of poverty and greed

The Harvard Business School has a simple definition of poverty:

"it is badly distributed wealth"

if only the fists of the prosperous would be less tight, some society's worst cancers would be healed.

"the earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed"

-Mahatma Gandhi

yoly villanueva-ong

the philippine star july 20/09

having experienced being poor myself and seeing actual pictures of poverty every day around me, got me to look at its anatomy and structure if that is the correct term. it made me look at it straight into its eye, immersed in it, so that i may have a full understanding of it, that will lead me to dealing with it, and may gracefully live whilst at it and  hold it at bay, after emerging from it.

going through it without sufficient hope and faith can destroy all your belief and your  theology of a good and loving God. i don't know but as long as The Great Controversy is going on within and outside of one's being---every minute, this  disease of social pariah will always be around.let me in my humble way share these 4 concepts of dealing with it of which the first 2  reminded me immediately as i read the 2 quotes above of poverty and greed, the concept and principles from the Good Book.

1. "My grace is sufficient"

(His grace is indeed abundant--e.g, vegetation wise,the earth brims in its natural resources no one needs to go hungry,homeless.)

2. The Systematic Tithe Giving and 0ffering

(The antidote for greed.This is never ever easy. You will wrestle with this i tell you, but the outcome can ever be more than wonderful.)

3.Mental Attitude

(This has something to do with educating the mind towards what is good.This is broad. Takes a lifetime process.Something to do with hope, grace,love,kindness to avoid having a hardened and calloused heart, believing in something, in Someone.)

4.Get Educated. Zero in on the True Meaning of Education

These, however are not a guarantee to make you monetarily rich, er--this writing by the way,is not for those who are after making tons of money, and amassing world's goods,but is for those who are undergoing stressing

difficulties, questionings, on their current life situation--poor, miserable,broke, but thinkers. and would like to live gracefully while going through it towards sufficiency, enough, abundance (why not), and eventually the idea of giving, the act of sharing systematically, consistently, cheerfully, without grudge will be fully understood, and realized.

A Blessed New Year to All!!! His Grace is Sufficient.

to let go or never to let go

         this an illustration for an etsy alchemy request

                                                              (shortdescription/story below)      

                                                 

acrylic and graphite on 2ply eco-brown paper

             10.5  x 12.5 inches                             

In India there is an efficient way to catch monkeys, recounted by Jon Kabat-Zinn. A hole is drilled in a coconut just large enough to accommodate a monkey's hand. The coconut is then secured to a tree by a wire. Then a banana is placed inside the coconut. The monkey comes, puts his hand in the coconut and grabs a hold of the banana. The hole is small enough so the monkey can put his open hand in but cannot pull his closed fist out. All the monkey needs to do to be free is to let go of the banana, yet most 
monkeys don't let go.
-cvance16

on problem-filled  relationships:

moral of the story: be driven, focused,persistent,long suffering

amoral: if it is costing you your sanity or your bank account---let go!!!

and if it's your in-laws life---cling. never let go.

(hehehe...just kidding......:-)

the radical simplicity of dan price

'to live within limits. to want one thing. or a few things very much and love them dearly. cling to them, survey them from every angle. become one with them---that is what makes the poet, the artist, the human being.'
                                                                                              ---johann goethe


                                                     

   a pleasant weekend everyone!!!

bloom--just bloom where you're planted

"This is the urgency: Live and have your blooming in the midst of the whirlwind." - Gwendolyn Brooks

current

this my work space in neat condition

          currently working on this: "foot fetish"

old world charms

this is yet part of my

"old world charms" of still lifes.

