Filipino Artists Magazine vol 5 issue no. 26 Sam Penaso Man & Myth

FROM THE EDITOR

It’s a hot and humid 38 degrees Celsius from where I am, as I write this piece. Notwithstanding the sweltering heat, I love this time of the year because it means summer is here. As Olaf says in the movie Frozen, “I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved the idea of summer, and sun, and all things hot!” Summer is the season for vacation, leisurely travel, or just having a much needed staycation in the comforts of your home. To start off, we have this super long weekend this April - (a five-day holiday period for holy week and Araw Ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor). But sadly, for most of the younger generations, the Gen Zs and the millennials, holy week is no longer a time to reflect about Jesus Christ’s sufferings; rather, it is a time to head out to the beach and have fun exploring popular tourist destinations.

I remember as a kid, during holy week there were “pasyon or pabasa”, station of the cross, and flagellation in our neighbourhood, even though we live in the city. But now, these old traditions are seldom practiced in the urban areas and could only be observed mostly in the provinces today. Too bad the practices were not passed on by the old folks to the young ones, I guess.

For the “Team Bahay” like me, I welcome the long weekend to take a pause from the grinding eight-hour a day work, catch up with some much needed ZZZs, and recharge before going back to reality.

Have a great summer everyone!

ARIS CARANDANG

In 2020, the world was put on hold due to Covid-19. The lockdown was undoubtedly hard for everyone, especially artists who demand an audience for their work. Slowly pressed to find other means to showcase talent, Aris held faith in place of hopelessness, despite the despair that surrounded him.

Aristotle ‘Aris’ Carandang, took the grief that overcame the world and turned it into drive. He used the constraints of lockdowns to free his creative spirit. A self-taught Filipino artist based in Plaridel, Bulacan, Aris was constantly face to face with the ravages of this pandemic. Constantly exposed to the dark, underbelly of the Philippine urbanization, old churches’ facades and post-colonial house windows certainly captured his fancy. Thus, masterfully bottled the stories of these structures and made art pieces, and the essence of yesteryears live on in vivid colors, précised placements and fine technique. He believed that the only way to do these story justice was through a mixture of media such as wood and cement. As each of these historic formations have their own personalities. He shows them off using glass, capiz shells, and other raw materials that could perfectly convey the character of each ‘obra’. To Aris, cement means permanence and stability, just how God hold us all together, while wood represents a foundation on solid roots such as our home and tradition. The special materials he uses to give each piece its own special touch are illuminating hope, beauty and opportunity that festers despite the adversity and challenges. The one thing that these materials have in common, is that they represent the identity of Filipinos and comes from a rich culture has been all but eradicated.

Aris continues to spread his exceptional outlook on art by participating in various events and exhibition since 2020, and has been recognized by several publications and patrons. His distinct works has been coined ‘Obra ni Carandang’. Fans of his structural pieces believed he truly exemplifies the phrase, ‘There’s beauty in the old.’ As his audience grows, he felt the need to merge his ideologies to artists that share a similar worldview. Most recently, he collaborated with a fashion designer, that incorporated the Carandang signature structure to the intricately designed dresses and clothes. This partnership was showcased at Acacia Hotel last February 5, 2022.

A proud Bulakeño, he remains grounded despite the affirmations he receives from art community. He displays his love for the place that cultivated and inspired his art by donating to the less privileged and those on the outskirts of society. In this, the culture of kindheartedness lives on. Aris earned Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and completed his master’s degree of Pastoral Theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary respectively.

Bintanang Capiz. Mixed Media. 16 x 24in. 2022

La Casa de Laguna. Mixed Media. 36 x 48in. 2022

Lumang Pinto. Mixed Media. 24 x 30in. 2022

Casa Grande de Concordia. Mixed Media. 39 x 39in. 2022

Casa Via. Mixed Media. 28 x 42in. 2022

“STARTING SMALL”

The Life of an Average

By Ingrid Aimee

“Starting Small” I have tried for so long to build a meditation habit. Seriously, it’s been one of my biggest goals for more than a decade. And I’ve tried really hard. I’ve read books, I’ve made accountability charts, I’ve set SMART goals; I’ve done it all. Sometimes, I’ll fall into a good rhythm, and I might make it onto my mat three or four days in a row. Then sometimes, three whole months will go by without me managing to do it at all. So what gives? Why can’t I make it happen? What am I doing wrong, after ten years of trying? I decided to dig deeper into what was happening inside my poor little monkey mind that might be hindering my progress. It took me by surprise when I realized that no matter what my practice has actually looked like over the years, whether I’d been totally diligent or utterly neglectful, there had been one constant the entire time: I’ve always felt like I needed to be the best at meditation. Yep, that’s the phrase that actually popped into my mind, word for word, when I tried to unpack what was going on: the best at meditation. I know what you’re thinking: What does that even mean? How can you be “the best” at something like meditation? And let me tell you, I know how dumb it sounds. Meditation, by its very nature, is about not having attachment to such things as results or outcomes. I mean, it’s about being in the moment, not about getting an A+ rating or a bunch of gold-stars. And yet I felt like I needed to be awesome at it. To be better than others. To bypass beginner status and immediately step into the category of “expert.” I kept getting this image in my head: me, perched perfectly still in lotus position, the dawn sunshine on my face, wind blowing gently in my beautifully beachy hair, my outfit crisp and white, and my face a perfect vision of peace and tranquility. (Never mind that I am not a morning person, that the lotus position gives me pins and needles, that my hair is more bushy than beachy, and that my white clothes aren’t crisps.) When I dug deeper, I realized there was a follow-on thought from my attachment to this vision and my need for achievement: If I couldn’t be awesome at meditation, if I couldn’t achieve perfection… there was no point. That was my unconscious thought pattern. Which was why I always aimed for ridiculously long sessions; if I didn’t have a full thirty minutes to devote to it, what was the point? It was why I was so disappointed if my mind wandered; if I didn’t give an A+ performance, what was the point? It is why I’d feel like a failure if I didn’t do it first thing in the morning (even though my late-night work sessions made that completely impractical); if I hadn’t done a dawn session, what was the point? And it was why I would get so down on myself if I missed a single day; if I couldn’t keep a perfect score card, what on earth was the point? All in all, it’s no wonder I haven’t been able to make this habit stick. At every step of the journey, I’ve been psyching myself out of making any progress by expecting supreme, utter perfection. In the past, this type of thinking has reared its head in other areas of my life too: if I can’t go to the gym for at least a full hour, there’s no point, right? If I can’t eat 100 percent healthy for the rest of the week, I may as well write the next few days off, yeah? And if I can’t fit in a long, uninterrupted stretch of writing time, there’s no point pulling out my notebook at all, amiright?! Thankfully, over the years I’ve become aware of these perfectionist tendencies, and have developed a few mental strategies and ninja tricks to overcome them. (Don’t have time for a full gym session? Do half an hour of power yoga in the lounge room instead. Revolutionary, huh?) But it’s taken me oh-so-long to realize that I was also doing it in my meditation practice; that I was letting my pursuit of perfection hold me back from inner peace. Now that I know, I’m trying to let go of all expectations on myself when it comes to gettin’ my Zen on. In fact, my meditation sessions these days have been pared right back to the simplest, most achievable, most non-perfect thing I could think of. Want to know what that looks like? (Prepare yourself for the profoundness!) Two minutes of meditation, every one or two days. That’s it. And, if I haven’t managed to pull it off during the day, I do it in the shower at night, just before I go to bed (yep, standing there, suds and all, with not a lotus position

