On Trying to be Myself

I was supposed to post this the day I left for my climb last January 14 but was unable to because my internet connection was really acting up. It is now nine days post-climb and a whole chasm has opened up and closed, wrong has been set to right and so I was wondering if I should even post this. But since this is about being myself I thought I'd like to remember this day and how it felt....

Here is what I wrote:

I opened my email today and was instantly struck by the title of Chris Guillebeau's (of The Art of Non-Conformity) blog post title "How to be Yourself".  I'm subscribed to receive his blog posts but don't get to read them all the time due to so many other things I need to do, so I leave it in my inbox to back track when I have time.  Today, the title jumped out at me and the article struck a chord because I had just had some words with my partner about my trip this weekend to climb Mt. Pulag (2nd Highest Mountain peak in the Philippines).  He is pretty miffed (and that's a kinder word) by my decision to go on that climb, which has been planned out almost a year in advance (I missed last year's reunion climb due to a running injury).  He says I'm no spring chicken anymore (again, those are kinder words) and I must be crazy to go up on this climb - it's not like before that I could go hike/climb wherever I pleased.  He worries about my ankle (which I broke about 7 years ago and which flared up last year when I started running), given, yes I appreciate the concern.

But I really don't like being told I cannot do anything in such a way that makes be feel like an imbecile.  If I believed everyone that told me I could not do it then I'd probably be so full of regret and never live my life the way I want to.  Here's the thing, he likes to run, eat, drink and watch TV.  I never complain.  I like to do my art/craft, do outdoor stuff, read (I can live without a TV but not without books and my computer :)  So my point is, what I like to do is equated to what he likes to do - I leave him be to do the stuff he likes (which is every week) and when I want to do something I like, uhm, climbing a mountain once a year, I expect full support, KWIM?  And he asks me, what do I get from going on that climb? What do I get???? Uhm, how about I'm just finally being myself.  That is who I am.  That is the kind of girl I am.  I love the outdoors, I love adventure, I'm kinda weird, and yes quirky, and I finally want to live a life where I can have the best of both worlds...be me and yet still love someone who is totally not me.  Is that too bad to ask for?

Chris says "Since trying to be anyone other than yourself is usually ineffective, why not begin by deciding to do only what is true to your own inner compass? If you did it for just one day, what would that day look like?"

This is what one of those days would look like... Indy the outdoorsy person is back, at least for the next 3 days before I wear my other hats again of mom, artist, entrepreneur, bookworm..

And Chris again goes on to say "Being yourself is risky. Something could go wrong, and then whose fault would it be? (This is another reason why it can be easier to let other people make your decisions—then you can blame them when it doesn’t work out.)

But in the long-run, you know you’re capable of being a good self. You know you’re capable of taking the risk. Even if some people don’t understand, you can find a way to pursue the life and work you’ve always wanted." 

 Life is short.  Seize the day!

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Work-in-Progress

Here is a piece I've been working on...I still haven't quite decided how I want to do her face and the design of the dress and so it remains unfinished.  I was reminded of this piece today while talking to my co-supplier and her sister who are new clients and hopefully, new friends :) at the Wedding Connections store.

This piece is being done with vibrant colors, in the Mexican folk-art style.  And lots of flower doodles. 

Can you guess who she is?

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More Doodles

Just some stuff I'm working on...all works in progress...

Penciled drawing... isn't she beautiful? I love her eyes.  Sometimes, I'm afraid to ink in my penciled work because I think I'll ruin it.  Do you sometimes feel that way?

Here she is partially inked in....I still haven't touched the face..quite unsure of how to go about rendering the rest, I'll just play along and let it be a surprise :)

Here's the story behind this.  One day, I was on my way out to deliver a book to a client.  I had a cab called and while waiting for the cab to arrive just sat on my couch and started doing blind contour drawings of anything I could set my eyes on in the room.  Little Miss Potts was the first (she is actually a jug of sorts, but she does sort of look like Mrs Potts in Beauty & the Beast, unintentional of course).  The Worried TV was next, hehe..  my cab arrived.  I wanted to continue drawing in the cab and so I pulled an image out of my mind (maybe the cab driver looked liked that? I dunno?),  but little hairy creature was born.  Ok, like 5 minutes of drawing or doing anything in a moving vehicle is all I could handle (I get dizzy).  I continue the drawing when I get home, the bird is a small figurine I have, the lamp is on my desk and I've got this little blue housing for a hanging lamp sitting on my floor at the moment.  Just adding, and adding...I love pennants and so drew some.  My son was reading beside me and so I decided to sketch him in too.  And yeah, I really wanted a margarita that night but didn't have one (LOL!).  I plan to add some color to this, what do you think?

