NO PLACE LIKE TAHANAN

By Arnel Mirasol

(Tahanan Books' newest publication, "The House Tahanan Built", is a compilation of memoirs and conversations about the creative process written by the authors, artists, staff, and friends of Tahanan Books. This essay is my contribution to the book.)

Serendipity played a part in how I got to work as illustrator for Tahanan Books. The year was 1996, and I was working then as textbook illustrator for Bookmark, whose editorial office was at Sampaloc Street, San Antonio Village, Makati. The Bookmark office was on the second floor of what I supposed was a former family home. I happened to mention to Bookmark editor-in-chief Eddie Yabut that I also want to work for Tahanan Books, a house that specializes in publishing full-color picture books - since I had by then compiled a portfolio of full-color children's book illustrations.  Tahanan Books, and its owners Reni Roxas (photo below) and Marc Singer, were featured in an article in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine years before. After reading that article, I began hoping to one day illustrate a full-color picture book for them, too.

Tahanan Books publisher Reni Roxas

It was mentioned in the article that the office of Tahahan Books was in Pasong Tamo, which is just nearby. I asked Eddie Yabut if he knew the exact location of Tahanan Book's office. Eddie smiled, and said that Tahanan Books had relocated - downstairs. That is serendipity, isn't it - Tahanan Books being there at the exact moment that I was actively searching for it. I gathered later on that this house was really the former family home of Reni Roxas's aunt.

The first artwork I did for Tahanan was my illustration for Marivi Soliven-Blanco's story "Chun" (above) - which is included in an anthology (Golden Loom) of Palanca Prize winners in the children's literature category. The creation of that illustration was a landmark event in my life because it gave me the opportunity to taste for the first time what it's like to sign books during a book launch, and feel like a celebrity for an hour or two.That Chun illustration was acquired right away by Reni, the first in her series of art purchases from me.

I was next given the job of illustrating the complete set of illustrations for Reni Roxas' and Marc Singer's collaborative book, "First Around the Globe: The Story of Enrique". It was a lucrative project (by Philippine standards at least), for they offered to pay me 35 thousand pesos for a work which took me only about a month to finish.That was a lot of money at that time, because the usual going rate then for a set of 15 illustrations was way way below that. But it was hard work because I had a strict deadline to follow. I need to finish at least one illustration a day, so I stretched my usual 10 hours of work to fifteen hours, more or less.

I next did for Tahanan the illustrations for Didith Tan-Rodrigo's story "Tamales Day". Now, the process of creating art for this book was a very delectable experience, I must say, because I was invited by Didith to their home to observe and take pictures of them while making tamales. Their tamales is not like the Mexican tamales - far from it - nor is it your ordinary Kapampangan tamales. Their recipe is their own high-end version, which I once described in a facebook write-up as gourmet tamales. Why gourmet, you'd asked. Well, that's because their recipe includes as ingredients - aside from the usual strips of chicken, peanuts, and salted eggs - ham, chestnuts, and shrimps. Didith told me that someone suggested once that they make a business of their recipe and offer franchises. They considered that suggestion but didn't act on it.. They somehow felt that the business won't be feasible because pricing their product would be tricky - precisely because of the high cost of the ingredients. That's why I felt very lucky then, and special, because I get to taste the tamales that had been denied many others.

"The Brothers Wu and the Good-Luck Eel' came next. This was a singular book because its story won for author Fran Ng the first prize in the 1998 Palanca Memorial Awards for Children's Literature. I felt long before it won in the Palanca that the story was special. I felt compelled therefore to come up with illustrations that would match the story's excellence. Which I did, because the supposed excellence of my illustrations for this book landed me in the Honour List of the 2002 IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People). I prepared long and hard before starting doing the illustrations. Because the story is a true-to-life one that happened during the late 1800s, I did a lot of research on costumes and end-of-the century sceneries both at the National Library and at the Filipinas Heritage Library. I also used real people as models for the characters in the story. Fran Ng provided me with a photo of her grandmother which I used as reference for the grandmother-narrator character. (Incidentally, the model for the mature lady in my illustration for "The Nightingale" was also Fran's grandmother.) The brothers Wu's facial features I copied from those of my sons Bahgee and Kai. I also used photos of my wife Carina and compadre Bert Falsis as references for two other characters.