in sight). It’s minimal, it’s manageable, and it’s achievable. It’s also effective for quieting my monkey mind and giving me the tiny pockets of peace and stillness I crave so much. I’m now on my fourth week of this new approach, and I’m happy to report that by releasing my expectations of perfection. In fact, by embracing the fact that I am going to mess up, and by giving myself some wiggle room and a short-cut to get around it, I’ve actually been more mindful in the past month than I’ve been for a really long time.

Enter

And I’ve definitely ended up with more time spent on the mat through these little baby steps than when I was aiming for giant, dramatic leaps. It’s been an eye-opening lesson, and one that I’m very grateful for. So now I want to ask you, dear one, are you letting perfection hold you back from achieving something you really want? Could you cut yourself a break and aim for “okay” instead of “awesome”? It might sound counterintuitive in our culture of comparison and perfection, but the results might just take you by surprise.

“Apotelesma” . 3pcs 8 inches x 40 inces. Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas. Giddy ‘19

KUNST Filipino Filipinism - What Makes Art Filipino

Excerpts from the book of 2021 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas.

“In conferring the Banaag Award to the Kapatiran at Ugnayan ng Natatanging Sining at Talento Filipino (KUNST Filipino), the President of the Philippines recognizes its steadfast commitment to preserving the Filipino culture and tradition thru art while strongly supporting Filipinos in pursuing a career in the field of arts”.

Filipinism, according to Jose P. Laurel, is “the assertion of one’s national birthright with patriotism defined as love of country as a primary element”. Filipinism is a movement-the aesthetic and conceptualization of the artist’s ideas and the infusion of heart and soul in every piece on creates, conveying Filipino identity through the artworks-This What Makes Art Filipino.

The philosophy is the foundation upon which the Kapatiran at Ugnayan ng Natatanging Sining at Talento (KUNST Filipino) lies. KUNST Filipino is a group of artists that helps promote performing and visual artists by organizing local and international art exhibits which poster deeper understanding and appreciation of Filipino culture among foreign nationals and Filipino diaspora. The organization was founded by Virgilio G. Cuizon, a recipient of the 2004 Presidential Banaag Awardee, with the support of member of the Cultural Affairs of Batangas City, Mr. Abelardo Perez, Jr., the award -winning visual artist Aris Bagtas, and later on joined by the artistic director of Douglas Nierras Powerdance, Mr. Douglas Nierras; the manager of Philippine Madrigal Singers, Mr Alfred Samonte; the former Knights of Rizal Regional Commander for Europe, Sir Albert Arevalo-KGOR; the artistic director of A Cappella Manila, Prof. Rodel Bugarin and the owner of Macuha Art Gallery, Engr. Jason Macuha which serves members of the Board of Directors.

Since its foundation in 1992 in Batangas City and established in Germany in 2004, KUNST Filipino has been inspiring numerous Filipino artists to infuse their heart and soul into every art piece they create collectively showcasing a uniquely Filipino identity. In total, it has organized more than 50 international exhibitions in cooperation with Philippine Diplomatic posts and Filipino Associations in European countries such as Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Luxemburg, Austria, Spain as well as in Canada, and more than 70 local exhibitions with institutional partners in Batangas province, Metro-Manila and Davao. Two of its notable art exhibits was “Quo Vadis OFW?” held at the Press Club in Brussels, Belgium in 2015 which paid tributes to the efforts of and sacrifices of Filipino migrant workers worldwide by chronicling their stories in visual form. The other one is the Life of Dr. Jose Rizal in Europe which exhibited in the countries where Dr. Jose Rizal lived in 2014.

KUNST Filipino has also partnered with Philippine government entities to remain true to the commitment. It has crafted the trophy sculpture for the 2019 Migration Advocacy and Media (MAM) Awards organized by the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO). It is a limited -edition plaque inspired by migratory bird, which symbolizes journey, peace and prosperity. In 2017, the organization designed and acted as the special curator of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) art gallery. The gallery was established to showcase DAP’s collection of valuable artworks of national and contemporary artists and socio-cultural artifacts. It also aims to enrich appreciation of the Filipino culture and traditions and develop a stronger connection to and pride in their heritage among fIlipinos.

Over the last 9 years, KUNST Filipino has consistently initiated activities and various pursuits to cultivate Filipino artistic talents. These include the purchase of an old house in Cuizon Rd.,Sta. Rita Karsada, Batangas City in 2009, now called “Kunsthaus” a German word that loosely translates to “art house.” After the old house was renovated, it was transformed into a gallery museum that offers a maximum of 15 -day artistry residence with free board and lodging and a venue for free art training for Filipino students and artists.