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You Are Enough

Some serious doodling here, and enjoyed every minute of it.  Just the break I needed to fulfill my thirst for some "me-time" doodling which I have not done for what seems like ages. Being that most of the stuff I do is work/client related - it's just not the same.

Inspired by Tracy Clark's "I Am Enough", a self-kindness collaborative.  I started this a month ago, just painting the bird and the words, "You are Enough" and finally finishing it the other day on some much needed self-imposed "me-time".

Drawn on 9" x 11" Acid Free Canson Watercolor pad using watercolors, pigma micron pens, color markers and color pencils.

YES, YOU are Enough.

This is the scanned copy, wouldn't it

look lovely on your wall?

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Whirlwind of a Week

It was a whirlwind of a week last week...deadlines and an event over the weekend = No sleep, incommunicado, fatigue and crying spells (yes, I cry when I am so tired I want to rest but cannot, wouldn't you?).  It's far from over mind you, this week is just as filled although not as frantic.  I like to think it is well worth it and my efforts at planting the seeds will bear fruit down the road (and it better be soon, haha).

All this work, but where is the money?? It seems like I am constantly and endlessly being chased by bills to pay, unending home expenses, confronted by new things to invest into marketing and improving my work.  "I will get over that bump soon!" I like to tell myself.  And I believe it.  It is why I cannot stop and constantly push myself to work, work and get things crossed off that long list.  And I know that long list will get even longer the more people I connect with, it's a good problem I'd like to have.   That's my goal, isn't it? Now if only the day could last like 48 hours instead of 24 and I did not have to be plagued by insistent upper back and neck aches.

The highlight of the week was a wedding fair I had the chance to be part of through partnership with Thunderbird Resorts for their booth at the Themes and Motifs Wedding Expo at SMX in Mall of Asia.  I was tasked to create a piece of artwork that would be sent to a silkscreener and that would be used as a backdrop for the booths of their two resorts (Binangonan, Rizal & Poro Point, La Union).

Too bad though, the silkscreen makers here in the Philippines kinda "suck" at silk screening (or maybe there is a good one but we haven't found them yet, suggestions anyone?)  and they could not accommodate the large scale design (to cover the back wall).  So my artwork was not used as backdrop, but it wasn't put to waste though because I had used it to create the table place cards, menu, table seat numbers and label cards.

These are the mood boards I put together (just click to enlarge):

The artwork was all hand-drawn, imported into Illustrator and then colored digitally in Photoshop.

And here are the wonderful photos from the actual event itself (photo credits: Jocelyn Alberto-Henares)

This is the set-up for the Poro Point booth:

 

Beautiful, elegant set-up by Royal Flower Shoppe

 Of course, here are the menu, place cards, table 

cards I designed.  Love seeing them in print!  

 Cake design by Cake Concepts

That's an actual soon-to-be wed talking to 

me about my album artwork, so exciting!

Here is the set up for the Rizal booth:

Menu card, place cards and table cards designed by me :)

Gorgeous flowers by the Royal Flower Shoppe

Cake provided by Cake Concepts, see how they adapted my doodles 

and used it all around the cake, I was pleasantly surprised!

Sample cakes from Cake Concepts, I just love the 

flour-less chocolate cake!!! Super yummy!

All-in-all, it was a good event for me, no on-the-spot bookings but definitely a lot of interest generated + quite a good number of we will definitely get in touch with you to do our wedding album because we love your work! Yay! Of course, these are for weddings happening next year or the year after.  It's a good start for 2011 and 2012, definitely something to look forward to.

How was your week?

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Just For Fun

Just a little night time, free flow doodling in bed last week on an old planner converted into a journal of sorts.  Trying out the caran d'ache watercolor crayons, stuff from my art box and some DIY stencils and alcohol spray inks ;)

Just playing and having fun and trying to see where this will go....

On the opposite page I sprayed my punched stencils (I don't have those punchanella strips and so I punched out a small strip of cardboard paper and hand cut the bigger circles - note to self to get those punchanella strips) with the alcohol ink I had available.  Those yellow flowers on the plant were blobs of spray ink that I outlined in black charcoal and just went crazy drawing twig like appendages.  The bird then came after...

Must do this again soon...

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My DIY Calling Cards

Finally printed out my calling cards in a DIY project last night.  The cards incorporate some of my pen and ink doodles and colored in Photoshop.

I bought some nice Concorde Laid 220 gsm thick boards and printed my design out on my Epson printer, cut them with my Carl Shacut cutter and rounded out the corners with a corner puncher.

Voila!

I really like how they turned out.:)

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Some Koi Doodles

Sharing some Koi drawings/doodles that a client asked me to make.  I made three Koi drawings for them to choose from.  The chosen drawing will be applied on a shirt as a line drawing.

This is the chosen drawing :)

 Here are the other drawings:

I'll post photos of the shirt once it's been produced.

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