I completed the fifteen illustrations for the Brothers Wu in five months, which was rather fast compared to the time it took me to complete my next job - the eleven illustrations for the book "Once Upon a Time". This book was a retelling by Fran Ng of ten fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. It took me about a year to finish this book. But that was for a good reason, because my goal when I began this project was to come up with illustrations that will compare favorably with those done by the world's best - both past and present - like Edmund Dulac and Gennady Spirin, for example. A goal I may have achieved, because Reni remarked upon seeing the first illustration I submitted, that we were on our way of producing a world-class book if the illustrations I'll submit next are of the same quality as the first one. That first illustration was for the story "The Farmer and his Wife" (below). Reni liked this illustration so much that she gave me a can of imported chocolates (power chocolates she called them) to give me the energy to continue turning in excellent works. Reni purchased this illustration later on.

The Farmer and his Wife, 1999, acrylic on paper, Reni Roxas collection

"Once Upon a Time" was another watershed for me. When I realized that I had a suite of artworks that was art exhibit material I hastened to shop for a gallery where I can exhibit them. Which wasn't easy. Four galleries rejected me. Only one, the Crucible Gallery, booked me for an exhibit. Although what I had was a soft-opening (meaning no guest-of-honor, no ribbon-cutting, and no refreshments), the sales result of that exhibit was more than enough to raise my spirits. Of the eleven illustrations on show, nine were sold, most of them on the first day of the show. The title of that show was "Old-Fashioned Fairy Tale Art".

I actually signed a contract to do the illustrations for what was supposed to be Tahanan Book's fairy tale trilogy, which are compilations of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and Charles Perrault. But Fran Ng ( who did the retelling) and I only finished two - that of Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.

"Long Ago and Far Away", the compilation of ten Brothers Grimm fairy tales is another prized work. The result of nearly two years of highly-meticulous labor, I again find my illustrations there worthy of being shown in a solo art exhibit. The Crucible Gallery agreed again to exhibit them. Four illustrations (below) were pre-sold, while the others were bought later. I also included in this show seven artworks that are not illustrations which were all bought. "Long Ago and Far-away" is the last book I did for Tahanan.

Rumpelstiltskin, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Frances Ong collection

Snow White and Rose Red, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Marixi Rufino-Prieto collection

The Goose Girl, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Reni Roxas collection

Rapunzel, 2003, acrylic on paper, Reni Roxas collection

A flattering "afterword"  to my illustration career with Tahanan was written by the highly respected art critic Constantino Tejero. His review of my second solo exhibit at the Crucible Gallery, titled "Illustration as Fine Art", appeared in the June 25, 2007 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The review was very positive, that's why that day - which also happened to be my birthday - became doubly special for me.

The Princess and the Pea, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Bobby Roxas collection

Had I not been discovered, so to speak, by Tahanan Books, I wouldn't have rediscovered the joys of serious painting. By serious painting, I mean the paintings I do for my personal delectation - not illustrations which are commissioned works, and which are required to hew closely to a given manuscript. It was at Tahanan that I developed the sharp-focus realist style that was my trademark style up to 2008. Reni said that she can't draw. But she surely knows what makes an art good art. There were several instances when she "art directed" me, and suggested how my illustration should look. The one that I remember well was her suggestion for my illustration for "The Princess and the Pea" (above). My drawing of the sleepless princess was already approved by her, but I was at a loss on what to do for a background. Reni pulled out her pen and sketched something on a piece of paper. What she drew was a rough line sketch of a poster-bed viewed frontally (meaning, not in perspective), with the curtains on both sides drawn. "Just like the curtains in a theater," she said. That scene was amazing in its very simplicity, and showed very well Reni's instinctive grasp of composition.

I used as wall text for my 2007 solo exhibit of Brothers Grimm fairy tale illustrations at the Crucible Gallery a manifesto I wrote. I called this piece "An Illustrator's Manifesto" - an excerpt from which is posted below:

 In my more than ten years in picture book illustration, I have never once considered it a breeze compared to painting. The opposite is true, because the parameters in picture book illustration are many and exacting. There is a manuscript to dissect, an editor to please, and the child readers to entertain. Whereas in painting, you can just affect the nonchalant pose of a recluse and please only yourself.

