My Favourite Artist and why..

Photo by Julia Solonina on Unsplash

..is no other than my husband, Kris! 😉

I don’t want to sound a bit cheesy but it is a blessing to be married to someone who has an amazing talent in art.

My favourite part is not just his paintings but the way he inspires me to believe in my dreams and work hard to achieve them.

For many years I enjoyed our countless art store shopping. I have seen how Kris toils on his paintings, brainstorm ideas and work on endless experiments using different art media. I have never met anyone as determined as him who aims to deliver polished project.

He puts his heart and soul into his art works and the end result of it amazes everyone. I did not know someone could paint emotions not until you see his ‘out of this world’ paintings. A lot of people have been inspired by his works and some are blessed to own some of his pieces.

I am so proud of what he has achieved as of this time and just recently he was featured by @theotherartfair Sydney as Fair Director’s Pick!

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So grateful for @theotherartfair Sydney Fair Director’s Pick feature! Thank you @theotherartfair team and @luketpotkin . So looking forward to do @theotherartfair Sydney at Barangaroo this year.

A post shared by Kris Ancog| Abstract Artist (@krisancog) on Jun 1, 2020 at 3:02am PDT

Kris reminds me of the Parable of the Talents in the book of Matthew 25: 14-30. It is a story about a master who puts his servants in charge of his property while he went away for a trip. He gave each servant a large amount of talent/money. Upon his return, the servants returned his money with good profit as they have used and invested on it wisely but one unfaithful servant hid the talent/money and returned it untouched. The master rewarded the wise servants in return and on the other hand chastised the unreliable servant.

Kris never fails to give back all glory to God at all times, who created us and gifted each one of us a talent unique from everyone else. I believe that we should use our abilities as what are intended for. As for me, I have found my talent in arts and in serving.

How about you? Who inspires you in your creative journey?

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Best Cafe in Wellington NZ

If I were to count how often Kris often we go to Gipsy’s Kitchen Cafe when we were still in New Zealand I would say it’s at least every 2 weeks for the entire 6 years we have been together. That’s how we love their coffee and pastries.

Since we have moved to Sydney last year, we have been missing our favourite Cherry Pie, Rhubarb scone, Apple Pie, Peach and Passion Fruit Friand and Halloumi Roll. They have been dubbed as purveyors of the best flat white coffee in Wellington. I think we have memorised every pastry they sell and the warm welcome by the staff. I could still remember every inch of their cafe and Rowan busy preparing the aromatic pastries in the kitchen as we walk past through going to the private indoor garden spot at Strathmore. They have the best spot and area where you could chill and unwind.

Gipsy Kitchen is always jam pack at summer so we make sure we get there before 10 in the morning.

Going to Gipsy’s has been a routine before going to Bunnings to shop lots and lots of Plants! 😉

@JessieStreetTeAro

@ourFavouriteSpotInStrathmore

A dose of Gipsy before and after our flight.

Best Scone Ever paired with Greek Yogurt.

It’s always Coffee Time @gipsy‘s

Caffeine and sugar, the two basic food groups. -Laurell K. Hamilton

@JessieStreet @gipsykitchen

We were one of the first customers to queue on their first day opening @ JessieStreet, Te Aro.

Journaling @gipsy, Sometimes the Best Ideas come up while having the best coffee in Gipsy.

I will never forget way back when Kris and I were in a long distance relationship. He sent me an overnight package of cherry pie from Wellington to Christchurch for Christmas Eve! How sweet was that! I married him the next year! LOL! I mean, who would not want to marry the man who makes things possible? 😉

Best Christmas Gift 2014

We have invited friends with us and it has been a place where we share wonderful moments and laughter together. Gipsys’s Kitchen gives you not only the best food and drinks but the best experience as well.

Here are our favourites through the years and we just want to share our wonderful memories of Gipsy’s.

Cheers!

Day Off + Sunny Day = Gipsy Kitchen 😉

@theHeartofTheCity

A great place for first dates and plant lovers.

Kris and I were so much looking forward to visit New Zealand this year but we have cancelled our plans due to travel restrictions. We are so much looking forward to travel back in Wellington soon and the first thing we would do is to visit Gipsy’s Kitchen and order all our favourites. We can’t wait! Syndey has the best cafes as well but nothing beats Gipsy’s Kitchen. We left our hearts in their kitchen and they will always be number 1 in our hearts wherever we may go.

3 Locations
4 Glamis Avenue Strathmore,
1/37 Jessie Street Te Aro &
112 Cuba Street Te Aro.
Wellington, New Zealand

Making a Fairy House Garden

Kris and I love gardening. Last summer of 2018 we wanted to take it to a different level by experimenting on making a fairy house garden. It was a trial and error that turned out very well.

