Wednesday, May 27, 2009

What I like about ... water


It’s “w” day and water immediately came to mind.

I will not talk about the obvious importance of water in our life except to say that – our cells consists of about 70% water, so it’s but logical that if we lack water, then we will not function efficiently at all. We can even die of dehydration or lack of water. Having said that, I will talk more on the other reason why I like water.

I like water because its presence in any scene always adds some interesting point in my photos. Taking a picture of water in its many forms – as a droplet, as moving force, as part of the scene, as rain, or even as a simple puddle, has always been challenging. I will post the many “faces” of water in my photo blog. Please follow me over there by clicking on the link below.
http://www.aphotoaday-saanva.blogspot.com/

For today, I will just post one of my favourite water photo – that of raindrops. I called this photo "angel tears".

Monday, May 18, 2009

What I like about ... van Gogh

It's "V" day today and I immediately thought of Van Gogh.

I got to know Van Gogh first through Irving Stone’s fictional biography, “Lust for Life”. I was so moved by the drama of his life such that I poured through many art books in the library and looked at whatever pictures of his paintings were there. There was no internet at that time yet (late 60's). Through the book, I got to understand van Gogh better and appreciated his works more.

I cannot say that I like all of Van Gogh’s works. However, I appreciate most of them especially because I learned of the circumstances under which those works were done. Sometimes I wonder however why he has so many self portraits wearing different kinds of hat. Did he paint these because he was egoistic or because he could not afford to pay any model? My guess is probably both.

My favourite works are his popular “Sunflowers” and of course “Starry Night”. However, I also like his less known “Landscape at Dusk” painting. I love the way he captured the essence of dusk through the colors he used.

Van Gogh's passion for his art is the main reason why I like him and his works. The title, "Lust for Life", that Irving Stone used in his book is an apt description of van Gogh's life.

Friday, May 15, 2009

what I like about ... umbrellas


It's "U" day today, so I thought of umbrellas.

Umbrellas are so versatile. They can be used as "parasol" or for the sun, or "parapluie" or for the rain. They can even be used as canes or as weapons. For those of you who have watched the tv series "The Avengers", I'm sure you still remember the character of Dr. David Keel and his ubiquitous umbrella. And who can forget Mary Poppins and her umbrella with the talking parrot?

I love umbrellas because of their bright and beautiful colors. I know umbrellas used to come only in black but the present day umbrellas are just so colorful. Don't you agree?

Umbrellas also come as single fold or double fold or even triple fold. The shorter they are, the more handy they are and they can easily fit inside a handbag. However, if you don't have a bag, then the folding ones are also more likely to be forgotten somewhere. I can't remember anymore how many umbrellas I have lost this way. So now, I just carry around the no fold or single fold umbrella. I am less likely to forget them if they are big.

Umbrellas are of course favorite gifts or give-aways of companies or even politicians. Every time you open the umbrella you become a walking advertisement of the company or the person. Isn't that ingenious?

I simply love umbrellas, don't you?

Monday, May 11, 2009

What I like about ... handkerchiefs





Today, I'm posting a wonderful contribution by my good friend, Teng. She collects handkerchiefs and makes paper (origami) dolls. We will ask her to talk about her dolls another time. All the photos are from her collection. Aren't they pretty?

What I like about handkerchiefs
"They’re small, square pieces of cloth. They’re thin and, when folded, could fit into a pocket or a small purse. They’re used for wiping. What are they? They’re handkerchiefs!

Wrong! Except for the “cloth” part, the description could fit that of a tissue paper and doesn’t do justice to a handkerchief. True, some tissue papers have designs like hankies, but you throw used tissue paper away. You don’t do that to a hanky. Especially one that you’ve carefully selected or made, or had been given, and have kept all these years.

Why do I like hankies? One is their obvious function - wiping off anything wet. You use a hanky to wipe off tears (of sadness or happiness), sweat, left-off water after washing, left-over milk on a child’s mouth, etc, etc. Who cares what you wipe? You can wash the hanky afterwards and it’s good as new!

Second, hankies are works of art. Their designs are limitless – flowers, plants, animals, people, sceneries, ribbons, shoes, purses, stamps, flags, ships, etc, etc. Their colors are beautiful, their texture fine and soft. The combination of cloth with lace, embroidery, beading, paint, etc could astound you.

Third, you can do wonders with hankies, transforming them into other works of art. Using the paper-folding art of origami, hankies can also be folded and twisted into birds, flowers, dolls, etc and displayed. Visit the hankies department of any Japanese department store and you’ll see what I mean.

Fourth, you can wrap a small gift with a hanky. And the hanky ends up as part of the gift!

Fifth, they make very nice, inexpensive gifts (although, if you gift it to a Thai, he/she has to “pay” you a small amount, to counteract the “tears” associated with hankies). And you won’t need a big box or a large wrapping paper to wrap them in, so that’s another plus in the expense area.

Sixth, there is something to learn when you look at handkerchiefs. How the Japanese traditional attire looks like. Who Fendi, Celine, Christian Dior, Pierre Cardin, Lehrer, etc are and whether you can recognize their creation, without looking first at the signature/label on one end of the hanky. How places in other countries look like.

I have collected hankies since the 60s, so you can imagine the volume of my collection. My children had even commented that I should establish a hankies museum! Well, why not? Their beauty then would be shared instead of being just kept in boxes!"

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day


Today I am just sharing a card I made especially for all you lovely mothers out there. I hope you like it.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

what I like about ... tableaux

Today is "T" day and right away I thought of "tableaux." I love looking at tableaux. They present scenes or groups of people or even photos in such a creative way that make an immediate impact on the viewer.

Tableau is the reason why I joined HP's tabblo.com. The website has presented a way that awakens the artist in us. It allows one to put together photos and text in a creative way. This is not a paid promotion of their website at all. I just want to let you know that I love using the website.

You can check out one of my tableaux by clicking on the link below. You may also want to look at my other tableaux by clicking on the "next tabblo by saanva". Saanva is the name I am using in this website. Saanva was coined by my son, Milo, when he helped me with my first ever website. It simply comes from the first few letters of my name and designation, "Salvacion Angtuaco Visual Artist".

This is the link.
http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/1719080/

What do you think?
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