My Asian Trip 2009(Bali,Hanoi,Manila)

In a few weeks, I will be boarding once again SingaporeAir . This is my favorite airline because of the superb service and comfort. I will be away for a month starting in Bali, Indonesia followed by Hanoi, Vietnam and then on to Manila, Philippines.

In Bali, I always stay in Ubud. which is considered the centre of Bali's arts and culture. It is a remarkable town in the middle of the island of Bali and the climate is a lot cooler than the rest of the island. Once a refuge for scruffy backpackers, mystics, artists and bohemians, Ubud is now home for a lot of international as well as local artists. I like staying in Ubud, because there I can paint in peace ,but at the same time have enough social interaction with other artists if I want to. At the outskirt of Ubud are beautiful ricefields, village life and local scenes where one can have a glympse of the true Balinese way of living.

The second part of my trip will be in Hanoi,Vietnam. It will be my first time in Vietnam and I'm excited about it because my hubby, Bart Davidoff ,will already be there to meet me.
Below is a Computer World article that covers a seminar in Singapore in which he moderated a discussion on information management.

The last part of my trip will be Manila, Philippines. There, I will visit my father, Jose L. Angeles who will be turning 90 years old next year and my brother Jolan and his wife Tonette, together with their daughters Amanda and Anna .

Unfortuntaley, my daughter Bianca is in College now in Florida and won't be able to come with us for this trip. The last time Bianca was with us was in Singapore and Thailand two years ago :

Bianca in Thailand :

Bianca will be missed especially by her grandfather. Our plan is to take the whole family next year to Manila again for my father's 90th birthday.

Sunday Inspirations #4: PeazCreation: An Artist Blog from Zurich, Switzerland

For my 4th Sunday Inspirations, I am featuring Pea Palkar , a self taught artist and trained interior designer from Zurich, Switzerland. Pea enjoys painting, doing illustrations, ceramics and metal embossing/engraving.

From Pea's quote: "I think life is just like a color palate. It has many different colors in it. It is up to us which color we want to spread in our life or which color suits us. Life is as simple as that. "

--Pea Palkar

image posted with permission © Pea Palkar

I will be in Bali, Vietnam & Manila soon!

I will be in Asia soon!

I haven't posted for awhile because I am busy arranging my next trip to Asia.
I've finally booked my flights. Next month , I will be going back to my beloved Bali, Indonesia

Then on to Vietnam to be with my hubby in Hanoi :

Lastly, I will be in Manila to visit my family before going back to the States .

Below is an original painting I did of Old Intramuros, Manila which was published as a book cover
entitled" The West & the World" written by Kevin Reilly and published by Markus Wiener Publishers

Illustration Friday theme: Subtract

By Maria Madonna Davidoff

An old South East Asian Landscape

watercolor, gouache

This is my entry for Illustration Friday theme: Subtract
I think something was subtracted by the Crocodile. Can you guess what it is?

An Artist Morning Ritual

By Maria Madonna Davidoff

To have a good life, one must start the day making meaning -- I am currently reading : The Van Gogh Blues by Eric Maisel. There's a chapter about making meaning in an artist life and it made me think about my own life and that is :
Unless I start my day drawing, sketching, painting or writing or doing something creative first, I feel that I can tackle the rest of my day happily. It has become one of my early morning rituals. I am an early riser--very early sometimes even before dawn, I am already wide awake! And the first thing I do after I make myself coffee is to go to my studio and start "playing"--doodling, jotting down ideas and writing in my journal, painting freely and experimenting with colors, etc. After I mess around in my studio, I calm down . And only then can I start working on my real work seriously...my illos, picture book projects, my painting series..etc.

How about you? How do you start your day?

Coraline the Movie

Last Week End, some of my illustrator friends and I
saw this amazing 3-D animated film Coraline

Four Illustrators with 3-D glasses below:

As an illustrator, I find the film very inspiring--technique wise.
It's also amazing to see it in 3-D. A first time for me --actually.

Here is a Coraline Doll from the movie--isn't she cute?

Some Samples of My Spot Illustrations

So, I am starting again to update my portfolio and my website

Here are a few colored samples. I've created these in pen & ink and colored in Photoshop:© Maria Madonna Davidoff

More spots illustrations which I've created in pen & ink and colored in Photoshop:

© Maria Madonna Davidoff

Swiss Children's Books

Goodies from Switzerland! Thank You Rose Hansen.

I had a wonderful suprise yesterday- I recieved a package from my dear friend, Rose Hansen from Switzerland. Rose sent me some vintage Swiss childrens books! I love them because I collect vintage childrens books as well as greeting cards which I have written about in my earlier posts. I love looking at the retro style illustrations from the 60's and 70's. My favorite is the Balerina, die cut book.

Below are the Swiss books she sent me:

Here are some with the black & white Illustrations by Swiss artist Godi Hofman:

Rose and I met in Fribourg, Switzerland and she has been one of my first closest friends while I was living there. It was in Fribourg where my daughter Bianca was born . We lived in Switzerland until we moved back to the States when Bianca was nine years old. Below is La Vielle Ville or the Old Town in Fribourg where we used to live in a street called Rue de la Samaritaine:

My Grandfather's Novel published in India

After reading my brother Jose Ibarra Angeles( nicknamed Jolan), blog about the Project Gutenberg, an online library of free electronic books, I was surprised to see my grandfather's novel in it. My maternal grandfather's name is Juan L. Arsciwals whose novels were published in Manila in the early 1900's. One of his novels entitled" Ang Bayani"( written in Tagalog) translated as " The Hero" has been out of print--- until I was shocked to find out after I ran a google search on my grandfather's name that it was published and being sold in India at this site called Flipkart" !

