Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Eve's Nest

You may catch her in the park just across the church on a Sunday morning. After the mass, she usually spends her time making fun of the people passing by, interrogating whoever she finds interesting whether it’s a shoeshine boy, a beggar or a crazy person, or at the least looking after the small sari-sari store owned by her friend for 40 years.

She is no con artist but I must warn you not to believe everything she says. She is very convincing, especially when she claims that the city mayor’s her ex-boyfriend. She may be exaggerating at times and until now I don’t know if she really had 5 boyfriends at a single time. Last year, she was invited by three radio stations to be part of their respective programs. She chose the one which gave her her own show that lasted for two months until she finally called it quits. Until now, they are still courting her to come back and some followers from far flung provinces keep on sending her warm messages.

I can’t blame them; she has a big heart to go with the face that could launch a thousand and one ships. She’s so beautiful, even the blind blink. And that’s not to make fun of her blind friends whom upon hearing her voice look like a kid who just found a wallet and later on finds out its empty. She has a dozen of them, probably more. If you see a beautiful, well dressed woman in stilettos singing beside a blind beggar playing a lute at an overpass bridge or next to a pedestrian lane, that’s her. Don’t be surprised if you see them head to the nearest cinema after.

Did I say she has an exceptional singing voice? If talent shows came earlier then American Idol would have had a night dedicated to her. And I’m not exaggerating. If only she could dance well, then probably she’s Madonna. But her flexibility is just limited to teaching the senior citizens TaI Chi. When she took over the group started by her gay friend 2years ago, there were only about 30 of them. After 2 months, it has grown to 180. I don’t know how she managed that number of old people, all looking up to her, even going to the venue as early as 11pm when the exercise starts at 5:30 the next day. And what’s more intriguing is she has the memory of an elephant. She knows each one of them, not to mention their children, grandchildren and their pets. She listens to them, she cries with them and she loves each one of them.

She has a soft spot for the unfortunate, the old people and young kids. She adopted a half-Japanese girl who today occasionally visits to tell her how happy her life was with us. Not to mention another Japanese boy and four indigent little girls who grew up calling her mommy.

Eve's Nest

Tomorrow is my mother’s birthday, and I don’t know how many will be there to celebrate it with her. Too bad I can’t make it, she really got me worked up when she said she’s going to wear a gown. I just can’t imagine her looking like a queen amidst a group of beggars, the blind, the senior citizens, old neighbors back at the slum area, her friends and her very big family. I just love my mom!

Eve's Nest

Happy 50th birthday Liboria McCormick!

19 comments:

  1. Beautiful work. I'm amazed at how delicate your shading is!

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  2. She is Beauty and i am a Beholder.

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  3. Oh, dear me. Please help. I've melted into a puddle. Bjornik, your mother is a beautiful bird. No, not a bird, but an angel. She is an incredible person, beautiful to the very core. I have no trouble believing she has 5 suitors at one time. Now I know where you get all your kindness and generosity.

    Every time I recover from seeing one of your drawings, you send me shooting over the moon again with something new, something amazing. This is the first time I've seen one of your beauties with her eyes open, and I am captivated. I am swimming in those eyes. And all those flowers! Oh, the roses and the orchids and daisies and tulips...your gardens are the best kind. And the winding road of her intertwined fingers that lead to the little hut is pure genius.

    I'm sure your mother is very, very proud of you. I think you've paid her back with this heartfelt drawing many times over. Happy birthday to an amazing woman!

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  4. Thank you everyone!

    Bella dear, thank you for your kind words. Every element in this drawing represents my mom. From the quails, the flowers, the blind mice, the hatched eggs and to the very last feather. It's very personal actually.

    I refrain from drawing the eyes open because I'm afraid the emotion will turn out fake. But this is my mom and I've known her all my life. She is a very beautiful person inside and out.:)

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  5. What a magnificent tribute to what can only be a beautiful person...she did create you...:) She is truly blessed by you and your love! Amazingly beautiful!

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  6. Magnificent and clearly happy! She is a sight to behold.

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  7. Bjornik this is amazing. The art well is heavenly and enspired by God.

    The words. I love your Mom. She is totally my kind of woman. Can you say happy birthday to her for me.

    Bjornik, I don't get how you do these. Are they mechanical or they paper cut outs.

    Truly God like talent.

    Love you sweet friend.

    Shelly has a huge crush on you by the way.

    Her daughters social was fantastic.

    Love Renee xoxo

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  8. Bjornik I love the flowers in her eyes and her little village by her hands.

    You are amazing.

    Oh Shelly and I are both pissed off that our own daughters are married. Where were you when the marriages were going on.

    Your work is incredible.

    Love Renee xoxo

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  9. Happy Birthday Madame McCormick! Is it any wonder your son has turned out so wonderful – how could he not when raised by a women like you. I want you to teach me and my sister Tai Chi as I have always loved the grace involved. You must be over the moon to receive such a gift – I love the music notes in her hair, the flowers reaching in for a smooch, the always amazing details - this is exquisite! Enjoy your day.

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  10. The virgo son has done his Taurus mother proud.

    And that is the very best gift of all.

    Love Renee xoxo

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  11. Oh my, what a stunning portrait, come from love. It is so beautiful and your mother obviously is too, as you say, inside and out. She must be as proud of you as you are of her. I, too, love the music in her hair and the orchids and that exquisite little hut, and her heart, such a huge heart too.

    Happy Birthday Mrs McCormick. And many many more of them.

    Love

    BT

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  12. Exquisite, just heavenly in it's beauty and detail. Heavenly.

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  13. Thank you ladies. My mom was overwhelmed by your thoughtful greetings. At first, she thought you were related to her but when I told her all of you are from abroad whom I got to know through blogging, she now thinks she's famous.haha She's sending some quails your way as her way of thanking each one of you.:)

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  14. Bjornik you are so funny. Your Mom, what a doll.

    xoxo

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  15. Oh my goodness. I'm so glad to meet another pen and ink artist! I was beginning to think we truly had died out! Your work is gorgeous. Tons of playful details that lets the viewer come back again and again to find new things. So happy to have found your site!

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  16. she is so pretty. i like your art :)

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  17. What a beautiful dedication to your mother. You are incredibly talented and she sound delightful. Belated happy birthday greetings!

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