Urban Sketchers International Symposium 2026: A Volunteer’s Experience

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Recently held in Toulouse, the Urban Sketchers International Symposium came to into conclusion a few weeks ago. These have been the four (five, if I count the day I volunteered to pack the goodie bag items) busiest days of this year for me. I have never been so physically tired in a long time but I have never been so happy either. Being a volunteer at the symposium is easily one of the best experiences I could possibly have as an artist!

It all started when I wanted to join last year’s symposium in Poznan, Poland, but realized it was already too late for me to register, and that I had other holiday plans as well during that time. You can just imagine how ecstatic I was to find out this year’s symposium was going to be held right where I live!!! And that they would need volunteers. Volunteering for something that I’m passionate about has always been in my blood even when I was still living in the Philippines. I’ve volunteered for ecotourism, education for children, and even for kiddie cancer patients (which was heart-breaking). And now, I’m volunteering for art in one of the most artistic and beautiful places in the planet.

I applied to be a volunteer for the symposium during the last quarter of 2025, if I remember correctly, and then I heard from them in January saying that I was short-listed, and finally accepted to be one of the sixty lucky volunteers! I was so, so, so happy. We had a couple of meetings after that, and I was also accepted to volunteer for the goodie bags packing, which was so much fun.

We packed the goodie bags on Bastille Day, which is a national holiday here in France. All twenty of us were so excited to unpack the boxes, arrange them properly on the table, form an assembly line, and fill in the yellow bags with all the goodies, all 900++ of them!

We were supposed to finish late in the afternoon, but we finished hours in advance because we were so fast and efficient. Thanks to the help of volunteer coordinator, Amelie Demange and all the admin and staff working with us during that day.

As a volunteer, you get to see the behind-the-scenes of (almost) everything, and also get to know the wonderful people behind the organization, and of course, the faculty. We also get to have our free lunch, and our own lounge / resting area. And of course, all the goodies in the goodie bag from all the sponsors, and more:

As a volunteer, I got to assist in one of the demos and one of the workshops. I also got to attend on one of the workshops. They were all very interesting but I was really too distracted and too tired to follow the workshops and the demos, and I even forgot to bring the proper art materials with me because I always had to rush in the morning, not used to waking up very early and I would be so exhausted coming back home from volunteer work that I would just eat and sleep when I got back home. But still, I was able to sneak in this quick sketch and a watercolor doodle of Saint-Sernin Basilica while assisting a demo from one of the faculties from all over the world, even without my usual plein air painting kit. I made do with the sketchpad that was included in the goodie bag from leuchtturm1917, which they actually engraved with my website URL for free!

I also had a chance to watch Stephanie Bower on her talk about perspective. She also did some book signing one day, and so I brought all my books for her to sign.

There were a lot of other well-known artists there doing the workshops and demos, etc., but I mostly enjoyed assisting Barbara Luel in her demo at Place Wilson. She was the nicest, warmest, most charming faculty member. And I am just so glad to have been assigned to assist her.

I actually did not know that there would be a lot of walking involved, even though I avoided volunteering for the sketchwalks. It was Urban Sketching after all, so I should have expected to walk outside with the faculty and do the sketching / painting plein air!

One of the highlights for me was when we all went up onstage to accept a warm round of applause from everyone during the closing ceremony.

I have never done anything quite like this before. I don’t think I would have the stamina to become a volunteer again, but I think I just might go to the next symposium in Toronto, summer next year. And if I ever do, hope to see you there! 🙂

Thanks for dropping by! Cheers, and have a good week ahead!

DIY Skincare products

Botanical Skincare Retreat in Portugal: My Experience

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Earlier this month, I have had the utmost pleasure of joining a Botanical Skincare Retreat in the mountains of Portugal, a few kilometers off of Porto. This was organized by experts in the field, Vivienne Campbell and Lise Andersen, with the bonus of attending the retreat with DIY Skincare guru, Marie Rayma. I am a huge fan of her Youtube Channel, and was so thrilled to have had the chance to have a chat with her on how I could improve my DIY body lotion that I have brought with me at the retreat. She was so nice!!!

