New Bugs!!!

I made new bugs. Happiness!

I haven't done any wirework stuff in a while. A cousin requested to have one commissioned for a friend and I couldn't say no even though my neck and arm is not recovered yet so I made...


Antfly

After I finished all my chores I went on to make...

White Ant and...


Mookie G!


Princess Antela



Prinsipe Talahib (Prince Reed)

I just can't stop making these critters. That's why I haven't made any in a while. I wont' be able to stop until my arm and hand hurts. Oh, well. I'll risk it. I need the creative fix and the members of my previous bug menagerie are now with their new charges so I could use new guardians.

Typhoon Thrusday

Yesterday was exquisite bed weather. Rainy, with occasional gusty winds and minimal street noise from pesky tricyles that cannot drive by in their usual cantankerous speed due to the weather. Hah! Happiness!

School was canceled throughout the city and it was perfect for curling up in bed with a good book. So I took advantage of the weather and instead of itching to go to the nearest mall to watch a movie or pick up the books I ordered, I stayed home and worked on these pages some more.

Missy, a dear friend did me the favor of buying my medication and agreed to visit me at home instead of going out for snacks so I had even more time to enjoy the weather.

This is the building where I live. My flat is on the top floor. I almost pasted over this one. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to so I decided to do a paper mosaic on the building instead. Halfway through it I lost all hope of redeeming it visually, until Missy saw it. She asked what's so awful about it and told me how it distinctly looks like my house. So here it is now after much fussing over. Its a bit more decent than it was when I started on it.

This is the cabinet of drawers that I called, "Hiding Places"


This is what the inside of those drawers look like. The black and white stamp and ink drawing is still a work in progress. I plan to write something in it about what the things in the cabinet signify.

I was planning to stay in bed most of the day as my allergies took a turn for the worst and made breathing a struggle but I just couldn't. After I finished working on these pages I realized that I felt better despite the asthma. What do you know, art really does make me feel better, and happy and accomplished.

Rainy Wednesday

I woke up to the sound of heavy rain. An hour later I heard the joyful squeels of young females. I live accross the street from a Catholic school for girls and such happy sounds could only mean one thing. Classes have been canceled. So another two hours passed with increased sounds of heavy traffic as parents and school bus service struggle to get a turn at picking up their charges in front of the school.

Meanwhile I was happily enjoying the fact that even though Wednesday is my first day of work every week I am not due to report back to work until next week. Hah! Happiness ever!

I love the rain even when I'm not at home. I love it even more when I'm at home where I can alternate sipping soup and leafing through my favorite children's books or curling up in bed reading a good book.

Being on sick leave for a month and half has given me a taste of what it'll be like when I retire and now I can't wait until I do.

I've been alternating doing my routines, -going to the grocers, light cleaning, laundry, with drawing and painting pages in my visual journal. I've had more time to surf without stress either.

So here's looking forward to retiring.

Another cause for celebration

Yesterday I went to my favorite bookstore, Fully Booked. I ended up buying these books.




I would've loved Spilling Open instead but I was ecstatic to be able to own any of Sabrina's books. I discovered her website and read about her personal journey of discovery has inspired me immensely so finally getting the chance to read any book by her is deeply satisfying indeed.





Lane Smith turned out to be one of my favorite illustrators. I've loved the simplicity of his pencil illustrations for James & The Gian Peach. I found his The True Story of the Three Little Pigs in a pile of books on sale during one of National Book Store's annual Cut Price Book Sale without realizing that the same person illustrated these two books. Now I'm a hapless collector of Lane Smith's books. His style is as varied as the list o his published illustrations and stories. His use of texture and color has inspired me, yet again -immensely.

I can't wait to get started on The True & The Questions. Its a journal book with creative and expressive prompts. This'll be the first time I'll try my hand at altered book art. Her pages are so much more raw than mine. I plan and agonize over each of my journal entries. Perhaps this will be my chance to open up and be more spontaneous.

Happiness!

Why do I blog?

Hmm. It just struck me to ask that. At the moment, I have no idea why.

Uh, its an outlet? I do know that when it starts to begin to feel like a chore I will stop doing it. That's one thing I'm certain of.

I had many qualms about blogging, especially putting up my very personal visual journal (VJ) pages. Why? Some of my students are the most inappropriate creatures on the face of the planet and they say the most inappropriate things to me. No doubt that my personal pages would elicit some gems but blogging being just the therapeutic fix that I need at the moment I decided to suck it up and throw caution in the wind. So here we are.

I've come accross some of the most interesting blogs on the web. Blaugustine, Sparky Donnatelo's,
Lucy Pepper’s, to name a few of my favorites.

Anyhow, its an exercise in introspection and a medium of self-expression so on with it, I say.

Tweaking my pages again.

I've again, tweaked some of my previous pages. I can't seem to stop doing that. Sometimes I end up regreting it but I've atleast saved versions of these pages so I have something to go back to even if I can't do the same on the actual page. They're all hand rendered on an actual hand bound journal.

I suppose I could always just paste over the darn page with a new one. Okay, I'm'a stop babbling now and start uploading the page. E-he-he!

Pressed for time, is the page before the Rotten Garbage page and how I feel about it. I know its something I have to deal with and that I'm running out of time. This one has some resemblance to me compared to Achieving Growth. I've intentionally drew the head bigger. Actually, I wanted it even bigger, like looking at it from fish eye lenses. I suppose I can always tweak it in photoshop then but this is how the actual page looks like on my journal.

Here's the Rotten Garbage page again for visual reference.


I've also finished, hopefully, the top page of Hiding Places. It was gonna be a pop-up page but I realized that just wont work here since I've already finsihed the whole page. I should've done the paper engineering before I renedered it. So now it'll probably end up having a second page that shows what the cabinet looks like when the door and drawers are open. Oooh! Its agonizing to have different goal in mind and end up not accomplishing that. Ugh!

It doesn't look like me, eh? What can I say. My brush seems to have another person in mind when it drew this. Who knows, maybe its a sign that I'm not the one achieving growth. Ha-ha!

Solitude

I wrote the text using PS. Someday when I'm feeling more confident about how I'm going to execute those text I'll do it by hand, and ofcourse, upload yet another version of it here.

Well, what I say. My works, like myself and my life is perpetually a work in progress.

Panglimang Self-portrait

Fifth Self portrait.

This one's a study for a journal entree on the idea of the THE LITTLE GIRL INSIDE OF ME. I was inspired by Antwone Fisher's poem.

Anyhow, I thought I'd pitch it in as part of Sparky's Self-Portrait Marathon. It being the last week and all.

Thanks to Natalie for the invite to participate in the said marthon. Thanks for Sparky for including me. Its been fun.

New Visual Journal Pages

Here's another self-portrait candidate for Crackskull Bob's Portrait Marathon.



Whew! My computer's more efficient now. Thanks to the Disk Warrior and Gabs Villegas!

I can finally upload some of my new pages.

These two are the front endpiece of my current journal.

I just finished watching Mirror Mask several times when I did this one.




I did the one on the right while waiting for my turn at the social security's office and then later at the doctor's waiting hall.