SOUTHWEST (JADE YEARS) - SERIES #9

"If God would choose a plant to represent him, I think he would choose of all plants the cactus. The cactus has all the blessings he tried, but mostly failed, to give to man. Let me tell you how. It has humility, but it is not submissive. It grows where no other plant will grow. It does not complain when the sun bakes it back or the wing tears it from the cliff or drowns it in the dry sand of the desert or when it is thirsty. When the rain comes it stores water for the hard times to come. In good times and in bad it will still flower. It protects itself against danger, but it harms no other plant. It adapts perfectly to almost any environment. It has patience and enjoys solitude. In Mexico there is a cactus that flowers only once every hundred years and at night. This is saintliness of an extraordinary kind, would you not agree? The cactus has properties that heal the wounds of men and from it come potions that can make man touch the face of God or stare into the mouth of hell. It is the plant of patience and solitude, love and madness, ugliness and beauty, toughness and gentleness. Of all plants, surely God made the cactus in his own image?"- Anonymous 

 

 

TITLE: "CACTUS IN BLOOM -SERIES #1"

SIZE: 12" x 24"

MEDUIM: OIL ON CANVAS

COLLECTION BY THE ARTIST

 

   

 

TITLE: "CACTUS IN BLOOM -SERIES #2"

SIZE: 12" x 24"

MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS

 ART COLLECTION  BY ARTIST

 

I painted these two cactus oil painting while I continue to cope with my challenging hearing loss. The beauty and strength of the cactus inspired me to go on w/ my difficult life. As always art becomes my therapy. I did enjoy painting these beauties.

 

 

SOUTHWEST (JADE YEARS) -SERIES #8

"Bloom where you're planted.'" - Mary Engelbreit

BLOOM WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED- One of my favorite woman author -Sarah Ban Breathnach said....."I have discovered that if we are to flourish as creative beings, we must bloom wherever we are planted. Right now, you might not have the perfect career, home, or relationship. Few of us do. But if you have the gift of today, you've got another chance to re-create your circumstances." How true! Like her I'd like to bloom where I am. Thank God, I am not a plant but a painter. My art career is promising. I am grateful that each day is a chance to improve my creativity and painting fresher, newer and better.

 

PURPLE PALETTE This is a very pretty color. Like deep blues, purple is also a dark color and considered moody or sometimes even threatening. Purple comes in many different names like violet, lilac, lavender and amethyst. On the other hand purple is the complementary color of yellow. These two colors are directly across from each other on the color wheel. My favorite artist Vincent Van Gogh did most of his famous impressionistic paintings with complimentary or contrasting colors such as purple and yellow, red, and green, orange and blue. Complimentary colors are vibrating and very effective in lively painting.

 

 

TITLE: ""PURPLE CACTUS FLOWER"

SIZE: 18" x 24"

MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS

GIFT TO DR. CAROL MENDOZA

 

In this cactus flower painting, I used complimentary colors like deep purple and deep yellow -orange. It looks stunning to the eyes. I parted w/ this beautiful painting last year. I gave it as a appreciation and thank you gift to a dear friend who is a very nice and helpful dentist. We met

Dr. Mendoza through the Fil-American Association of Sta. Clarita Valley. We remained good friends over the years, together w/ his husband Edgar.
 

When my husband and I moved to San Diego, he didn't change dentist. It was a long drive to get to Sta. Clarita for dental treatment, but because Dr. Mendoza was so accommodating, it was not a problem. Dr. Mendoza treated my hubby liked a member of her own family. When he had many dental problems, she's a dentist who's always there for him. We truly appreciated her labor of love. What do you give to someone who has everything? I know our painting will make her happy, so I gave her this purple cactus flower painting.