It was an absolute delight geeking out over skin and hair care topics with a close-knit group of fellow skincare enthusiasts. Vivienne and Lise shared an incredible wealth of knowledge on creating herbal extracts, covering a wide range of extraction media and methods. We made different kinds of extracts, self-preserving all-natural gel base for hand sanitizer, hydrosols, natural mosquito repellent, shampoo bars, enfleurage (by Marju Kivi), etc. I most especially enjoyed creating my own Purple Sweet Potato shampoo, which was one of the ingredient options to choose from many. We got to formulate and craft our own unique products! This takes me back to all those times at Chemistry lab in my college days, which I absolutely loved! And now, I know why I weirdly had so many units in Chemistry back then while I was actually taking up a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science! 😀

All these while being surrounded by the mountains, the huge garden with beautiful and fragrant flowers, herbs (for tea time as well!), fruit-bearing trees, and veggies, which were picked right on the day when they cooked and served our delicious meals.

In such a short time, I gained an incredible amount of knowledge. I will definitely cherish every moment of this experience. The engaging classes, serene surroundings, nourishing vegetarian meals, and delightful company made it truly unforgettable. 🙂

Making My Own Organic Herbal Soap

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Bursting with so much inspiration from my Botanical Skin Care and Art Retreat early this year, combined with the motivation to extend the use of the beautiful flowers and plants in my lovely garden, I’ve decided to try my hand at making Cold Processed Soap, making use of plants and flowers that are in bloom in my small garden.

First, I dried out the flowers and plants that I harvested (Bougainvillea flowers, Laurel leaves, Calendula, Plantain, Lemon Balm), and infuse some cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil with these dried plants. For my Hydrosol, I used freshly harvested Peonies and Jasmine flowers. These plants are known to have very healthy effects on the skin. Hydrosol is just distilled water mixed with essential oil from boiled plants, for those who are not familiar with it.

I got my oils — Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, and the rest of my ingredients from reputable suppliers in Spain, making organic and vegan cosmetics and skin care supplies. I did not use any synthetic perfumes. I only used Essential oils and aromas from organic sources, very sparingly because they are not very gentle on sensitive skin. The pigments that I used are also from vegan sources.

I managed to make three batches of soap. The first one was Olive oil infused with Bougainvillea and Laurel leaves. It also had coconut oil and Hydrosol from my peony flowers. I did not put any essential oil or aroma in it. It had its natural scent, which was still lovely. I used pink clay, which made it turn brown because of the olive’s green color. Pink + Green = Brown, of course. But it was a beautiful brown. I thought the pink clay would be enough to make the soap pink. But I thought wrong. But it was still a lovely soap, despite being brown.

My second batch also had Bougainvillea and Laurel leaves infused in Olive oil. It also had coconut oil. But I had lots of Jasmine flowers this time, so I used it for the Hydrosol to mix with the Lye, instead of plain distilled water. I also used real coloring powder for this one. I experimented with a combination of Pink and Green pigments. I was successful with the colors this time. I also added some Laurel essential oil, but just a hint of it.

The last batch of soap I made was with Calendula, Melisse (lemon balm) and Plantain. These are wonderful plants that have a lot of healing properties for the skin. I infused them in the olive oil as well. I also added some coconut oil and Jasmine Hydrosol. I used a beautiful yellow pigment this time and made it two-toned. I also added a Dulce de leche aroma, which smelled delicious!

