RESOURCES & INFLUENCES
Researching for this project was more than half the fun. I pulled inspiration from anywhere I could find it, and kept copious notes and links and papers and browser bookmarks and Pinterest boards to try and capture (and organize) it all for easy access and reference. Here are some of the resources that were invaluable to me during this process.
Tahanan Books
It's not easy to find Filipino literature, children's books, or folklore around American bookstores. Somehow my mother got me three themed and illustrated collections that I pored over and that have stuck with me over decades. While these adaptations are in English, they were written by Filipino academics and authors, who shared Tahanan Books' desire to make these pieces of heritage available and accessible to children all over the world.
Many thanks to Reni and Meg Roxas for their generosity in allowing me to use illustrations in my project and share this treasured memory with more people my way.
Illustration by Alberto Gamos taken from The Girl Who Fell From the Sky and Other Classic Philippine Legends
published by Tahanan Books for Young Readers.
Reprinted with permission from the publisher.
The Aswang Project
An active and supportive online community, based in the Philippines, of those interested in sharing information relating to the various aswang, or demons, in folklore and popular culture across media. In addition to releasing an extremely well-crafted video series on YouTube interviewing writers, illustrators, historians, and more about these creatures, they also frequently share and solicit artwork, cultural events, articles, opinion pieces, and literature to amuse, educate, and engage the general public about Filipino mythology.
Filipiknow
An amazing, seemingly bottomless resource for all Filipino Knowledge and trivia. I plumbed the depths of their articles on mythology and folklore, in particular their humorously-written lists of horrifying aswang and their descriptions, like this one.
My Pinterest Boards
This might seem odd to include but Pinterest has been an absolute essential for me to organize my thoughts in a convenient way since it hit the web. I can drop links and images all into one place and access it any time, and find things almost at a glance. I made boards for each imaginary creature, installation approaches and materials, textures, short stories, colors, buildings...if you'd like a peek into my mind during the creative process for There Once, check them out.
(You'll also see the other stuff I'm interested in or inspired by on other boards.)
Freemusicarchive.org
Thousands of sounds and music under the Creative Commons licenses.
"Siesta" by Jahzzar
Freesound.org
Sound effects for the masses; an amazing database and lifesaver.
Audionetwork.com
Compositions and sound effects that are organized in a meticulous and often hilariously-descriptive database.
"Simple Order" by Paul Mottram
"Earth Sounds" by Barrie Gledden, Chris Bussey, Evelyn Glennie