 

 "Carry out a random act of kindness, with no exception of reward, safe in the knowlwdge that one day someone might do the same for you." -Princess Diana

SOUTHWEST YEARS - SERIES #7

"Nature furnishes a rich assortment of shapes, textures, colors, values and movements to choose from....I paint to interpret nature, not to copy it." - Edward E. Herrmann

A VISIT TO THE WESTERN ART MUSEUM Many years ago, while visiting the Gene Autry Western Art Museum in Los Angeles, California, I bought a greeting card with a view of an impressionistic landscape with cactus. I was inspired by its vibrant colors and one day I painted this Southwest colorscape. Down below was the outcome was my version of the original. I was fascinated by the tender hues of turquoise cactus , the brightest pink burst of tiny flower, the slender thorns that remind one to keep a distance. The emerging background of deep purple plateau and vast sky golden with heat had captured me too.

TITLE: "COLORFUL SOUTHWEST CACTUSCAPE"
SIZE: 16" x 20"
MEDIUM: Oil on Canvas
Personal collection of the artist

ABOUT THE ORIGINAL ARTIST The original vivid impressionistic landscape was painted by Edward Herrmann. He was inspired by the magic of the changing seasons, the variegated influences of light and Nature's mutable moods.The painter has bold brush strokes and careful eye for detail. He strives for a deep sense of vitality. His paintings invite one to move through the rich texture, to experience the emotional resonances of a particular landscape. He said "A painting changes as one's thought change. It moves as the viewers mind moves, becoming alive only through the person looking at it." Someday, I hope I'll have the chance to meet this artist and tell him how much I was inspired by his painting. Copying someones art work is a great compliment.

SOUTHWEST YEARS - SERIES #6

"Beauty is altogether in the eyes of the beholder" - Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

A GREEN PALETTE Of all the the desert plants, I find cactus very interesting subject to paint. The bigger they are, the wider my imagination goes. It's true that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I might see beauty is huge saguaros but to you it might look dull. That's okay, because we all have different perceptions and perspectives on things we view. And many artists like to paint different things. Some artists like to paint candies, floral, or landscape. Others paint only what collectors would like to buy. They cater to what others like, not what they like. I like to paint subjects that's are dear to my heart. My choice has to do with many personal experiences. During many trips to the Southwest specially Arizona, I was inspired and fascinated by the beauty of cactus. I have done lots of studies on cactus and painted many of them.

TITLE: "CACTUS WITH FLOWERS"

SIZE: 18" x 24"

MEDIUM: Oil on Canvas

PERSONAL  ART COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST

 

I have many cactus oil paintings at home and this is one of my favorites. This is one of my best cactus paintings. It is realistically done and copied from an Arizona travel magazine. I am an artist who couldn't paint and rely on my memory. I need a live model or a good photo, or a page from a magazine or calendar to work from. This method works for me. Some artist have different ways. Whatever we choose to work with we are free to do whatever we feel works. There is no absolute rules for artists. Sometimes experimenting and doing things differently work like magic. I meticulously painted the thistles on this cactus painting. My right hand got numbed from hundreds of tiny brush strokes. Some thinks that painting is like playing but it's hard work too. It like being pricked with some actual thistles. Some of you might think this is just an ordinary painting or not original. But I am okay with that. I painted this cactus for myself and my family. This painting brings lots of pleasures and good memories of the happy trips we had in the Southwest (New Mexico, Arizona and Texas). This painting matches my Southwest theme and color at home.

 

 

LIVING ROOM This is our living room where my favorite cactus oil paintings are on display. The "Cactus With Flowers" is on the right side. Our home's theme color is sage, peach and purple. For me these colors are beautiful and alive. Others may not be fond of it but liked classical colors like blue and green. I like green too. Sage is the green shade for Southwest theme. Whatever color you choose to live with or paint, what matters is that you're happy with your colors. Green is beautiful but if you don't like it, that's still OKAY!

SOUTHWEST YEARS -SERIES#5

CLOSE TO OUR HEARTS: Every time my husband and I took a trip up to San Francisco, we always stopped by the Harris Ranch Restaurant for lunch. It's located on Fwy#5 going up north. This ranch got a restaurant and hotel. The restaurant was famous for it's excellent steak and other delicious beef menu. It had a cattle ranch nearby.

The HRR had a Southwest architecture and decorations. I loved looking at the many cactus's oil paintings on display in the lobby, hallways and private rooms. The particular painting above was one of my favorites. The artwork was painted by a woman artist but I couldn't remember her name. I took a photo of this painting and did my own version below.

