The unsaid quality

"You are not an artist simply because you paint or sculpt or make pots that cannot be used. An artist is a poet in his or her own medium. And when an artist produces a good piece, that work has mystery, an unsaid quality; it is alive."- Toshiko Takaezu, American ceramic artist and painter

In her everyday life, friend Toottee Chanco Pacis is a poet. The eye for beauty and wonder is unfailing; her self-deprecating humor feels like a breath of Baguio air, air that is unmixed with diesel fumes.

On the afternoon two days after the Epiphany and before I returned to Manila, we had a chance to reconnect. She greeted me at her door with a rueful but warm, "Hello, stranger!" It had been that long since the two of us sat down for girl talk.

When it was parting time, I took pictures of her home and garden to remind me how to furnish not just a physical space but the mind, heart and spirit. Thank you, Toottee Fruitti. Until the next cuppa tea and talk.

Prickly but easy on the eyes

Terracotta guardian by the fireplace

Music box with glass removed and featuring the nativity scene

Copper pan

Mini Christmas tree lighted front and back

Blue and whites Photos by Babeth Lolarga