Little Things 4: Found Objects

I'm back! Sorry it's later than I promised, work was killah.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I was walking around my neighborhood, skip in my step and sun in the sky, when I stepped on something and almost slipped. I looked down and saw something funky. Laying on the asphalt was the discarded, discolored top half of a plastic toy airplane.

There was something about the color combination that I really liked and figured that I could probably use it for something. Ideas started coming (I could sew it onto a bag  - or a coat; turn it into a brooch or something). Two days ago, I finally decided to make it a giant pendant/neckpiece. There was something visually pleasing about the inverted triangle shape, perfect for a v neck shirt or a button down-shirt buttoned all the way up.

I've always been in love with found objects. Found objects remind me of the spontaneity of life. There's always something new, something exciting, an unexpected prospect. Treasure in trash. I'm in love with the idea that something discarded could still have a purpose - a different beauty. I apply this idea to people, events, life in general - everything has a purpose, a purpose for everything.

Yep, I'm an optimistic, romantic, sentimentalist.
Don't sue me. Hug meh.

TTFN!

Okay, do you know that feeling of having a bunch of big projects due at the same time - ASAP or yesterday? Yep, I'm feeling that right now, so I'm going to have to take a little pause from the blojjing and will try and be back on Sunday. I've been working on a few posts, but I haven't decided which one to publish next...

Stay tuned to find out!

<3

Pensieve: Don't Judge a Girl by her Handbag

Judgment. We all do it - but that in NO WAY makes it right.

Earlier today I had to commute home from the office. As I climbed into the jeepney-

The Jeepney: A popular mode of very affordable public transportation in the Philippines.

 -I put my laptop bag under my legs and clutched my handbag to my chest. After nudging my butt-cheeks into a comfortable enough position, i surveyed my co-passengers - aside from a small group of excited students on summer break and two alert crew-cut men, the jeepney was filled mostly by tired souls on their way home like myself.

Near the back entrance of the jeepney sat a young woman who caught my eye. In her hands were two plastic bags and a handbag with a very recognizable monogram. Immediately I thought:

"If she can afford that bag, why is she in a jeepney?!"

I was just about to send a text message that would have read like: "Guess what I'm seeing in a jeepney!" As I pulled my phone out of my handbag it hit me-

Here I was pulling my cellphone out of my own designer handbag, sitting across from this girl - in the exact  same jeepney - and I was judging her.

Who the heck was I to assume that the bag was a fake? It could've been a gift. She could've saved up and bought it for herself. She could've been someone who can afford designer bags but for one reason or another was riding this jeepney - much.like.myself. The fact that I assumed, and was about to use this assumption to pass judgment on this complete stranger, made me feel so dirty.

You know, I was originally going to publish a post on Bullies and Mean Girls, but here I was about to bully this unknown girl, without her even knowing it.

How many times have people passed unfair judgment on us? How many times have we been  made to feel small? Judgment. We all do it - that doesn't make it right. Not right.

Judgment. Prejudice. Whether they are or are not human nature is irrelevant What I do believe is human nature is Free Will. We can choose to act upon or against the impulse. We can choose to do what's right. I try to live by example - good vibes, openness, acceptance and love. We may slip from time to time, but admit that you've slipped. Don't defend your actions, because it's "just for fun". It's still not right. Psychopaths torture "just for fun". It's the same thing - it's just a difference in degree, but not a difference in kind. I'm sure you know someone who's been bullied and how tortured they've felt.

Catch yourself before you slip. Do what's right.

Judge and be judged.

And don't buy counterfeit products.

Image From:

http://3critical.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/jeepney2.jpg

http://cdn.amazooo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/fake-handbags-amazooo.com.jpg

Fash'illz 1: A Tribe Called Fierce

Something new I decided to dabble in: Fashion Illustrating. Hence the birth of this new series Fash'illz (wordplay on Fash-ion Ill-ustrations ho ho). Here's a picture of my first attempt, I call it:

A TRIBE CALLED FIERCE

Last year, a friend posted a link on my Facebook wall titled "30 Fashion Illustrators You Can't Miss". I guess it was fate because at the same time, I was taking both Figure Drawing and Painting classes. One day, my Figure Drawing professor looked over my shoulder at my drawing, frowned slightly, and said: "Geo, I think you have a supermodel fetish..."

By this, she meant that I had a tendency to auto-correct the subjects' looks. Not that there was anything wrong with the subjects, it's just that something was going on with my hand eye coordination - there was an extra step in between. My personal "aesthetic filter" was on. Fortunately for my professor (and my grade for the class), I have learned to turn it off.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, one of my best friends who works at a fashion magazine asked me if I did fashion  illustrations. (Fate? Is that you again?) I said: "Well, I can try..." Luckily, I had bookmarked the page last year so I opened the link in a new tab.  Something about the fashion illustrations really got my hand itching to get drawing again. I started wondering, "There really isn't anything wrong with the filter...The filter can be turned back on, right?"

So I cleared off a work space, laid out my materials and got set to drawing. I really wanted to do something "ethnic" (Is that word PC?). I also wanted to do a bust. I decided to give this woman from A Tribe Called Fierce, who we shall name Akasha, an exaggeratedly long neck. I also went with an animal print on her head scarf (This is thanks to a friend I had spent the previous weekend with. To say that she LOVES animal print is a grave understatement). I threw in a few Padaung neck-coils and an Ancient Egyptian inspired collar and: Voila! Akasha - my first 'fashion illustration' muse!

I used pencils, charcoal and ink for this one, but I plan to do a lot of experimenting with regards to both style and media (Markers and paint? You bet!). Stay Tuned for there will be more!

<3

I'm back and here we go!

Over the past few days, several friends have told me that they do read my blog (and actually enjoy it), but are slightly underwhelmed by the fact that my last post was from December of last year. As I began this blog, I expected people to stumble upon it from time to time, but what I did not expect was for people to actually look forward to my posts (back when I first started and was posting more regularly, a woman from New York wrote to me saying that reading my blog at the end of the day relaxed her and put her in a good mood!).

The final push came a couple of nights ago at a dinner with girlfriends. One of whom challenged me to publish a post everyday. And this is the manifestation of my acceptance of that challenge.

Well...

I won't post every day, but I do plan to keep a minimum of three a week. I don't want to get to a point where I just post for the sake of posting. So, rest assured that whatever ends up on here was written/drawn/sung with love =) I'll see you all in a couple of days!

<3