 

TITLE: "TRIO OF CHARMING CACTUS"

SIZE: 20" x 24"

MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas

PERSONAL ART COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST

My oil painting was inspired by the painting shown above. This was my version of the original painting. Copying some body's painting was frown by others but I did not  see anything wrong with it. In old times, many artists copied art works by the masters. It was often encouraged. I thought that if one could copy well, that's a great talent. To be a good artist one needed to practice, study and copy over and over again. It's not a crime learning from others artists who came before us. Studying their style and technique was very helpful.

This trio of cactus was a beautiful painting that I was happy and proud to display in our living room. Painting the same subject over and over again, never bored me. Whenever I look... ..meaning.... really looking..... with admiration and appreciation with my whole heart..... the paintings and the world becomes a more fascinating, inspiring and COLORFUL place to live in. Try it!



SOUTHWEST YEARS - SERIES#4

"Seeing is an art that can be learned by all of us." - Alexandra Stoddard

ART OF SEEING: According to Alexandra few really know how to see and as a result are unaware of the majesty and beauty around them. But seeing can be learned, and those who learn to see well, the world becomes an entirely different place. Life is suddenly rich with promise, full of light, color, texture and harmony. I agreed with her 100 %.

TITLE: "CACTUS PAINTING #2"

SIZE: 16" x 20"
MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas
PERSONAL ART COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST

 One of my Southwest oil paintings hanging in our home. Seeing a field of cactus was an ordinary setting but if viewed from a painted window and arranged in attractive composition, it's more inviting. A window, an ordinary subject. But when you add an area rug, pot of cactus, skulls and red chili's hanging from the ceiling it became more attractive. This window invited us to look beyond the ordinary. On the horizon was a field of cactus with yellow flower plus blue sky. There were many numerous things painted here but  surely unnoticed by most viewer. Why? Seeing as they said was an art. We have to learn how to be more receptive and appreciative of the beauty around us.

 

SOUTHWEST YEARS #3

"When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself." – Isak Dinesen

TITLE: "CHARMING CACTUS # 1"
SIZE: 16" x 20"
MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas
NOT FOR SALE
PERSONAL ART COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST

The above painting was the first cactus oil painting I did during my Art Class at the Sr. Center. Surprisingly, it came out good and realistically look like a cactus. With constant practice, my oil painting started looking more beautiful and professionally done.

I love cactus. Our house and backyard were filled w/ them. So easy to take care. As I struggled w/ my challenging hearing loss, I compared my life to a cactus. Like the cactus, I thrived despite of my difficult and dry life on a dessert highways called "Hearing Loss (oops...I meant Lane.") 

  

My blue days were many. To fill up my those long and lonely days while my husband was at work and my children were at school, I practiced and painted more and more each day. Painting became my outlet. Painting made me alive and happy. Luckily, I thrived on solitude like a beautiful “Solitaire.”

Progressively, I became a serious artist, sharpening my artistic skill once again. I eagerly looked forward to my once a week class at the Sr. Center. At the same time, I enrolled at the International Correspondence School to update my rusting knowledge about fine arts. Most art homework where done at home.

Although I worked for TV Fanfare for a decade, my paste-up job didn't give me lots of room for creativity and artistic skill. It's a very mechanical job.

 

SOUTHWEST YEARS #2 - (JADE YEARS)

 "I think the American West really attracts me because it's romantic. The dessert, the empty space, and the drama." - Ang Lee (Movie director)

 

In the late 1980's to mid-1990's,  I experienced a decade of very devastating, progressive and severe profound bilateral hearing loss. I could no longer hear and understand the TV, phone, movies, answering machine, etc. It was scary that I could no longer understand some people. Most of them sounded mumbling or eating some words. It  was the most challenging and difficult problem I ever faced in life. I tried to withdraw from noisy crowds. Conversations were very confusing in the dense noise. A scary experience. 

TITLE: "A SEASCAPE W/ BOAT"
SIZE: 16" x 20"
MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas
Artist Collection

To help myself from getting depressed w/ my hearing problem, I enrolled at an Art class at the

Senior Center nearby. I also loss my job at TV Fanfare. I went back to my first love and passion ( painting). Although I had been painting before, I got rusty w/ painting. Sadly, I haven't hold my artist brushes for over a decade.