KUNST Filipino has also spearheaded a total of 14 local and 1 international competitions and several free art workshops for the benefit of prison inmates, street children, students and aspiring artists. These include “Arts for the Soul”, a series of trauma art therapy sessions for the victims of Taal Volcano eruption in Batangas province in 2020, and a free lecture and art workshop in 2016 for the victims of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, among others.

While actively supporting Filipino artists in all aspects of their artistry in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world, KUNST Filipino also extends an unwavering helping hand to the less fortunate in times of catastrophe and calamities. The organization has partnered with World Vision Philippines, a global humanitarian organization devoted to improving the lives of children, their families and communities to overcome poverty. It has collaborated with SOS Children’s Village, private non-political, non-denominational organization that provides long term, family-based care for children in need. KUNST Filipino also donated Php 165K to “Kusina ng Kalinga” a project of Gawad Kalinga that fed 50 children for an entire school year and extended assistance in the relief efforts for the Siege of Marawi’s victims.

KUNST Filipino hones the skills of Filipino artists and students through the conduct of free art demonstrations, seminars and workshops. It promotes their talents in the Philippines and overseas, ultimately giving birth to internationally -acclaimed artists and professionalizing the art industry by setting and maintaining high-quality standards for the performing and visual arts – while providing help to those in needs.

In September 8, 2022 the Regional Development Council-Calabarzon IV-A gave a RDC Special Award to KUNST Filipino recognizing its Banaag Award, 2021 Presidential Award.

The Presidential Award is the most distinguished and the highest award given by the Philippine government to individuals and organizations overseas. The 56 awardees were selected from 117 nominations from 31 countries through 39 Philippine Embassies and Consulates, KUNST Filipino is the only awardee from Germany in 2021.

GALLERY FOCUS : FILARTS GALLERY

FILARTS GALLERY

Inching Into Its First Year

Unang Hirit. Singularities. PaperWorks 2o23. These were the Gallery’s exhibition projects which were put up beginning in the middle of May of last year. Unang Hirit naturally heralded the group’s first foray into the art exhibition business. Singularities highlighted the Gallery’s roster of artists’ unique tropes on their individual canvases. PaperWorks was the Gallery’s way of looking into a more affordable pricing for our clients up north of Quezon City.

Just like any other endeavors, legit or illicit, the FilArts Gallery was born out of the congenialities of friendships. Coffee and conversations distill the substance of commonalities between people. Coffee and conversations prioritize matters of importance. Roy Espinosa and Al Vargas reside in the same neighborhood. When the issues of homeowners monthly dues and nasty neighbors become stale the topic of creative painting persists. Both are artists.

Al Vargas was ‘discovered’ by Roy Ama at a small café under an escalator at SM City Fairview. Roy Ama and Julius Clar were having archaic jokes and coffee when he saw a quiet guy just next to our coffee table doing small water color spots on his pocket book’s inside pages. Julius Clar thought they were charming. From those water color works flowed a river of friendships which connected to Roy Espinosa. Mark Vinas came in a bit later.

Roy Espinosa is noted, aside from being a sought-after artist, as an art event organizer, here and abroad. His connections in the Asian region and in Turkey, Italy and Germany take him to travel out of the country four times a year attending art shows, symposia and other art-related conferences. He also publishes art coffee table books which are being circulated in the Asian regions and in some parts of Europe and the U.S.A.

Al Vargas is a self-taught artist who does his small works in water color. When Roy Ama and Julius Clar met him he had a bagful of painting paraphernalia: a small set of water color, a few brushes and a self-wetting pen. Included in the bag was a 9x12 inches acid free papers, but his favorite substrate has always been his books.

Mark Vinas is a young art dealer on weekdays and a Christian pastor on weekends. Mark creates pieces reminiscent of the 70s themes, in realistic terms. He is also into artwork restoration. As an art dealer he is concentrated on the 60s and 70s local artists.

Roy Ama had earlier tried oil pastel and acrylic medium abstract paintings and had shows in a gallery along Maginhawa Street in U.P. Village. His medium-sized acrylic on canvases had been collected here and in the U.S. mostly. Roy Ama once owned an advertising agency but when he was hit by heart problems twice he gathered something from those life-changing events: that he should quit advertising and go into art!

Julius Clar have had a few exhibitions for his fine-art photography and assemblage works. He has had shows in the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Art Center, the Ayala Museum, the Lopez Memorial Museum, and the Silverlens Gallery, among other places. He is now into collage medium, and acrylic abstract expressionism.

So when these five artists meet to talk there is no other talk other than shop talk. And naturally putting up a physical art gallery was a logical offshoot. They looked at some spots around the northern side of Quezon City and the group finally decided on the present location: the Robinsons Fairview.

“The people around the area are not yet aware of our existence, but we are hopeful,” said Roy Espinosa, the Gallery head. “FilArts Gallery is actually a non-profit organization and we would be pushing future projects geared along that commitment,” he said.

Future plans for the gallery include group tutorials for elementary and secondary students on the different aspects of artmaking, and in the history of art. “Art History is very important,” said Roy Ama, the group’s marketing person. “It is where one knows where one is coming from, and where one is going with regards to artmaking.”

There is also a plan to show works by artists from Asia and Europe. One of the first projects is to show works on paper by foreigner artists. This will be designed to convince Filipino art connoisseurs that works on paper are also equally important; that all works of art are of equal importance. At least this is what post-modern art is trying to say to us.

The FilArts group is in the works of putting up the first art fair in QC. Roy Espinosa is at work with some people at the QC government on the mechanics of the first QC art and crafts fair.

FilArts Gallery is located at the new expansion building of Robinsons Fairview (along Quirino Hi-way of Barangay Pasong Putik)—the mall entrance closest to Nova Stop bus terminal. It conducts short seminars on watercolor and acrylic paintings, charcoal portraiture, basic drawing, and digital photography. Its in-house charcoal portrait artist can do commissioned family portraits at very reasonable prices.

For inquiries, FilArts can be contacted through Email: filartsgallerymail.com, Facebook: filarts Gallery and mobile phone 0912.569.36.22.

