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.

 

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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!

"REFLECTIONS FROM MY HOMELAND"- SERIES #2

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

 

"REFLECTIONS FROM MY HOMELAND- SERIES#2"

SIZE: 6 feet x 3 feet (oil on canvas).

MEDIUM: Oil On Canvas

YEAR PAINTED: 1973

SOLD: To Mr. & Mrs. Oscar Kragen ($100.00)

 

This is the second painting that I created from my original "REFLECTIONS FROM MY HOMELAND - Series#1". I painted it at our first house in Hidden Lake. We didn't have children yet at that time. We lived in a four bedroom house. One of the rooms became my art studio plus craft and florist room. I also worked for TV Fanfare full time. W/ my day job, I could only paint at night and during week-ends. I finished painting the Series#1 in a month. Series #2 took me 2 months. I painted this huge painting for Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Kragen from North Hollywood, California. They were Jews but liked Philippine setting. They were the parents of Bruce, my husband's best friend. I sold it to them for only $100.00. It was the first oil painting I sold in the United States. Back then, it was a good amount of money for an unknown artist. I felt rich.
 

When Bruce parents passed away, he inherited this painting . It is now in their house in Santa Monica, California. I was fortunate to be reconnected to this painting. During my solo art show last September 2008, I borrowed this painting and exhibited it w/ the original "Reflections Of My Homeland"-Series#1, together w/ other 13 brand new oil paintings.  I felt sad that this oil painting deteriorated over time. Some of the oil paints cracked because it was not probably stored properly. So I did some restoration and retouching on the Series#2,  before showing it to the public again.

 

REFLECTIONS FROM MY HOMELAND -SERIES #1

"There's No Place Like Home"

 "A House is made of brick and stone. A home is made of love alone."

"A house is built by human hands. But a home is built by human heart."

Over the years, we had moved to nine different houses but this oil painting remained w/ us. It beautifully graced our home wherever we moved and lived.

 

FIRST HOUSE: We moved to our first brand new house in Hidden Lake, Canoga Park (San Fernando Valley) CA. We moved this huge oil painting for the first time. This was the first painting we hanged in our new house.

SECOND HOME: At 8394 SEDAN AVENUE, CANOGA PARK (SFV), CALIFORNIA 

After living for 3 years in our first house,  we moved to this model home next door. This oil painting became the centerpiece of our family room. What attracted us to this house was the high cathedral celing and the man-made lake in our backyard. It's beauty and serenity was perfect setting for an artist.  

 

THIRD HOUSE: In 1985, our family relocated to Valencia, a master-planned community of Sta. Clarita Valley, California. We lived in Lochmoor Road in the Meadows area. The company I was working for was devastated by fire. So TV Fanfare relocated to the Valencia Industrial Center. My husband and I decided it was best to move closer to our jobs.

We displayed this favorite oil painting in our family room. I duplicated the feel and style of the house we left behind. I remained faithful to our yellow color theme w/ subdued tones. I picked a wall  paper design that's close to the one in our former family room in Hidden Lake.

 

FOURTH HOUSE: Again in 1989, we moved to a brand new house at "The Oaks." The house was a Tiburon model. It got 3,000 square feet. It was bigger than the other house we lived in Lochmoor  Rd. before. We hanged this favorite oil painting in our family room. This photo was taken during our housewarming.

 

FIFTH HOUSE: Later we decided to move to Newhall (Sta. Clarita) in 1992. We lived on a street called "Oakrun." This painting stayed in our family room. No photo available.

 

SIXTH HOUSE: In 1992 we moved to Castaic (Sta. Clarita). We lived in Cloverleaf St. We liked this house because it was surrounded by mountains and the views were gorgeous. This favorite painting was displayed in our family room again. In this house, I had an art studio built inside our three car garage. I started to do oil paintings again. I did many art works while we lived here. No photo available.

SEVENTH HOUSE: We moved back to Valencia at the Northbridge area. We found a cozy Cottage Hill architecture type of house. It got a loft upstairs which was perfect for an art studio. The daily sunset view from the kitchen was a constant inspiration for me to paint. We bought this house w/ no reservation despite of it's small size.

 We displayed this colorful oil painting on our dining area for the first time. I did many masterpieces in this inspiring house.

 

EIGHTH HOUSE: My husband had an early forced retirement last 2010. So we decided to relocate in San Diego.  Our small condo was located at  Rancho Mission Road overlooking a beautiful river view. Inspiring to paint. This oil painting was on display at our dining room wall.

NINTH HOUSE: Last year, 2012, we decided to move back to Valencia (Sta. Clarita). Our new condo is at the Bridgeport area. This oil painting in presently on display on our living room. This "Reflections From My Homeland" (Series#1) had always been a part of our lives through thick and thin. Amazingly, it survived beautifully after so many moves. Truly this art work will last forever after I am gone.

"Long after our monuments of brick and stone, vitriol, plastic and concrete have vanished, our words, our art, our legends and our myths will remain as a legacy." ( Harry J. Boyle)

A COLORFUL LIFE & PAINTINGS

"Paintings  have a life of their own that derives from the painter's soul."- Vincent Van Gogh 

 

"REFLECTIONS FROM MY HOMELAND" - SERIES#1

  

SIZE: 3 Feet x 6 Feet
MEDIUM: Oil on Canvas
YEAR PAINTED: 1971

The years hurried on. June 2013 is finally here.  This colorful painting is now 42 years old. Still a raving beauty because it was well taken cared off. I painted it after I got married in 1971. Like this painting,  my husband and I have an enduring and  beautiful marriage for 42 years. 

As newly married, we first lived in a cozy apartment at the intersection of  La  Fayette St. and Beverly Blvd. ( Los Angeles). My art studio was our small multi-purpose dining area. This was the first huge oil painting I painted in this small space. Back then I also work as paste-up artist for Trade Service Publication. The office was just across our apartment. Very close and convenient to walk to work.

When I immigrated to the United States, I was quite homesick so most of my paintings were reflections of  my former homeland  ( the Philippines). I will never forget my homeland. I am proud of my heritage and enriched by embracing two cultures. I came to the United States w/ only a luggage and a hand carry. I managed to bring some samples of my small art works for my portfolio. I needed to show some samples when I applied for advertising job. But I left all my heavy student oil paintings in the Philippines.

It didn't take long for me to start painting again in my adopted country. I did small oil paintings prior to this huge painting in our studio apartment in Westwood Village which I shared w/ my sister Ofel. 

Out of this original "Homeland" painting came a series of paintings. I had painted variations of this painting five times for family and friends. Many wanted me to do the same painting but I simply refused and said..."No more!"  I thought that doing this kind of painting five times was more than enough.

The vibrant colors of this oil painting was inspired by the many brilliant colors of my favorite artist (Vincent Van Gogh). The style was also influenced by Vicente Manansala, one of the contemporary Filipino artists that I admired while at the U.P School of Fine Arts.

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