Hobby: Painting

In my almost empty-nest stage,I am finding more time to travel and do new things. By sheer chance, I started a new hobby almost two years ago: painting.

I arrived back home from the Philippines and found a complete, huge supply of painting materials. After some inquiries,I found out that my husband had bought them as he wanted to take up painting. Since he was traveling, I asked if I could use them. I was challenged by his reply. He said that if I knew how to paint, to go ahead, but otherwise not to waste the materials.

I had not taken any formal painting lessons. All I had was my art activities in grade school. I wanted to prove to him that I could paint. I took the canvass, the paint bottles, and had an idea in my head.


"Flowers for Mom"

After spending a month with my mom who was suffering from the terminal stage of uterine cancer, I felt really sad. The reality of her end was getting near.

I painted the canvass background black, and my daughter asked "why are you using black?" My answer was, so that the subject matter would come out...for good contrasts...for dramatic effect... and I began to paint.

In psychotherapy, art is used to expressed one's feelings. Interestingly, enough, what started to take shape in my canvass was totally different from what I had envisioned. After painting for twelve hours straight, my daughter arrived home and saw my finished artwork. She exclaimed " Wow! How did you do that?"

Immediately, my youngest daughter took a picture of it and emailed it to the rest of our family. They were all surprised that I could paint. So was I!!!

I entitled it "Flowers for Mom." After two days, I emailed it to the members of my family of origin, with a caption for my mother as it was mother's day. On May 11, 2008, my youngest sister printed it and showed it to my mother. As she read the message "Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy. I thank God for giving you to us as our mother, for you gave us the gift of motherhood. I will miss you terribly. I love you very much. Yogi." My mom, then, nodded her head and smiled.


" Roses in My Garden"

My husband and my children asked if I could paint one with a white background...and I came up with this triptych. Again, I noticed that what comes out on the canvass is different from what I was planning to do. I planned to paint some roses as I remembered my rose patch in my garden in California. And I was amazed at what I turned out using the brush, a sponge roller, and other unusual things as painting tools.

My family liked it. I, then, realized that I had a new hobby...and I was excited to continue painting.


"Vicky's Farm"

Within the same month, I started on my third painting, a pentatych.

I had always loved gardening, which is something I picked up from my mom. I used to win "Garden of the Month" awards in our neighborhood. I missed gardening so much when we relocated to France, so I looked for other means to still be connected with plants.

When my flower ministry came up, to arrange flowers for the church altar, I was delighted and considered it a blessing. Because of my love for plants and flowers, I find it logical that these would be my themes in my paintings.

Three years ago, I had the chance to visit the farm of one of my high school classmates in Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines. I was so impressed by the variety of rare tubers, bamboos, and other plants that were planted in her farm. All of a sudden, various images of the farm came to my mind...and they became the inspiration for my third work.


"Pink Lilies"

The stargazer lily is one of my favorite flowers to arrange. It looks good, it last long, and it is fragrant. Based on an arrangement I did in church, I ended up with a more realistic style in this painting. Something different, I thought.


"The Winters, Springs, and Summers of Life"

One of the things I like do here in Paris is to go to museum exhibitions. After attending a guided tour of a Jackson Pollock exhibition, I thought I would try painting something in the Pollock style. I poured the paint in some controlled fashion and pattern. I found this to be so much fun!

I still have two unfinished paintings and I just need to stay put to find time to finish them. Painting has been a way of expressing my emotions, whether I am aware of it or not. As I look at my work, some feelings are stirred up and I begin to relate them to what is going on in my life.

Do something fun for yourself. Try something new...something different.

My teacher in grad school said that all great painters are bi-polar but not all bi-polars are painters. I am not bi-polar and I am just a hobby painter with my own style. I think I want to start taking painting lessons, soon, so I can paint in other styles and even try portraiture.

A Picturesque Paris: A Snowy Day in the City

Yesterday, we woke up to find that the city was blanketed with a light dusting of powdery snow...and that was a good reason to get out in -6°C temperature, to see how the look of familiar places had changed...

on the street where we live...

an entry to a known French personality's home...where the persimmon fruits look like tree ornaments...

the church where I do my flower ministry...

as we walked to our destination point: le Tour Eiffel.

In front of this golden flame, by the entry to Pont de Alma (bridge) is the informal memorial set up to honor Princess Diana, who had passed away, underneath this spot, on the roadway.

We retraced the steps we took to go to the new year's eve welcome celebration, along the Seine River.

Here are some boathouses along the Seine...a pricey place to moor your boathouse.

To the left side of the Seine is the Eiffel Tower disembarkation point, for visitors who come cruising on the Bateaux Bus (water bus) or on any other scenic boat ride.

The snow plow beat us to the punch...

as the bridge leading to the tower had been cleared of snow.

