CXXXIII. Give Art on Christmas Day 2015

We were introduced to this year’s Christmas card artist by an old friend from Bulacan who happened to be the artist’s aunt.  She was all praises for her nephew, which made me a bit sceptical because, you know, if you can’t rely on your kin to give you an endorsement, you’ve got other bigger problems.

I contacted the artist and asked him to send me some ideas for Christmas-appropriate themes.  In due course, he sent me some interesting snapshots that he had done adapted into studies, including this series on the Christ-Child in the manger:

Rather more interesting was a set of photos and studies of children making Christmas lanterns:

It was becoming apparent to me that this artist had a distinctive style – photorealistic, certainly, but irreverent as well.  Here is his take on a famous Caravaggio painting of “Christ at Emmaus”:

The artwork is painted on a salvaged hardwood tabletop, seen to scale in this shot of the artist beside it:

At the time we were discussing our Christmas artwork, he was also planning a large-scale painting on “The Women of Malolos”, inspired by the group of young ladies made famous by Jose Rizal’s letter to them in 1889.  Here is the photograph that he staged for this project:

And one study that came out of it is this one:

He said that he had not yet begun this artwork as he had not yet found a taker for it, possibly because its large size (eight feet wide by four feet tall, or even larger if desired) will require a special place.  So if you happen to have a large blank wall in your home, and are game for something that will definitely be noticed by visitors and talked about, why not go for this?

Our artist’s most famous artwork to-date (possibly now challenged by our Christmas card) is this prize-winning masterpiece from two years ago, “Natalo Ako”, about which more later.

Returning to our Christmas artwork, we eventually converged on the subject of children making Christmas lanterns.  Here it is in production in the artist’s home workshop:

The finished artwork is our largest Christmas piece ever, measuring four feet wide by three feet tall:

Kiko Marquez

“THREE KINGS”

Oil on canvas

36” x 48” / 91 cm x 122 cm

2015

Born in 1993, Jay Roque Aguinaldo Marquez is a native of Hagonoy, Bulacan, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the Bulacan State University in Malolos City.  Despite his relative youth, Kiko is already a prolific painter, illustrator, photographer, and layout artist.  He has participated in several group exhibitions including those at ManilART (SMX MOA, 2012), at the Art Center (SM MegaMall, 2013), and at the Philippine International Art Fair (SM Aura, 2014).

Kiko Marquez’s artworks might be described as “photorealism with passion,” most famously exemplified by his grand prize-winning work, “Natalo Ako,” for the Shell National Student Art Competition in 2013: what first appeared to be a blown-up photograph of a freshly-harvested human heart but upon closer examination is revealed to be a hyperrealistic image resulting from numerous brush strokes and several layers of oil paint.  In many of Kiko’s works, photorealism is also combined with what might be thought of as “controlled whimsy,” as in the carefully-positioned doodles in this Christmas-themed artwork, “Three Kings.” 

Contact Kiko Marquez and view his other artworks via his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/jhaypixelated

And so, from Kiko via me and my family,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon!


Originally published on 3 January 2016.  All text and photos (except where attributed otherwise) copyright ©2016 Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

CXXXII: Give Art on Christmas Day 2014

This year, we had started really early in commissioning our Christmas card artwork.  Soon after the New Year, we had already zeroed in on the artwork.  In truth, we had contacted him the year before, but previous commissions had made it difficult for him to accept one for us in time for Christmas 2013.  Thus, an early start in time for Christmas 2014 was essential.

I had first seen one of his artworks online some years back, appropriately enough, also a Christmas subject.

I thought, what a beautiful work, if rather melancholy, which in fact appealed to me.  And very Filipino too.  Later, I located other artworks of his online, on diverse subjects such as a typical market scene,

an oil lamp,

laundry women,

Christmas lantern makers,

the head of Christ,

even a portrait of “Sister Vicky.”

Clearly, the artist had sharpened his technique over time to achieve a near-perfect photorealistic style.  I therefore made a mental note to look up the artist one day.  And so, in early 2013, I did.

By mid-2013, when it was clear that any commissioned artwork from him would not make it in time, we agreed to at least think about possible subjects for the following year.  By October 2013, he had sent me some very interesting sketches.  And soon after that, we had come to a consensus as to our 2014 Christmas artwork.

In catechism back in primary school, we were taught that gifts are given on Christmas day to emulate the fabled Three Kings – or the Three Wise Men – actually Magi (literally, “Wise Men”) of indeterminate number, who happened to be bringing along three gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh, respectively symbolizing the three aspects of the gift-recipient Christ-Child: His Kingship (gold for kings), His Deity-ship (frankincense for worship in the temple), and His humanity (myrrh for embalming the dead).

While we don’t give each other gold, frankincense, and myrrh for Christmas (although you may still send me you gifts of gold – always welcome, no matter how late!), we still do expend plenty of time, energy, and money on finding the right present for each of the people on our list.  And Christmas mornings are particularly awaited, especially by children, expecting gifts from their godparents, parents, Santa Claus, or each other.

