January, February, lately

January moved along at a snail's pace. Things were happy and pleasant for the most part, then—just as soon as people were getting back to their workdesks—we had another long vacation, thanks to Pope Francis' Philippine visit, which also came right before a scheduled family trip. Not complaining there, but it definitely slowed things down. I had some time to evaluate myself, and I struggled, coming from a period of very little work activity from December all the way to the end of January.

musings, personal, sketches, work in progressArlene SyFebruary 5, 2015canson, fashion, flowers, illustration, sakura koi, watercolorComment

Summer's swing

On some weekends, my husband, Birdie, gets invited to Gawad Kalinga's Enchanted Farm in Bulacan to help facilitate and speak to social entrepreneurs at GK's start-up business camps. Me, I'm always the willing soul ready to tag along! I try to assist Birdie with setting up his workshop on design thinking, but I'm mostly also there for the chance to get away from Manila and squeeze in some personal art.

places, travelArlene SyJune 25, 2014garden, gawad kalinga, gk enchanted farm, illustration, moleskine, sakura koi, sketch, summer, watercolorComment

Here comes the sun

Earlier this month, I took a quick break from work and got my first taste of summer for the year. Yay! I tagged along with Birdie and his Curiosity partners Pam and Diego, who scheduled the trip to do some planning of their own. It was a relief to leave behind a host of work-related worries. Honestly, I couldn't be happier and more thankful for the projects that came in during the first few weeks of the year. Still, by the end of January, I was already feeling a little bummed out, and again, I found myself asking why I was doing the things I did.

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