"orientalia lantern"

12.5 x 10.5 inch.

mixed media  collage art

on 2-ply brown eco-paper

painting mode

 

i sure did miss painting. i mean without any mixture of quilting and sewing thing.

i have immersed myself with stitches and stitching for many years.

yesterday, i took out all my painting paraphernalias and organized them. it will be a long romantic journey again with my brushes, pencils, colours, eco brown papers (i just called them that way, my favourite beside parchment paper because of its discreet texture) and coffee (roasted rice alternate with roasted corn, i am convinced too much caffeine in your system is baaad) enough to create some series of collection. here, i have finished two since sunset yesterday. i will do many of the still life old world charms as theme.i have been fascinated  with these subjects for a long time now. cousins as i see it to shabby chic, shoe string chic, country, rustic, distant to bohemia and ephemeras,  paupery too, --with posture, a good one.

"bird's nest dressform" SOLD.

mixed media collage on paper
12.5x10.5

"broken chair and old pillow"

acrylic and graphite on 2-ply eco-paper

12.5x10.5


avalable on: annquirky.etsy.com

some new things in the shop! + poetry ;0

GO PEEK!!!!

NO, DONT GIVE NO CLOTH

for i will

rend it

mend it

sew it

alter it

re-do it

re-make it

construct

de-construct

embellish

patch it

applique it

quilt it
paint on it

hang it

'don't know if this is

a hobby, interest, enthusiasm,

like, love, habit, escapism,

or gross pathologique...

an art, i think.

'tis done.

this is the final artwork.

"the pathway to inspiration"

12x13 inches

acrylic and graphite on primed

brown eco-paper.

the act of creating "art" requires selflessness. you give your all to it.

it isnt just skill, you part your mind and heart,even soul.

that makes an art i think, aesthetically valuable, priceless.finally, it is difficult to repeat this again. astounding motivation maybe...

working on this

i am currently working on this piece for an etsian gal. i have this habit of trying out to bid on the alchemy section whenever i see a chance. it is great to work with people who like and appreciate art for whatever purpose and reason they have in mind. i have done so many things for myself, i like to make and create things every now and then, for the pleasure and enjoyment of others---exactly what "art" is all about, or on the controversial issue, part of it.

the image--is just a rough, thumbnail work so as she will have an idea, how i will go about it. she likes better the word--"inspiration" instead. i will post the final piece when its done.

(medium: acrylic on one-ply eco-paper)

why we blog

"blogs are no fad. they are cheap and easy to do. and blogs fulfill that deepest of human needs as defined by psychologist Abraham Maslow: self-actualization. people write blogs because they want to know themselves and want to become known by others and because they want their lives to count. when a communication medium is.... tapping into a deep need, it's no fad."

_rich karlgaard, publisher of Forbes magazine, on his blog, Dec. 25, 2005

"blogging is a symptom of something much bigger that's happening."

_dave sifry, ceo technorati

"my blog is place for me to occasionally climb up a podium and pound on my bible and work out ideas by writing"

_henry copeland, founder and ceo, blogads.com

"BLOG: i like that it's roughly onomatopoeic(if you wonder what the heck is that word, here) of vomitting. these sites (mine included!) tend to be kind of information upbucking"

_peter merholz, who coined the term "blog" in 1995 as a contraction of "web" and "log"

photo credit link

those are quoted directly from DebbieWeil's  "The Corporate Blogging"

it is all about blogging as a contemporary networking, marketing,advertising, and how the companies and corporations can maximize the use of their employees' blogs to further the cause of

their mission, goal, goodwill, public relations, --definitely promotions, and yes selling. outlined and discussed further are the ethics in the blogosphere. the nature of blogging, and the creative use of it.

and from the author's words of encouragement to join the noise here: " go make it happen. have fun. life is short. it's also messy and wonderful. like blogging."

to all the bloggers and readers as well in the sphere, a lovely weekend to you!

 

the best mother in all the world,

in her children's eyes. and all of us the five siblings admittedly, may not be able to accomplish the things she has
accomplished in her lifetime.


-she sent us all to college, in a university. emphasizing that, education is the only legacy she
will leave us. not money it wont last she keeps telling and besides 'i don't have it' ;D. its the truth. and we are all forever grateful, that
made us adore her all the more today.