The process of making my own soap was very calming and extremely satisfying. Especially when the finished product comes out of the mould, you try it for the first time, and it feels so natural and so much better than all the other soaps I have ever tried, not just because it had all the expectations — hardness, lather, and so gentle on the skin, but also because it reminds me so much of the time I spent taking care of my plants and appreciating the fact that they not only served to beautify my garden, but also served an extended purpose long after their beauty has faded. And I most especially find comfort and happiness in the fact that the flowers in my garden did not fade away for nothing. 💖

Botanical Skincare and Art Retreat

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I was recently at a Botanical Skincare and Art Retreat in Andalucia, Spain. I spent a full week with wonderful individuals. We were all together in a house on a hill at a place called, La Encina in El Collado, a village close to Alajar, a few hours from Sevilla.

We made organic and botanical skincare products from plants that we harvested ourselves. We also painted and printed plants on cloth and paper. We enjoyed a private Flamenco concert in a cozy pizza place. We visited a farm with sustainable, ecological products to make soap. We enjoyed good food every lunchtime and dinner time cooked by a private chef, who is always laughing, singing and dancing all the time.

It was one of the loveliest memories I will always cherish. It was so much fun, and such a beautiful experience in such a wonderful place. 🙂

Thanks for watching my video. Love and light – Rio

Bamboo and Textile Up-cycling Workshops in Le Triadou, Montpellier

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The Philippine Association in Montpellier, Tanglaw Afsf, together with La Clastre, the cultural association of Le Triadou are organising a series of workshops on textile art and model making of bamboo land art installations. These workshops are free of charge. The participants will only need to bring textiles and bamboo sticks that can be up-cycled for the artworks.


The dates of the workshops are as follow:
Jan 16 – 19
Feb 07 – 09
Feb 20 – 23
Mar 06 – 09
Apr 10 -13
May 09 – 11
May 23 -25.
9h30 – 17h30


The workshops and exhibit will take place in LA CLASTRE, a 15th (?) century prieurie of the village. The bamboo land art installations will be shown outside the prieurie. The exhibition will be on May 23 to 25 or further. The workshops aim to create community-based activities, up-cycling used clothing into fashion accessories and mural textile art, and getting acquainted with bamboo, a sustainable building material.

Model-making is essential for creating beautiful yet sturdy bamboo structures. These scaled-down versions of buildings help refine both the aesthetic and structural aspects of the
project.

Every bamboo structure starts with a model. In later phases of the process, the model is supplemented with architectural drawings, like floor plans, cross-sections, and renderings.


Because of their accuracy, physical models play a crucial role in the design process that IBUKU, Bamboo Pure, and Bamboo U all use when it comes to building with bamboo – regardless of the
size or typology of the structure being built.


For more info, please contact Tanglaw Association.

Watercolor Art Retreat, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

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As a loving treat to my wonderful self this year, I booked this relaxing Yoga and Watercolor Art Retreat in Lanzarote, Canary Islands in Spain. It was organized by Lucia of The Sun Collective. We had four days of very informative art classes by watercolor artist and Sennelier Ambassador, Catalina Rodriguez Villazon. I did not care so much about the yoga, though. It was too early for me to join, and I was always sleeping so late, or in the wee hours of the morning, for some reason. Probably because I was not used to the complete quiet, except for the howl of sea breeze at night.

The place was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! And I had the most beautiful room of all, with the beautiful view of the sea, and the surrounding volcanoes. It was a few steps to the dining / recreation area, with the huge orchard down below.

The food was wonderful, the service was exceptional, the place was magical! I had the most wonderful time with wonderful people, and it was one of the best experiences I will cherish most. 💖✨

Botanical Watercolor Art Retreat in Teyssode, France

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So, I just got back from a wondrous, week-long watercolor art retreat with Harriet de Winton here in the South of France.

I spent a full week interacting with a small group of lovely people from different parts of the world — mostly from North America, and the UK. And I got to meet and chat and learn first-hand, up-close and personal some watercolor tricks from Harriet herself, who stayed with us in the same location.

First of all, the venue, Domaine d’En Naudet was lovely. The hosts, Nicolas and Sophie, are a lovely couple who own the estate. My spacious room was kept clean every day (very unusual in these parts, except in hotels), has huge windows and is conveniently located directly in front of the hall where we hold our daily (almost) watercolor sessions with Harriet.