With this agreed theme in mind, our methodical artist gathered some of the neighbourhood children, staged them out-of-season, and photographed them thus:

This then became the basis of the actual oil-on-canvas artwork, seen here in progress in March 2014, just missing a few more important details, such as what should hang in the wide-open window:

By April 1^st, the artist could happily pose with the finished artwork.

And a few days later, it was enroute to us,

ready for professional photographing and eventual preparation for printing as Christmas cards.

There was a bit of a challenge at the printers’ as to how to adjust the artwork’s original colors, as initial print runs would come out too pale, too dark, or otherwise unappealing.  In the end, slightly more magenta seemed to work.  And so here is how the final printed card came out, more or less:

Walter Vestil

“EXCHANGING GIFTS”

Oil on canvas

24” x 32”

2014

*   *   *   *   *

And now, more about our heretofore unnamed artist:

Born in 1988, Walter Vestil is a native of Carcar City, Cebu.  He began his artistic apprenticeship at the age of twelve with master artists Stanley Cui Señires and Facundo Galicano Tallo.  From 2003, he participated in several group exhibits in various venues in Cebu, and was a regular finalist of the annual Martino Abellana Painting Competition beginning that same year, winning the Grand Prize in 2008. 

Walter’s appealing photorealistic style has gained him numerous commissions, including several portraits, from regular art patrons, mainly in Cebu.  “Exchanging Gifts” is only his second commission from outside Cebu.   Email: vanrijn_386@yahoo.com

*   *   *   *   *

And so, on this day the Feast of the Epiphany, (i.e., the Feast of the gifts-bearing Magi, on which day gifts were actually exchanged in times past, only to be supplanted later on by Christmas Day itself due to overly-eager gift-exchangers), my family and I would like to greet you and yours a

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Maligayang Paskó at Manigong Bagong Taón!

And all our prayers and best wishes for an excellent 2015 and beyond.


Originally published on 4 January 2015.  All text and photos (except where attributed otherwise) copyright ©2015 Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

CXXXI. Give Art on Christmas Day 2013

On this, the eleventh consecutive year of our family’s annual Christmas artwork commissioning, we didn’t have to look far for a suitable artist. 

Actually, that is only partly true, as we had at the outset made inquiries of a fair number of young artists in Manila, Bulacan, and even beyond as early as the start of the year, but they were all otherwise engaged in other projects, commissions, and upcoming one-man (or -woman) shows.  By September, or way beyond our usual internal mid-year deadline, we still had no Christmas artwork forthcoming.

And then, I realized that the answer was right under our noses, as it were.  For the eventual artist was someone whom I had known personally for many years, as his father was our chief electrician for our processional carrozas in Malolos each Holy Week, and he himself had been helping his father out in this yearly undertaking since he was a schoolboy.   The following biographical note provides a fuller backgrounder:

Born in 1991, Mark Christian P. Magno is a native of Paombong, Bulacan.  Christian is a self-taught artist who has been winning school and inter-school art competitions since childhood. 

Apart from the visual arts, his other passion is the culinary arts – he is a trained cook and worked as one after graduation from high school.  Consistent with this, Christian is currently a BS in Hotel and Restaurant Management freshman at the La Consolacion University Philippines in Malolos, Bulacan.  While balancing his artistic and culinary interests with his academic workload, he manages to be an all-around athlete and is also on the university’s varsity basketball team.  On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ychan.eunra

What the biographical note does not get into is that originally, his father had thought, or suggested, that the son might pursue a Fine Arts degree in college, as he knew that he was at least skilled in art production and could certainly develop such talents further with proper advanced studies.  The father had told me about this earlier in the year, which I fortunately recalled after all the other erstwhile artist candidates had proven unavailable or unsuitable.

A quick conversation with Christian one Saturday to broach the subject proved most fruitful, with him quite enthused about the opportunity.  As a start, I asked him to sketch his proposed study for the prospective Christmas artwork, and here is what he showed me a week later:

Obviously, Christian had a million Christmas-related ideas, and tried to accommodate all of them into this one sketch!  After a brief “master class” courtesy of our 2010 Christmas card artist, Chester Ocampo, Christian was inspired to reconsider and more tightly focus his response to our request for a simple representation of a quintessential Filipino Christmas.  The result was this depiction of a small family saying grace before sharing the traditional Christmas midnight feast. 

  

The artist’s pride in his new creation, even only in pencil sketch form, was evident.

Actually completing the artwork took several more weeks, as Christian himself admitted that he had never used acrylic, much less oil, and had never painted on canvas – his prolific output since early youth was exclusively with poster paint and other school art materials, and usually only on illustration board or some other paper surface. 

But persist he did, and the resulting finished artwork, in all its glorious color, was completed by November 10^th, and sent off to the printer the following day.  As in years past, this digital image does not do full justice to the exuberance of the actual artwork, but it will do.

Christian Magno

NOCHE BUENA

Acrylic on canvas, 18” x 24”

2013

Therefore from Christian the artist and from my family and me, here’s to a

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Maligayang Paskó at Manigong Bagong Taón!

And all our prayers and best wishes for an excellent 2014 and beyond.