We got our materials from Bunnings and Warehouse (our favourite shops). I swear Kris and I go to that place every other week to have a window shopping date. We can stay there for half a day or even a whole day. They have got amazing coffee and food too.

We were so excited to start the project when we got home. I must confess it was me who was the most enthusiastic about this project. LOL! As evidenced by the photos.

When I was a kid I believed in fairies as tiny as Thumbelina from a children’s classic fairytale book. I must have kept the unconscious drive to build a house for the fairies since I was young.

It’s not easy to purposely break a perfect and new terracotta pot and I was hesitating to smash it with the hammer. I felt bad doing it but eventually reassured to know that I am making a beautiful fairy house project.

• 

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Emote-Emote

I started to fill the broken pot with the soil and used the broken pieces to hold the soil in place. Then I planted the flowers at the top and succulents at the bottom. Lastly, I placed the fairy house and decorated the walk path with the white pebbles. It’s that easy! Trust me.

Surprisingly, I did not realise that the fairy house light up in the dark!!What a delight to see it glowing in the garden at night. I could imagine small fairies flying around it, making their dinner then getting ready for bed.

You too could enjoy this simple project at home. For sure kids and adults would love to get involved with this great idea. It’s like gardening with a twist of art and fairytale. It’s also a reminder of something broken which may not be made whole again but can be turned into something beautiful. Gosh! it gave me a life lesson too.

Thinking of making one as well? Here’s a list of the things that you need.

1. Large Terracotta Pot
2. Soil
3. Fairy House
4. Flowers
5. Succulents
6. White pebbles
7. Hammer

Enjoy! 🙂

Let’s Paint Together

Bird of Paradise

Few weeks ago Kris and I went to the City to buy his art supplies.

I look forward doing art supply shopping with Kris as I love looking at those beautiful display of colors in every corner of the art shop plus I get to buy tiny bits of pieces for myself such as color pencils and pens.

I won’t be doing anything that afternoon anyway so I randomly picked a table top easel, paint brushes, a small canvass and a few pieces of paint on sale.

My husband is a very talented artist who has done a lot of art shows and sold hundreds of paintings. He has been encouraging me to get back to my passion in drawing and painting so we could share the same hobby together. Wouldn’t be fun to paint and exhibit together as a couple? So, with no questions asked he’s gladly added my stuff to his cart.

I was so excited to get started as I opened my bag of art goodies. Kris set up my table top easel and taught me color priming techniques. He is a very good art teacher.

Looking for inspirations is not really that hard. I thought of things that makes me happy and for some reason I chose to paint the bird of paradise plant because of it’s brilliant colour that reminds me of tropical places like home in the Philippines.

Sketching on the plant was not that hard as I have been doing it before but I got a bit nervous picking up my new brush and dipping it to the acrylic paint then brushing it to the canvass. Kris taught me not to be scared as I can just cover mistakes with another layer color on top and just relax and enjoy!

True enough, I finished my painting that day and was very proud of my achievement. Thanks to my incredible art teacher/husband.

I came to realise it’s not too late to re visit an old passion and talent. It has always been there inside of me but I was just busy with some other things as well.

For some of you reading my blog, my paintbrush could be your book, a novel, a ball of yarn and needle, a fishing rod, it can be anything you love doing but somewhere sometime in the past you forgot about it.

Well, why don’t you re visit your old passion and re-connect with the things that you love doing most? It’s definitely worth the try!

If you wanna check my husband’s art pieces just visit his website at krisancog.com or search Kris Ancog on Instagram and Facebook.

Lots of L.O.V.E.

Aileen and Kris

Our first Blog. Ever.

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to our Blog!

This photo was taken 10 years ago when Kris and I were still very young at heart! Char lang! 🙂

This was when Kris’ sister got married in Bohol and they have to fly back to the Philippines from New Zealand. I was still in Cebu that time waiting for my application abroad.

Kris and I were in a long distance relationship for a few months but broke up even before he returned back to the Philippines. Sooo, it was very awkward the first time we see each other at the airport.

Even then, we remained friends and he got me some “Pasalubong” of Chocolates. I was even the bridesmaid of his sister’s wedding.

They say ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends cannot be friends anymore but we chose to stay friends despite our failed romantic relationship.

Fast forward, after 4 years, we got back together and we got married the following year.

We can say that truly “Love is Sweeter the Second Time Around”.

Our goal as a married couple is to inspire people around us by our story and creativity. We believe that God has given each one of us a good story to tell and a talent to share. Feel free to message or comment in our blog and we would be glad to answer any questions.

So come and follow us on our adventure.  Let us journey together.

God bless you.