Let’s continue with the art theme, shall we?

As a child, I loved accompanying our nanny or my mother to the market.  In the Philippines, the market was called palengke.  I was fascinated with the stalls that sold variations of vegetables, and fruits.  To shop for the daily meals was an every day chore. The meals were always cooked fresh and I don’t ever recall any leftovers for the next day.

I remember the noise of people’s talking and the busy-like atmosphere of daily transactions.  One of the smells that permeated the market and penetrated my memory for the rest of my life is the smell that comes from the fish stalls. I loved watching the men and women scale the fish–their silvery pieces flying in the air as the knife scrapes against the flesh.

What was interesting during that time was that in order to make sure that I don’t wander, and get lost–my mother or the nanny would often tell me that if am naughty or if I do wander off that someone will find me and sell me at the market. This was their way of keeping me under control. Screwed up I know, and it messes with the mind. I used to wonder if I did get lost, which one of the people selling their products would sell me off?

I haven’t thought of those days until I came across a painting that my sister in-law had in her home.

My brother had informed me that he will be teaching in Guanghzou, China for the next two years and that his entire family will be moving. They had to minimize what they own since they can only bring a certain amount with them.

My sister in-law Becka who is always very giving and expressive gifted me with Sakura Koretsune‘s Golden Fish painting. I had commented on the beauty of painting years ago, and she remembered. Becka is also an artist, and she once created a yurt for her BFA dissertation.

“I would hate to leave this behind, but I would feel much better if I gave it to someone that will take very good care of it,” she said. Indeed I will because it is the first real artwork that I’ve been given and placed on my wall.

Even more significant, it was given out of love.

From my understanding, Sakura created Golden Fish during her time here in Fairbanks, Alaska.

I look at Golden Fish and being that part of my studies in graduate school is literary analysis–I can analysis this painting for days, and there are so many profound interpretations.

An interpretation that varies on the perspective of the observer.