15 January 2010

Part of home: part one

So I don't usually like sharing too many personal tidbits about myself on my blog (Thoughts, I share. Self, a little less), but this is something that had a big impact on me and I just wanted to put it out there because in this case, self trickled into thought.

My neighbor back home is now 72 years old. He and his wife have been an integral part of my childhood, whether they realize it or not. He is of French and Filipino descent, a Korean War vet, an ex-gangster from a time when zoot suits and chains meant something. His arms are crawling in tattoos, his graying hair in a ponytail he refuses to chop off, a pair of aviators are perpetually balanced on his nose -- the only way he can keep people from staring at the lazy eye he has from shrapnel gone awry.

He was my art teacher.

For more than 10 years, I lived next door to him and spent a good number of Fridays in his garage with a group of about seven other kids, painting. We first learned to paint simple sketches, patterns that he'd drawn for us -- a flower in a vase, a house and trees, a bowl of fruit. Basics. We learned how to blend and fade, add shadows and creases to make the paintings look real. Then we'd graduate to more difficult subjects: animals, a skyline, people. Faces.

We weren't allowed to take shortcuts, ever. I learned how to stretch expensive watercolor paper (made of the best French rags) across canvases, soaked for hours in water to loosen, smoothed against corkboard to set, left out in the sun to dry. I learned that taking the time to sketch and not just trace made the end product more worthwhile, the creation more your own.

And I learned that with watercolor, you can never completely paint over your past mistakes -- done correctly, you can see every layer of a finished product, and that's what makes the medium so unique.

The last piece I did in collaboration with my neighbor (he lent me his study, so I could keep the project a secret) was a painting I did from a wedding photo for my parents' 30th anniversary. It took weeks and months but is still one of the best things that I've ever been able to produce to date (or so I'd like to think!).

Because you know your parents, he said. Because you know them, you can capture their essence.

I visited him when I went home for the holidays this time around, and we've emailed a few times since. He's working on a book, an autobiography, because he's had such a rich and complex life. And because he's dyslexic, he uses a program that allows him to dictate and have the computer type for him. This is what he last wrote:

Joyce,

Good to hear from you I really enjoy our little talk I said to myself is this the little shy girl who wouldn't talk? It took you years before you would communicate with me and now you are a young lady who really wants to communicate with the world. You are in New York City where everyone really wants to go because it offeres so much to so many for so long that anyone who is anyone has to go to their because it becomes a Mecca for people to gather who wants to gain knowledge from the past,pres. And future and a young person so eager to learn shows that you gave great thought to expose yourself to this opportunity. (Smart girl)

It has taken me a while to answer your mail because we had emergency. My son who works in San Francisco but family lives in Ventura had to have emergency surgery but when he would came out for rehabilitation no one would be in San Francisco to care for him. So we had to get him home to have surgery in Los Angeles. His heart valve was deteriorating and had calcium buildup around the valve was causing malfunction he belong to Kaiser hospital in San Francisco was one of the best in California and the other hospital that's good for heart surgery is kaiser in Los Angeles so we were confident that the best thing to do was to move him home. He had his surgery Thursday and came through it okay we are having family constant visitations to make sure that he's cared for properly.Dot and I went to see him yesterday since I don't drive anymore and Dot is recovery from surgery I had Trina take us to visit him we were so happy to see him sitting up with a smile on its face.

It is so important to keep in touch with people and things that are part of your life who understand who you are and what life means to you . When I thought the possibility of losing one of my loved ones I could hardly stand it, don't neglect to express every chance you get how much your loved ones mean to you let them know that you care and( don't just think it) let them hear it.

As you grow in New York at a level that's beyond most of your friends comprehension you will be exposed to a series of life steps that you must climb and no matter what happens you must continue or you will not reach the few moments of satisfaction and contentment that life offers to so few.

I don't know how to send my paperwork to you other than e-mail a sheet at a time I will try to find a better way and as I've been reading my papers there are a few things I would like to change so bear with me I have to do some adjusting.

Tony

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