At this point, I remembered Haussmann - the architect of the city of Paris, as I noticed the position of some monuments. Note the small structure at the perspective point of this photo...that's the Ecole Militaire....

and le Trocadero is directly across. Baron George Eugene Haussmann was commissioned by Napoleon III, in 1852, to renovate Paris.

After one more look at this place, my daughter suggested that we go to Printemp, the department store, to check out the panoramic view from their top floor, at La Terrase restaurant.

Back to Haussmann...his urban planning to renovate the medieval city of Paris and the surrounding districts included many aspects, such as cutting through medieval alleys, new regulations on facades of building designs, public parks in neighborhoods and along the boulevards, sewers and water works and other city facilities, and public monuments which were designed and situated in some patterned alignment.

Out the door and to the terrace, this was the first view I had...of buildings without the typical Haussmannian look. As I looked around, I began to recognize some building monuments.

That's the dome of les Invalides , where Napoleon is buried.

Of course, you recognize the iconic French monument in the background!

There's the back view of the top of le National Opera de Paris, le Palais Garnier.

At the perspective point of this picture is the Arc de Triomphe...

and here, you can see l'Eglise de Madeleine (church), back side view, at the center.

In the distant background is la Basilique du Sacre Couer , also known as the cake in the sky as it noticeably stands out when you drive into the city from the CDG airport.

Although, Haussmann was strongly criticized by some of his contemporaries in modern city planning. Today, he is widely credited for his revolutionary ideas in urban planning and for having given Paris its present look and form, with its long, straight, wide boulevards, dotted along by cafés and shops. This new type of urban renovation made an influence on the Parisian way of life then and now, and for the tourists who come all year round.

Haussmann's influence is also present in the planning of the cities of Washington D.C. and Chicago. And presently, so many cities have adapted having outdoor cafés and shops in different states from New York to California, in other European countries, and in Asia, from what I have seen.

On our way home, we found this Egyptian mummy sitting out on a cold bench...

while the police were patrolling on horseback.

Today the forecast was for more snowfall. But it was milder than the day before and the sun was up...a perfect day to meet up with a friend for breakfast, near the Place de la Concorde.

While walking, we decided to cut through le Jardin des Tuilleries, which is centrally located between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, re-designed and renovated between 1660 and 1664 in French formal style by André Le Nôtre, the celebrated gardener of the Sun King who is best known for his design of the Versailles gardens.

Just like the feathered creatures on the fountain I, too, am learning to live under wintry conditions. With a double pair of warm socks, these Croc boots were made for walking, even on snow.

I'm almost at Angelina's Café to meet my friend - this is a "must visit" for you when you come into this town....as it is known for their thick-hot-chocolate beverage, the Mont Blanc, and their macaroons , and many more sweet creations.

Paris is one of the best places to live or visit, where walking is an enjoyable means of getting around. I'll catch you next time, when I discover more places to tell you about!

New Year's Eve '09: Light show at the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is now a global icon of France and happens to be one of the tallest buildings in Paris. It has become one of the most recognizable structures and is the most visited paid monument in the world. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair.


It was my first new year's eve to celebrate in Paris. There was so much excitement about what was in store for the tourists and locals, alike: a light show at the Eiffel Tower. All bundled up, at 11:00 p.m. my daughter and I walked along the Seine River to get into position.


There was so much traffic on the road as cars made their way through the throngs of people walking on the street...in a celebratory spirit...drinking, eating, talking, and singing. Some had too many drinks and were so drunk that they were falling all over the place, being rowdy as a group, and became unsightly when they could no longer handle or keep their drinks.


Armed with my camera, this is what I watched and captured:

From afar, we could see that the light show at the Eiffel Tower had began.

Along the way, we found some enterprising people catering to the needs of the crowd: 

Champagne for sale by the glass and food to go.

The show was a set program of light patterns, in different colors, changing quickly.

It was somewhere here that we stood, in front of the Trocadero...

which is directly in front of the Eiffel Tower.

I just kept my camera focused on the Eiffel Tower the whole time, clicking away as fast as I could.

Just about everyone was taking pictures, using high-powered lenses, point and shoot cameras like mine, and with their mobile phones.

The tower lights momentarily stopped...

and the running lights began to run from one side to the other...the people got excited and began to buzz...as this turned out to be the countdown...

et voila...all the lights turned white...

and 2009 had ended and 2010 had arrived.

Everyone turned to greet the person next to them "bonne année!"

Then it was just twinkling lights...

and then the lights went into their usual mode, the color yellow, the light color that the Eiffel Tower can be seen from many places in Paris, all year round.

When it was over, I asked, "Is that it?" It did not have the same pizazz as a fireworks display, but it was uniquely French!


When you come to visit at another time, be sure to see the Eiffel Tower when it sparkles with twinkling lights for 10 minutes, on the hour, every hour!

Happy 2010!!!