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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Persistence

Photo by Samuel Scrimshaw on Unsplash

My creative journey isn’t a walk in the park. And it took me years before I was even able to take part in art shows and run exhibitions. I had a lot of those moments when the only thing that made sense was the raw and pure joy every time I pick up my brush. 
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In her heartwarming TED talk, Elizabeth Gilbert said “Don’t be daunted. Just do your job. Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be. If your job is to dance, do your dance. If the divine, cockeyedgenius assigned to your case decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed, for just one moment through your efforts, then ‘Ole!’ And if not, do your dance anyhow. And ‘Ole!’ to you, nonetheless. I believe this and I feel that we must teach it. ‘Ole!’ to you, nonetheless, just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.”
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I’m so glad I did not give up. And as long as life goes on I will keep showing up.

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My creative journey isn’t a walk in the park. And it took me years before I was even able to take part in art shows and run exhibitions. I had a lot of those moments when the only thing that made sense was the raw and pure joy every time I pick up my brush. . In her heartwarming TED talk, Elizabeth Gilbert said “Don't be daunted. Just do your job. Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be. If your job is to dance, do your dance. If the divine, cockeyed genius assigned to your case decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed, for just one moment through your efforts, then 'Ole!' And if not, do your dance anyhow. And 'Ole!' to you, nonetheless. I believe this and I feel that we must teach it. 'Ole!' to you, nonetheless, just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.” . I’m so glad I did not give up. And as long as life goes on I will keep showing up. . Like a Fairy Tale Mixed Media on stretched Canvas 30 in X 30 in (SOLD)

A post shared by Kris Ancog| Abstract Artist (@krisancog) on Apr 20, 2020 at 2:21pm PDT

Created a terrible art? Here’s what you can do.

This post was originally published in Kris’ Instagram account. Featured Photo by russn_fckr on Unsplash

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One of the struggles of being an artist is when you have this grand idea of how a new painting will look like and you thought you’ve figured out how to achieve your vision. But then the reality hits you that there can be a lot of trial and error involved in the process. . I find it really painful when nothing seems to be working (the colours are not quite right, the textures are a bit odd, or I just can’t feel anything from the painting as if it has no soul). . These are the moments when I need to be kinder to myself. I believe being critical is important to produce quality work but I learned not to tell myself those words I would never say to someone I value and respect. Instead of saying “it’s terrible!” I choose “it’s not quite right but it’s not done yet.” . Standing back to reflect has been very helpful in my art practice so I could maintain my sanity and not lose the joy of creating.

A post shared by Kris Ancog| Abstract Artist (@krisancog) on Apr 15, 2020 at 1:50am PDT

One of the struggles of being an artist is when you have this grand idea of how a new painting will look like and you thought you’ve figured out how to achieve your vision. But then the reality hits you that there can be a lot of trial and error involved in the process. 

I find it really painful when nothing seems to be working (the colours are not quite right, the textures are a bit odd, or I just can’t feel anything from the painting as if it has no soul). 

Photo by Dan Cook on Unsplash

These are the moments when I need to be kinder to myself. I believe being critical is important to produce quality work but I learned not to tell myself those words I would never say to someone I value and respect. Instead of saying “it’s terrible!” I choose “it’s not quite right but it’s not done yet.” 

Standing back to reflect has been very helpful in my art practice so I could maintain my sanity and not lose the joy of creating.

Kris’ thoughts on being an Artist

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This is one of the most memorable sunsets I’ve watched in New Zealand. I still remember that season in my art career when I was finally able to do my very first art show. Took me three years to get there and it was a surreal experience – so excited but almost freaking out at the same time. I felt most vulnerable during those moments of waiting for that first sale and whenever somebody gives feedback about my work. 

I believe I have grown so much over the years in terms of dealing with all the emotions I have to go through with my decision to become an artist. I still get nervous during opening nights but I get to enjoy the experience a bit more. Feedback (favourable or not) will always have an effect on me but only for a moment – then I move on because I don’t do my art to get praises or recognition. I do my art to celebrate life and hopefully make a difference to someone’s creative journey. 

How about you? How do you handle criticism? When do you feel most vulnerable?

Follow my creative journey at my facebook page or instagram page @krisancog

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Vulnerability VI Acrylic and Oil on Canvas 14 x 14 in #abstractart #contemporaryart #krisancog #meditativedreamscapes

A post shared by Kris Ancog| Abstract Artist (@krisancog) on Apr 9, 2020 at 1:31pm PDT

Project Mona Lisa with Kris’ painting

Kris and I never ran out of creative ideas. I have been a fan of make-up tutorial transformations but haven’t really tried it yet. I marvel at how they copy someone’s face by just using their make-up. I enjoyed watching them and sometimes I show Kris some of the funny videos and we laugh at it together. Some of the girls looked as beautiful as dolls but very different from how they actually look like in real life when the make-up is washed off.

We have seen people in facebook post about themselves copying famous artworks and thought we could do that as well.

Today, we decided to make something challenging yet fun. The challenge was to copy Mona Lisa’s face to model one of Kris’ paintings! I got really excited and went to my make-up box to see what I needed. I didn’t have the contouring foundation but hey being creative means trying to use whatever is available so I used my dark brown eyeshadow.

Mona Lisa photo from Wikipedia (left) | Aileen’s version with Kris’s painting (right)

Let us know what you think by posting your comment. We welcome any suggestions on the transformation you want us to do next .

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

Kris’ Art Room

Hi Everyone!

Come follow me. Let’s have a peek at Kris’ art room and see what’s in there.

I feel like I have the key to the secret garden if you remember that famous children’s novel written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was one of my favourite books when I was a kid.

Kris had just finished cleaning up this room and I am just curious to see how it looks like.

He could spend an entire day painting while listening to his favourite classical music playlist. I am just in awe on how he could produce such beautiful art pieces and lay them all piece by piece in the living room in preparation for his Art Shows. I remember asking him one day on how he managed to create all of those artworks. He said he enters into a “zone” (perhaps a different kind of dimension) so he could express his thoughts and emotions and let them flow into the empty canvas.

Since then I wondered what kind of dimension it is.. Hmmm..

He is away today so I tried to sneak in to his room and wondered if I could also get in to that “dimension” LOL! then maybe I can be creative as Kris!

As soon as I opened the door I could feel goosebumps all over me just watching at his unfinished artworks. My goodness! Is there some kind of spirit in here? I do believe in ghosts but I think it’s not the ghost spirit for sure!

I just watched in wonder how amazing Kris is. I just stood there inspired of how one’s talent could create such a positive energy that could speak to my soul! Char kaayo! 🙂 but it’s sooo true!

If you want to see more of his artworks, visit krisancog.com and follow his Instagram @krisancog