Happy Birthday Beloved Arija!!!

Written September 24, 2010
I was taking a beauty rest and then my mobile phone chimed. It was Arija, leaving a comment and telling me that she was on her way to the Farmer's Market (in Australia) for her birthday breakfast. I know her birthday is tomorrow but then I realized that today in Australia is already my tomorrow so I hurried up and got together my Birthday Greeting Crew (Elie, The Elephant, Piggy, The Pig and Beauregard, The Mouse). Oh goodness! I have never squiggled so fast so I can send this birthday greeting on time for Arija. So here it is my beloved sisterfriend, it arrives today on your birthday the day before it becomes today here, so I will pre-date this post so it will look like I sent it on the right day which is actually the day before the real date here and tomorrow, the date will be right but it will be your yesterday...I think, I have successfully managed to confuse myself!

Update: September25, 2010
Okay, okay! So that was confusing. Explanation: Yesterday in Australia was Arija's birthday which is today in Texas. So in essence, Arija's birthday was yesterday when you consider geography, but if you refer to calendar dates, it is today. So Arija celebrated her birthday yesterday and hopefully will continue to do so by celebrating it today. Simple!!! Don't you get it? See, I understand these things because when I first came to the US, I left the Philippines on my 24th birthday and 24 hours later, it was still my birthday in the US! I celebrated it with my twin Gemini sister who only had one birthday cake, unlike me who had two birthday cakes...

Since it is Arija's birthday, I will spread her love and give this coveted award. You may read about the award here.

Shirley Ng Benitez
Julia Christie
Steveroni
Andrew Finnie
Amalia
Lakhsmita Indira
Audrey
Linda Cardina
Jan
Janice
Silke
Tammie Lee
K.H. Whitaker
Martinealison
Jack Foster

My dearest darling sisterfriend Arija,
my Pink Rose;
my beloved sisterfriend;
the giving one;
the one with beautiful seeing eyes;
the one with the healing hands
and green thumbs;
the one with comforting words;
the one with a soothing soul,

Happy Birthday my Beloved Sisterfriend, Arija!

I love you!

Housekeeping

There was a time when I was not drawing nuts.
A time when I was drawing rocks and trees;
Pachyderms and humans;
Genus musa and Lady muses,
Forests and mountains;
Women falling;
Men cracking;
Corpses hanging...
Ah yes, I was prolific...
I drew over 300 over-sized and standard-sized images
covering every inch, every white space of the Bristol Board.
I had the best muses,
I still do.
I am not lamenting the fact that I am drawing acorns and leaves.
They are mind soothing exercises.
It is a sign of the times.
When before my drawings instilled me with emotions,
and fired my ire,
Now I draw to calm and soothe my nerves.
I don't have some of these drawings any longer.
They have been gifted to the people who inspired them.
Soon I will display all of them on my online gallery blog.
As I clean my home where these drawings are scattered everywhere.
In the meantime, here's a preview:

In the year 2008, I was blessed with the friendships of Arija and Bella Sinclair. They brought into my life, abundant love, inspiration and friendship.
I meet Renee, Vanessa and Linda through Bella,
Deborah and Marie through Renee,
Manon through Linda,
Then Tessa and Karin, Caroline, Anne, Annie, Shirley, Mita, Amalia, Tammie, Jan...
Andrew, Steve...I will get in trouble for leaving out some names here and I will feel terrible but my mind is so full right now... please forgive me if I am too dense to remember...
I keep meeting new friends!
My friends at work who likewise fill me with love, support and inspiration...
My family and I thank you!!!
I am so blessed.
Some of these friendships have transcended the blogs
where I find the most loyal and steadfast of friendship, love and caring
when I find myself crumbling and cracking like an egg,
like that he-man up there in one of my drawings...
Thank you!
Tsup!



...and Steve, "Tsup" is an onomatopoeia for a kiss. It's when you let a sound pass through your puckered lips.

New Quercus Acorn Images

Look what I got in the mail yesterday! My own elephant figurine, lovingly created by the beautiful Bella Sinclair. She used my oak leaf drawings which she printed on mulberry paper to decorate the cute pachyderm. Not long ago, Bella and I were talking about the decorated elephants in London. What a delightful surprise! I love this elephant, my own Elie! Elie is standing on a matted collage of oak leaves which, together with a collage of acorns, I am soon shipping out to one very special lady in the east coast. Thank you dearest, Bella Sinclair!

My new schedule is forcing me to do what I always never enjoyed doing, unless it was necessary - sleeping. I am so tired after my evening's exercise that I can't wait to hit the showers and the bed. However, I find myself full of energy in the daytime, but I spend those hours working. So, these are the only things I managed to do this week - new quercus oak and leaf drawings. These are larger pieces on Bristol board, measuring 9"x12". I plan to draw at least two dozens of these and a few extras as gifts. I am dedicating this new series to my two brothers, five sisters, sisterfriends Arija, Tessa, Bella Sinclair and Deborah.


