Dear Mother,
Okay, this is my last post for "Mother." I did this oil painting impression of my own family. I figured it was appropriate for Mother's Day - I hope these guys let me do what I want on Mother's Day - paint and not give me their dirty clothes for laundry :-)
This is my submission for Monday Artday. It is called "Nanay", the Hiligaynon or Ilonggo language term for "Mother". Ilonggo children call ther mothers "Nanay" which I did throughout my mother's life. This is the first painting after I arrived in the U.S. This is an impression of my mother shown here with my eldest sister and brother. This would have been the time when the Japanese occupied the Philippines, before I was born but became familiar with because of my mother's constant retelling of the atrocities of war and the lessons learned. My mother wears a patadyong, a wrap native to only five provinces and only two of the more than 5,000 islands in the Philippines.
Okay. Here's a pastel drawing. I did this at the Belmont Shore Sidewalk Chalk Art event two weeks ago. I didn't win but I placed (fifth out of over 70 artists). It was a blast! I'll be doing it again next year. -- My first idea was a more traditional mother and child but I realized I was playing to the judges rather than being true to my style. I think I did better by doing something from my heart then from my head. This piece is on paper (for some reason they won't let us draw directly on the sidewalk) so I still have it. It's a little over 3 feet by 4 feet. Also, I was on the front page of the local newspaper doing this drawing with my daughter in the forground. That was fun too!