Each meal (lunch and dinner) was specially prepared by a British chef (forgot to get his name) but he said he works only with uptrek (the event organizer), and that he has a food truck somewhere in Teyssode or Albi. I should look him up. He was really good. As for the wine, and the wine trip and dégustation, I was not so crazy about it, and really quite disappointed. Although, I appreciate that they are trying to promote local wines.

All in all, I had the most enriching experience and wonderful time painting and relaxing and walking around the neighboring village of Albi, which I had not seen in ten years! It was worth revisiting.

Thanks for dropping by and have a lovely weekend!

Sampaguita Original Watercolor Prints

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New item on the zazzle shop — original watercolor stickers and prints of Sampaguita, the Philippine National flower.

This artwork, together with a few others (see picture gallery below) were on exhibit during the Philippine Independence Day celebration of the Filipino-French community here in Toulouse last June.

Apo Whang-od, Philippine tatoo artist, on A4 watercolor paper
Catriona Gray, Binibining Pilipinas and Miss Universe 2018, on A4 watercolor paper

I have been super busy with work, and life in general during the past months. I barely had time to update. But in the coming weeks, I shall be posting about our mini-garden / terasse renovation, recent road trip to Italy, and the upcoming watercolor retreat I shall be joining.

Thanks for dropping by, and have a good week ahead!

Happy Holidays 2022

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Hey there! I know I’ve been slacking on posts lately. My new job has taken over most of my time lately. But since, it’s the holiday season, things are getting a bit more slow-paced at work starting this weekend. So I’ve taken the opportunity to post a watercolor painting demo, finally!

In this video, I was inspired by the Christmas lanterns that I found in Ikea here in France. They remind me so much of the Christmas lanterns that we have back in the Philippines (Parol), I just had to make a watercolor version of them in a Christmas greeting card.

Since I’m always missing the tropics, especially, the beach, I’ve created this tropical themed greeting card. If you guys are interested, I sell some greeting cards, and other gift items with my original watercolor prints on them on zazzle.com. Mostly, Filipino themed. This year, I am so happy to have sold quite a lot! I’m finally going to be able to cash out my earnings! 🙂 What a treat. Thanks to those who patronized my humble artworks.

Hope you have a great holiday. Cheers!

My Birthday in Paris and Yoyo Ma Concert, etc.

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Last month, I celebrated my birthday in Paris with the hubs and some friends. We stayed at one of our friends’s very lovely apartment, which overlooks the Eiffel Tower. It was wonderful!!! I didn’t wanna leave the room with the view. 😀

We also saw Yoyo Ma at the Philharmonie de Paris. We booked the ticket early this year, and it was almost fully booked! We were still lucky to get seats third row from the stage, facing the front. Here is a video of some of snaps and video shorts I took during the mini-breaks in the concert.

The Philharmonie de Paris was majestic outside, but a bit disappointing inside. But I still had fun watching the concert. It was a birthday gift from my wonderful husband. We had a great time despite the noisy people in the audience violently coughing and sneezing all the time. It was so nerve-wrackingly distracting. I do not know how Yo-Yo Ma managed to keep his calm and cool throughout all the noise. And having said that, I think it will be the last time I will be watching him live. It was too distracting. But it was a real pleasure seeing him live in the flesh. Best birthday gift ever!

Lastly, a bit of update on the job hunt: before going on this trip, exactly a day before, actually, I received a very good news from one of the companies I have applied to. I started working two weeks after this trip. I was ecstatic!!! I have been on the job for two weeks now, and so far, I’m still not disappointed. It’s a great company, one of the biggest French IT Consulting companies, and my client is the biggest aviation company in Europe. Also, I’m working on their big data platform, doing Data Engineering until the end of this year. After that, I might go into another project, of which, I do not know yet. 🙂 I am quite happy. C’est fini, la tristesse.

Cheers, and have a good week ahead!