I have mailed the first batch of acorns and leaves to the winners. I am mailing the second batch on Monday after I prepare them for mailing. Thank you again for participating. I hope to have another giveaway next week.

Quercus virginiana



Quercus falcata

Quercus prinus

Quercus Falcata and The Winners

This is a new series that I started two days ago. This is a pigment ink drawing on a 9"x12" Bristol Board. I started inserting copyright text on some of my drawings, though not all. I hate it actually but I have a particular feeling about this series being lifted without my knowledge. I am still continuing the other series I started such as the 200 Plus Oak leaves and Acorn Series, The Fiesta (oil painting) series... Life is short, might as well get busy.

I am very happy to announce the winners of my Give-Away:

Tammie
Arija
Julia Christie
Amalia K.
Diana Evans
Silke
Barbara G.
Jack Foster
Andrew
Marie
Autumn Leaves
Jan

Please drop me a line and email me your mailing address. If you are giving me a P.O. Box, please know that the package measures at least 9" x 12". Due to customs requirements, I do not think I can send to a P.O. Box, if you live across the ocean. I will email you when I have mailed your package. Thank you for participating. Update 8/23/2010: I was able to mail to a P.O. Box in Australia with the customs declaration, so if you want to send me a P.O. Box address from overseas, I think it's okay.

Oh Veeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

To all my blog friends and visitors:

Thank you for your visits and comments. I appreciate them very much. They make me happy and joyful in the midst of a very busy and occupied state. I hope to visit all of you soon!!! Tsup!!!

My Beloved Sisterfriend Vanessa Brantley-Newton:

Vee,
You are my sisterfriend.
I love you.
I wish you joy and happiness.
I wish you fame and fortune.
I wish you success.
Thank you for making me very happy.
Thank you for being kind and generous to me.
Thank you for loving me.
You are my sisterfriend.
You are in my life.
I love you, Vee.

My beloved, beautiful sisterfriend Vanessa Brantley-Newton is one heck of an illustrator. There is nothing that lady can't do! Her illustrations remind me of the soothing comfort of yesteryear. I met Vanessa through my darling sisterfriend Bella Sinclair.

Vanessa is one of my Oak Nymphs. On the left she is tending to an acorn of the Quercus turbinela.

Vanessa is a true gem. Just thinking of her makes me smile. Her comments are so full of energy. When she writes that she has tears in her eyes, I really see the tears in her comments. But when she says she is laughing, watch out, I have the biggest grin in my face and I scream AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

Oy Veeeeeeeeeeee!!!



Bella (dots), Ces (stripes) and Vee (geometric shapes) on The Sisterfriend Express during Sisterfriend Day.

Non sequitor - Along The Trails, My Sky and Oak

Be careful when clicking to blow up anything:

Ah, let me derail your thoughts from the Tears Series for a moment as I post previous drawings illustrating my interpretation of Illustration Friday's "Trail" topic. It's a good diversion for me as I draw these fabulous women and force a tear out their beautiful eyes.

From The Illustrated Abecedarian Series: G - Garbriela and Ghalan on the trail (grove) of the gentle giant (above). and H (below) - A happy ending for the hound and the hapless heir. These are 9"x12" pen and ink drawings on Bristol board.

On the trail of the storm, not the same storm that fried the desktop but the one outside my office window yesterday. I love it when my fellow employees alert me and ask : "Did you see the sky?" They know I love clouds and think of me when they see interesting cloud formations.

Last Christmas, my beloved sisterfriend Deborah sent me two acorn seedlings. I let them stay in their beautiful nursery boxes for months and finally transplanted them last week. These are the Quercus chrysoplepsis, massive oak trees. They will stay in the pots for a while, perhaps transplant them to bigger pots as I look for a canyon because, after all, they are also called Canyon oak.

THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU!!!

To all my friends who made my birthday a very special day in the blogs:

Bella Sinclair, Shirley Ng Benitez, Deborah,
Thank you for the special birthday posts and drawings
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Arija, Manon Doyle, Bimbimbie, Lakhsmita Indira, Amalia K, Anne Huskey-Lockhard, Lori Ann, Steveroni, Audrey, Marie, Valerie Walsh, Diana Evans, Atelier Brigitte, Aimee, Jan, Pam, Karin Bartimole, Jenea, Eric Barclay, Linda Cardina, Caroline, Vanessa Newton, Francisco Martins, Sarah, Angelique, and last but not the least - my beloved Gemini twin sister Buckram and Bembo ♥♥♥♥♥♥

Tears are a wonderful release of an overburdened soul...

My beloved Arija, draped in natural fabric art created by her daughter, the fabulous India Flint. Arija's blog says she is 1996 years old, so I tried to capture her in what I think she might have looked at 500. Levity aside, she is ancient in wisdom, yet youthful and not aging in her vision. Her beautiful eyes, not mere receptors of things that surround her but a teaching method for those of us who forget to stop, look and listen.


