Amma Gramma!!!

What does it mean to be an artist in the age of artificial intelligence? I am an illustrator first, and then a painter second. To me, the image on your paper, canvas or wall is the essential element of your art. The word “image” contains your imagination. Image making needs to be fed, from one’s state of mind, one’s environment, friends, enemies, plants, food, desserts, loved ones, thoughts,…

It’s 2026 and this is the culmination of my eternal youth. I’m now a septuagenarian. I thought I was going to ride 70 miles to mark the passage of those years, but it rained all day on my birthday. So I had to pivot and mark this milestone by assembling 70 of my watercolor and mixed media art. I have been very keen at curating and keeping my watercolors in many places in my home, under the bed,…

I was hard pressed to remember who recruited me to be a sorority girl. My memory is now fading, but it must have been Gisela Padilla-Concepcion who was my classmate in English 1 and 2. Her sister Gina was very active in the sorority. I was a Psych major and was a freshman when I joined the BR. It was in 1973. My boyfriend was a fratman with Upsilon Sigma Phi. He was getting involved with groups…

Swiss Chard

I’m waiting at the cardiology waiting area for my husband to finish his echocardiogram. He has been diagnosed with a heart condition that will necessitate a triple bypass. The waiting is very trying. We have known the severity of his condition for a very long time. A CABG is a pretty serious undertaking. At Kaiser Permanente RWC waiting for Butch’s echocardiogram appointment Many friends say it…

I started my journey September 23-November 7 2024. I flew to Nagoya via Incheon, Seoul from San Francisco. I was going to see Japan for the first time. Sumi-e painting was my dream. As a child, I would sit with my father who had introduced me to calligraphy. It was not Chinese calligraphy but the Italic Hand. Our goal was to write legibly and to honor the written word. As a fourth grader, my…

Ricky was a classmate from elementary school, high school and we went to the same University of the Philippines College of Arts and Sciences. Today, he delivered an informative talk about the historical Spanish built churches in the Philippines. He spoke about the folk art and exhaustive research he has done over the 40 years he has been an anthropologist, historian and art resource for all…

After many agonizing hours of whether to retire or not, to continue working for the San Mateo Union High School District, I decided to jump ahead into retirement.  I have never been more relieved to not go to work and enjoy the remaining productive years of my life with creativity and fun. On my first day of retirement, I ate ice cream at 9:30 a.m. at home. On my second day, I hung out with my…

I started playing the piano for our church here in Foster City on October 4, 2021. I played Prayer of St. Francis for the communion hymn. It has been a year now that I provide the processional, the Alleluia, a short snippet of “Blessed be God” and a recessional during our 30 minute mass. I’m starting to train and encourage other piano players to take my place now. So far, there are two pianists…

Tatak UP (University of the Philippines) By Candy Bandong “I don’t like balut because it smells like rotten fish.” – Bob “I learned “yes” in Tagalog, but no one knows how to spell it.” – Ellie “I made a parol and it was hard.” – William “There are 7,641 islands in the Philippines, not 7,100.” – Ryan “Silverio Domingo and Gene Viernes were two Fil-Am youth who died because of their political…

It is the end of the month, tomorrow, the days will be warmer, there will be more summerlike afternoons and hot evenings will necessitate eating more salads and fruit.  It will be a busy last month of school next 31 days.   There are school parties, after years of wervice soirees, and all kinds of get to gethers, but I intentionally want to steer clear from them.  I would like to go to a…

It’s almost Palm Sunday. I did figure out what to do with my yucca leaves that I stripped from 4 mini trees. Weaving them to a mat like format, they were instant canvasses for my acrylics! I got this! Idleness is not my thing, so I painted on each 6 x 6 or 8 x 8 leaf mat that emerged. The process of thinking about how to take care of this biomass took several days. I wanted to make a lampshade…

Avery and Sophia poses

Avery and Sophia were the 2 volunteers to pose the wooden dolls I brought for sketching. We gathered around the two dolls to do sketches. Most students did a very accurate rendition, including the apple that I brought.

I like pure color. Henri Matisse was an original draftsman and painted with pure colors. He invented a new medium using scissors for painting. Here are some of my interpretations of his Luxe 1, Still Life with Oranges and Blue Nude (Souvenir of Biskra) which were his paintings. Later in his life, when he couldn’t paint, he used cut paper to create his images of blue women in the nude. Blue…

Art for the Soul

I never knew I could revisit my work from 40 years ago. Many years have passed since the art bug but me, and it still has remained in my veins. As a youth, my father would sit with me in his study while I played with his fountain pens. We would make squiggles and doodles together. He encouraged me to write legibly and do calligraphic strokes. He liked the Italic hand. Calligraphy, silk…