Wherever you are or whoever you may be, or whatever you may be feeling at the moment, my heart goes out to you. In these worrying times I hope you find peace and light. 

----

The spiders scamper, hover, and spin endlessly until the gold becomes the finest silk.

It is rather ticklish how their sharp pointy legs prick on my skin as they go about their work.

Nothing to complain for I always have the highest quality garments embroidered with spider silk.

How fine, how beautiful!

There's not much to compare against these golden threads. Smooth, velvety, oh so vividly bright in every angle.

The envy of the court, they all call me.

'Oh how you glisten, lady! How refined and elevated you look above us!' they all proclaimed.

Oh, what's that? You wish to have them make you a garment?

No sir, no lady. 

These eight-legged masters only create for those they deem worthy -- oh, me?

Hah! It took me centuries to gain their trust. And for one immortal such as I, that is a rather embarrassing feat.

Still if you wish to push on with your wish then I shall say this.

Upon the light of the blue moon, gather about you roses of the reddest color, as bloody crimson as you could find.

Mind you to find the petals soft, too.

On your hands place a piece of gold and a bead of pearl, and a monarch butterfly of the purest white.

Gifts of honor, of gratitude, and as these spiders procure such delicate crafts they must be rewarded with the rarest meal that one can find in exchange for their laborious work! 

Their master would be very much pleased -- she is the largest of them all so do be sure to give her the biggest piece of the flutterer. 

Upon the stroke of three in the morning, a deathly silence will arrive. 

It is deafening, but you must wait.

After all, these spiders take too much time and patience to create such finery.

And lastly, from your lips utter your word of thanks.

But pray care to pronounce the greatest of gratitudes, for as humble as these creatures appear to be, they are as fickle as you and I.

Hurt not their pride and you shall gain the finest garment of gold as you could ever imagine.

My, you could even have hundreds of dresses and coats made nothing but golden spider silk!

Splendid accoutrements, are they not!

What if you fail, you ask?

Well, my friends. That is for mortals to find out.

My immortal soul is bound to their work for all the failures I've had. A price, I suppose, that I was willing to pay.

Who can say what happens to mortals if they do not please the golden spinsters?
Die?

Let me tell you this -- no mortal has ever lived to tell me otherwise.

Spring has always wanted to linger a little bit longer, though summer is always too keen to take his adventurous strides. And now autumn is already hanging by the leaves and winter waits ever so patiently in the wind -- my how time flies! 

Detail of 'Spring':

As an illustrator though, I consume paper. Paper that comes from trees. And as an artist who sells her work through Etsy, I use packaging materials and participate in overseas shipping. This leads to the question -- how am I doing my part to keep my consumption from nature to a bare minimum?

Let me tell you a story. Back when I was in high school, I'd consume one sketchbook per month and also countless pieces of paper filled with random, unfinished sketches. While compiling them at one point, I found out just how much paper I've wasted. I felt horrible. There I was, a young nature girl who consumed too much paper on random sketches that could have been filled with more sketches than what I have drawn unto them. I was then resolved to erase all the mistakes I made so as to not waste paper. I realized that I not only saved paper, I also trained myself to be brave enough to erase mistakes and make a new beginning. It felt great. Fast forward to today, I only consume less. The only ones I still find myself consuming at a regular basis are on post it notes. But that is changing now, too. I use the front and back of them. I still have a long way to go, it seems.

Moving forward to 2016, I started working from home. I also started selling my illustrations to friends. After that event in high school eight years ago, I was hesitant to use plastic and lots of paper. But I wouldn't want my art prints to bend -- that would be a huge no-no. So I decided to use my curiosity into its fullest. I made my artist portfolio brochure from scratch using only thick paper in 2013. The design was made to showcase a bit of my portfolio along with my resume and I suppose it worked because it did help me land a good position later on. Now in 2016, it seemed my curiosity has helped me once again and I decided to use reusable hardy light brown envelopes for shipping, and for packaging, I wrapped my artwork in Japanese paper, tied in twine and a little note on a brown paper with my stamp on it. Plus the improvised backing board (a.k.a. used cardboard boxes) proved to do the trick of not bending the prints.

But the Japanese paper would often tear and it's hard to come up with recycled backing boards and the envelope I bought was often too heavy that it might increase the price of international shipping and it doesn't prevent bending. And so I came up with another solution.


As my new backing boards, I use cheap thick cardboard sheets that would sandwich the art prints in between. A nice string of twine to wrap it all together makes it sturdy and durable for the travel time it will take to get to its destination. A little note is also important for me as sending a parcel to someone feels like sending a letter. It's very personal. Of course, the paper is recycled and the thank you note is a stamp I designed and later carved by my friend, Marz Today. You must check out her craft, she's really good at it! She even hand carved my logo stamp and I must say, every thing was in perfect detail.


For the envelope, I bought a roll of tracing paper, cut it into the design of an envelope I thought would be optimal and ta-da! I immediately fell in love with it. Though obscuring the art print from inside just a bit, it still offered a peek inside the envelope. I liked the effect of it looking like a veil.   




