In Memoriam: Rosa Pilar Roxas Amador

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Mom was better known to people as Nena Amador, or Tita Nena, but to me, she was ‘Mom’ from the onset.

Some say that when you marry, you marry a family and not just a person. In my case, I think I was happier being “married” to the family than just one person. Who wouldn’t with a mom like Nena Amador? She welcomed me right away with open arms and treated me like a daughter from the start. It was easy to want to be part of her family, and she made it easy for me.

She loved unconditionally. She was generous to a fault. Sure, she had her faults, but compared to her largesse, they were petty and material things that were easily overlooked. She enjoyed life and found humor in many things. She talked. Did she love to talk! I don’t think it just had to do with age, either. I loved listening to her stories of growing up, of her father, of family. It added greatly to my sense of belonging. It was something I wasn’t used to, since we hardly talked to each other when I was growing up, but it was nice to know where people stood and what people thought.

We did things together just like a mother and daughter would. We spent time in the kitchen, cooked, chatted. We shopped together, went to doctor’s appointments together, watched plays together. She trusted me to cook meals and asked for my ideas and opinions on many things. She was eager to have grandchildren and I was happy to share my kids with her. When Justin was born, there was no way you could keep her away from him, and I gladly made every effort to have them spend time together.

When times became tough for her, I naturally took her into my home, just as she had taken me into hers. It was the least I could do and I didn’t have to think twice about it. If I could have afforded it, I would have brought her all the way to Canada with me.

I have missed her every day since she moved out of my house through circumstances I could not control. I missed her much more when I moved halfway around the world. And now, I will miss her even more.

My one comfort is that she will always be a part of me and that she can be closer to me than ever because she is no longer hampered by her physical being, by pain or suffering, by illness or lack. She can be anywhere and everywhere, and I know she is looking out for me from the great beyond.

I love you, Mom. I will never forget you.

 

Because I can’t say good-bye… (a poem)

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For my Mom, Rosa Pilar Roxas Amador, who passed into another world at 11:10 p.m. on April 26, 2014 (Philippine time). She was my mother-in-law, but more of a mother to me. I will never forget her.

 

Because I can’t say good-bye, I will remember

Days of loving and caring, sharing and laughing

When we first met I will never forget

Into your home you took me

You made it mine and made me yours

Unconditionally

You loved me

As a mother would a child of her blood

Into your fold you took me like one of your brood

You gave freely what you could

And even what you could not

Without second thought

Without hesitation

With far-reaching hands

With large heart

And open mind

Giving to a fault

Mindless of means

You heard with your heart

Listened with love

Counseled with care

There was nowhere I could go that you did not find me

And what I could not say you always knew

Now, everywhere and nowhere, you will be with me

Always in my heart, in my mind

Forever in my words because I can never say good-bye to you

I will remember.

 

© Cindy Lapeña, 2014

 

12 Cards for 12 Occasions: A Big L.E.A.P. for Garden Home Seniors

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Festive display of greeting cards made by senior participants in the Garden Home’s 2014 L.E.A.P. (Learning Elders Art Program) under the auspices of the PEI Senior Citizens’ Federation through funding from the PEI Department of Tourism and Culture, in cooperation with the PEI Council of the Arts.

The participants (14 regular) attended 12 weekly sessions to create 12 cards for 12 occasions.

The cards were displayed at an Open House Exhibit, where MLA Kathleen Casey handed out Certificates of Completion to the participants. Also in attendance was PEI Senior Citizens’ Federation Director Bill Oulton.

The experience was thoroughly enjoyable for the participants, as well as for myself! I would do participate in the LEAP program over and over again!

(The Garden Home is located on North River Road in Charlottetown)

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Command of Language (poster)

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Making a Mark with Markers (an Art Review)

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Making a Mark with Markers

by Cindy Lapeña

A good-sized crowd gathered at the small town market gallery after the closing of the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market on the 29th of March to listen to Lunenberg, Nova Scotia artist Andrew Maize talk about his new marker drawing series.

Maize, who decided art was his calling as a teenager, after seeing a video of Jackson Pollock at work, has been experimenting with creating art from found materials for several years. He believes that “there is a lot of potential in found materials” and is always considering how such materials can be used in different ways. His current exhibit is testament to this philosophy. He has been collecting used markers and using them in unusual ways to create art.

On display until the 17th of May, his latest Chartpak Marker Drawings Series is a series of 12 “drawings”—his interpretation of drawing the ink out of used markers by standing them tip down on a pile of highly fibrous paper and letting gravity do its work by making the marker ink leak onto the paper and seep through the layers for 3.5 hours. The markers were arranged in random order in the same box they came in.