Above was my first oil painting at  the Senior Center Art Class. My first realistic oil painting I did. I copied a canvas for the class to paint. This was my version. Not bad a comeback artist.

What initially became a tragedy, became a blessing and artistic opportunity for me. I always wanted to pursue doing oil paint full-time after retiring at the age of 65. But retirement came to me early at mid-life. I was still young and healthy with many more years to live and paint. My only problem was my difficult hearing loss. It's not life threatening but could knock me down easily when feeling blue.  NO need to HEAR well when painting. What I needed was solitude and a skillful hand.

 

SOUTHWEST YEARS - ("JADE YEARS #1)

" I don't see why we ever think of what others think of what we do -- no matter who they are. Isn't it enough just to express yourself?" - Georgia O'Keeffe

 

 

NEW HOME COLOR: We didn't lived very long at Lochmmor Road,  our first house in Valencia. We were attracted to a bigger brand new house at " The Oaks." Sooner a huge Allied moving truck moved our endless material stuffs to our new house.  

 

Living at "the Oaks" was a revolutionary experience. Finally I changed our color and theme decor. I happily said good-bye to our the "harvest" or yellow years." We lived w/ yellow for almost 20 years. The harvest color is synonymous with the 6o's and 70's. Convinced it was an outdated color for our home, I embraced the new color trend of the Southwest during this time.

 

As always, I am the bold interior decorator of our many houses. Although my art major was in Editorial & Advertising Design, I have learned many basic principles about color and art. I have long understood how color can dramatically affect moods, feelings and emotions. I knew what colors are compatible.
 

For this new house, my color choice was PEACH and JADE. My feeling about these colors were deeply personal. As I got older, I liked more subdued and calming tones. So I embraced the popular Southwest colors. PEACH, a light shade of Orange. JADE, the lighter shade of Green.  Combined together, they could lived well w/ each other.

The other name for this Southwest years was the "JADE YEARS." GREEN meant growth and a "GO" color. Also meant freshness, new chapter, new beginning in our family lives in our new house. Green, an optimistic color too.

I enjoyed decorating this house w/ my husband. He liked what I liked. No fight about my choices. He’s an engineer and very reliable  handyman. We were proud of the overall home decorating project. Our many friends who saw our house told us....."Your home is more beautifully decorated than the model home."  I didn't know we got talents for home decorating. My husband and I were good decorating team. So grateful to God for our wonderful gifts. No need to hire expensive interior designers.

Ironically, I didn't have time nor mood to do any oil painting while we lived in this house. I   worked full-time. Busy mother of 4 children. Endless "homework's". Instead, I bought a big Southwest Cactus oil painting by an unknown artist. We hanged it on top of the fireplace. We also invested on five Southwest sand paintings and 2 oil paintings by Mario Dumas. Watercolor works by A. Fetz. With a big house buying ready made art works was the fastest way to fill up the empty walls.

Changing colors meant parting w/ some of my old “Yellow” oil paintings. It’s sad that the long “Yellow Waves”had no space in our new house. So we donated it to Goodwill. Not thinking of it’s sentimental value. Hopefully, the person who owned those paintings now, were enjoying it.

 

YELLOW YEARS #4

“The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye, the story of love is hello and goodbye...until we meet again” - Jim Hendrix

 

 

                           "THE YELLOW WAVES"
 

VALENCIA, STA. CLARITA: We moved this huge " Yellow Waves" painting to our third house in Valencia (Sta. Clarita). Surprisingly, in our new home, it had a high ceiling and long entry way. We wall papered the wall w/ dark brown and displayed the long painting here.  The painting pop-out. We added a long wooden shelf on top of the painting. Updated our decor and arranged many new different shape and size of native baskets. This wall was across the living room. 