As for my gift tags, I tie them all together with twine. I then wrap them up in thin recycled brown paper and tie it in twine again. Add a little note and viola! It's ready to go.
For local orders of two or more zines, I wrap them first with brown paper before wrapping with twine then off it goes inside the courier's envelope.


The only plastic that appears in my packaging is the bubble wrap. It does hold all the items inside safely. I was looking for thick brown envelopes in local shops but I couldn't find a store that carries it here. If it becomes available here, I shall switch to it. That way, there would be no more backing boards and bubble wrap envelopes. Only the translucent envelope and twine plus the note would remain. I did notice that my packaging did involve more materials than I had hoped for. But since the materials themselves are biodegradable, I suppose it's better than plastic. One plastic sheet would take so, so long to dissolve. Again, I do hope there are thick brown mailer envelopes from where I am, since that would be the best option.


I do hope that in this little step of using less plastic would somehow slow down the growing amount of plastic waste in the world. Let's help keep this world clean not just for our life time but for other people and life forms as well. After all, we're sharing this place with lots of living beings, so let's do our part to keep them alive as much we are alive right now.



Etsy shop: SunlitCuriosities
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SunlitCuriosities

Marz Today:
https://www.facebook.com/MarzToday/

"May the wings of an eagle make your heart soar high above the clouds, so that your eyes may see the vast beauty and wonder that is in this world. May the vines grasp your soul closer to the soil so that you may feel what it's like to live among others in harmony and that one can thrive even in the most obscure places. And may the flowers that the hummingbirds flock to give you the lightest sweet scent that will remind you just how beautiful it is to be alive. I pray that you will remember me, dear, just as much as I remember you, always."

Mother Earth, the spirit of our world, beckons us to immerse ourselves in nature. There is more to understand and love in our world that we seem to have forgotten. There are many lessons to be learned even from the tiniest leaf. I hope we are thinking of this Earth and just how beautiful it is. We must do our best to give back for the resources we take, even in the littlest way. Earth Day should always be celebrated. 

~

I have always loved nature. How could I not? It's always there to inspire me, to nourish me, to challenge me. Living in the small bungalow that our house once was during my childhood, I've always loved the way the breeze would graze my skin, whether it be a hot summer gale or a gentle breeze during September. I loved watching the birds in the trees and in the yard as they pick up bits of rice that I left intentionally just to see them up close; I like the way they build their nest and their tweets too. I like the moss that covered the garden pots, the smell of grass being trimmed, the taste of dew from the flowers (yes, I'm that kind of girl who tried to taste the nectar from the santan flowers before making flower crowns), and the way the sun cast our clones on the wall as we tried to dance like cartoons in a theater. 

I like the crickets at night, the cold sharp scent that enters my nose each time I went out for a look at the stars. And speaking of stars, I love the way that they stayed where they are as I walked at night with my family after dinner, the way they shimmered like a morse code kind of curiosity in the sky. I will always remember kneeling down the road and looking at this really beautiful bright star and wished for something that my heart has always yearned for. I'm not telling though, my younger self would throw a fit, nor the wish I asked for when I was twenty three as the first traveling star showed itself to me at four or five in the morning in the upstairs garden, nor the secret message I gave the silver firefly that flew above our Indian tree during the longest energy black out that occurred after a terrible storm -- these are secrets I wish to keep and hope to say again the moment I meet the bright star, the traveling star and the silver firefly again. 

The water sprinkling from the garden hose, made glittery by the sunlight has always been a spectacle to see. More so would be the world inside a dew drop. If you look closer, it's a whole new world in there, with you as a character! The water that flowed along the clean side canal has always been the route of many leaf boats, most of them carrying little flowers on the top. The moment I stepped my feet in the ocean for the first time at seven or eight years old, I felt wonderful. It's like going to a secret room in the house that you know has always been there but have never been to despite wanting to take a glimpse of. I'll always love the beauty and strength of the waters. 

I like watching the ants walking a straight line with one in front of the other and the way they'd carry anything that's even bigger than they are. I love it whenever we pull this particular pot away from its place and seeing the hundreds or thousands of gentle black ants walking and minding their own business; we'd always stand beside this pot and wait for the ants to run around our legs. I'm allowing them to be with me, I thought. Maybe I'd be able to grow like a plant too if they walked around me. Out of whack sometimes, but I liked the idea. 

The first time I saw butterflies, I screamed bloody murder. It was the first time we went to see where we will be living in -- a small white bungalow house overran by grass and tons of clouds in the hot blue sky.  Yes, I'm scared of butterflies. And insects for that matter. The way their feet would scurry about, it makes me cringe up until now. But despite avoiding as fast as I can manage without screaming, I'll make sure that none of their eggs or larvae would be destroyed -- I'd enlist my family's help for that though! The moment I saw the giant daddy long legs up in our school's tree, and the tarantula in the shoe cupboard door were the moments I realized just how scary nature can sometimes be. But I try my best not to hate them so much. They were made that way, I'm sure they are beautiful in their own unique way, really. But seriously, let me appreciate from afar. I'll be content with that.

The soil felt so cozy -- I can't say for sure if that's a feeling one gets whenever they touch the soil. But for me, it feels so good in my hands and feet. I like holding them and turning them into cakes and feeding them to ants and fairies. Top it off with a lovely blossom and it's such a lovely chocolate cake! 