Well, that sort of sums up what I've learned in my book illustration career. Doing picture book illustration is never easy, contrary to what some snooty art gallery owners and painters think. That's the reason why I switched to doing serious painting full time - because I find it easier. I no longer have to make sure that the images I paint conform closely with a manuscript. No need also to get an editor's approval, nor those of the child readers. I only need to paint what pleases me. I can change style anytime, and add risque elements to my pieces whenever I feel like being naughty.

I now look on my years at Tahanan as the peak of my artistic career. Before that, I was quite content in doing editorial cartoons and textbook illustrations which were being paid by the piece. It wasn't lucrative work, but I at least managed to put food on our table and send my two boys to school. But an incident made me aspire for higher things. I was still working as a textbook illustrator for Phoenix Publishing House, when I chanced on two art books on sale at the old Alemar's Bookstore on Quezon Avenue. One book was on the art and life of Edmund Dulac, and the other was on Kay Nielsen. This was in 1990, I think, way before I began my picture book illustration career with Tahanan. Although I bought them at very low prices, these books became very valuable to me. Edmund Dulac and Kay Nielsen are two of the leading lights of the so-called "Golden Age" of children's illustrated books - a period dating from around 1880 to the early twentieth century. On seeing their works I began to nurture the dream of one day being given the opportunity to also do full-color fairy tale illustrations. 

But although.doing full-color fairy tale illustration work was dream-come-true for me, I never, as I've said earlier, found it a breeze. I have to be in the right frame of mind and needed to be fully prepared before I start work. I have a sizable collection of printed materials at home : novels and short stories, biographies and histories, art books and picture books, and even books on poetry. I also collected magazines, especially those with lots of pictures like the National Geographic magazines. Those magazines were vital to my work, because I used the pictures there as references for my illustrations. I also kept clippings from newspapers of images that may be of use to me one day - like photographs of objects and animals, and men engaged in various activities. Before starting work, I first gathered the magazines I'll used - bookmarked on the pages where the reference pictures are - and all clippings of images I'll need for a particular illustration. Only when I have them all at hand, will I begin to do the preliminary sketches, and afterwards, the final drawing - on Canson Montval paper, which I prefer above all other watercolor papers.

Adequate sleep was my primary requirement for the actual physical work. I can't prod myself to paint if I feel even a bit sleepy. So, I always make it a point to sleep first before starting work. I also always have a book at arm's reach, which I read whenever I begin to feel bored from an hour or two of continuous painting work. Music from the radio was also a plus, because it keeps me from getting sleepy while working. There were times when I can't seem to put my brush down, so I stretched my waking and working hours up to 15 hours. That's why many times in the past, I found myself going to bed at around 7 a.m. already.

The Wild Swans, 2000, acrylic on paper, 10 X 12.5 inches, Reni Roxas collection

Although I'm a big fan of many Filipino picture book illustrators, the illustration styles I wished to emulate are those of Gennady Spirin and Charles Santore, who are practitioners of  a quaintly realistic illustration technique. My goal, the challenge I wished to meet, was to produce a body of work that would equal if not surpass the timeless quality of their illustrations. I came close to my goal, I supposed, because one of my illustrations, "The Wild Swans" (above), have been borrowed and used as adornments for their pages by about ten foreign websites. While "Thumbelina" (below) and "Snow White and Rose Red" were each used once by two different websites. Although my permission, nor that of Reni (who is the real copyright owner), were not asked - I'm still flattered  that they chose my illustrations from among the thousands of illustrations on the internet to adorn their websites.

Thumbelina, 2000, acrylic on paper, 10 X 12.5 inches, Mark Yap collection

MOTHER AND SON, AND ENZO

By Arnel Mirasol

Although I did my best, I really wasn't that pleased with this mother and son portrait. I'm sure that it would suffer by comparison with the portraits done by dozens of painters here. Nevertheless, someone was fooled and thought this double portrait lifelike. That someone was my brother Rudy's dog, Enzo. 

One day, months ago, I temporarily stood this painting atop our bed leaning on the wall.The door to the bedroom was ajar, and when Enzo tried to enter it, he was surprised to see a man and woman on the bed staring and smiling at him. Enzo stopped in his tracks and barked at the mother and her son, whom he thought were intruders. Only when I brought the painting to him and let him sniffed at it. was he convinced that the man and woman he saw were not real people.

