C.P.Adorio, Sunday Painter: Fowl

13.2.11

Fowl

Elma, The Mother Hen. Pen and Ink on 9"x12" Bristol Board. Elma and Maes were the original sources of our chickens and eggs when I was growing up.

The Cock, Ma-es. 9"x12" Pigment ink on Bristol Board. A few memories from my childhood: elephant tusk and bird of paradise plants, yellow bells, aka Ezperanza, cadena de amor, bamboo, Movie Snap pictured on the photograph image on right lower corner, a roll of photographic negative, banana peel, egg shell (I am learning to walk on eggshells) used to cap the elephant tusk - we thought it made them grow taller and straight. Now I know why my mother did that. Yesterday, I was reading about the plant characteristic called phototropism. The sensors that influence the plant's ability to grow in the direction of the light are stored in their tips. I need to ask my sisters for the name of that pointed-leaf plant used to line the flower beds.

INVENTING

When I was in in 5th grade, I got a B in home economics for creating my own cross stitch design. My teacher told me that I was inventing my own design when I was supposed to cross stitch from a kit. My sister and I then invented a dance sequence called "Inventing" in defiance of the teacher. I did not like that teacher. When I was in nursing college, I had this dream of becoming a medical painter or illustrator like Dr. Frank Netter. My nursing notes were filled with illustrations, especially the microbiology notebooks. After graduating from college, I had my rural internship in the mountains. I did not do any art, instead, I learned to ride a motorcycle. Later, I studied speech pathology and illustrated instruction manuals on speech exercises for families of children with cerebral palsy. I also illustrated speech articulation cards for patients. During traffic hours in Manila, I often got stranded in traffic jams. I took the time to illustrate the urban scenes and landscapes. When I immigrated to the US in 1982, I started oil painting everyday and cross-stitching on the weekends, while working as a nurse. I painted over 100 large canvas paintings. I gave away most of them. Between 1986 and 2004 I did not paint but drew hundreds of architectural floor plans and schematic drawings of farms and cities while working as a trauma and emergency nurse and raising two young children with my husband. I started oil painting full time in 2004 again while my children were in grade school. I was also employed as a clinical analyst. My specialty is writing clinical decision support rule modules. I also bought a boatload of scrap-booking materials and equipment. They are waiting to be used. These days I alternate between pen and ink drawing and oil painting. I am learning to watercolor. It is very frustrating for me. If not for the sable brushes and the 400-pound watercolor paper, which I love, I would have given up long ago. I don't know why I keep drawing and painting. I love art supplies. I pray when I paint and draw. My squiggles are the equivalent of Buddhist prayer wheels.