What is interesting about this work, is how each marker stain finds its space on each sheet and how some stains are completely ‘spaced out’ while others take on larger or different forms. Each sheet shows the slightest transformation so that they are almost the same from one to the next, but are quite different two or more sheets away. It makes me think of an exercise used in analyzing how a message changes with each transfer. In most cases, messages are distorted one or two words at a time until the end message can be completely different from the original. In the same way, the original “drawing” is completely different from the final one in Maize’s series.

Another point Maize brought up was how, no matter how useless or invaluable the found materials are, once they are transformed into art, they attain a certain value that makes the artwork precious, at the very least, to the artist. It was probably by serendipity that the choice of mounting (bulldog clips and string in the upper corners of the drawings) emphasized the fragility and vulnerability of the works in their unusual gallery setting, which in turn highlighted how delicate and precious they were. Certainly, this must be an attachment all artists acquire with their works, especially when they have been completed, and Andrew’s experimental art shows how much value can be generated by the creation of art from things other people normally discard.

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A Letter to My Son, who is doing well in school

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Dearest Justin

I just want to let you know how proud I am of your performance in school so far.
I know it’s your last year in high school and you will be graduating in a few months.
I hope you are able to follow your dreams and complete university education in a course that you really want to follow. I hope you continue to value learning and knowledge and always strive to learn more whenever you can, to learn something new each and every day, and to use your knowledge for the good of others.
I hope you learn more about your self and people around you, as well as the whole world around you.
I hope you gain a deeper understanding of people in general, and the people around you, in particular.
I hope you begin to understand things about life that you might not have been able to understand when you were younger.
I pray that you retain a deep and meaningful spirituality that helps you find peace, love, kindness, and forgiveness throughout your life.
I pray that you have continued to be the good, kind, loving boy you were, now that you are at the cusp of manhood. I pray everyday that you will always be good, kind, and loving; that you will always strive to understand and not judge; that you will always be open-minded, generous, and respectful of all things, living and non-living, respectful of all humans, and above all, respectful of the world around you.
Above all, I pray that, even if we never meet again, for whatever reason, you will remember that you have a mother who loves you so much she was willing to allow you to make your own choices no matter how young you were, and trust that you would learn to respect the choices others have to make, even if it meant losing a part of herself, and a huge part of her heart.

I will always and ever wish only the best for you.

With great and endless love,

Mom

The tail-end of the storm…

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The wind was so strong it pushed the snow through the screen on my balcony and covered the glass doors! The snow is knee-deep on my balcony by the doors, where the wind blew it and it caught with no where else to go. Down in the parking lot, the vehicles sit in cozy little wells except for the truck on the end, where the wind has blown the snow up on its side and over the roof of its cab. It’s actually nice and bright outside but the wind still howls and the trees sway here and there, swirling, twirling, confused in the wild north-easter.

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there’s a tug-o’-war for spring
summer in no hurry to come
lazing somewhere in the tropics
winter struggling hard to stay
throwing temper tantrums when told to go away.

Charlottetown, 2014

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Garden Home Mural Project: Day 3

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I started this on a bare surface. Because of the rigid lines for the letters and latticework, I decided to mark off the grids and outline the letters. Everything after that was done freehand. Everything after this will be done freehand.

I was really excited to start this project, as were my contacts at the Garden Home, in particular, Angela, who is in charge of special projects. She gave me an idea of what she wanted and I presented her with sketches, designs, lettering, and colour  options. The first day, I put in the dark green colour, which received some objections, as well as the fact that the size of letters was too big, but Angela wanted them big and eye-catching, so I delivered on that. To improve on the letters, I added an emerald green center and created an outline with green yellow to make the letters look more solid as well stand out more. Then, I created the latticework in white, which everyone really liked. (see Day 2). When I started putting in the shadow to make the latticework look solid, Everyone just liked it better! When I started to put in the vines crawling in and out of the latticework, my audience stayed till bedtime.

So far, I’ve been enjoying my days painting this, and am truly glad that it is bringing joy and gladness to the residents and staff as well. Today, I take a break as there is a powerful storm blowing over the island and everyone is staying home. I am hunkered down in front of the TV with my faithful Caliban on my lap, my laundry in the dry cycle, and hot chocolate ready to make.

Next step is finishing touches on the leaves, including shadowing, and a little more shadowing on the latticework.

Nature didn’t take shortcuts to decorate each and every leaf.
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