-she will not allow us to be absent from our classes, save if we are sick. she will not accept lack of money, nor allowance as a reason for she provides to the point that i can actually see after she
has distributed the money for our daily fare and allowance, it will be like Php 50.00 left in her purse, enough to make it to her office, and i would ask--how will you be able to come home? and i will try to give back half of my allowance, i was given everyday Php 30.00
that time, that was in the half part of the 80s. i do not know how much my sisters and brother gets, but all of us were given their share, everyday.and she will refuse to accept, she will just say, 'it's ok God will make a way'.
amazingly, she comes home with our daily food, and well some more money for another day's allowance for everyone.


-she never believed in working while studying(tho' she sees it a virtue), she keeps telling us study if you have to study, and work if you have to work.
-she let us all enrolled in some extra curricular activities when school's out, every summer that is. art, music (piano lessons for all of us), typing, cosmetics, and brought us with her to visit and borrow books in the public library. we didn't have much in our growing years, but she believed in cultivating and developing each one's talent, and skills.


-she equipped us.


-she had a bachelor's degree in education, and a master in public administration. she was a scholar, and was cuddled by nuns in her school.


-she was faithful and loyal to her religion. she is a catholic till the end, but believed too on the seventh-day sabbath. she went to church with my younger sister on sabbaths, and she will run to church again on sunday, the following day.


-she never went to a movie house to see a movie. i asked her one time why, she said, it's a waste of money, it will be for your allowances and fares instead.
(do you see now why, she is the greatest mother in the world for me...)


-she just content herself with tv entertainments by watching: charlie's angels, little house on the prairie,sunday's big event, sunday suspense theater,hawaii five-0,the bionic man,woman ,combat, and the late news; which we all faithfully watch with her enjoying, uh, save for the late night news. i suddenly turn so sleepy. i was highschool then.


-she stayed put even though she had all the chance in the world to leave us, and make mint in the land of milk and honey that time. she was sent  
to foreign lands--london, germany, some states in the u.s,italy,china,hk, other asian neighbors, she was a scholar and a government employee, during the Marcos era. she traveled with a diplomat's passport or a blue passport she used to tell me, and the most i can have is,a 10 year multiple entry to u.s and it is about to expire... (sigh)


-she stayed put, even though her better half has turned bitter, annoying, and made things difficult for us, and we became somewhat a dysfunctional family. (but that was a thing of the past now. to forgive is gorgeous. i mean divine. and my dad rests in peace to0.)
-funny, instead of us, giving her money after we have finished our university days, she still gives, and help out whoever is in need.


-she dedicated her retirement money to fixing the family house and helping yet her children who are in forever need.


-and when she felt her days are soon coming to an end, she ironed out everything. her grave site,real state/property taxes,etc. she gave thorough and final directions, instructions. nagged me for my indifference with the instructions because i either believe she is an invincible mom, or i am in denial.
-she never sold the house she built for her family 
instead, she made an order in her final days, that the house will be for the shelter for all----who became singles again and with extra baggage or as in baggages (sigh...), those who never made it in the marital bliss.


-she taught us: never be the cause of your co-worker's expulsion from job. and try your best always to work well with your superior(s)


space would never be enough to describe her being a Proverbs 31 woman.


and i have kept this, and held on to this hope and belief, as i see her writhe in pain in her final hours, seeing the death dew lies cold on her brows---(the gripping unexplainable pain witnessing the final grasp for breath of a loved one, and you cannot do anything...)