My imagination was and has always been inspired by nature. It's an innate part of me. 

My fondest memories were the one spent alongside it's "raw" beauty. Nature that is not manufactured, just nature being itself. 

Nature must be treated kindly and with respect. When we take something, should we not give something back? No, nature doesn't need new buildings to make the landscape look good, nor does it need more plastic either. I'm not saying that progress should be stopped. Progress must be made with nature in mind and plan. 

Look back on all those days when all we did was look at the world with the eyes of a child -- isn't the world such a beautiful place? I still feel the same about all these things. I still do most of them too! As an adult, peering closely at dew drops or saving ants from drowning or watching birds building their nests are still wonders that I still love to see.

Let's not waste this curious and wonderful place so that our children, or the plants' and animals' children would be able to fully experience the beauty and marvel that is this one earth.

~

Belongingness. I'm not sure if that's even a word, but it certainly is a feeling. When I look at the sky, sometimes I ask it if I am where I should be. I know it sounds like a scene from a movie but it's true -- I do have this feeling of wanting to know if where I am standing is the place where my soul should reside, where it should live as it should be. Sometimes, too, I question myself if I am accepted for who I am. Not that anyone needs other's acceptance in order to be happy, but sometimes it happens. Don't you ever have that feeling? There are times when people judge other people, not just for their decisions but also for their personality and status. It's hard when people want others to change and follow their standards. If only we all could be like the woman in the forest or the beings who accept without judgement. The world needs this kind of kindness and respect. If only. Then, what will the world become? Is it not a wonderful thing?

Hello everyone! I am so excited to tell you that I've been interviewed by The Wild Juniper!

They have amazing articles to read (which I have read already, haha!) and have featured many artists as well. In the interview, I talked about my journey as an illustrator and where I draw inspiration from, among other things.

http://www.thewildjuniper.com/sketching-in-the-sun-meet-illustrator-maril-ypil/

You can click the link above or you can head on to their Instagram page so you can also check out their feed! Thanks Leah and Heather! X

Writing this now, I have realized how this had made me take a step back to see and understand myself once again. I have been really busy with art among other things that I couldn't have any time to reflect on my journey. A year ago, I wouldn't have thought I'd be able to bounce back from my super long hiatus in illustration. It's not that I wasn't illustrating, mind, but I wasn't able to feel anything whenever I did. It was as if all feeling was away, for such a long time. But last year, I persevered. I became stubborn and pushed myself to keep creating, even though I know my illustration skills have not improved for such a long time. I spent my entire days and nights illustrating and experimenting, allowing my mind to finally be able to play, to listen to my own thoughts. 

When October came, I joined Inktober, an annual drawing trend that features ink as the main medium for illustrations. There must be one illustration for each day of the month. It's not required that one should draw everyday. But deep inside of me, this was my chance. I have always made excuses whenever I had the itch to sketch -- too many things to do, so much work, so many errands, headaches and other such things, including the lingering thought that I wasn't good enough. But how does one improve? You must beat your own doubts and excuses. I was too stubborn to give up even one day. If there were no ideas in my head for the day, I'd keep myself busy with other things and then come back to the table and draw again. And no matter how long it would take me to finish one drawing, I didn't mind. I have insomnia (it came handy this time around) and finished illustrations until way past midnight. And in the calmness of the odd hours, the stories came. One by one, they revealed themselves to me. I loved writing stories, but for so long it was as if their voices were silenced, even by my own doing. But like a secret they came back. The night has given me the time to truly listen, to feel again. I'll always be thankful for the silence of the night when nothing stirs but my own thoughts and the pencils and brushes on paper. I forgot how to listen, but now I'm able to. And I'll just have to keep reminding myself that I should do that, always. 

Along the way, I've also met so many wonderful people who I never thought I'd meet. I was what one could call a solitary person but somehow, there are some who became a part of my every day life, distance and time zones were never a problem. My family and friends have stayed with me through thick and thin too. I'm always grateful. Those people's words have constantly made me push myself even further and have comforted me like a nice pat on the back after a hard day's work. Or an, "It's okay, you're fine." And most of all, each time someone says that they feel something from my stories and illustrations, I feel like I was out there in a sunlit field, feeling the wind in my hair and the sun's warmth on my skin. Or out under the night, staring out at the possibilities as countless as the stars. I feel like I'm in front of a vast, blue sea too, but I was excited, not afraid.

In short, I felt alive.

I'm still pushing myself these days, but I learned to be patient. I learned to laugh at my mistakes and even love my own shortcomings. I only have to love what I'm doing in order to keep going. It's true that things take time and hard work -- I believe it with my whole heart and soul. I thought I'd be stuck with doubts, but I'm so thankful that I'm gently walking along a path that makes my heart soar in the skies, glowing like a star in the night. I'm still a long way away, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the path I'm walking on and cherish every simple thing that makes me happy, inspired and alive. That's what I yearn for, really. To be truly happy. I'm not as out there as I would have wanted, but I know and feel that I am where I should be. And that is enough for me.