Gleniz Da Menace
Gumawa akong banana bread. Masarap naman pero mas sasarap sana kung matamis yung saging na ginamit ko. Pinahinog ko naman sya pero hindi talaga gaano matamis ang mga saging dito. Pero ang moist tapos ang dami kong nilagay na chocolate chips. Pag dumating na yung inorder kong pagkamahal-mahal na sea salt flakes, may bago akong ita-try na cookie recipe.
Today marks my 1st work anniversary!🥳
I thought being a full-time artist was all painting and fun and endless flow of creativity—but it’s not. Well yes, it’s sometimes that—but it’s also discipline when you’re not in the mood to create, not getting discouraged even when your relatives have no clue what you’re doing and why you chose to do this, consistency, self-compassion when you feel you’re not good enough and (the most hassle) filing your self-employment tax. But I know all that now and I accept all the complexities that go with it. It’s not at all easy and I’m trying to be patient.
Thank you to everyone who showed their support (whether through DMs or likes or actually hiring me for projects) especially to my husband who really believes that I can achieve whatever it is I want to achieve. It’s just my first year and I’m still trying to figure things out while continuously learning and improving. I gave up my full-time job and a formal art education believing that I can do this all on my own. And I still believe that. Maybe that’s the most important thing of all—believing that you can do it.
Sabi nga ni Emma Stone:
I’m a person who relies very heavily on intuition and feeling out the situation. So I’ve never really made a five-year plan or anything like that. If it’s right, it will fall into place and if not, I understand.
I’m following my own timeline.
AND I!! THANK YOU!!!
When I sleep, I sing songs I’ve never heard before. I see places and things so bizarre that it would make a great art piece. My creativity flourishes. But then I’d wake up. And all I’m left with is my boring, conscious thoughts.
I just noticed (my aunt and uncle noticed it too), during these past few months in Canada, that I had been quite lucky. Here’s a couple of lucky things that happened:
And that was it! I should be happy but… No wait, I am happy. But I am also worried. I’m worried that something unlucky will happen because of all these lucky-ness. I will be watching out.
I’ve just encountered a great video on Youtube about photography but it actually applies to everything that I am trying to learn nowadays:
The phrase that struck me most is, “Learn and understand why you are doing this particular thing, and not just how to do them.” Aannnd I’ll leave it at that.
Ang ayoko sa office work ko, alam ko na kung anong gagawin ko from start to finish. It’s a matter of gano ko lang sya katagal matatapos. Parang nagsisimula pa lang ako, gusto ko na mag-fast forward sa finish line. Atat na atat na kong matapos para petix na ko. Pero ang gusto ko sa graphic artist side job ko, once mag-start ako, hindi ko alam pano sya tatapusin. Wala akong idea kung anong magiging final result. Parang masusurprise na lang ako sa huli kung ok ba or kulang pa. Ang bawat minuto ay discovery and experimentation. At pag tumigil ako, pwedeng tapos na or bukas ko na lang ulit ipagpapatuloy. At kahit nakakapuyat, masaya ako. Basta bayad. 😅
Nakakatuwa lang. Bigla ko naisip yung past na ako pag naniningin ako ng IG feed ko tapos nakikita ko yung mga post ng magagaling na calligraphers tapos ang gamit nila eh oblique pen holder. Like diz:
Sobrang sobrang naa-amaze ako sa kanila. Una ko agad naisip, “Never ko to magagawa. Sobrang hirap nyan hindi ko yan ita-try.” Pero ngayon minamani ko na lang. Wahaha! Minamani daw ulul! Ok yung totoo, ngayon eh kaya ko na. Tamang kaya lang. Pero hindi pa ko magaling. Pero nagagawa ko sya. Kaya ang lesson dun, bago mo sabihin na hindi mo kaya, i-try mo muna ng mga three times. Kase sa case ko yung una kong try, nakaka-frustrate. Pero nung umattend ako ng workshop, kaya naman pala. Kelangan mo lang matuto from the expert para ma-practice mo yung tamang way. Same thing nung nag-try ako ng watercolor and drawing. May tamang way pala talaga sya. Kaya worth it naman yung mga pera kong pinambayad sa mga workshops na yan.
