Let’s Do a Van Gogh

After Picasso head, Mandy has again discovered another thing that is sure to be a hit in the blogosphere. It’s called bomomo.

Like Mr. Picasso Head, this also lets non-artists to unleash their hidden creativity using lines and colors. Now, folks who cannot even differentiate an oil painting from a watercolor, like me, can become “painters” in the almost-real sense of the word.

I am very excited about this ‘discovery’ because I see a vast potential in it. I can now ‘paint’ images for my poems. You see, there are times when I wish I have pictures that go well with my poems. I do have good pictures, and I use them. But there are just some poems that cannot be accompanied just by any picture. I think, this interactive site solves my problem. I can just make abstract ‘paintings’ and presto! My layout is already perfect.

And what’s more, it’s also fun. I’ve tried it and I couldn’t stop. Hah! I suggest you try it. Better yet, do it with your kids. I’m sure they’ll love it!

What are you waiting for? Click HERE and begin unleashing your pent-up creativity!

Have fun...

[PS: The pictures here are my very first abstract ‘paintings.’ Don’t ask me what they mean, though. ;-) ]

Again, you are welcome to post your creations here. (Please do!)Just use the code below.



Simply upload your creations, then copy the URL. Using the code above, put the URL of your painting at the URL section (red font) and type in the words you want to appear in your link at the green part of the code.

Picasso Your Head

There is some craze in my ‘little’ community in the bloggosphere about the interactive site, Mr. Picasso Head, where anyone, with or without any artistic inclination, can ‘draw’ his or his friends’ heads with easy-to-use tools.

When it was first posted by Mandy, everyone, me included, had lots of fun doing it. It became an instant craze. But I guess it was another blogger-friend, Michelle, who got the worst Picasso-head bug. She actually drew each of her blogger-friends! And oh, boy! She is so talented that most of her drawings are recognizable!

Michelle also ‘drew’ me and I love her Picasso version of me very much. I think she was looking at my avatar through eyes that highlight what’s beautiful in everyone when she was making my Picasso head (or perhaps all the time), that’s why I came out looking very beautiful in her drawing. I haven’t looked that beautiful in a long while. ;-)

Here is Michelle’s drawing of me:

Cool, isn’t it?

Come on folks, try it too and have loads of fun. It’s something you can do to pass the time, or to have fun with your little kids and even with friends and loved ones who are kids at heart!

And oh, do show me your drawings by giving the links at the comment section. Please....

Here's my very first attempt: http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=ca5f7ff&skin=original

(PS: Moments after my post, my Buddy, VF, tried his hand at the Picasso Head and look, he's got some artistic talent, too! Wow! Here's one of his drawings of me:

I love his drawings so much. ;-) Now, I understand why he had been pestering me to wear ponytails this afternoon, hehehe!

(Don't you think I should be asking for my model's fee? Not that I modeled for him. But then, it's my beautiful face that's giving him inspiration, right?)

Here's another PS: If you're wondering how to create a link at the comments section, like I'm doing, please use this code:

Simply copy the code, put the URL of your picasso head drawing at the URL section (red font) and type in the words you want to appear in your link at the green part of the code.

Beadwork

Lately, I’ve been being drawn (again) into beadwork, which is good, because now, I can allot at least a day a week for this other medium of self-expression.

Beadwork is therapeutic; it relieves me of stress. It also has a lot of potentials for business. Hmmm, why not?

Let me share some of my initial outputs.

Teaser for my photoessay

If a picture could paint a thousand words, what would you get if you put together ten pictures and a captivating prose?

That's right. An enchanting story.

That's the project I am working on as a gift for my "dungngo" who very badly needs sunset. Right now, I am still in the process of collecting my materials and am also waiting for the words to whisper their names to my pen. It might take me years to finish it, but I am patient. After all, the irksome word "rush" never appears alongside "art" in a sentence, unless a negator is also present.

OFW Wannabes

In Philippine Educational Theater Association’s (PETA) latest offering, Pinoy Wannabes, five one-act plays revolving around the issue of OFW migration explore how the promise of a better life could ironically gnaw away ties and shatter dreams.

Using an ever-present red luggage as a unifying element — at least visually — the five sketches portray present-day Filipino realities.


Yung Plano is a tale of the disintegration of an OFW family, with its first scene being that of three kids trying to take care of themselves in a home with absentee parents, and its last being that of the parents as idealistic ‘70s activists. The backward telling of the story gives it a more powerful impact than it would have had if it were told the usual way. The irony of the parents’ strong convictions and ideals when they were young losing out to the promise of a better life — in the land of the “enemy,” no less — is not at all missed among the audience.

Ang Kamera ni Mang Leon, on the other hand, hits home quite easily, in the light of the ongoing mass exodus of health workers abroad. The issue of physicians working in the country as underpaid and overworked doctors versus being well-paid albeit of much lower status care givers abroad, is still a much talked about topic.

And when life in the country becomes too burdensome to bear, running off to other countries “to set things right” is all the more an easy decision to make. In Kalat, an abused wife decides to leave the country to clean up other peoples’ mess, and hopefully and eventually, her own.

Panaginip talks of young lovers oceans apart, with only a dream of one day being together to hold on to. Exhilarating and loaded with witty punches, and yeah — that same-sex kissing that made the viewers rowdy for no less than a minute — this mini-play might have been the last to leave the viewers’ minds, if ever it would.

And finally, who doesn’t want to have a pasaporte? Virtually every Filipino dreams of owning — and using — one. In Pasaporte, the Juan and Juana de la Cruzes of the country were given the center stage as they give their arms and legs for that elusive US visa. And fail.


While the five mini plays may not have wholly captured the lives of the millions of Filipinos working abroad — for surely their actual experiences are much more colorful, their dilemmas more heartrending, and their stories more moving — the sketches are simply poignant. With its emotional and social appeal (which is expected of all PETA productions), Pinoy Wannabes has managed to set the audience roaring with laughter. And hopefully, take home a message or two.