Matters of the heART

in #philippines7 years ago (edited)

Making art is one of my favorite ways to spend quality time with my kids. When Sam whines about how long it has been since our last painting session, she's actually complaining that I haven't been spending enough time with her.

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Sam has always shown great interest in creating art with her small, dainty hands. As a toddler, Sam wasn't really much into toys and had sheer delight for books and crayons. I'm guessing it's because I made that decision for her early on. Before she turned 1, she already had dozens of books and coloring books in her collection. In contrast, she only had 3 toys -her baby rattles. She was introduced to her first book when she was 6 weeks old. At six months, she owned her first twistable crayons and before she turned one, she already knew the names of basic colors.

I can't say I'm an artist or that I'm artistic but I am inclined to appreciate art because I grew up with its influence. Our school's curriculum included an Art class from the time I went to playschool until I graduated high school. My dad encouraged his children to be creative and even after he was gone, and things weren't so easy anymore, we still managed to find ways to pursue creating art. But my biggest influence in Art would have to be my eldest sister, Qai. I may have been impressed by Van Gogh's struggles as an artist because I saw that with my own eyes as my sister would skip snacks just so she can buy some art materials (it is no secret that art materials do not come cheap). During weekends, when we're done with our chores, she would spend hours on her wide wooden table to paint cartoon characters that her friends in school would buy from her. We, the younger ones, would silently watch on as she makes Marvin the Martian, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Bugs Bunny come to life with each stroke of her brush. From time to time, she would look up and ask us what we thought about her work so far. We would of course shower her with praises that she deserved because she really was awesome.

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Fast-forward to 2016. Qai sent me these; I received them in the mail a few weeks after I gave birth to my still-born son. Yeah, she's still awesome.

Those times are some my most treasured childhood memories. It is bittersweet and reminds me of how I blessed I am to be able to provide what my own children might need to pursue the wonderful world of art-making. In a third-world country like the Philippines, Art may be a luxury that not all kids have access to and so when @kennik reached out to me about his free art workshop for kids in Davao, I did not hesitate to support it. @steemph.davao took the project under its wing and today, all efforts and preparations came to fruition.

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Perry Lequigan with some of the participants from the Badjao Community in Matina Aplaya

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They shared simple meals with the community...

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...and brought an ice cream vendor so the kids could enjoy ice cream on this sweltering hot day

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These were given to the kids in the community

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On behalf of Perry, @kennik, and the rest of their group, I'd also like to say thank you for the support you gave us in this project. Your response to @steemph.davao's post about this cause enabled us to send some help.

Daghan Salamat!

Rewards from this post will fund @steemph.davao's upcoming activities, like the Homesteading Brigade in Samal and the Davao meet-up from SteemPH Caravan

Photos from the activity were sourced from @kennik and Perry Perry Lequigan

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It's good that you and your kids love artworks. Me, too! ;))

Great project for the art workshop for free! The kids would much enjoy drawing, painting and eating the foods and ice-cream. Well done! ;)

Thank you, my friend. I'm glad you love Art too! We really do have a lot of things in common. =)

The kids in the outreach event were really happy about everything, especially the ice cream. It is thanks to this awesome platform that we are able to to do these activities. I am so thankful for Steemit and to Steemians like you. Much love, my dear @tangmo!

You're welcome! Yeah! I'm really happy that we do have a lot of things in common..... ;D

I'm absolutely agree with you, "Steemit is an awesome plateform" indeed.

A warm hug from me, my lovely friend! ;)

you have a lovely way of expressing yourself in your posts and this one is no exception! And how wonderful that you see who you children truly are and beneath the surface of what their needs are.

I'm going to follow @steemph.davao 's initiative to offer some support.

Ruth!!! Oh my! I just woke up and this was the first thing I read. What a great way to start my day! You know that I'm a big fan of your work and all that you do in this platform so this means a lot to me. On behalf of SteemPH Davao, thank you, Ruth. Thank you for being an awesome artist and a wonderful human being!

back at you :-))

We should practice with the matters of the heart.

so nice sis:) napaka talented nila like you and Red.
God bless your family sis dami nyong natutulungan.
sis, 2loy na ba kayo sa April?

Aww. Thank sis! Yes sis, tuloy kami this April. Excited na kami!!! Lablab sis!

sis aabangan ko, kahit busy ako
wanna contribute kahit maliit lang:)
God bless your family sis!
labyeahhhh

Hi@ dandalion ,so touching !! Nanremind po ako ng anak ko nung bata pa sya ,same with your kid na expose sya sa books and arts kasi may hilig dn sya ...:) helping others is a good mission keep it.up,:) more power!!!

Hi, @reginecruz! Thank you for taking the time to read may blog. I'm glad naka relate ka.. 😊
Nakakamiss yung time na maliit pa sila at palaging nasunod sa utos ng nanay. Haha! Salamat! 😙

This is so inspiring maam @dandalion & @kennik.
Your an Artists with big hearts.

Art is also my way of expressing creativity and my kind of "me time" sometimes. I'm a fan of DIY's & used to paint using acrylic. Hopefully one of this days, I can share to Steemit about my previous paintings.

Voted & resteemed ❤️

Thank you for your kind words, @joville!

I look forward to seeing your post about your painting. I would love to see them!

it was amazing that at such early age, your daughter is already engaged with art. I love art too especially during my young age but then i got so busy with school stuffs and even until now, I haven't tried pursuing art again. i'm no good at it but I still want to love art even if it doesnt love me back hhaha

thank you sis! When I began working, I really didn't have much time nor energy for art but I made it a point to introduce it to my kids.

I'm sure you'll be great at Art when you decide to pursue it again. And I think your singing is a form of art too and you're such a fine singer! =)

Nice post mam..

Maganda yan habang bata pa na eexpose na sila sa art .. para madevelop agad ang talent.
Same that i've been doing with my kids.. I encourage them to do arts too..
ART is fun! ^_^

Salamat sa appreciation at sa pag-resteem. :)
Ang mga tula mo rin ay napaka husay ng pagkakagawa. At alam ko nag dra-drawing ka rin kaya suwerte sayo ng mga anak mo. Si Red hindi artist pero nakukuha nya sa effort. hahaha!

:) very nice.. that u do art with ur kids and the giving in davao. :)

Thank you, @chinito. We're very excited for our Davao trip. :)