"ma, we will see each other again in the resurrection morning."

some of the best things in life are---cheap

found at a local produce market quaipo just before the stall owner closes: bunch of always coveted squash flower for only php 15. about .15 u.s.


i was planning to make a simple clear soup out of it with garlic, either chicken flavoured seasoning
or salt and pepper, let boil quickly, then serve. but then my son insisted on stir frying it and he will do the work. here's what he concocted:


         1/2 clove of garlic chopped
          dash of chicken flavoured seasoning (the one that you see above-is the secret of all the wannabes
          cooks/chefs here...in the place where i'm planted)
          brewed soy sauce (--tastes like one, a spoof of the famed kikoman...i'm gracefully cheap php 16.)
          cooking oil (forget the sesame, canola, olive--eerrghh, just plain vegetable cooking oil, but if you insist...) 
         about 2tbsp


        saute finely chopped garlic in oil
        add in quickly the carefully rinsed squash flower, (we sliced the flowers into strips, we cant imagine 
        eating the flowers whole!) re: never include the stalks, they're hard as wooden sticks

        quick stir fry it like the chinese do :-)
        serve hot
        squeezing in kalamansi is optional, but---it'll give it a twist. promise.


the verdict: fibery, some hint of powdery yum, nourishing, good for one serving but can be stretched for two in times like these, and it is delicious!

remember the "future bib"?

its done my dears. i will be listing this on annquirky.etsy.com as soon as i gather the specs of this piece, and figure out how to describe it.

happiness.

i am always drawn to books that has fascinating insights.
recorded experiences by people who've been there--yeah, done it, seen it... and gracefully gotten themselves out of the mess--they have made for themselves :-(


here's one--i finished reading in several sittings (it happens when i have so much interest). this is an old one
scoured from a dingy bookstore. (the more dingy it is--sometimes--the better. serendipity happens in places like this)


here.. read on...


- "give." better to give. there's a reciprocity.
- "find work that you like, and you will be playing"
   and when you find what you like, keep at it. happy people are busy people.
- "marry late. never marry before 30. you've got to grow up first"
- "never marry for sex. it's as easily available as popsicles, and as lasting. marry for friendship. passion
   may or not last, probably not, but intelligence and character are forever. never use your cock as a    weathervane. the wind change constantly on everything except maturity and character."
- "be disciplined. be moderate. and above all, get beyond self. he who would save his life must loose it,' not so? you've got to give yourself to something, some person,some cause beyond your skin, or you'll become bleakly introspect and self-absorbed. self is marvelous, but excessive self is a sink-hole."
- "never aim at mere security. ramble along and don't expect anything to be permanent"
- "take risks, be enthusiastic-selective, but enthusiastic. never doubt that the diamond at the heart of your happiness is as hard, and more significant, than the lump of coal underlying your sorrow."
-"believe in joy. believe in yourself . there has never been a "you" before, and you're unique.
- "assume a confidence if you have it not. it works"
- that's a 'virtue'---"assume a virtue"


"this life is a matter of attitude. thinking the right thoughts is what makes all the difference in the world. march right up to life, look it in the eye, and stare it down. if you roll over, you'll get stomped; if you stand up, they'll salute. simple as that."


that is the conversation between nalorian, grimsby, bert, nubar... mclaughlin (the main character in this fiction) had gone home early. they are colleagues--professors at the Chiliast University, Toronto.
interesting (biting, lots of exuberant dialogue...) book looking into the daily life and grind of work of these professors. an insightful one.

from a paperback edition, 1983  Going Grand by Jack Macleod

final plate

semester here's almost over.

this is the final plate activity for the still life painting course

a subject that is required for students in tradigital fine arts

before they shift to the digital--from analog to digital.

i will miss the date at the art park every thursdays

i just wish i won't have to fail anyone--tsk.....

future bib

multi-taskers are the frugalistas!
dern. frugal even with time haha. thats the only way in times like these, dears.


above is a work in progress-- a soon to be bib necklace, sans the beads and other faux jewels/stones.
it's all embroidery, applique and quilt method applied to achieve--the well--marginalists effect.
an all upcycled fabrics from three different clothing. sewn together by hand.


