Monday, November 07, 2005

Never been busier

I thought I would have a blast last week. We were given more than a week of respite from school work. A term break if you would. No classes from Oct. 27 till Nov. 6. It would have been a week of endless computer time of email, blogging and blog-hopping till the wee hours of the morning. I thought that would have given me ample time to catch-up with online and real time friends I have made since I started blogging and beyond. Au contraire, I hardly touched the computer! What I did not foresee was that my two boys would be on vacation, too. And they took over the computer like there was no tomorrow. Just when one guy was about to finish, the other guy was all set to jump-in.

What's a dad like me to do when something like this happens? The next best thing is to just bum around. Take over the remote of the tv, what else? No, that is not a victory for I have always taken control of that remote ever since. Well, except during prime time when I have to give in to my mother-in-law so she can watch her tele-novela seryes. I have to give in to that or she and my wife will give me hell. My daughters, on the other hand, have taken dominance over the tv upstairs.

However, I have not been idle. I was painting! Yup. I commissioned my brushes to work again. Bought canvass last Saturday, took out my brushes and started on a new project! I have not been using oil for almost eight years so I figured this is the appropriate time to get re-acquainted with it.

My only problem with oil is that it's messier than acrylic. Besides there's that turpentine smell. Not very pleasant at all. And it seemingly permeates all throughout the house. This is the reason why I shifted to acrylic. Besides, working on a project like this occupies too much space. There's always that feeling that someone would trip over and ruin the piece. If only I could have my own studio.

My only consolation was that it piqued my eldest daughter's interest. Just enough for her to try it out. What I would do was mix up the color, tell her which part of the canvass that color was going to and give the brush to her to apply it on. While it took a little longer than when i was doing it alone, there's that bonding feeling we have not had for some time since she got to college. We always did a lot of things together before. Like we would be singing songs, huddle in front of the tv. We don't do that anymore. At least, this time, I felt we were very close again. Besides, she began to see the patterns in my work. And she learned how to clean the palette and my brushes!

So, you see, I have been busy all week. By the time my two sons took off with their cousins for a three-day vacation at Subic, I was already mesmerized by my painting that I couldn't touch the computer anymore. So please, don't feel bad if I have not been writing you, been visiting your blog or answering the comments in my previous entry.

Its almost finished now! Since I'm going back to work in a few hours, the project will have to wait till I come home in the evening. In the meantime, I have to take a bath and go to school with my kids.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tito Rolly, of course you're going to take a picture of your obra maestra and show it to us, won't you? I'll be waiting. :)

Zarah C. Gagatiga said...

let me know when it's showtime!

{illyria} said...

vacay is a good time to be busy. strange, innit? it always happens to me.

rolly said...

bugsybee I just might. I don't think I can resist showing it. Receive feedback na rin. hehe

eruannie I will.

transience Strange and very ironic. No wonder you do not seem to have plenty of sleep.

Jet said...

I remember, the things my father and I did that allowed us some bonding was swimming and late night drives when he would pick me up from school late. Especially this last one. We would sing songs together just to keep him awake for the drive.

I miss my Dad.

Anonymous said...

hey long time no visit :)

I can't really tell where my vacation went.. I was hibernating the whole time.

By the way, I'm anxious to see the painting! I can totally relate with the oil paints. Not only is the smell of turpentine unpleasant, the paint itself is also quite hard to handle - or maybe I just need more training. hehe ^_^

can't wait to see it!

~eri

Anonymous said...

hey long time no visit :)

I can't really tell where my vacation went.. I was hibernating the whole time.

By the way, I'm anxious to see the painting! I can totally relate with the oil paints. Not only is the smell of turpentine unpleasant, the paint itself is also quite hard to handle - or maybe I just need more training. hehe ^_^

can't wait to see it!

~eri

bing said...

mr rolly, ganun yata talaga, ano? you can't insist naman kasi that's the only time din naman for them to enjoy the PC.. pero minsan nangungulit na rin ako pag ayaw akong pagbigyan ha ha

kelan kaya masisilayan ang iyong obra?

rolly said...

jet Funny but pareho tayo. The closest bonding that I remember I had with my dad was every weekend when he would take me to different places (shooting the rapids at pagsanjan was top in my list) just so he could teach me how to swim properly.

I miss my dad terribly, too.

eri how are you? I'm also eager to see your latest works. I've always admired your mastery of anatomy and color combinations. Hope you still paint.

ms. bing Precisely. They're almost hands-off on a school day that's why I cut them some slack during vacations.

Pagka natapos ko na at nakunan ko ng litrato, baka i-post ko rin dito. Hahanap ng confirmation o awa, kung baga. hehe

Anonymous said...

mastery of anatomy and color combinations? haha! thanks! that made me feel really professional haha XD sadly, pangit parin color combintions ko =[ and yeah, i still paint ^_^

anyways, i'll be visiting your blog as frequent as possible until i see your painting! hehe :)

~eri

kukote said...

hahaha. natawa ako. naunahan ka pala ng dalawa mong anak sa pc. anyways.. it's good thing din, nagkaroon ka bigla ng time magpaint and bonding with your daughter. aabangan ko rin yung obra maestra mo dito ;)

batjay said...

sana nariyan ako bossing para mapanood kitang gumagawa. kakantahan pa kita para lalo kang maloko.

rolly said...

eri Ayan naka post na yung painting ko ha. Hope you like it.

marhgil Mahirap maraming anak pero masaya.

Batjay Kung nandito ka, bibigyan din kita ng brush at canvass. Pihado magpe=paint ka rin habang kumakanta tayong dalawa.