Originally published on 31 December 2013. All text and photos except where attributed otherwise) copyright ©2013 by Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

CXXVII. Give Art on Christmas Day 2011

I first came across this year's family Christmas card artist online over five years ago, via his Flickr photo album site: http://.flickr.com/photos/ingnacio 1556/.  I recall that back then, he featured what appeared to be stained-glass windows.

In fact, they were his own stained glass window designs, actually executed by the famed Manila stained-glass window makers Kraut (http://www.krautartglass.com/mainframe.htm) for Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro City where he had been educated.

as well as for the other Jesuit university in Mindanao, Ateneo de Davao.

Over time, he uploaded many other examples of his artworks, some more secular-themed than others, but all hinting at Filipino-style religiosity in some way.

I thought that this artist’s style would be quite appropriate for a Christmas card, so I made a mental note to keep him in the running for the future.  In the intervening years, we went for several talented artists for our Christmas cards – mostly from our home province of Bulacan, and mostly young – our two preferred criteria.  But this year, I thought that it was time for us to dispense with the “Bulacan” criterion and go ahead and commission something from this young artist.

Early in 2011, I sent Ryan Carreon an email inquiring about the possibility of commissioning a Christmas artwork.  By May, he had offered several concepts around our prescribed theme of “a Filipino Christmas,” and sent us several studies, including

1. A Filipiniana-themed Belen

2. A Children's Christmas Pageant

3. A Filipino Family at Christmas

and 4. A Holy Family with Carolers

After some discussion within the family, we went for the last of the four.  Soon after, Ryan got back to us with snapshots of the actual artwork in the process of creation.

And in mid-September, we received the artwork, very conveniently shipped to us via a door-to-door courier service. I then arranged to have it photographed, and had our printer work on the layout.

In the meantime, I asked Ryan to send us his biographical note, which after a few rounds of pruning and wordsmithing, came out like this:

- - - - - - - -

Ryan Aristotle Aragon Carreon was born in Manila. From a very young age, he had demonstrated artistic skills, joining and winning numerous Philippine and international art competitions.

In his early teens, Ryan relocated with his family to Cagayan de Oro City and began his education at Xavier University there, where his art was further encouraged and supported by the Jesuits. While still an undergraduate, he received a major commission to design the stained glass windows for the university's chapel, which he executed in a lively, colorful, and distinctly Filipino style that has since become his hallmark.

After completing his bachelor's degree in Development Communication, Ryan went on to participate in and win various art competitions.  He continues to receive numerous commissions for new artworks, not only for stained glass window installations but also for religious art in general, as well as for secular-themed subjects.

- - - - - - - - -

What got edited out from this was the fact that his family was actually from San Miguel, Bulacan and he had lived there for some years before moving to Cagayan de Oro.  So there's the Bulacan connection for us.

On the other hand, Ryan refuses to disclose the year of his birth, so we have no way of knowing if he still qualifies as young. Ha ha ha.

And this artist photo that he provided does not inspire confidence, but perhaps dread?  Ha ha ha ha.

In the end, we settled for another, tamer, photo of his, which he conveniently provided.

The actual cards were diligently worked on by the printer, who slaved over the color separation, and even borrowed the actual artwork to try to approximate the original hues and shades – not exactly easy with Ryan’s style.  As in previous years, the printed cards could only hint at the richness and warmth of the artist’s original work.

Ryan Carreon

PANGANGAROLING SA BANÁL NA MAG-ANAK

(A Carol for the Holy Family)

Acrylic on Canvas, 18” x 24”

2011

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Maligayang Paskó at Manigong Bagong Taón!

From the Veron-Dulay-Cloma Family of the Philippines

Originally published on 30 December 2011.  All text and photos (except where attributed otherwise) copyright ©2011 Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

Original comments:

arcastro57 wrote on Jan 3 One of these days, I'm going to get one of Ryan's paintings. So exquisite and so detailed.

rally65 wrote on Jan 3 arcastro57 said One of these days, I'm going to get one of Ryan's paintings. So exquisite and so detailed. You should go ahead and commission an artwork from him. Get him to do an entire stained-glass window!

arcastro57 wrote on Jan 3 Yes, I lost in touch after flickr. Now I found him on facebook! I was interested in a Nino painting that was sold na pala.

inigodeloyola wrote on Mar 24 just saw this one today. thanks lols as much as I am proud that I'm part Bulakenyo, might be interested to discover more about my Kapampangan roots . slight correction: we never actually lived in Bulacan and Sir Alex what Sto. Nino painting are you referring to? coz if this is the artwork then it's still available http://www.flickr.com/photos/ignacio1556/6839165179/in/photostream-  God Bless

rally65 wrote on Mar 25 inigodeloyola said just saw this one today. thanks lols as much as I am proud that I'm part Bulakenyo, might be interested to discover more about my Kapampangan roots . slight correction: we never actually lived in Bulacan and Sir Alex what Sto. Nino painting are you referring to? coz if this is the artwork then it's still available http://www.flickr.com/photos/ignacio1556/6839165179/in/photostream-- God Bless Thanks for standing up to be recognized, Ryan! Corrections noted. Small factual errors -- will revise when the book comes out! Ha ha ha.