SAYING  GOOD-BYE:  It was hard to forget  our beautiful house in Hidden Lake. For a while we missed the lake. But exchanged the gorgeous lake view for a gorgeous pool view. Surprisingly, our family and friends enjoyed having our own private pool and spa at our own backyard. To minimize being "Homesick" in our new house, I duplicated the feel and style of the house we had in Hidden Lake. In time, our love were transfered to our new home. Hidden Lake became one of the beautiful MEMORIES of past homes we lived in.

YELLOW YEARS - MODERN ART #3

 

WELCOME HOME!

How sweet to hear those soothing words after a long journey away from home. More and more I find myself turning inward to our home as true haven on earth.

 

Most of us spent the largest portion of our lives at home. For 10 years, I became a full-time mom to our four kids. I gave up my art job and truly enjoyed staying home. I found those long years, creative and very fulfilling. I believed its in our homes that we could become more truly ourselves. I paid attention not only to nourishing the physical, spiritual but artistic growth of our young kids and my husband.

 

Our home decors and paintings were selected and created to make our home into something uniquely our own. As an extremely busy mom, I had to be creative and resourceful in using my time to maximize my artistic gift. While our children were growing up, my mind was filled w/ endless wonderful ideas and art projects. After an exhausting day of child care, the only time I felt I still had energy left, was when I was painting or doing something creative.  Here were some wall paintings I created for our children's room.

 

 

JOY'S ROOM: Her room was wall papered w/ yellow butterflies. I painted and extended the butterfly designs, like they were fluttering out of the wallpaper.

 

 

JOY'S ROOM: I also designed this flower mural for the closet sliding doors. I added some round mirrors on the flowers and some butterflies too.

 

RODNEY AND RYAN'S ROOM:  I  designed and painted this wall mural for Rodney and Ryan's bedroom. Later we bought a bunk bed. They shared this room w/ Robin. This room became the hide out for our three musketeers.

 

" Decorate your home. It gives the illusion that your life is more interesting than it really is." - Charles M. Schulz

YELLOW YEARS - MODERN ART #2

"Art evolves. So does life. Art is never stagnant. Neither is life. The beautiful, authentic life you are creating for yourself & those you love is your art. It's the highest art." - Sarah Ban Breathneath

 

 

"MODERN ART #2 - YELLOW, ORANGE AND OCHRES"
SIZE: 3 feet by 2 feet
MEDIUM: Oil On canvas
YEAR PAINTED: 1972
WHERE ABOUT? Donated

This oil painting was influenced by a favorite Filipino contemporary artist Jose Joya. I admired him while my professor at the U.P. School of Fine Arts. Joya "spearheaded the birth, growth and flowering of abstract expressionism" in the Philippines. His mature abstract works have been said to be "characterized by calligraphic gestures and linear forces, and a sense of color vibrancy emanating from an Oriental sensibility." Joya's sense of color has been said to have come from the hues of the Philippine landscape, and his use of rice paper in collages demonstrated an interest in transparency.

 

 

  ONE OF JOSE JOYA'S  ABSTRACT PAINTINGS

 

 

"Mother's hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts FOREVER."- Unknown

 

FIRST MOTHER'S DAY This photo was taken during my first Mother's Day on May 12, 1974. I was the young mother on the left side with my first baby (Rodney). He was born March 19,1974 and was only about 1 1/2 months old when this photo was taken. The other woman and children were our Argentine neighbors across the street.

This photo was taken inside our first house in Hidden Lake (Canoga Park) California. I painted the oil painting on the background. It depicted many Philippine folk dances.
Further back in the living room, was the "Modern Art #2" oil  painting. It was the centerpiece of our first home in Hidden Lake.

"You expect me to tell you what ART is? If I knew, I would keep my knowledge to myself."- Pablo Picasso



YELLOW YEARS - #1

"MODERN ART #1 - YELLOW,ORANGE AND OCHRES"

SIZE: 3 feet by 2 feet
MEDIUM: Oil On canvas
YEAR PAINTED: 1972
WHERE ABOUT? Donated

                                     Photo taken on my First Mother's Day 1984

FIRST MODERN ART- This colorful painting was my first modern oil painting created at Hidden Lake. I did this painting before my four babies were born. Since it's modern art, it's anything goes. This painting no longer exists. I didn't have any subject in mind. I did this painting with numerous colorful shapes to match the yellow and orange colors of our home decors. This was an experimental work w/ yellow color. 