Below is a vintage photo of my maternal grandfather,
Juan L. Arsciwals with my grandma Felicidad Ignacio Arsciwals

Unfortunately, my grandfather died at the peak of his writing career while my mother was only a year old . Below is a picture of my mom , Luzviminda Arsciwals Angeles, as a young bride. My mom was also a writer, since the 1960's until she passed away 2004.

A childhood photo of my brother, Jose Ibarra Angeles(right)
and yours truly: taken in Manila late 1950's:

Jolan is also a writer. At the young age of 20-he wrote a play called '"Kastilyo ni Kardo"
which won the Sagisag Award and the Philippine Cultural Center awards.
He has been writing since his Ateneo High School Days till the present.

Finally, A present picture of my brother and I taken in Singapore:

Jose Ibarra Arsciwals Angeles & Maria Madonna Arsciwals Angeles-Davidoff

BookExpo America 2009 in NYC

The Book Expo America 2009

I will be attending again the Book Expo America this year. Some of the pavilions I am looking forward to visiting are : The Children's Book Pavilion , The African American Pavilion,Writers Row, Independent Publishers , Graphic Novel, and of course, the Art Pavilion.. There will be close to 2000 exhibitors and there will be lots of special events such as book signings, conferences, and breakfast and luncheons with authors and illustrators.

Below is a cover of one of the books I've illustrated entitled From Our Mother's Hearth, Bukusu Folktales and Proverbs at the Book Expo 2005:

Maria Madonna Davidoff with the book she illustrated at the book Expo 2005
Madonna's photo (middle) taken with the editor & publisher of Africa World Press

My Batik Painting in Bali, Indonesia

Batik Painting by Maria Madonna Davidoff

This is my enrty for Illustration Friday Theme Intricate.

What can be more intricate than a batik painting. Two years ago, I decided to spend
a few months in the Island of Bali , in Indonesia, to study Batik painting.

This is one of my first batik paintings of a Balinese dancer. Batik is a wax resist dyeing technique used on textile. Batik is considered as national art in Indonesia.
I've been to several Balinese performances and I was really mesmerized. It was such a mystical and wonderful experience. The dancer were almost trancelike because in Bali, everything they do creatively are offered to the gods and godesses.

Here is where I set up studio in Ubud, Bali 2007

I was taught by a Balinese teacher who held classes in his own home.
Here I am in one of my classes:

Below, I am painting my first batik with my Balinese Batik teacher Wayan:
Here you can see me applying the wax resist first:

With my Balinese Batik teacher Wayan:

Below are some of the traditional dyes I used in Bali:

This is how I use colored dyes for my batik :

This is how I dry my batik--outdoor under the sun, the natural way:
It can get very hot in Bali--As you can see in my face full of perspiration:

Finally, after a hard days work painting, here I am relaxing in front of my Bali bungalow:

This is my walkway towards the Bunglaow:

Relaxing in Ubud:

Below, I am in front of one of the Balinese temples:

MondayArtday theme: MadTea Party

by Maria Madonna Davidoff

Very early just before dawn
a fairy appeared to have a tea party with me.

This is another painting for my Fairy Series which
you can view in my blog.

Artist travel pouch for my Portable Studio

I just added another thing for my portable studio collection:

Yesterday in New York City, I found this artist traveling bag
which holds a lot of things like brushes, watercolor pencils, mini skecth pad, etc:

This is perfect for my next trip:

Below is the artist travel pouch which you can tie around your waist:

Inside this artist Pouch you will see the following tools and materials below:

Another view of the Artist Pouch:

Here is my favorite tool: a brush that you can put water inside
( no need to dip in water anymore)

Here is a really small and cute but handy material I have, the size of a business card:A mini colored pencil case with its own miniature sharpener:

I love Snow! and the Sun too!

Yes, I love the winter scene by the window of my art studio.

While working on my new illustration project,
I take a break and look outside :

Of course, I also love summer--and Autumn and Spring.
For me different seasons have their own different appeal.
They all inspire me. What is your favorite Season?

Still Winter & What I am Working on Now

Yeah, it's still winter here, but I am not complaining.
I love to hibernate in my art studio and work on my projects.
These are what I am working on today.

I am illustrating Magic on the Rooftop again written by Mari Mine Rutka,
published by Crane Publishing. I have to come up with a newer
updated version of Illos. The first version was really an old style of mine.
You can see the evolution of my style.

Here is the old illustration version of Magic on the Rooftop:

Here is a my process for Magic on the Rooftop:

1. I sketched in pencil , scanned and inserted an image of the teddy bear:

2. I colored the lineart in photoshop for my color studies:

2. Then I imported the text and made more color adjustment:

I have fourteen more pages to work on for this project.

My deadline is April 19,2009

New York City

Yesterday, I took a photo of New York City with it's streetlight and traffic light .

This photo reminds me of an illustration I did for a fable called:

Country Mouse, City Mouse

Here is my illustration for Country Mouse/City Mouse :

I did this with gouache, combined with watercolor and pen and ink.