No sense no sensibilities
United states
Divided people 

Failing to learn from history

Ignoring where we came from

Why we are here

We will be lost

Let it not be so

This is my home
Promised land
I believe
Americans will do the right thing.

*** Unofficially, there were 513 homicides in Chicago in 2012, nearly 100 more than New York City, which recorded 414 killings but which has a population three times larger. Chicago’s body count is 200 more than the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan last year. The carnage has continued unabated into the New Year.

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Aaaarrrghhhh!!!

Darn dogs! Woke me up at two to go outside. 

Now they are asleep and I am wide awake.

AAARRRRRRGGGHHH!

P.S. Don't forget to sign up for my oak blog giveaway :)

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In going through a journey of self discovery do not forget those who love you…

...in case you stumble and fall, they are the ones who will help you get up on your feet or summon a stretcher for you. They may also be the ones to collect your ashes.

Signs of Spring

Last year I witnessed many great passing, tremendous losses to families and friends of people whose lives affected, inspired and helped many. These were people who knew their calling and performed them with great dedication, honor and integrity. For a while, my Facebook news feed seemed like the obituary pages. These were young people too, a couple were classmates of mine in elementary and high school, my friends and fellow professionals. They were taken away in the prime of their lives. After the collective community grief, the outpouring of condolences, the families who love these people very much, quietly collected their bodies and ashes and moved on. We had our own share of grief.

I don’t want to start on a bleak note here but the turn of the new year always inspires many of us to rethink our personal journeys. It is good practice to weigh our stations in life and to assess our worth as individuals and our contributions. In my circle, most of us think how we can be useful.  I have read of many people’s dreams and the desire to pursue those dreams. I am no exception. I go through the motions and not just in January. When going through the process, I always agonize.

Last month I was so happy. I think it was the happiest I have been since my sister’s passing. I still remember her everyday just as I remember all my sisters and brothers. In my remembrance of my sister Leah, I still feel sad, but every time I light a candle to pray, I see her portrait, smiling, so pretty, with kind eyes, bright and confident. I am bound to weep but I remember how she lived her life. Seeing me weep would have broken her heart, and so I catch myself and think all the wonderful things that she was to me and my family, to the community in general. Then I am inspired and I resolve to be a better person. I steady myself and I am overcome with love. No, I am not being dramatic, I actually feel love. You know, when you feel it and there is no one to whom you can give love,  it sounds rather sad. I never actually had an absence of someone to love, so I would not really know.

Last month, I was so happy! I deactivated all social media sites. I did not answer the mail and return calls except of those important to me. I spent time with my family, my husband and children and pets during the  Christmas holiday. We were relaxing, decorating, cooking, cleaning and celebrating the holidays. It was pure bliss. There were days when there were no television, no radio noise, no music player; just us reading, having conversations, drinking tea. One day we were tasting chocolates. :)

I love reading. I love books. Most of all, I love quietly reading surrounded by people I love. With a warm cup of tea or coffee, looking out the window where the sky was gray, bleak and cold, I was still overcome with peace. I was thinking of my own journey. In the past, I always felt so overwhelmed, lost and confused planning it. I knew why! My plan showed Me, I, Myself. When I stopped doing that and included the people I love, I found a clearer path. Most of all, I was smiling. I noticed I did not do any art. 

Yes, I was happy without art. Imagine that!

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Deeper Than The Ocean, Bluer Than The Sky...

McWay Falls, California, U.S.A. Colored and black pigment ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board

...Yes!!! to whatever I am referring, it is true! There should be something that alludes to high mountains too, but there is no mountain on this drawing. Also, something about the river... :)

I do not think I am happy about this drawing. As you may have noticed, I have been using a bit of colored pigment ink lately. I am trying to be subtle, using color as a highlight. Quite frankly, to me, unless it is red for blood, putting color on my black pen and ink drawing makes it look kitschy and cheap. So I think I managed to ruin this drawing quite nicely!

Long live black and white!

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Happy Edge

Rooted.  8"x11" colored and black pigment ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board

Good morning! (Yes, it is morning somewhere in the world, hehehe!) It seems ages since I blogged. So many things are happening in my life and the world. I have been so busy at work. Extremely busy. So, if I have been mute about a lot of things lately, it is because I am preserving my energy to deal with realities, several of which I consider impractical and burdensome or bureaucratically onerous as we implement Obamacare. My job is to convert the law's interpretations to clinical decision support modules. Do I have the edge? Well, it feels more like clinging to a cliff. Fortunately, my roots run deep and so I cling. Just like these trees I have drawn for Illustration Friday’s theme. I drew these images this past weekend. I decided to use colors, hopefully in a subtle way. 

Taal Lake and Tall Volcano. 8"x11" colored and black pigment ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board

The above is an illustration of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. On August 13^th, 2011, my daughter visited the place with my sister, her aunt, Tita Leah. I miss my sister, if indeed angels in heaven come from good humans, there is a new angel up there. I would like to think that she visits and looks down upon us here once in a while. I was not able to make that trip but my daughter took some amazing photographs. At that time, my sisters, brothers, and I gathered in Manila to be with our sister. The doctor gave her two weeks to live if she did not undergo brain surgery. The lung cancer had metastasized to her brain. Our sister fought bravely but seven months later she passed away. It was a month and two days after her 60^th birthday. She would have been 61 this month. I miss my sister very much. Yet, as time goes by, the pain and sorrow change to a sadness that somehow seems to comfort more than hurt. The memory of my sister inspires and strengthens me. Though I am sometimes sad, thinking of her fills me with love. In life we are blessed and gifted with the best relations but some are taken away too soon.

Also, this month, my family will be all smiles, two other special reasons and celebrations. It's the epsilons' birthday month. They are epsilons no more. This week,  we will give thanks and celebrate my son's birthday. Then in two more weeks, we celebrate my daughter's birthday. These two have brought my husband and me enormous pride and joy. I could dedicate a whole blog about the adventure of raising children in America, but suffice to say, their father and I love them so very much and we are so proud of them.

At home when I light candles, I do so to honor my ancestors and dearest departed family members, but I also give thanks and celebrate life. Such is the state of things. I guess after all, I do have an edge. Life is good. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Edge. 8"x11" colored and black pigment ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board

Edge Too. 8"x11" colored and black pigment ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board

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