I've painted several bahay kubos before but never one big enough to hang in our living room. To revive my art that has been dormant since time immemorial, I decided to make one for myself.

This is the first time I paint from life. Sort of, that is. My still life paintings have always been from pictures or imagination. Setting up arrangements is simply too cumbersome especially when perishable goods are involved.

Art books often advice beginners to copy the works of the masters as a way to improve their painting skill. The reason is that one can't paint a good picture until one has seen a good picture.

Sometimes, ideas for a painting come from unexpected places. I was browsing once through the Facebook album of my cousin-in-law when I came across her orchid collection and pictures of a giant crab as big as a placemat.

Experienced painters are often confronted with the problem of what to do with their early works whose originally unnoticed flaws have become more obvious with the passage of time.

Painting metallic objects used to be one big mystery for me especially during my early years. Though pigments such as gold or silver existed in art stores, I realized soon enough they were not the magic ingredients for creating realistic images of golden goblets or silver vases.

This still life was painted in 2003 when painting was for me more enthusiasm than expertise. It was quite acceptable to me then if not perfect in terms of forms and composition.

Deciding what to paint is not always an easy task. This is true even when one already has a specific theme in mind - a landscape, a still life, a portrait or a floral arrangement. The still endless possibilities for each theme almost always lead to indecision and inaction.

Our repatriation to the Philippines a couple of years ago had one big casualty - my painting momentum. It was simply difficult to keep my creative enthusiasm rolling while in the midst of hunting for a temporary home, of building a house hurriedly, and of relocating in between.