JOHN MERCADO CESAR

John Mercado Cesar (JMC), a Makati City-Based Artist, is known for his impressionistic yet modern oil and acrylic paintings that captured the modern scene today.

He is a self-taught visual artist, a pride of Tacloban City, Leyte. He spend his formative years in Sacred Heart Seminary, Palo, Leyte, an Alumnus of Adamson University. Currently an Organizational Development Manager with successful background in developing and implementing trainings, and organizational programs needs and workforce competencies.

An Outdoor Enthusiast and Environmental Advocate, JMC is also a tattoo Artist who owned Likha Art & Crafts that caters Fit-Out Interior Designing, Décor, Wall Restoration, Mural, Renovations, enhancement and accepts art commission.

12 Featured Artist : John Mercado

“Never underestimate the power of Art” -JMC-

Purpose and Passion . 100x100 Inches Museum Wrap Canvas Framed with White Single Frame Acrylic on Canvas . Urban Pop Art . Year 2021

Imagine. 100x100 Inches Museum Wrap Canvas Framed with White Single Frame . Mixed Media. Urban Pop Art . Year 2022

I am a Money Magnet . 100x100 Inches Museum Wrap Canvas Framed with White Single Frame . Mixed Media. Urban Pop Art . Year 2022

I am Iron man . 100x100 Inches Museum Wrap Canvas Framed with White Single Frame . Mixed Media . Urban Pop Art . Year 2022

Her Lips Taste like Cherry . 100x100 Inches Museum Wrap (Box Type) . Mixed Media . Urban Pop Art . Year 2022

COMMON TOOLS and FOUND OBJECTS for MIXED MEDIA ART

By : Artists Network Staff

Everyday Objects Perfect for Mixed Media Artists

To take mixed media art to its heights, you have to be a bit of an adventurer — a tinkerer — a risk taker. Rae Missigman is all the above when it comes to her art. But she’s a detective as well. She sleuths out the common tools and everyday objects we walk by every day that are perfect for making art marks. Rae shares the essential tools she’s discovered for mark-making in her book, Paint-Play-Explore: Expressive Mark-Making Techniques in Mixed Media. Discover how you can invent and reinvent endlessly with Rae’s top found objects and common tools shared here.

Brushes, Straws, Sponges and More

Upcycled tidbits offer a unique set of relatively common tools for mark making that can yield extraordinary results on the page. Reusable instruments such as plastic knives, combs, brushes, straws and stirrers can be used to create the simplest of organic marks, such as lines, circles, dots and scratch marks. Pieces of bubble wrap, cardboard tubing, fruit netting and sponges will each leave an unusual imprint when coupled with the same mediums — smudges, rings, hash marks, peaks and valleys, each mark uniquely different each time they are applied. Cotton swabs, gift cards, droppers and even nail polish all have the ability to create singular marks within a piece of art. Swipes, stripes, drips and splatters: each upcycled tool creates random yet repetitive marks that cannot be duplicated, only replicated—the beauty of their raw and disposable forms.

Pairings and Methods

Merged with an array of mediums, each of these basic marks will appear differently according to the medium it is paired with when applied to a specific substrate. While paint will leave heavier, toothier marks, inks paired with these tools will leave marks that appear less defined, more abstract and blended. Nail polish can be applied with precision and form specific marks of color, or its wand can be used to spatter the paint across the page in an uncontrolled swathe. An upcycled toothbrush can be used to apply ink or paint in a pattern specific to its head shape, or it can be used to pull and drop the ink across the surface of your work. A sponge can be used to add simple impressions to a substrate, or it can be paired with a watery ink and used to add a wash of color to the entire surface.

Fingers and Hands

Think of your hands as a built-in brayer, allowing you to move paint and other wet mediums across the surface of your canvas quickly and in large sweeps. Without the added extension of an outside tool, your fingers and hands allow your marks to be added in both a fluid and defined manner. In creating with these takealong tools, you will find that using your hands and even your lower forearms can add an unexpected and delightful layer to your work. The results are both surprising and unique: Each artist’s hands leave their own distinct texture behind in their wake. Just as your hands are a brayer, your fingers are your brushes, varying in size and shape and each leaving a detailed and unique mark with each stroke.

Bubble Wrap and Rubber Bands

Wrap one half of a cardboard tube with elastic bands in assorted sizes. Use two-sided tape to adhere a piece of bubble wrap to the other side of the tube. You may choose to wrap an entire tube in either elastic bands or bubble wrap, resulting in a wider finished application of each type of print. Add paint to the bubble wrap on your cardboard tube. You can simply brush the paint on for a thinner, more precise impression when rolled, or you can roll the wrapped tube directly into the paint, which will result in a thicker, less defined print. Roll the loaded wrap over paper to make the print. Remove the wrap or let it dry before using again to avoid mixing the colors.

Use a heavily loaded brush to paint all of the elastic bands on the cardboard tube. The cardboard will want to soak up some of the wet paint, so a heavier application will result in a more defined print of the bands when rolled. Keeping the bands near one end of the tube will make it easier to roll once the paint is applied. Roll the loaded cardboard tube across your substrate in a quick, fluid motion. Repeat the motion until all of the bands have been exhausted of color. Crisscross the marks as you roll to get interesting and painterly lines. The bands will leave a slight ridge along the edges of the color, adding even more dimension to the marks as they dry.

Cardboard Tubes

You can cut, fold and reshape cardboard tubes into a huge assortment of mark making shapes; however, the natural circular form makes a great mark for larger projects. You can reuse these as they dry or cut them down and start fresh with a new color. Just dip in paint and press gently but firmly onto your substrate.

Drinking Straws

Similar to their larger counterparts, drinking straws can be cut and shaped like the cardboard tubes. These are great mark makers and leave a less than perfect imprint when heavily loaded with paint. For larger projects, consider using an elastic band to secure several straws together to create one large multipoint tool.

Key Cards

Heavy-duty plastic cards are a great repurposed tool. Dipped in paint, the edge of the card can be used to make painterly lines. Rocking the card back and forth as you apply the paint to your substrate will create small valleys in the paint that, when dry, result in interesting texture. This same method also works well with texture pastes.