Enzo trying to sleep off his embarrassment

CRAB MENTALITY

By Arnel Mirasol

In November 2012, Shawn Heinrichs, Kristian Schmidt, Richard Branson, and models Hannah Fraser and Roberta Mancino went to Oslob, Cebu to shoot these series of pictures that combine fashion and marine wildlife photography. This project was supported by Wildaid, an NGO focused on reducing demand for endangered species. Shawn Heinrichs is an Emmy award winning cinematographer, photographer, and marine conservationist. An independent filmmaker, he is the founder of Blue Sphere Media. Kristian Schmidt, on the other hand, is known for his expertise in creative fashion photography.

Heinrichs came up with this idea of doing a fashion shoot underwater when he learned of the nascent whale shark tourism activity in Oslob. Recognizing that people only protect what they cared about, Heinrichs hope that by bringing this activity to global attention more tourists will be induced to come over and spend tourist dollars in the community. That way, Oslob fishermen will see the whale sharks in a new light - no longer as pests that compete with them in catching shrimps, but as treasured friends that will help lift them from their marginal existence. Heinrichs wrote:

"Just two years ago in these very waters, divers discovered a live juvenile shark that had all its fins cut off. Though legally protected in the Philippines, poaching of whale sharks had continued because the shark fin traders enticed poor local fishermen to earn money from exploiting these vulnerable animals. Less than a decade prior, the local population of whale sharks had all been wiped out to satisfy demands for shark fins in China. Now finally, local communities have found a way to earn a living from whale shark tourism, and rather than targeting and killing them, they now are passionate about protecting them."

And what Heinrichs hoped for happened. A friend from Oslob remarked that their town averaged about a thousand tourists a day, a bonanza that may have triggered envy in some quarters. Nowadays a chorus of voices can be heard denouncing the whale shark tourism pattern in Oslob. They especially disapprove of the doling out of shrimps to whale sharks, a practice that, environmentalists say, could alter their feeding patterns. These environmentalists claimed that the whale sharks' dependence on these dole outs may erase for good from their brains their ancestral memory on how to forage for food. Well, that is but conjecture and theory, because, in my opinion, foraging for shrimps doesn't require well-honed hunting skills. All a whale shark has to do to catch shrimps is open its mouth and suction them in. No stealth and speed is required because shrimps can't dart as fast as barracudas, or any other fish for that matter.

So, stop being bitter please. Remember that the dollars generated by whale shark tourism benefit not only Oslob, but the whole country as well. After all, tourists only stay in Oslob for a day or two. After that they'll proceed to other Philippine destinations where they'll spend the money they still have, which I'm sure is still substantial. I also admonish the guy who posted on his facebook page this remark - "Miss Universe, please don't be a bitch to the environment." -  to not equate with bitching the beauty queens' swim with the whale sharks. Don't you see that you are being sexist and misogynist that way?

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To Feed or Not to Feed

By Arnel Mirasol

Binibining Pilipjnas-Universe Maxine Medina posing with a whale shark

The visit by some Miss Universe contestants in Oslob, Cebu, to swim with the whale sharks sparked what some saw as outrage, because a netizen posted this plea on facebook :  "Miss Universe, please don't be a bitch to the environment."   (A remark that betrays, in my opinion, the latent sexist and misogynist mindset of whoever wrote that because of his use of the word "bitch".) The visit brings to the fore once again the question of whether to condemn or condone the feeding of whale sharks.

Feeding is always a benevolent act if the one giving food doesn't intend to slaughter later on the animal being fed. I wrote that line in an earlier blog (titled "Yes to Whale Shark Feeding") to defend the fishermen of Oslob who feed the whale sharks that frequent their area. I decried in that blog the seeming double standard of the environmentalists who condemn the feeding of whales sharks in Oslob on one hand, and condone on the other the feeding of the wildlife in Calauit Island, which by the way were all abducted from Africa. Not only is their stand on the issue a stark example of double standard, it also smacks of hypocrisy, because there is right here in Manila an establishment that is downright cruel to marine wildlife. I'm speaking of the Manila Ocean Park, within whose tanks are trapped not only reef fishes, but also pelagic ones, like the sharks and manta rays, whose natural behavior is to roam the farther and deeper reaches of the ocean to hunt for food.

