Of Cats and Dogs

So, I don’t have a dog. In my life. Ever. Yet.

But I found myself crying over the last 30 minutes of the movie Marley and Me. I’m not sure if I was just being hormonal or I just couldn’t bring myself to see a loved one age and die. (Sorry, spoiler here.)

Lately, I am drawn to watching movies about dogs and I have become keener in observing them especially dogs around our village.

You see, all my life I have been surrounded by cats. Not mine. My sister’s pets though. So I am aware that cats are the more laidback ones. Caring for them is different than dogs, I think. Cats are the masters of their pet owner. The fur parent adjusts to them.

With dogs, I realized their human should be their master. They need authority coupled with tender loving time and attention.

This interest in dogs is not without meaning. I told my husband I wanted to have a pet of our own. We tried to have a turtle and some fishies. But though they seem low maintenance, they all died.

I said, I wanted to have a rabbit. When asked what he wanted, he said he’d like a dog for us. You see, he came from a family of dog lovers. But of course, he’s got to convince me first and my sister and especially my mom! Could my sister’s five cats be friends with a dog we might have? Could I take on being the primary carer, authority figure and playful fur parent to our future dog once my hubby leaves for work again? Could my mom take it if the dog makes a lot of mischief?

I know there’s a foster program in PAWS to try out if fur parenting is for us. We could explore this actually and see what happens in our home should we get a dog.

I don’t know if any of this will come true. But one thing’s for sure – the more I watch dog movies, the more convinced I am that, yes, a dog’s love and loyalty cannot be equalled.

I wouldn’t cry for 30 minutes if I didn’t felt the love!

So, what do you all think? Get a dog or not?

Stay tuned.

Woof!

Seeing the Dawn | Art Exhibit | @albanotejero

Today’s my 1st birthday! In my watercolor lifetime that is. And I thank all of you for just journeying with me ever since I began until I made my breakthroughs.

I may not hold a true to form art exhibit, but this art showcase is seeing the dawn of my dream as an artist. I once manifested my desire to merge my writing and my art and I am finally doing it! Maybe someday, I will be bold enough to do more with my art. Trust the process, as they say.

I am still a work in progress, but I am proud to have come this far.

Come celebrate with me as I share my art with you in a nutshell. This is my testament that we can all do new and wonderful things in life with passion and purpose.

Read on for snippets of stories behind the art. Enjoy! 🤗

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I started out making crude paintings using kiddie watercolor and plain paper. Bought a sketchbook eventually and played a bit with whatever art I can get hold of.

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My first real investment was a set of micron pens to do some ink and wash techniques, which I found simple and manageable to do.

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I was attracted to floral paintings and continued to try my hand on it. I decided I wanna grow in watercolor thus bought a decent student-grade Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolor set. I have made both mistakes and breakthroughs along the way.

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I ventured into some fruit paintings and began to learn about values and shadows. I began to explore with some gouache paints too.

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I got frustrated with some of my linework in my paintings which led me to invest in good quality brushes. I now use a Princeton Heritage Round 6 and a Da Vinci 373 Round 2 mostly. Realized this is becoming a serious hobby of mine when I splurged on Arches paper. I use Canson and Fabriano interchangeably for practice paintings. Got real excited that I was making progress with better quality paints and paper.

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I learned a great deal of watercolor techniques through Sarah Cray’s Let’s Make Art tutorials mostly. I pick up the lessons here and there and commit them to memory.

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There are paintings which were born out of special occasions and circumstances with my husband. Some are based on reference photos, some from art in Pinterest.

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I also ventured into learning from other artists such as Anna Mason, Paul Clark and Ellen Crimi Trent. Trent was the inspiration behind the 3×3 minis. The inchies (1×1) or tiny art was inspired by a challenge in a watercolor group I belong to.

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I am most grateful to my family and relatives who really believed in me to go as far as asking me to do a painting for them even when I was just starting out. Some paintings eventually were given as gifts.

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Finally, thank you so much to my followers in my art page who unwaveringly appreciates my artistic efforts. You all inspire me to create a more beautiful world in these chaotic times.

Thank you for being here. ♥️

All glory to God who is our Ultimate Creator and the Giver of All Good Gifts.

“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”

James 1:17 NLT

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Do leave a comment so I know you visited me here. I’d really love to hear from all of you.

Follow my art page in FB: @albanotejero

Subscribe to my art channel in Youtube: Haraya at Likha

Seed Planter

No, this is not about gardening.

Years back, I thought the reason I leave jobs was mainly due to health reasons. My mind can take it. But my body couldn’t keep up at some point in my work journey.

It took me a long time to wrestle and accept that I had limitations. I could soar if I wanted to. But something always pulls me back. There is that nagging fear that I will succumb to illness yet again should I pursue high-pressure high-paying jobs. I just needed to find the right environment and right balance for me.

Knowing what I know now, I realized that all my previous jobs have not been wasted. I have been an Assessing Psychologist / Play Therapist in a clinic; served as a Recruitment and Training Officer in Human Resources; co-founded and helped built a Training Center for OFWs; taught for a short time as Assistant Professor in the State University; and finally heeded the calling to be a Preschool Teacher in various schools.

I say not wasted, not only because of the skills learned and competencies acquired; but more especially because of the wonderful people whom I have met in my line of work. Some of them, I’m still good friends with till this day. Some remained. Some have just gone by.

But one thing’s for sure, I know I have planted seeds in their hearts one way or the other. I may not have evangelized God’s Word directly to my workmates. But in my interactions and conversations with them, I have professed my Christian faith without shame. I pray that my life and work ethics have spoken volumes on the God whom I love and serve.

I now understand more fully why I had a series of different jobs. God in His wisdom used my weakness and allowed me to meet various people in my timeline of work to become His Seed Planter.

The seeds I have planted may have taken root by now as I pray other Christians helped them get deeper in their faith. It will be a wondrous joy to know someday that the fruits of our labor were not in vain.

Surely, the harvest will be plentiful in God’s perfect timing.

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“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.”

I Corinthians 3:6-8