Similar to their larger counterparts, drinking straws can be cut and shaped like the cardboard tubes. These are great mark makers and leave a less than perfect imprint when heavily loaded with paint. For larger projects, consider using an elastic band to secure several straws together to create one large multipoint tool.

Makeup Wands

Makeup wands are a great tool for creating lots of small line marks quickly. They are designed to be heavily loaded with mascara and work wonderfully with paint and ink. Dip the wand in acrylic ink and brush along your substrate. The first stroke line will be much heavier followed by thinner, more defined lines. Paint will give an even heavier, less defined impression.

Cotton Swabs

Easy to find and budget friendly, cotton swabs make great mark makers and are handy in a pinch as a detail brush. The absorbent quality of these tools make them great for ink and paint, allowing a longer open time with the medium as you work. Many of these tools are double ended, giving you the added bonus of working with two colors at once.

Sea Sponges

Dense sponges are perfect for making lots of interesting marks in your artwork. All-natural sponges will have a rougher, more irregular surface texture while the manufactured versions will have a smoother, more consistent exterior. Both are easily cut into smaller shapes. Use dry with paint or ink for defined prints or dampen before adding medium for more fluid marks.

Clothespins

Use a recycled clothespin to create a series of nearly identical marks. Dip either of the two wooden ends into paint or ink, and press firmly onto your substrate. You will be able to make a large number of marks quickly given that every imprint will form two marks.

Leaves and Vegetables

Organic tools such as leaves, twigs, fruits and vegetables are interesting choices for mark-making tools in that they are truly unique by their very nature. No two leaves, twigs, fruits or vegetables will ever be alike, thus their marks will be one of a kind. These tools can be used in a variety of ways, each offering an uncommon and distinct mark. Leaves, flowers and vegetables all leave wonderful impressions. Adding paint and ink to these organic implements and using them as stamps is a delicate but rewarding process, leaving intricate and detailed impressions. Sticks and twigs make equally handy mark-making tools.

When dipped into wet mediums they can be used to draw or sketch simple, rudimentary marks and add delicate loose details across a foundation. A popular and gratifying technique that is easily coupled with these simple organic tools is monoprinting. You can create one-of-a-kind layered prints using these living elements as simple masks on a printing plate. A word of caution: not all living elements make good tools. Always do your homework and stay away from all varieties of plants and flowers that are naturally poisonous or may cause allergic reactions. Consider gathering your organic implements from within the safety of your own garden or yard, or consult a botanical guide before collecting your living tools.

Paintbrushes, Palette Knives and Brayers

Having a wide variety of paintbrushes with assorted head shapes and sizes will ensure you have just the right tool to create specific marks as you work. Palette knives bring dimension to the table and are indispensable when it comes to building texture and adding a unique sense of flavor to a piece of art. Choosing the right knife is requisite to adding a specific finish to a piece. Small, rounded blades are perfect for adding paint to small areas while wide, flat tips are best for spreading smooth, even texture to a large surface. When searching for a true workhorse of a tool, you will need to look no further than your brayer. It has the power to spin a full and impactful background on a large work in a short amount of time as well as roll the final touches across your piece, suddenly and fully bringing it to life.

Writing Implements

Each of the most basic mark-making tools— pens, pencils, crayons, markers and ink-filled brushes— offer their own unique fingerprint when it comes to forming fundamental marks. These simple writing elements are easy to gather and provide you, the artist, with limitless opportunities for forming and shaping marks on a variety of substrates. As you experiment with these uncomplicated tools, you will discover their individual natures: some are flexible and yielding, allowing you to create outside the bounds of their intended use; others are unbending and less manipulative in what they will allow you to render. Practice and play with each implement, stretching the limits of its intended use. Dedicate a journal to making notes on all your mark-making tools. Observe how your writing implements respond to water, paint and other mediums. Test them on all varieties of substrates and make notes so you can track what each tool does and how it reacts when paired with other elements. These rudimentary tools are the ones you will most often reach for when making your mark.

Explore More Mark Making, Tools, and Art Tinkering

Mixed media artist Rae Missigman wears the proud badge of mark-making adventurer. In her book, Paint-Play-Explore: Expressive Mark-Making Techniques in Mixed Media, she brings you more than 60 mark-making tools and mediums and two dozen demos on collage, monoprinting and more. Plus ways to turn your marks into inventive art. Your copy is waiting for you!

SAM PENASO

man & myth

by Paolo Gerero

Sam Penaso is one of the most sought-after contemporary Filipino artists whose multidisciplinary practice awes in breadth and depth. A multipotentialite who excels in traditional painting, printmaking, sculpture, video, performance art, and hybrids of these practices, Penaso is held in the highest esteem by his artist friends, regarded with admiration by collectors and art enthusiasts, and the young ones who wish to walk in his legendary footsteps mention his name with a certain reverence, bordering on veneration.

But who is the man behind the myth? Who was he before he became the art star that he is today, and what lies ahead for Sam?

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Penaso was born in Guindulman, Bohol, in 1974. Named Samuel by his parents, he shares the name with the Old Testament prophet who is known for his oracular visions. In a way, the name is a self-fulfilling prophecy; the young artist Samuel, through the gift and the power of his artistic vision, became a man revered and renowned, just like his venerable namesake.

But before he became the Sam Penaso, he was a boy drawing figures on the paper side of cigarette foils while helping man their small sari-sari store. Along with these early explorations on unconventional materials which seemed to foreshadow the unorthodox and free-spirited nature of his career at present, the young Penaso was introduced to the world of art by two uncles who had a business painting cinema billboards, depicting the faces of actors on huge plywood panels before digitally-made movie posters became a thing. He would help them in their studio, which also functioned as an art sign shop that took commissions for hand-painted signages and canvas streamers by the meter.

The studio helper boy grew into a teenager, and seemingly hand in hand with his adolescence came the need to help his family make a living, so while in high school, he became a fisherman to help make ends meet. As he juggled his schooling and work, he never forgot about art, dreaming of going to Manila and making a name for himself.

