TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Brainard art

Thursday, September 2, 2021

Memories & Sketches #2 by Cecilia Brainard - Talisay

I continue my blogging about my memories with sketches ... and also old photos. Copyright 2021 by Cecilia Brainard

TALISAY
Cecilia Brainard

My father had been an engineering professor at the University of the Philippines in Manila. He and my mother lived in a big house on Georgia Street, in the Malate District. There they had their first two children -- my oldest sister and brother. When World War II broke out, my father entrusted the Manila house to his nephew Nanding. He brought his family by boat to Mindanao, and there he worked for the guerrilla movement — I have fictionalized some of their war stories into my first novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept (aka Song of Yvonne).

There they stayed for four years. My other sister was born “behind some bushes” while a Japanese patrol walked by. My mother lost a baby boy there, a miscarriage. My father would disappear for days without my mother knowing where he went, only to discover later on that he had traveled with the Americans to Australia or some other place.

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

"Che Sleeping" - Sketches from the Pink Grandma

I'm sharing a drawing I made for my grandchildren. My accompanying letter reads:
Hello Grandchildren,

Grandpa and Grandma have to stay home because of Coronavirus. Have your parents talked to you about that? All of us have to be careful to avoid getting sick. You have to wash your hands with soap and water for twenty seconds, and you have to stay home for now, and while it's sad, you can't see your friends and even us for now. And don't forget to eat vegetables and fruit to stay strong.

But while we are away from each other, I thought I'd do some drawings for you.

Here is one.

Do you remember who this is? And what sounds he makes? Who is his companion?

Love,

The Pink Grandma or Lola or Grandma (aka Cecilia Brainard)

Also published in Cecila Brainard's official website's blog:

https://ceciliabrainard.com/che-sleeping-sketches-from-the-pink-grandma/

#coronavirusart #cat #pencil drawng #drawng #sketch #sketching