Remember that not too long ago, the Mayor of Dumanjug, Cebu, Nelson Garcia, was quoted as saying that whales, dolphins, and sharks are parasites that should be killed because they are responsible for the dwindling fish catch in the area. He claimed that these marine species consume as much as a ton of fish everyday which could have been for humans. A fisherman in Oslob also confessed that before the advent of whale shark tourism in their place, it was their practice to do precisely what the mayor of Dumanjug proposed because the whale sharks competed with them in catching shrimps. Now, putting the whole issue in that context, it would be reasonable to presume that the feeding of whale sharks is in fact beneficial to them, because it would allow them to multiply. The environmentalists' reasons for the banning of whale shark feeding are but conjectures and theories.  If they succeed, not only would they put at risk the livelihood of the fishermen of Oslob, but would also reduce our country's tourism income.

I respect the opinion of these environmentalist. They may be right on some points. All I ask of them is to be fair, and condemn with equal ferocity the zoos, circuses, and oceanariums  that hold animals captives for life: and while they're at it, to also berate the owners of animal farms where docile species are fed and fattened for slaughter later on.

FIDELIS BALAGTAS BELDA: MIXING ART WITH MUSIC

By Arnel Mirasol

Fidelis Balagtas-Belda earned her Bachelor of Music degree major in Piano and minor in Voice from the Centro Escolar University's Conservatory of Music in 1986.  She took further studies in Violin and Voice Concentration in the University of the Philippines. Even before finishing her music studies, Des (as she is called by friends) was already teaching. She was also an on-call artist, an organist, and a choral conductor then.

Des now teaches Music in Isidore de Seville Integrated School in Malolos, Bulacan, and offers tutorials in her home music room FBb Studio.. She also taught before at the Centro Escolar University Malolos, La Consolacion College, St. Rita College, Lord's Angels Montessori, St. Joseph School in San Pablo, Laguna, and at the American-owned and run Scoula dei Bambini di Sta. Teresita.

But Des had lately decided to mix music and art. Although she already had an inkling of her artistic talent when she was in grade one, she only recently chose to devote much of her time to painting. But Des did it with a vengeance, one must say - because she has become very prolific. She is capable of turning out in a day several watercolors of her favorite subjects, which are flowers, pets, and rustic scenery.

Des, a newcomer in the art scene, had joined only two art exhibits so far, both with the Kapentura Art Group, and both of them this year. She was with the Kapentura Art Group when it participated in the Bonifacio Global City's Art & Appetite event last May. Des calls that event her debut as visual artist. She also exhibited two pieces for Kapentura's Krusada sa Kalikasan show at the Artasia Gallery which opened last November 8. Des is a regular at Kapentura's Monday sketching session at the Starbucks in Robinson Malolos. She also goes on plein air painting excursions with the group at a farm in Barangay Dakila, Malolos, Bulacan.

The farm belong to the family of fellow Kapentura member Nemencio Macapugay (Nemie), who is also a music teacher and painter like Des. They were former choirmates, and it was him who rekindled in Des the desire to return to art making. They worked in the same music studio years before, where Nemie, who was concurrently a comics illustrator and cartoonist, taught classical guitar. That was where Des saw Nemie painting during intermissions in their work. Years passed, and when they chanced upon each other again, Des recommended Nemie as music teacher at Isidore de Seville. They also acted as facilitators in a workshop, where Des handled the Music class and Nemie, Art. Des sat in in Nemie's class, and it was there that Des innate artistic talent was honed. Nemie recommended Des to Kapentura leader Danny Pangan, who, when he saw Des' watercolors readily accepted her as member of the group.

Although Des expressed admiration for the works of several painters, like Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, and Pablo Picasso, her  two paintings at the Krusada sa Kalikasan exhibit clearly showed the influence only of Matisse - with her fauvist-inspired color scheme and naif formal qualities and rendering. Her mixed-media painting below, Kaunlaran at Kasarinlan (Progress and Independence), depicts the dichotomy between the rich and the poor, between the high-rise dwellings and the barung-barongs (shacks). But the title of this painting could be quite puzzling.They seem to denote not a current state of affairs but an aspiration for the future. What Des meant perhaps is independence and self-reliance will only come about if the poor are no longer poor. And she seem to add that the trappings of progress exclude stinking waterways clogged with garbage  - primary traits of waterways clogged with slum-dwellers on their banks.

