A curious painting by Monnar Baldemor

A curious painting by Monnar Baldemor

A very interesting painting we had acquired together with the work by Manuel Baldemor is one by his son Monnar. We chose this one among several presented to us by a suki art dealer. The first thing that caught my attention was the central figures of a couple of ladies who appeared to be dancing or prancing about. It helped, too, that the colors were vibrant, happy. The photo below of the painting does not give justice to this work.

The piece reminded me of the works by Salvador Dali and even that of Pablo Picasso. I am not aware of whether the younger Baldemor was influenced by these greats but it is likely given their body of work.Recently, I saw a huge painting by Monnar at the Art Circle Gallery at UP Diliman featuring another lady but this time with lots of shoes and watermelons in the background. These elements interested me as these were favorites of our daughter.

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Watercolors by a Cebuano artist

Watercolors by a Cebuano artist

There are two framed watercolor paintings at home. I also acquired them while on a trip in Cebu almost a decade ago. I forget the name of the artist but he was young and was introduced to me by Boy Kiamko who took the former under his wing. At the time, it seemed that the young artist, who was a college student then, was unsure about pursuing painting and needed some encouragement. The paintings depict close-ups of rocks and other items as seen through the clear waters of a river (stream?) in rural Cebu. These were of the more realism-style paintings that impressed. I thought then that the artist should pursue art as he obviously had the talent, and bought the two paintings to encourage him. I was traveling light at the time so there it wasn't a problem to lug the two framed paintings on the plane back to Manila.

The artist signed his name on each painting but I could no longer trace him or his subsequent works (if he did pursue painting) as I am limited by what he wrote on each painting: llauron. I've never asked his mentor about him so maybe one of these days I will. This wasn't in my agenda the last time I was in Cebu because I was vacationing with family in Mactan.

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Mother and child by Boy Kiamko

Mother and child by Boy Kiamko

A painting in our daughter's bedroom is an abstract image of the classic mother and child. It is a work by well-known Cebuano artist Boy Kiamko. I got it the first time I met him, introduced by a common friend who also got some of his works.

Our daughter likes this painting as she understood what it represented and our explanation of its meaning to us. We have several mother and child pieces at our home including figures we got from trips abroad. I have another painting by Kiamko at my office. The subject of that painting is the jeepney.

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Vietnamese painting

Vietnamese painting

The Clairvoyant's second trip to Vietnam more than a decade ago yielded a few artworks including small ones that are now spread around our home. The small ones are mostly prints that we framed and hung in pairs. One oil painting stands out among that haul and which I feature in this post.

The photo above does not do any justice on the painting. It is really much more impressive and I always like to look at it from a certain angle and lighting when it seems to come alive. The brush strokes are also impressive for me who is not an expert on art. It currently hangs in our bedroom where it fits perfectly against our accent wall. I forget who the artist is but there's a certificate of authenticity with us somewhere in our archives at home. Also, we recently found that there is another work of the same artist that we have not yet framed. I will feature that as soon as its framed for better appreciation.

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Lady with a flute Jay-R Delleva

Lady with a flute Jay-R Delleva

Another favorite of our daughter is this painting by Jay-R Delleva. The painting depicts a woman playing a flower flute while hummingbirds fly around her. Our daughter sees her as some kind of fairy and so we keep it at that. The painting's quite large and for a time sat on the console table in our guest room until we cleared it for my in-laws who were staying over a holiday weekend. The painting is now prominently displayed at the landing of our staircase.

Check out the artist's other works at DeviantArt. Many appear to be whimsical, some playful, and others on the weird side. But all, I think, are quite the fantasy.

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Girl with bubbles and gumamela by Jomike Tejido

Girl with bubbles and gumamela by Jomike Tejido

I start July with another post on a painting we have at home. There's a large painting at home that's quite unique. We got this painting through a fundraiser a friend of the Clairvoyant was running. It got her attention as the painting reminded her of our daughter's fascination with bubbles.