At ngayon, sana worth it din ang pagbili ko ng MacBook Pro. Haha! Graphic design naman ang trip ko ngayon. Magkaka-connect pa din naman. Pero mejo lito pa din ako kung ano ba mamasterin ko. Ok lang. Mafi-figure out ko na din yun along the way. Nag-apply na nga ako sa mga companies na kailangan ng mga graphic artists. So far, merong isang nagkamaling company na gusto akong interview-hin. Haha. Pero mejo parang ang engot ko kasi nagdadalwang isip pa ko. Choosy pa. Makati kasi ang layo. Pero nag-try ako magpa-resched para lang ma-experience ko pano ba sila mag-interview ng graphic artist applicants. Ngayon na kasi yung interview eh nahihiya pa ko mag-leave kasi bago pa yung boss ko and kaka-approve lang nung super requested ko na shift (mid shift). So sana pumayag sila na i-move. Mag sick leave na lang ako if ever.
Valentine’s Day kahapon (mga 3 hours ago). Super sweet and thoughtful nung gift ni Kennetski. Art related kasi. Isa na to sa mga pinaka-favorite kong gift kasi wala ako idea tapos related pa sa art-art ko. Usually kasi pag magreregalo yun magtatanong sakin ano gusto ko tapos ako pa mismo yung bibili. Kaya medyo once in a blue moon tong nangyari. Tapos sabi pa nya kanina saka na daw yung mga susunod. Aba may susunod pa?? Wow talaga. Eto pinagpractice-an ko na agad. Ang gandaaa.
Yesterday, I finally started my graphic design career track. I enrolled for a package course in PCCI (Philippine Center for Creative Imaging). A training center for Adobe applications (and others) with Adobe certified instructors. At first I had second thoughts in enrolling; but I decided that this kind of environment, where there are instructors and hands on activities, would be more beneficial for me rather than self studying everything.
I would be taking up the Adobe classes next month; but yesterday, I attended a 1-day class about the fundamentals of digital imaging. It was like an intro class before you get to deal with the main Adobe stuff. It was really informative and I learned that digital imaging is sooo complicated than what it seems. That’s when I realized that enrolling with them was worth it.
Funny thing about attending classes (in my experience), you will get to meet different kinds of people in each class. I had this same feeling when I attended my drawing and watercolor workshops last year. I feel intimidated by them because most of the people that I meet in every class are the so-called yayamanins. Kung hindi coño, English ng English. It’s very obvious that they were brought up differently. But in fairness, they are very friendly. I’m just not used to being around with those kind of people.
This one friendly girl approached me because she noticed that I wrote my name in calligraphy. We started our conversation from there. Syempre napapa-English din ako. English sya eh. Haha. Then at one point in our conversation when she learned I was a nurse, she asked me, “You graduated from UST?” I’m not sure how she assumed that. Maybe most of the nurses she knows graduated from that school? Haha. So I said no. May naalala tuloy akong kwento ni Benson na may isa kaming batchmate from highschool na nagppretend na hindi sya sa probinsya nag-graduate ng highschool. Poser much. 😅 Even though the people I commonly meet are not my kind of crowd, they were very amusing to talk and listen to (a sample topic that they had were their trips in Europe 😄).
So going back to the main topic, I’m so excited for next month. I would get to learn Adobe Illustrator first. I’ve been using Illustrator for some time now but I know that I have so much to learn still. I can’t wait to include these trainings in my resume.
Last week, I painted this:
I received many good feedback so I was very pleased. I hope tomorrow I get to paint again.
Also (another thing that I’m very excited about), I will be joining BGC Art Mart!!! My very first bazaar! That’s why I need to create more products to sell before April. Hihihi. Participating in a bazaar is one of my goals late last year. I can’t believe that it will happen real soon. ❤️
Thank you Kenneth for being supportive in everything I do. He lets me do all of this without question. The Adobe classes were pretty expensive but he was still really encouraging. Thank you! 😘
PS: My Christmas gift might arrive today! 😁
I’ve been meaning to do this kind of post to just put everything that I want to remember for 2017 in a nugget. So here it is:
Paalam 2017!
I originally wanted to study Interior Design (Accountancy being the runner up) but ended up studying Nursing to grant my family’s wishes. I can’t study Interior Design anyway since I already made up my mind that I won’t study in Manila because of my then boyfriend (LDR issues). Love can really be limiting sometimes. I took up nursing to please my parents but mainly to challenge myself because they all said that Nursing is a very difficult course. I wanted to prove to them that I can do it and that I can easily pass the board exam (puro yabang). And pass I did. But who am I kidding, really. Joke’s on me because I could have studied something that I really wanted but I ended up studying something else.
