colored pencil watercolor and pen
Monrovia, CA, 1995
In 1995 I was living in Monrovia, CA, and, on the advice of a judge, I stopped drinking alcohol.
Not being drunk all the time came as a shock to me. I suddenly had all this time to kill. I decided to work on large, time cosuming projects. The drawing above was my first. It took a couple of weeks to complete. And then I did another.
I drew. I drew in the middle of a life completely shattered. I drew, and I dreamed of a future. A future far away where I could be new.
Years later, in 2011, when I first landed in the Philippines, the first thing I noticed was the smell. Manila smells like an overwhelming mixture of cooked pork, motorcycle exhaust and BO.
As I walked down the tarmac I was still in Monrovia and I was still dreaming.
Calbayog City, Philippines, 2025
Akae Beka - Rebellion Running
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