FEATURED ARTIST 2: MR. NORBING VILLEZ

 

In February 2021, I had the privilege to meet Mr. Norbing Villez, the founder of Let's Paint Group on FB via an online interview.  It was only now that I found time to post his feature. One of his paintings, "Tampisaw Series" painting number 1has caught my attention. I asked him if I can buy it but not with outright payment because I can't afford it with my meager salary. And I was surprised that he agreed to let me pay on three (3) scheduled terms. Maybe because he saw how much I liked his work and that I am sincere with my promises to pay. Hahaha!

The "Tampisaw" series became successful. Maybe because he does it without the intent of selling. He just loves the subject, which is his daughter. His paintings were also featured in a book and he has produced more than five (5) paintings under this series.

Mr. Norbing may seem like an outgoing and fun-loving person. However, he appears to be very shy during the interview. He works abroad and stays there with his family. Painting is not his main source of income but his rest venue. He paints because it is close to his heart. He takes care of his family and exposes them to art as well. His wife, also once been a part of a women exhibit in the Philippines. Mr. Norbing is also an active member of ARTipolo group, where I am an active member as well.

This month's feature, I'll be sharing with you his interview. You'll find him very humble and very willing to share his talent with many aspiring artists. Watch it and find out what I mean. For now, it is in Filipino. I will find time to translate it into English. Just click on the video below to view.

Thank you for watching the video.  Now here are some of his works and tips on how we can improve on our work.  If you want to learn his skills in doing pastel painting, he shared on his FB account some snips or video clips of his works.

The clips below are posted on his account.  Click on the image so that you can view how he finished this Koi painting.

This photo shows how he started painting the Koi.  

I mentioned earlier about his work being featured on a book. Here's the screenshot of his feature.

Check out this step-by-step photos on how he worked on Pebble Picking painting.

He made a sketch of the sitting girl.  Moving forward, he worked on the fine details of the central subject, moving-out to the background and fine details to complete the entire piece.

Click on this clip to see how he worked on the painting's details.

And here's how he worked on his "Tampisaw S6".

Follow Mr. Norbing Villez at his FB Account NORBING VILLEZ.

Upcycling is a Creative and Fun Activity for our Children

 It took us a long time to post new learning materials here. But I get obliged to share this article to help us cope with the long-lasting impact of the pandemic.  Allow me to share this craft activity that you can do with your children.

Our natural resources are dwindling and we need to help our earth recover and revive. To do that, we can tap on our creative minds and produce another product from the trash. We call this "upcycling".  I have heard of some industries earning much from upcycled materials. For example, google search "bags made of tarpaulin" and you'll get bags sold through Lazada, and from Freitag. The tarpaulin is very sturdy. If you have an eye for design, it will not be hard to produce a saleable upcycled bag.

Now, for our children let us make this simple but useful bath scrub for our backs. It is easy.

What you will need are net bags made of plastic.  These net bags were used to contain garlic. You may also use plastic net bags that were used to pack oranges or lemons.

Clean the net packaging materials and cut it into 1 single sheet so that it will be easy to fold.  Now get a string, or thick thread and a needle or crochet hook.  Use whichever is handy for you.  

Fold the net lengthwise.  Try if it's thick enough.  Usually, I do four-folds.  Then stitch it using the thick thread you found or knit it at the center so that it will not spread wide.

On both ends, seam the corners together and add a loop so that you can hold both ends.  Since I know how to crochet, I thickened the holder through knitting.  You may use ropes or other forms of thick handle for the ends.

Now, your back scrubber is finished!

 From this...

...to this.