Her other painting, Marine Paradise, show the creatures that make the seas a pleasant place to see, to fish, and to dive in. This painting seem to be more direct to the point, in a manner of speaking,  because of its plain depiction of beautiful marine life. Or, is it? Her use of beads, sea shells, gift wrappers, corrugated papers, ribbons, buttons, styrofoam, earphones, computer chips, and other electronic materials as collage material would make us wonder and think otherwise, because they are all junk materials - trash that mindless people throw into the sea. So, this painting also makes a powerful statement after all - an indictment, in fact, of man's wasteful ways.

Des' husband is Samson "Sammy" Belda. They met in Manila while they were still in college. Des calls both Malolos, Bulacan and San Pablo, Laguna home, because although she was born and raised in Malolos, she and Sammy have a house in San Pablo where Sammy in turn was born and raised. Her idyllic roots and present day milieu could not but be conducive to her music and art making. So, it's not puzzling why Des the painter is very prolific. Des and Sammy has an only child, Miguel Mari, who, although he can draw and play the guitar, can't be categorized as a bona fide artist yet. He is more into sports, being a full athletic scholar for tennis at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. That facet of Miguel Mari also makes Des proud, because his athleticism is another proof of his taking after his mother : Des herself was a tennis player when she was sixteen, and a  triathlete years later. But Des is quick to add that Miguel Mari also took after Sammy, who also excels in tennis. Both father and son, in fact, always win in tournaments, especially if they are partners in the doubles competition.

Kasarinlan at Kaunlaran, mixed-media, 30 X 30 inches

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  Marine Paradise, mixed-media, 20 X 20 inches

  11/13,

Marine Paradise, mixed-media, 20 X 20 inches

FRANK CAÑA'S PORTRAITS OF WOMEN AS MOTHER NATURE

By Arnel Mirasol

I know painters who didn't finish college but still went on to make indelible marks in the Philippine art scene. A notable example is Mauro Malang Santos - or simply, Malang. Malang's protege Franklin Caña Valencia would be another. Frank formally entered the world of serious painting when he joined the Saturday Group in 2001. Before that, he was at the pinnacle of his career in advertising working as design director and later on, department head, for J. Romero and Associates. Malang is the acknowledged "spiritual leader"  of the Saturday Group, its guru - not because he is the oldest member, but because of his artistic achievements and stellar status in the Philippine art scene.

Malang, in turn, was one of  Vicente Manansala's proteges. Manansala was that master of transparent cubism - who passed on to his followers his fascination with cubism.. These followers are Hugo Yonzon, Oscar Zalameda, Manny Baldemor, and Ang Kiukok, to name just the really famous ones. But their individual styles, even if from a common cubist wellspring diverged at some point, and have become styles distinctly identified with each individual artist. Although he'll be quick to assert that his work was just cubist-inspired (which is true in a way) Frank truly is a cubist - a fourth generation cubist, because of his penchant for segmenting his paintings into curves, crescents, and polyhedrons of different gradations and hues. But in all fairness to Frank, his adoption of the cubist idiom, is just coincidental. It was not Picasso, not Manansala, and not even Malang, who gave Frank an idea on what style to follow. His future painting style became etched in his mind very early in his life, even before he learned how to handle a paintbrush, when he happened to peer closely at marbles which he held against the sun and saw trapped inside metal crescents, twisted and straight, that glow and glitter like the patterned particles inside a kaleidoscope. 

Although he arrived at his signature style through a path he himself blazed, Frank admits admiration for Malang and the watercolorist Frank Webb for their colors and design principles, and for Gustav Klimt for his theme or subject matter.

Frank studied at The University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture and Fine Arts, but failed to finish the course because of deficiencies in his Spanish subject and ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Course). Frank jokingly said that he ran away from the ROTC MPs (Military Police) because they were teaching him how to kill, when he felt deep inside that he is an artist, a creator - and not a warrior. Although he failed in the above mentioned subjects, Frank claimed that he got high grades in the so-called major or laboratory subjects, which is not hard to believe. 

Frank's family was poor, that's why he was compelled early on to work.  He accepted drawing jobs from his classmates and teachers when he was in grade school. He also accompanied his father on his rounds to peddle tinapa (smoked fish), and helped his elder sister in selling vegetables in their hometown of Calauag, Quezon. He also worked part time at his elder brother Magoo Valencia's art and sign shop where he was assigned the job of erasing the old letterings and drawings on materials they will reuse. He had also worked as contractual factory worker for a few months when he was in high school to earn money for his school uniform and notebooks. A not very promising start, I would say, for one who would later become a master painter. 