SILKSCREEN STORIES

Set foot and spread roots in Manila the young Sam did, through the patronage of an uncle with a printing business in Manila. There, he began to know silkscreen printing intimately, discovering its techniques, secrets, and possibilities — at the hands of his uncle, he learned how to transfer and replicate images from photographs, illustrations, designs, and visuals from other sources by pushing paint and ink through a carefully-masked screen onto a substrate which will bear the final output.

This and other manual graphic design gigs — manual and completely unaided by computers, truly a painstaking and back-breaking vocation back then — became his means to support his education at the Technological University of the Philippines, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.

In those days, silkscreen printing or serigraphy was only a process with which the working student Sam applied photographic images to a variety of substrates, the most common being t-shirts and signages ordered by patrons of his uncle’s business. Little did he know that the process would become a signature of his iconic artworks and a cornerstone of his artistic practice. The humble process that funded his college education is now the star of his impressive arsenal of skills.

To this day, even as he enjoys the fame and recognition attendant to a brilliant and exemplary artist at the height of his career, he credits his uncle for introducing him to the art of serigraphy, and is unabashed in his admission that his continued use of the process is an homage to his well-remembered mentor and benefactor, a bond that tenderly tethers his feet to the ground of his humble beginnings.

Earth hour . 48x48inches . acrylic on canvas . 2020

Wirescape 99 . Acrylic on canvas. 6x6ft. 2021

THE RISE OF A STAR

The journey from Guindalman to the heights of art stardom is a long and winding journey, and not without its difficulties. But Penaso is armed with industry and tenacity — he does not give up in the face of hardship, and is always working to create something new, never stopping to rest on his laurels.

Like many artists, Sam had his fair share of challenges when he was just starting out. He began to work full time as an artist straight out of college, but it took him quite some time before he found his moorings; the art scene in Manila is cutthroat and ruthless, and the artist, far away from the comfort of his home and the comforting familiarity of his mother tongue, would find himself longing to return to the town of his birth.

Homesick and still unestablished, the then-novice Penaso was repeatedly rejected by galleries who failed to understand his vision, and the same was true for clients who did not want to bet on someone so young and so unknown. But instead of succumbing to failure, the artist forged on, continuously honing his craft and sharpening his vision, putting brush to canvas and ink to screen, and discovering other modalities of expression in various media, always pushing the boundaries further with his experimentations. To this day, this experimentative and unorthodox approach to creation remains a staple of his art practice.

His efforts to become a better artist were eventually rewarded by recognition and acclaim. One of his first victories was in the 29th Shell National Student Art Competition in 1996. He then went on to win many other awards and recognition, which include the Young Painters Annual (2001), Beppu Asia Biennale of Contemporary Art (2006), Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (2011), Art Association of the Philippines Art Competition (2012), Winter Grand Salon Show (New York, 2013), GSIS Art Competition (2014 and 2016), Metrobank Awards for Continuing Excellence and Service (2018), Philippine Art Awards Award of Merit (2018), and Don Papa Rum Art Competition (2019).

In addition to these awards, Penaso is also the recipient of multiple grants and international residencies from various bodies which include the Thailand-Philippines Art Exchange (2005), Asian Cultural Council International Studio and Curatorial Program (New York, 2013), ArtHub (Abu Dhabi, 2014) and Don Papa Rum (London, 2019). He has also represented the Philippines in prestigious international events such as the Nippon International Performance Art Festival (Japan, 2005 and 2011), Exhibition Exchange in Hanoi, Vietnam (2018), Beijing International Art Biennale (2019), and in various exhibitions in the United States, Germany, Austria, Singapore, and Thailand.

With More than 30 solo exhibitions, over 90 group shows, and almost 70 art performances under his belt, and artworks in prestigious collections such as those of the Embassies of London, Vienna, and Berlin, various top hotels, resorts, and museums, the boy who once drew on cigarette foils toiled his way to become a bright star in the firmament of Philippine Art History, and deserves all of the success he is reaping today.

THE STRIPEWALKER

With his passion for performance art and projects that defy categorization and inspire contemplation, Penaso gave birth to an alter ego called Stripewalker, which he conceptualized in 2009 as a way to stand out among his equally-brilliant peers from the Tupada Action Art Media, of which he is a core group member.

Inspired by Sam’s very own striped abstract paintings, Stripewalker dons an outfit composed of a coverall suit of fabric printed with horizontal lines of various colors based on his very own colorful artworks, matching striped shoes, and a gas mask that obscures the entire face. Emancipated from the artist’s original identity, Stripewalker is unfettered by race, gender, nationality, and the many other boxes that we put ourselves in. Stripewalker is a fearless, invincible entity who rejects categorization and embraces diversity, travels the globe, and interacts with cultures, communities, and artworks. The character will be around for a very long time — the artist even jokes that he will be buried in the suit!

Penaso documents the journeys of the character through the eponymous Stripewalker Project. In this manner, the artist is no longer just the creator of the artwork, but becomes the artwork himself.

A JOURNEY OF IMAGERY

All of these experiences from his childhood until today have profoundly impacted Sam’s works. Like many artists before him, he began with images inspired by the world around him, his interest, his experiences, and his ideologies rendered in realistic styles. As the artist developed and grew in understanding, these ideas represented by realistic figures began to become abstracted, turning more towards their essence and leaving behind their recognizable forms. Eventually, the artist found his signature style, which became visually identifiable with his name, to the point that one could look at his artwork without looking at any labels and know that it is by Sam Penaso.

His paintings are characterized by serigraphed images and fragments of portraiture and human figures, anatomy and birds and beasts enmeshed, emerging from, and disappearing into quilt-like abstracted forms and juxtaposed with his trademark letters and numbers. These appear on traditional canvas and more experimental materials such as sheets of aluminum, the latter seemingly giving homage to the first substrate that received his earliest works. These range from the most somber monochromes to riotously jubilant explosions of color.

His sculptures, on the other hand, are more solemn and subdued. Working with steel, the artist exploits the metal by cutting up sheets and reconfiguring them into shapes and forms that range from echoes of the frenetic energy of his quilt-like compositions, to more sensuous and sometimes even severe forms that entice the eyes with simple and stately lines.

This wealth of and uniqueness of his visual language is thoroughly expressed in the suite of three paintings and two sculptures from 2021.