Unlike other painting we have of oil on canvass or water color on paper, this one is acrylic on treated banig (a native woven mat usually made of coconut tree leaves). A few months ago, I noticed some damage on the banig as insects were able to bore through it. The holes were not noticeable but upon closer inspection and some magnification (in my case using a smartphone) you can see multiple holes in a classic case of bukbok. We contacted the artist, Jomike Tejido, who is an architect by profession, to ask him about how we can address this issue. He examined the painting and generously took it to repair the mat and retouch his work. He mentioned that he had not previously encountered this issue so he was also curious about what happened and how it can be addressed. One thing that changed in the painting when it was returned to us was that there is now a smile on the girl in the painting. The artist asked the Clairvoyant about this so it could be a happy image and we agreed on his suggestion.

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A living room centerpiece by Manuel Baldemor

A living room centerpiece by Manuel Baldemor

A major piece in our collection at home is one by popular artist Manuel Baldemor. We had wanted to own one of his classic pieces before but couldn't afford to buy even one of the smaller paintings we had seen at galleries featuring his work. He is perhaps one of the most in-demand artists despite the price tags on his painting. The loud whispers state that he seems to be an artist who's highly likely to become national artist one day. He certainly is prolific but the value of his painting continues to rise.

The photo doesn't give justice to how beautiful this painting is. It is our largest painting at home measuring about 3 x 2 feet without the frame. We believe it is a very good investment and it currently is a main feature of our living room. It is not as dominating though as our bookshelves across from it, which also has our collections of books and souvenirs from our trips here and abroad.

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A family of three by Norma Belleza

A family of three by Norma Belleza

Another work of art is one that graces our living room and definitely one of our favorites in our small collection. This oil painting by Norma Belleza depicts a family of three among fruits and fishes. It is a typical scene in many of the artist's paintings. We got this one within about a year after we had moved to our new home away from the flood-prone area we used to reside at. We like to think that the painting also expressed one of our most fervent wishes. That is, we had wanted to have our own child for a long time. Little did we know that at the time we got the painting that our daughter was soon on her way. :)

Our daughter loves looking at this painting. And she always points to the child being her with her Mommy and Daddy. She also likes to identify the different fruits in the painting. I like the painting for its bright (happy colors) and the Filipino features on the persons in the painting. It currently is grouped with the Antonio Ko and Amador Barquilla paintings I wrote about in previous posts here.

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Jeepney by Amador Barquilla

Jeepney by Amador Barquilla

It seemed appropriate for me to acquire a painting with the jeepney as subject. The jeepney is an iconic vehicle in the Philippines and a transport mode that has often been called the "King of the Road." I fancied one by Amador Barquilla in another auction for charity more than 2 years ago (we got the Antonio Ko earlier this year). The scene is distinctive of the jeepney, which is depicted here as filled with passengers. People are on the roof or hanging at the back (sabit), which are common sights especially in the rural areas. I like this painting, too, because the colors are so vivid and I am amused by the way people are illustrated, each apparently doing one thing.

This is the second painting with the jeepney as subject that we have acquired. The first one is an oil painting by a popular Cebuano artist. I will write about that in a future post.
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Art work by Antonio Ko, Jr.

Art work by Antonio Ko, Jr.

I remember the Clairvoyant first showed me a painting by the late artist Antonio Ko, Jr. when we were newlyweds. He had this series of bouquets of different colors that we liked so much we said we'd like to have one in the future. That future was not an immediate one as we couldn't afford to buy one despite what seemed to be reasonable prices for a piece. It took us about 14 years to finally own one.  We acquired it through a fundraising auction where my bid finally prevailed after a suspenseful process. The online stage ended with bids too close to call so that the painting went to the live auction stage. We couldn't attend the live auction but fortunately a good friend was there to place our bids. And here is our prize:

The oil painting is framed on antique wood that complements it perfectly. The photo doesn't do the artist's work justice as it is a complicated piece with so much texture that is a testament to the excellent brush strokes applied by the artist. It now hangs prominently in our living area at our home. It is beside another oil painting by Norma Belleza that we acquired earlier. I will write about other works we have acquired over the last few years including one from an artist who's paintings we admired and we had only dreamed of owning before.

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