 

"MODERN ART #1 - YELLOW, ORANGE AND OCHRES"

                              Photo taken on Mother’s Day w/ first baby (Rodney) and Rhod

Our house in Hidden Lake (San Fernando Valley) California became my art gallery as a young artist. Here, I had the freedom to express my taste, style and personality. When I was younger, I like modern art. Loved the works of Jose Joya, a famous Filipino contemporary artist. He was one of my art professors at the U.P. School of Fine Arts. I also liked Jackson Pollack, an American modern artist.

I created this huge painting specifically for one of our walls in the living room. I wanted to see and enjoy this painting everyday on my way to the kitchen and family room. I'd like my friends to enjoy it too while visiting our home.

Yellow is a cheerful and sunny color. Also an attention getter. It is considered an optimistic color. Yellow symbolizes hope and motivation. It can be overpowering if overused. But yellow enhances concentration, hence its use for legal pads.  Knowing about color meaning would help us understand other people better.

FOLK DANCE MEDLEY #1

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” - Osho

 

TITLE: "FOLK DANCE MEDLEY"

SIZE: 6 feet by 2 feet

YEAR PAINTED: 1972

MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas

GIFT: To Mr. & Mrs. Gasat Belo

 I created this huge vertical oil painting few years after I painted the "Reflections From My Homeland." I customized this specifically for a wall in our family room. When we moved to our second house next door, there was no available wall to hang it. So my eldest sister Perla inherited it from me.

This oil painting was a medley of different Philippine folk dances. The Philippines is a treasure land of folk dances. From the top - tinikling (bamboo dance), fandango, singkil (royal dance), and senyorita.

Fortunately, during a trip to Seattle, Washington last August 2008, I reconnected to this beautiful oil painting. Surprisingly, the painting was still good despite of traveling long distance. The colors look okay. But I think my anatomy was the "rookie" type. When I created this painting, I was still doing many figure studies. Even today, I continue to develop my skill in anatomy. It's good to know that my anatomy skill had improved over time. But figure drawing is not easy and it takes lots of practice to be very good at it.

ANOTHER VIEW - This painting was hanged on the side wall of the stairs leading up to the living room of my sister's house. It was difficult to get a frontal view. Anyway, I did miss this painting. Someday, I will re-create this painting in a smaller version.

FOLK DANCE MEDLY #2

"Dancing is the loftiest,the most moving,the most beautiful of the arts,because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself."- Havelock Ellis

It's true there's no place like home, no matter how humble. When my husband and I got married on 1971, our first home was only a one bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, but to us it was a castle. The apartment was located near my job at Trade Service Publication, so I just crossed the street. In 1972, my husband found an engineering job at Litton Industries in Canoga Park (SFV) California. So we bought a brand new, single, one story house w/ 4 bedrooms in a place called "Hidden Lake" in Canoga Park. As an artist I was deeply attracted to the lovely lake and serenity of the area. We bought a house located around the lake. We could access the lake from our backyard-where we could go fishing, row boating, feed the ducks and walk around the lake. We lived there for 14 years.

 

FOLK DANCES OIL PAINTINGS IN FAMILY ROOM

During 1977, we moved next door because we fall in love with this model home. We liked the layout of the house, the cathedral ceiling, detailed stuffs that came with it, like fancy faucets in the bathrooms, papered wall to wall, lush and thick white shag carpeting, gorgeous wardrobe mirror on the master bedroom, wall to wall mirror on the dining area, and many more. It was professionally decorated and matched our theme color, which is yellow.

 

To fill an empty wall in our family room, I painted these four Philippines folk dances. In the Philippines, where I was born, it is well known for its many beautiful folk dances. The costumes are very colorful. On my paintings, I took the liberty to paint them in monochromatic color. To match the bamboo wall paper, I painted these folk dances in yellow, light lemon yellow, beige, white and added some sienna. I was pleased with the results.