multi-tasking yet. beside the work, are my students plate for hist. of art 3--egyptian art. sarah's work--read her blog here. i check, grade their work, read lessons, while vent this swealing creative  streaks out---to be able to go on living and add more meaning to my existence- i think i'll slowly die if i will not express my feelings through art. and its not a handicraft! it's an art.(you're so full of soaps! just get on multi-tasking!)

will show it to you when it's done. a lovely day  dears.

the marginally challenged look on tuesday work day

   blouse with lace embellishment-- $1.00

                 leather cheetah belt- inherited from a friend who will migrate

                       skirt- that -turned- yellow- and -print- became- blurry -after- some washing--$.50

leather gladiator-- price upon request :-)

                 bag-again inherited from a friend who will migrate, her names rona
scarf--$.75

thats how we take and sustain, and maintain---uhhh--(our)style. because we have other needs. books, blings, zines,

starbucks, pizzas, potato crisps, art materials, vintage haunts. and oh, but we each have our favourite

charity mission org., that we support, because we understand, grace, and the needs very much by others in dire situations and we believe in blessings in return--

i am partial to the philippine frontier mission. a small fraction of my fractured salary goes directly to this.

feels good to my soul and reminds me not to be selfish :-), and there's a mission going on...thats needs to be finished, coupled by divine grace, in the realms of spirituality and reality.

asian asian

 

steffi's work. origami. simple yet amazing. my favourite above are the two pigeons.

they actually sway like they kiss beak to beak (hahaha) or better yet beak on their food.

and there's the bunny, cute!

she sat beside me while i do my art projects ever since she was a baby.

no i never taught her how to draw. i just let her watch.

she's fun to be with but a monster sometimes.

all kids are monster i think, they just act like being cute so you'll love or like them at least.

just a thought on that--but all kids are trainable, they can be molded right so they can control

their monster inside, and get busy with their work! 

(steffi is trained by the way, and to be her own person,no monster--laughs..)

faux (obviously..haha) peacock feather brooch

 productive days it is.  this faux peacock feather is done!
an embellishment for anything--clothes, bags, necklace--and some of my art students commented or joked(?) it looks like a pot holder. and i said--thats the beauty of it. the maker is to0 hot to handle *wink*

"i'm your density...i mean your destiny"

 ha!ha!

i originally read that quote on one of ashley hadeed's blog archive i think. 

made by me and not in china

          
      this a new cuff i recently made.
its an all hand-made as in neddle and thread.
a combination of an all new material and recycled ones,
   in the spirit of 3 Rs (reduce,recycle and reuse).
           one of a kind forever
       will soon be on annquirky shop

lookbook.nu--tuesday early morning class

1.lime checked blouse-flea find $1.00

2.brooch pin style-korean store $.20

3.bag- from an estate sale $2.00 and then, remade by me and not in china 

4.watch-by swatch (the real thing, baby. price upon request)

5.cupnoodles-the hit thing here, on this part of the globe.about $.40. the nissins cup noodles-spicy chicken-for-the-hard-worker-and-no-time-in- you

6.over-used faded sweat pants-vintage find

(oh, whats the difference from flea find? estate sale? no differene virginia, its one and the same, a.k.a thrift shop find)$1.00

7.silver ring (spoof) given by steffi, the one that goes with the kid's candies $.01

8.shoes-another $3.00 spoof gladiator plastic lime sandals, tho by rusty lopez--a local brand, but has outsource in china. so its made in china again you can bet your life! seriously, no hard feelings anymore on the made in china dot com. for it made us the marginally challenged sustain our strokes 'n style to some degree. its just that there are some points in my life that i sadly miss the made in my country tags on the stuff i buy.old local brands--

homegrown ones and to your shock-it is made somewhere.globalism it is.everyone's in it and is affected.it has its advantage and disadvantages. and i'll wallow in both!

9.smile- $priceless 

collections featuring this look:

PHilippines(a.u.p ) 

the marginally challenged

hip

bohemian