It was at Cafe Breton in Greenbelt 3 (above) where the cover art for the book Long Ago and Far Away was selected. Tahanan Books publisher Reni Roxas invited me and her assistant there to discuss, over plates of delectable crepes, which illustration it would be. She asked us first our choices. Her assistant (whose name escapes me now, but who could be Ginny Mata) chose, if I remember correctly, Rumpelstiltskin, while I chose Snow White and Rose Red. Reni jokingly scoffed at our choices, and said that the cover art should obviously be The Goose Girl (below), because this according to her is the most beautiful of the lot.
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| The Goose Girl, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Reni Roxas collection |
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| Snow White and Rose Red, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Marixi-Rufino-Prieto collection |
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| Rumppelstiltskin, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Frances Ong collection. |
She's right, because the book (below) does indeed look splendid with the Goose Girl as cover art. Reni not only selected the Goose Girl as cover art for the book, she also added it to her growing collection of my works. She is one of my staunchest collectors. Let me list here the artworks she bought from me: Chun, China Harbor Scene, The Farmer and his Wife, The Wild Swans, The Goose Girl, Rapunzel, Dawn Duel, and The Imperialist Manifesto. Only her friends, Dr.Manolet Delfin and his wife Mari Tan, have a bigger collection of my works.
Incidentally, Rishma Cuerdo, my model for The Goose Girl and Snow White and Rose Red, was also my model for Waling-waling (below), which is one of the illustrations I did for Jun Matias' story Alamat ng Agila.
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