 

 

GOOD-BYE TO HIDDEN LAKE

When we moved to Valencia, Sta. Clarita (Ca.) we kept the same yellow as theme color. We displayed the folk dances on the wall leading up the stairs to the bedrooms. Later, my first cousin Cely (from Maryland) inherited two of the oil paintings. I changed the colors to complement her home color. I kept the other two.

 Painting#1-Salakot

Painting#2-Singkil

Painting#3-Itik-itik,

Painting#4-Pandango Sa Ilaw.

EARLY MODERN PAINTING #3

“Modern paintings are like women, you'll never enjoy them if you try to understand them.” - Freddie Mercury

 

 
TITLE:  "A PRELUDE TO HOMELAND ART"
SIZE: 2 feet x 3 feet
MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas
GIFT: To Mr. and Mrs. Gasat Belo (Seatlle, Washington)

I believe this was the next painting I did after the "Serenade." I didn't remember it because I have NO photo. During my early artists days, I didn't document my oil paintings. I didn' know that I will be very interested in creating oil paintings later in life. I realized that I should have documented my oil paintings from the beginning. I regretted that I didn't even photograph my student oil paintings. When my parents immigrated to the United States, they gave my oil paintings away. I have no idea who owned them now. Today, it will be good to see the transformation of my style, design and color.

Last August 2009, my husband I revisited the house of my eldest sister in Seattle, Washington. It was like a HAPPY reunion w/ my old oil paintings. I was surprised that my sister and hubby loved my paintings and proudly displayed them in their lovely home. How nice to see an old art works. I smiled nicely, as I looked at this old "BABY" ( my other name for my paintings). Haven't seen this particular painting in years. I discovered this old painting in one of the guest rooms. Good to see an "old baby" that I haven't seen in many years.

I remember that this was a prelude painting to my now famous "Reflections From My Homeland #1" oil painting. Happy to know that it survived the years at the beautiful home of the Belos.

EARLY MODERN PAINTING #2

"I hardly ever see my paintings around. I don't have the faintest idea where half of life's work is. Sometimes that worries me. We should have a museum specially built for retrospectives, it would be ten feet wide and a mile long, like a railway tunnel, and you could walk down some one's life chronologically." -Brett Whitley

 

 

FIRST PAINTING : "HARANA" OR "SERENADE"

SIZE: 18" x 24"

MEDIUM: Oil on Canvas

PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST

 

When I immigrated to the United States in 1969, I left all of my student oil paintings in Manila, Philippines. I took only my art portfolio, mostly advertising designs, which was my art major. I arrived with one big luggage and $60.00 cash given by a sister and an aunt from Hawaii. I had to start life all over again at 27 years old. I started painting in our studio apartment in Westwood, California, that I shared with my sister Ofel. This is my first painting called "SERENADE" or "HARANA." It is a typical Philippine tradition. When a young man likes to express his devotion to a maiden, he serenades her with love songs and music.

THANK GOD I still have this first painting with me. Signed w/ my maiden name.

 

"THANK YOU" for visiting my blog. I love getting your comment. Please click the comment down below this post. Please come back anytime.

YELLOW YEARS - "LOVE" PAINTING

 

"Love is saying your marriage vow seriously........"for better or for worst, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, for richer or poorer...... till death do us part." -Anonymous

TITLE: "LOVE"
SIZE: 4 feet x 4 feet
MEDIUM: Oil On canvas
YEAR PAINTED: 1972

I created this huge "LOVE" oil painting when my husband and I moved to our first house at the Hidden Lake in Canoga Park (San Fernando Valley, California). I custom made this "LOVE" and painted it specifically for our bedroom wall.  The concept of LOVE has been explored by many artists throughout history. Some of my own paintings and drawings are based on this theme.

These lovable kids (Rodney and Joy) were not born yet. I matched the painting with the color of our king size bedspread. The original design was painted in RED and BLUE. For our bedroom I changed the colors. Painted in YELLOW OCHRE, RUST, and MEDIUM BROWN for background. We removed the bedspread during photo session.  The "LOVE" painting was the beautiful background for the photo Rodney and Joy. Taken when Rodney was 2 yrs. old.  Joy was 1 yr. old. 