Infrastructurescape. Acrylic on canvas. 3x4ft. 2021

The artist fills his canvas with bold strokes of color overlaid by a grid of innumerable lines that resemble a massive, nebulous scaffolding in “Infrastructurescape”, hinting at something grand being built. The mass of colors behind the scaffolding is ambiguous as it is amorphous — we are left to wonder if the “infrastructure” taking shape is indeed a structure of steel and stone, or an organic leviathan yet to be named.

The scaffolding acquires definite identities in “Wirescape 99”, where Penaso creates figures of various colors and poses using grids that appear to be distorted from being two dimensional into three dimensions by wrapping around invisible cores in the shape of humans of various ages and body types, frozen in a myriad poses of action and inaction. At the lower corners of the composition, we see a nod to the merging of art and pop culture in the grid-image of a Kaws figure, and an enigmatic pairing of a pug and a horse.

Penaso further refines his figuration in “Earth Hour”, masterfully depicting a face in screentone. Overlaid by a watch dial, various fauna, and a single vase of flowers, the composition is a sobering reflection on just how much time humanity has spent destroying the earth, and how little time we have left to save it.

In sharp contrast to the organic diversity of his paintings, “Infinity” and “infinity 89” are sinuous sculptures of stainless steel. They are avant-garde ouroboroi, self-devouring snakes which represent the infinite and cyclical nature of time — past, present, and future weave into themselves with gleaming, highly polished loops of cold metal.

THE MYTH IS THE MAN

With so much said about the legendary rise and reign of Sam Penaso, his humility and gratitude show the truth of who he truly is.

Despite the height of his flight, the artist maintains a cheerful, humorous, and genial attitude. He always greets with a smile, readily cracks jokes, engages people in sincere conversations, and is thoroughly committed to helping those that he can, especially aspiring artists who wish to make it big like him. The artists from his native Bohol have a special place in his heart, and in between a very busy schedule of making his artworks and traveling for art events, he helps them become better artists by sharing valuable advice and building bridges for them in the greater art scene. He also plans to build a museum in his hometown in the future, a goal which will bring him full-circle to his beginnings.

The man that is Sam Penaso is a complete antithesis of his imposing and almost mythical art persona, proving that the bright spirit of the boy who drew on palarâ and fished in the seas of Guindulman has survived the ravages of time, and lives forevermore in the heart of the artist.

Infinity 89. Stainless. 16 x 15 x 16 inches. 2021 Infinity. Stainless. 26 x 13 x 16 inches .2021

JOEL ELUDO

Artist : Joel Eludo

Echoes of Dawn. Oil on Canvas. 80 x 60cm

Left : Holy Child. Oil on Canvas. 100 x 70cm

Below : Mother and Child. Oil on Canvas. 100 x 70cm

A gifted Professional Designer and Artist. No mean of feat for an artist who never received a formal schooling nor training in the field of Art but has been endowed with exceptional talent that he has able to translate his vision in the various field of art expressions. Drawing and Painting. Design and Photography, Calligraphy, Cooking and Songwriting.

A phenomenal who has quenches interest about Life and Nature. Putting in the canvas the phenomena of the physical world and life in general.

Capturing emotions and Sentiment, spirituality and Passion. A style so unique that he was able to naturally design with a simple objective of creating awareness and realization that Life is expression is ART.

Member of ITNOL (In The Name Of Love) Art Group

Time Travel. Oil on Canvas. 80 x 60cm

The Village. Oil on Canvas. 80x60cm

HOW TO AVOID OVERWORKING YOUR PAINTINGS

By : Artists Network Staff

This article features excerpts from the October 2022 issue of Artists Magazine.

You’re in good company if you find yourself struggling with the issue of overworking your artwork. Defining when your work is “complete” is often ambiguous and left to a “gut feeling.” This is especially true for abstract works as well as processes that involve discovery and self-exploration. Defining when a painting is complete can feel somewhat delicate and sensitive. It sometimes feels like gambling, where, as we approach the end of a painting, we adjust a color, fix an edge, or add a line, in hopes that the single decision will bring it all together only to find that we’ve made it worse! We pushed it too far and now it’s ruined! While there is no broad definition or consensus in the art world as to when a work is complete, and thus not overworked, there is much we can learn from other artists.

DOES IT MATTER?

Many great artists describe a relationship with painting that accepts the idea that a painting may never be complete. In this sense, the challenge is deciding when to stop, more than deciding when to call a work done. Leonardo Da Vinci is given credit for the quote as “ Art is never finished, only abandoned .” At some point, we have to make a choice –do we continue working on our current painting or move on? Do we set a painting aside and come back to it later? Edgar Degas appears to have embraced the latter, as he was notorious for his tendency to hoard paintings so he could continue to tweak and adjust paintings over years. The Spanish realist, Antonio Lopez Garcia is featured in the 1992 documentary El sol del membrillo, (renamed “Dream of Light“) paints with unrelenting commitment to capturing the truth of a living quince tree, spending months changing and reworking his painting as the subject grows before him. Picasso even suggested that to “finish” a painting is to destroy it! These artists demonstrate a certain sense of futility, accepting the fact that works may never be fully completed – that perhaps it’s this fact itself that becomes the artist’s compulsion to paint. In this mindset, the idea of “overworking” becomes somewhat irrelevant.

“To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it, to kill it, to rid it of its soul, to give it its final blow the coup de grace for the painter as well as for the picture.” – Picasso

GET FOCUSED

Overworking can sometimes be a result of a lack of clear focus or intention. If you’re struggling with “overworking” your paintings and it’s holding you back from growing as an artist, explore your motivation to paint. For some, the compulsion to paint can have many layers and often shifts throughout the process. Bring focus to your unique compulsion and hold it in your mind while you work. This can help you define when the painting is done and warn you when you’re at risk of overworking. Rembrandt, quoted in The Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France (2003), by Alison MacQueen, says “The painting is finished when the artist says it’s finished.” We each paint for different reasons, so we will each arrive at different conclusions about when a work is “done.” Was it for the experience itself? Do you need something to hang on your wall? Do you have a message you’re looking to get across? Are you looking to discover something new through the painting process? Is the painting for you or someone else? George Braque provides the somewhat cryptic quote, “The painting is finished when it has erased the idea,” suggesting that a work is complete when the abstract expression of emotion overtakes the literal description of the subject. There are myriad reasons for why artists create and only you can define your own motivation.

