Sunday, December 31, 2017

CXXXV: Give Art on Christmas Day 2017

This year, the 15th year of what is now a tradition of commissioning an original artwork for our family’s Christmas card, was perhaps smoother than usual, facilitated by a personal recommendation by the artist of our 2009 Christmas card

Marc Salamat recommended that we seriously consider his previous workshop apprentice, artist-colleague, and Hagonoy, Bulacan townmate, Jojo dela Cruz, for our 2017 Christmas artwork.  This naturally led to a first meeting and discussion, at which time he showed me photographs of works that he had done in the past.

Jojo’s portfolio was impressive in its versatility.  Apart from oil-on-canvas works such as this still life,



or this pensive open window,



he has also made bas-reliefs in a variety of materials and finishes.






And if this was not yet sufficiently varied, Jojo also does three-dimensional resin sculpture to commission, with both secular and religious subjects.




That first meeting was so straightforward that we quickly came to an agreement, even without the need for numerous options or studies.  We simply confirmed our common understanding of what the broad theme needed to be – a Filipino Christmas – and what the specific subject could be – “namamasko.”

By mid-September, or in just a few weeks after that single meeting, Jojo had emailed me a photograph of the artwork in progress in his home workshop.



And by the third week of October, he delivered the finished artwork to my house – only the second time that we had met face-to-face.  Here is how it appeared on the cover of our Christmas card this year.



Jojo dela Cruz
“NAMAMASKO PO”
Oil on canvas
24” x 36” (61 cm x 91 cm)
2017


Born in Binangonan, Rizal in 1980, Jojo dela Cruz was orphaned at a young age and went off to live with relatives in Hagonoy, Bulacan.  He still lives there today, now with his wife and two children.

His interest in art was nurtured as early as secondary school, when his coach Mrs. Yolanda Narciso encouraged him to represent the school in art competitions, winning several awards and plaques of recognition in the process.

In 2005, he won a scholarship from the artist-author-professor Mr. Jun Cruz Reyes, also a Hagonoy native, to enter the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts as a Sculpture major.  He left after two years to become a full-time artist.

Today, Jojo is a highly versatile artist in many media – he sculpts in wood, fiber glass, and clay, and paints on canvas, concrete, and wood.  He even undertakes landscape projects and designs waterfalls for them.  He is also a tattoo artist.

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People lucky (hahaha) enough to be on our gift list will know that over the past few years, we have extended the “give art on Christmas day” effort beyond just our family’s Christmas cards to include even the materials we wrap our gifts in.  This year, our usual Christmas gift package (unfortunately too heavy and fragile to ship via courier to more distant addressees on the list) was encased in a specially-crafted “baul” (chest) mimicking those antique bone-inlaid narra bauls common in Bulacan and elsewhere in centuries past. 



As in previous years, this year’s custom-made packaging was crafted for us by our friendly Bulacan neighborhood artist and heritage worker, Rheeza Hernandez. 

The 2017 Christmas baul held our three book selections for this year:



The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, by Primitivo Mijares, revised and annotated 2016 edition.



Amazing Facts and Figures Every Filipino Must Know, by Luisitio Batongbakal Jr.Alex Castro, and Marcus Vaflor.  Summit Books, 2016.



Heneral Luna: The History Behind the Movie, by Dr. Vivencio R. Jose.  Anvil Publishing, 2015.

These should keep our recipients occupied with reading over the first few weeks of 2018 at least!

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From my family and me to you and yours,

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MALIGAYANG PASKO AT MANIGONG BAGONG TAON!

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Originally published on 31 December 2017. All text and photos (except where attributed otherwise) copyright ©2017 Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.