 

Have no idea what happened to this "LOVE" painting. I no longer remember what I did with it. I might have repainted the canvas with another art work. I am glad I still have a photo of this old painting. Our first home have so many memories and this painting was part of it. I wish I still have this painting and didn't part with it. Someday, I will create a smaller version of this "LOVE" painting.

 

  

                       This is our beautiful baby daughter "JOY!" What a cute SMILE!

"LOVE" ART  - My "LOVE" painting above was not my original design. I saw the original and famous LOVE painting and sculpture  at Scottsdale, Arizona. On display on a public park. In the 80's this LOVE icon became famous. There were many posters everywhere. It also became a cover for the popular book "Love Story." The poster inspired me to paint "LOVE" in the background.

 

 

This painting was also inspired by a Christmas card designed by Robert Indiana for the Museum of Modern Art, for which he made 3 small paintings of the word LOVE. These cards were printed in 1965. Have been the most popular card MoMa has ever published. Since then LOVE has become a cultural icon and has been used extensively throughout the art world and media. Truly, it's LOVE that makes the world go round. And the famous artist Vincent Van Gogh.

"LOVE many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever LOVE much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in LOVE is done well."- Vincent van Gogh

 "I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to LOVE people."-Vincent van Gogh ( Post-impressionists painter)

EARLY MODERN PAINTINGS #1

"The strangeness will wear off and I think we will discover the deeper meanings in modern art.”- Jackson Pollock (American  Abstract-expressionist Painter - (1912-1956)

"TITLE: MODERN ART IN GREEN, BLUE, YELLOW AND WHITE#1
SIZE: 48" x 36"
MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVASYEAR PAINTED: 1970
GIFT TO MR. AND MRS. GASAT BELO

Many years ago, My husband & I visited the house of my eldest sister in Seattle, Washington. She told me that her son Nathan inherited one of my old huge modern paintings. Actually I didn't remember the painting she was talking about.

 

Two months later, Nathan e-mailed a photo of the above painting now hanging in their living room. I smiled, to see an old painting of mine. It was like seeing an old friend. How could I not remember that I painted it? Anyway, I now remember that it was one of my experimental, modern oil painting during my early years as a artists here in Southern California. Truly happy to to see this painting again. I hope my nephew (Nathan) will continue to treasure it.

"REFLECTIONS FROM MY HOMELAND"- SERIES#4

"The first virtue of a painting is that is to be a FEAST for the eyes." -Eugene Delacroix

TITLE: "REFLECTIONS FROM MY HOMELAND#4"
SIZE: 3 1/2 feet by 6 feet
MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas
YEAR PAINTED: 1979
SOLD: TO LOIS AND GLENN CAMPAGNA ($100.00)

This is the largest of all my oil paintings. I painted this for my youngest sister Lois. When she and family moved to a bigger house w/ different theme and color, she gave it away. Her interior decorator said it didn’t compliment her décor. For a while, it made me felt bad but later the painting was inherited by my  only brother (Hector) and his wife (Marilyn). I was happy it remained w/ in the family circle. They loved it so much and displayed it proudly in their lovely living room in San Diego, California. This is a different version from my original homeland painting but have the same "fiesta" theme- folk dancing, harvesting, feasting and merry-making. This is the last of the series of my homeland oil paintings.

 

TITLE: "REFLECTIONS FROM MY HOMELAND #3
SIZE: 3 feet x 6 feet
MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas
YEAR PAINTED: 1975
SOLD TO: MR. AND MRS. FLOYD WILLIAMS ($100.00)

Sorry to say, that this Series #4 oil painting has no available photo. It is owned by Floyd  Williams. My cousin Raquel ordered this oil painting while they were living in Germany. I mailed the finished painting and canvas to them. I saw the oil painting when they moved back to the U.S. and lived in Lompoc, California. I regretted that  I didn't keep a record of the 3^rd series.

 

This painting really traveled a long way. Presently, I live on the West Coast and this painting is now on the East Coast. I got in touch with my cousin and inquired what happened to the oil painting. I heard it is now in a storage. Part of the divorce settlement, her ex-husband Floyd owned the painting. She promised to find a photo for me. So stay tuned. SOMEDAY!