In 1982, Frank left for Jeddah to take on the job of graphic designer. He worked in Jeddah for eleven years. His years there stood him in good stead when he returned to the country for good. He easily became art director for J. Romeo and Associates, was promoted to design director, and after years of notable work, to department head. Frank has had ten solo shows and have participated in more than 50 group art exhibits, many of them abroad. He had exhibited in the United States - in New York, New Jersey, and Arizona - and in Hongkong, Singapore, and Malaysia. He was Art Manila newspaper's Young Artist of the Year for 2002, and was a winner in the First Saudia Art Competition in Jeddah.

Frank entered two paintings for the Krusada sa Kalikasan exhibit of the Kapentura Art Group at the Artasia Gallery - Womanature@15 and Womanature@16. Both are masterful works, interpreting best the theme of the show, which is environmental degradation and its now anticipated regeneration. According to Frank, the naked woman in fetal pose in the painting Womanature@15 represents Mother Nature, who, as an ubiquitous entity, is present everywhere. Each tree trunk is a womb in which she gestates. Thus, each tree trunk cut is Mother Nature herself being cut and destroyed. But hope springs eternal as they say, for it always happen that from a cut tree trunk new leaves may grow heralding rebirth, while butterflies hover expecting the stirring of new flower buds.

Womanature @16, on the other hand, depicts the birthing of a sunlight-bathed Mother Nature, which happens every time a supposedly dead tree survives. This cyclical birth and rebirth process augurs well for our beloved Earth, because it could only mean that all is not lost. That despite the ravage and rapine inflicted on her by man, Mother Nature is resilient enough to withstand those, and emerge triumphant, vital, and strong, and stand guard forever over our forests and seas.

Frank met his future wife, Teresa Servida, in Jeddah. They are blessed with four boys, who Frank said are all artistically-gifted, being frequent winners in art competitions when they were young. But Frank is sad that they opted not to follow their father's artistic path, because they see it as a life of constant struggle to make ends meet. But I don't see that stereotype about "struggling and starving artists" true in Frank's case. Because if there is one artist who is on his way to fame and fortune (if ever he is not there yet), that would be no other than Malang's protege, Franklin Caña Valencia.

Womanature@15,  acrylic on canvas, 30 X 30 inches

Womanatuyre@16, acrylic on canvas, 30 X 30 inches

JOHN WESLEY BAUTISTA'S LUMINIST ABSTRACTS

By Arnel Mirasol

John Wesley Bautista was a product of the University of the East School of Music and Fine Arts, from which he graduated in 1980. He majored in painting. Right after college, he went into painting full-time, inspired perhaps by his brother, the late great painter Glenn Bautista, who's already gaining renown in the early eighties. It was elder brother Glenn, who taught John the rudiments of painting and guided him during the early years of his painting career. But John veered from the theme and style that Glenn was famous for. Although both "luminist" in their rendering techniques, Glenn's paintings almost always have surrealist or fantastic-realist overtones, while John's leaned more towards abstraction. John has had four solo shows so far, and had joined several group art exhibits.
I used the term luminist here in its very narrow sense - that is in its hiding of brushstrokes. Luminism is an American landscape painting style of the 1850s to the 1870s that put emphasis on the effects of light in landscapes. A common characteristic of luminist landscapes were their shiny reflective surfaces caused by the deliberate concealment of brushstrokes - which is to say that the paints were applied thin.The absence of visible brushstrokes in John's work led many who saw them to suspect that he used an airbrush to apply paint - which he categorically denied of course. I can invent a term for John's work - Luminist Abstraction - but more exact, I think, is to place his art, particularly the one below, within the bounds of the Pattern and Decoration (P&D) movement, because of its effort to mimic wallpaper, fabrics, and quilt patterns.
John's wife, Tess Nidea, is skilled in the culinary arts. They met at BF Homes where they both lived at the time. When she suggested that they open a bakeshop and later on a catering business, John left painting for a while to help her with the operation of the business. Their union was blessed with two boys, Wes and John Michael, who are both married with one child each. Both boys were artistically inclined. They are so into art during their grade school years, but with the advent of the computer age, they shifted their focus to mastering computer technology instead. Today, John paints full time.

Where Have All the Green Leaves Gone?, oil on canvas, 50 X 50 inches

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