Even if being a nurse delayed my plans to pursue my true love (being artsy and creative), I didn’t regret it. I didn’t regret the people that I met and the experience of working in a hospital. But I promised myself that that would be the last time I will listen to other people on what I should and shouldn’t do; the last time that I will let my ego take the best of me just to prove to other people that I can do this and that, even if those things doesn’t really interest me.
That’s a long intro. I just wanted to share what happened last week. 😄 I attended a free workshop from Valerie Chua (one of my inspirations) called Essential Watercolor Tricks. I felt so lucky to be a part of that workshop. She’s really good in explaining the step by step process, plus I like that she’s kind of “kalog” as well which made her less intimidating. Then I was able to meet Abbey Sy too (another inspo)! It was a great event and I received a lot of freebies. Hihi. But the main highlight is really being able to meet Valerie and learning from her. She even replied to my IG story thanking me for being there at the event. *kilig* Okay, that’s enough fan girling.
So after that event in Shang, we (Kenneth) went straight to Burgos Circle to attend another workshop (not free). It’s about brush calligraphy this time and it’s with Paolo Tugano. We (Dyn) were able to learn a different font (he corrected me and said that the correct term is letter form, not font). One activity that I suggested is I’ll write a quote using my own style and layout then he’ll rewrite it using his own style. Here’s his creation:
He was so good. I didn’t even bother to take a picture of what I did. 😅 But Art Day Fun Day didn’t stop there. Out last stop is at BGC Art Mart to checkout some handmade goodies. Booths lined up with artists selling their creations (shirts, toys, paintings, etc.). I bought some cute washi tapes for my journal.
Something else happened. Right in the middle of my watercolor workshop, I felt this stinging pain in my right upper abdomen. I just kept ignoring it because I’m having a hard time focusing on what Valerie is trying to teach us. I figured I was just hungry because the only thing I ate is a hotdog and a bite of brownie and it’s already 4PM. I asked Kenneth to buy me shawarma. I didn’t wait until the end of the workshop to eat it, thinking that food will relieve the pain. We came home at around 9PM and the pain is still there. Before sleeping, I rubbed some Vicks (naturally 😂) on my belly and tried to sleep the pain away. When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I noticed is that the pain is still there. I’m beginning to worry because I’ve never experience this before. I knew something was wrong.
I asked Kenneth to bring me to the ER so I can have an ultrasound and get this thing diagnosed. Turns out, I have calculus gallbladder (stones in my gallbladder). Another surgery? Please, not again! I underwent bilateral oophorecystectomy (December 2016) and open appendectomy (April 2015) already. Please please I don’t want another surgery. But unfortunately, I have no other choice. The only treatment for gall stones is to remove my gallbladder. I felt really sad and started to pity myself. I was like, “Ang weak ko. Feeling ko mabilis akong mamamatay kase andaming aberya ng katawan ko, kung ano-anong tumutubo sa loob.” But talking to Arien turned out to be therapeutic. She told a story about their 90-year old patient who underwent a lot of surgeries in her lifetime. The patient even joked, “Wala na nga akong lamang loob.” That made me chuckle and made me feel a bit better. I’m planning to have the surgery done on January next year. Hays.
I also discovered something really weird. I checked out the “On This Day” section of my Facebook and I saw that:
These dates are exactly 3 years apart. I’m beginning to think what will happen to me on October 2020. This coincidence is so weird and scary!
At last! I finally had the time (and will) to do it. I’ve been meaning to create a header for my blog since I started learning calligraphy. I like how it turned out. ❤️
The photo that I used in the background is the one that I took when we were in Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto Japan.
And now I’m off to painting. I’m feeling so productive today.
Haven’t done any blogging lately and I’m hating myself for it. It always crosses my mind but I wasn’t getting myself around to do it. I almost didn’t want to write now because I’m about to sleep already. My neurons are still kind of recuperating from the art class that I took this morning (I took an art class! Yay!). But so much stuff has been happening lately and I need to talk about it. I want my future self to go back and remember these things. Let’s have it as a list.
And then, just like magic, I finally figured out who that someone is. That someone who will give me the answers. Me. Finally, I was able to figure it out. And I’m not gonna stop now.
Okay, that’s it. Got kind of emotional back there. Haha. I hope I can blog more frequently. I almost forgot that writing feels soothing and therapeutic. It also keeps my mind in the right perspective. Until then!
Gleniz Da Menace 