I asked Arija what color are her eyes and she replied "When I am happy and well they are green, sometimes they look black and when I am truly unwell they are a grey-green flecked with pale brown." I would love to gaze into those eyes of hers and say "Hello there, you are my beloved friend who dwells in my heart and I thank you so much for everything you have done for me and what you mean to me."


The almost monochromatic illustration above was actually done with sixteen different colored pencil hues, India ink, graphite pencil and pigment ink. Doesn't that confirm that the most meaningful and worthy entity may appear unassuming but may actually be comprised of multiple layers as opposed to something flashy, flamboyant and comprised of merely few layers and when stripped leaves you with nothing.

That I draped her with India's artistic natural fabric creation, is because Arija has been through so many droughts, fire that ravaged everything her family owned after being displaced by war and rebuilding, of illnesses and most recently a brush with death... Life is not fair, isn't it? Yet Arija is full of celebration for its goodness and not once did I ever hear her hum the victim's melody.

Ah she cries most certainly and says...

"Tears are a wonderful release of an overburdened soul, be it from pain, from sorrow or joy or the exquisite tightness around the heart for that which moves us deeply: light, beauty, character in an old experienced face, a simple blade of grass in the wind... the world is so full of beauty, my eyes keep filling with sheer joy when I look around."


One day I wrote something in my blog that was truly personal. I tried to be obscure as I can be but that did not escape two special people's discerning minds. I am sure others intuit my messages but that time, only two felt it in their hearts. Don't let anybody tell me that my blog friends are all in my mind. It is not true. They are in my heart and I shall carry them with me.

Of this series, I have a few more illustrations. I am excited to share with you an illustration of my wonderful younger sister and ooooh! I am drawing Vanessa. Of course I tried to draw my mother and I failed miserably. I ran out of 9"x12" Bristol boards and need to order more.


I wish everyone a wonderful holiday weekend. I am not ignoring your comments. Thank you very much. I will stop by when you are not looking. Please remember the soldiers who sacrificed their lives and those who are still in harm's way so that we may be free.

Shed A Tear, But That's It

India Ink, pigment ink, colored pencils, graphite pencil on 9"x12" Bristol board. Inspired by my most beloved friend.

She said:
That's right.
Stand firm.
Do not falter.
Shed a tear, but that's it.


I have drawn two other portraits with this series and as I drew them I kept thinking NOT about the tears or tear but about how I am inspired, strengthened and encouraged by these women. As I kept drawing, I cannot, in my heart continue to make this series dwell on sadness. When I started thinking of Bella, Arijah, Deborah, Manon, Vanessa and Silke, I started looking at this series in a different light. I have read these beautiful women's blogs and every time I read something a little heart tugging or breaking, my heart rejoices in witnessing their courage and their resolve. Feeling sorry for oneself does indeed take time and sometimes it is more romantic to wallow in sadness and talk or write about it, but it is not really my style. I never subscribed to the Victim mentality. I have this genetic tendency to view any event that threatens my peaceful state with resolve, to conquer and demolish it, I did not cry. I used to view crying as a sign of weakness or acceptance of defeat. No more. Giving tears their due time, allow me to acknowledge the pain and the hurt…then I move forward, having pondered the state from which I have to extract myself and those in my care.

Tell me, how do you view tears and crying?

Ah, as for me, tears are good and weeping is okay, but that's it.

Go on and move ahead.

No. 7 - Las Hijas de Señora Phenomena Naturale - Bagyo-Bagyo

Bagyo-Bagyo. Permanent pigment ink on 12"x9" Bristol board. Double click to view details.
On the eve of Hurricane Ike, as I photographed the skies, I noticed a swarm of dragonflies flying in circles.
I included them on the drawing above along with other observations.

Clockwise from top left: Ulan and Monsoon, Tsunami, Lindol, Ba'ha', Buhawi, Bulkana

Bagyo-Bagyo brews typhoons in the Pacific Ocean and hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. She is responsible for washing away shore towns, blowing away rooftops, smashing glass windows, and sending oil tankers ashore in the middle of Mactan Island, once. She was responsible for erasing villages and subdivisions in the Gulf Coast map and submerging towns in the Philippines. She is high and mighty and when she comes she brings along her sister Buhawi and Ba'ha, but most often does their jobs herself. Her torrential rains plus the visitation of her sister Lindol and human mistakes of illegal logging and mining was responsible for the appearance of her sister Lutak' that buried Guinsaugon village in the town of Saint Bernard in Southern Leyte, burrying alive 1,126 people including an elementary school in session with 246 students and 7 teachers. Only one child and one adult survived.


Before her arrival, the skies cry out with gray ominous clouds and fiery splendor.

The skies before Hurricane Ike landfall, dedicated to my sisterfriend Arija:

Click on photos to enlarge