“I tell myself that anyone who says he has finished a canvas is terribly arrogant. Finished means complete, perfect, and I toil away without making any progress, searching, fumbling around, without achieving anything much.” – Monet

NEVER LET A PAINTING GO WASTE

Overworked paintings make perfect playgrounds for new experiences. If you’ve already determined that your painting cannot be fixed, your work now becomes just another study in which you’re free to embrace the freedom to explore, experiment, and simply have fun painting. Use an overworked painting to test new color combinations, techniques, materials, and more to see if it unlocks something new to use in the next iteration of your final painting. An overworked painting can simply mean you weren’t ready for the final yet!

SEEK GUIDANCE

Every artist has their own strategy for addressing the issue of overworking. Ask around and seek the guidance of an artist you respect and who respects your work. Experiment with different approaches to see what works for you! To help you get started, here are some responses featured in Artists Magazine.

WHATS YOUR #1 STRATEGY TO AVOID OVERWORKING A PAINTING?

“I keep stools and chairs throughout my studio. When I feel the work has developed, I step back and sit with it. When you take the time to live with a piece, you learn how to recognize what, if anything, it needs.”

Mia Tarducci, Artist

“The overarching goal in my work is to celebrate the people and places I find remarkable. I’m less interested in a futile exercise of highly rendered realism for the sake of satisfying my ego. To this end, I’m not as inclined to chase every minute detail and risk overworking a piece. I must admit that this requires a conscious effort each time a painting is approaching its conclusion.”

Mario Robinson, Artist

“I work fast and avoid boredom. I remind myself that paper is cheap and that I don’t have to keep going. A fresh page, or second draft, is preferable to getting bogged down.”

Danny Gregory, Artist, Author and Co-founder of Sketchbook Skool

“Overworking is often a result of overthinking. I’ve learned to put down the brush as soon as I can see and feel the impact that I wanted—leaving a bit of mystery. I try to let the artwork have a voice when mine has stopped speaking— to avoid chasing perfection.”

Vicki Clarkson

“I developed the habit of working on two to three pieces at the same time. Having different challenges going on keeps me from getting too hung up with any one painting.”

Janetta Gee

“Have a plan before beginning. If your goal is to make a particular part of the painting stand out, spend the most time on that. Let other parts be secondary—less focused, less detail.”

E. Brooks

“Dance party in the studio!”

Joey Heuisler

MARK SHELLSHEAR

“

I am really enjoying these creations as I am never sure how they will work out. In this piece what interested me was the black spot in the middle of it, it was not intentional but when I finished I saw it and now it stands out. Black spot is an interesting piece.

Mixed media collage on watercolour paper. 19cm x 26cm.

Work that matters is consistently making our Art better.

We need to make work that matters for the people who care about our Art. It is easy to be average it takes little effort and low risk, but it will always be average work.

To make work that matters takes risk and emotional energy and we invest something in it that average doesn’t have, the desire for constant improvement. Average does not have to improve, it’s just average and that is easy to do and nobody cares.

Consistent improvement can be measured, we will see the improvement in our work, because it matters to you the creator and to the people who care about your Art. It always matters.

Black spot.”

Featured Artist : Janos Dela Cruz

Echoes of Dawn. Oil on Canvas. 80 x 60cm

JANOS DELA CRUZ

JANOS DELACRUZ studied at the University of Santo Tomas, where he majored in Advertising Arts. A consistent winner in national student art competitions and a recipient of the Benavides Award for Outstanding Achievement, in 2006. In college, he learned the basics of printmaking i.e., etching and woodcut. After college, he made further experimentation in printmaking and painting. He held a solo exhibition of Intaglio Prints at the Crucible Gallery in 2006.

A prolific Painter and Printmaker, Dela Cruz’ art is a philosophical narrative that often delves into Social commentary and self-exploration. His subject matter is about the conflicted relationship between the Ethereal Beauty of the Divine and the Frail Reality of Man. As a visual artist, the Urban Landscape and its rich surreal imagery is his continuously evolving muse.

A winner of the AAP Annual Art Competition. His work “Hari ng Kamaynilaan” won first prize in the Print Category at the Art Association of the Philippines Annual in 2004 and a Finalist on the Painting Category in 2012, and this was followed by winning the first prize for the PAP Open Fine Prints Competition, “Bulong Sa Panaginip”. He won 2nd Place on the 38th Shell National Student Art Competition (Digital Category) “Tulog na Nene…”. Dela Cruz attended the Art Students League of New York, in 2012. A Philippine Delegate in the 27th Asian International Art Exhibition held in Bangkok, Thailand. He won the Juror’s Choice of Merit in the Philippine Art Awards and winner of the Metro Manila Art Award, in 2013. He has exhibited his works in New York, USA; Bangkok, Thailand; Penang and Kuala Kubu Bharu, Malaysia; Singapore ; Abu Dhabi, UAE ; Taichung City, Taiwan. He has held (17) Seventeen Solo Art Exhibitions. A member of the Philippine Association of Printmakers (PAP) and Art Association of the Philippines (AAP). He was a lecturer at the University of Santo Tomas, in 2014. He was a Philippine Delegate in the KKB Art Festival 2016 held in Kuala Kubu Bharu, Malaysia. His latest solo art exhibition is entitled: “MAN-YIKA”, ManilaBang! held on December 2022.

In 2018, he is a recipient of the Thirteen Artist Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The artist resides at Bahaysining, Muntinlupa City, Philippines.

ABSTRACT MARK-MAKING

Journey to Abstraction

By : Artists Network Staff

Cory Goulet starts every piece by turning on a CD in her studio. She lets the energy of the music course through her body, moving and dancing in front of her blank canvas. She listens to favorites like Nina Simone or Aretha Franklin—strong voices with upbeat tempos. Only then does she begin projecting her energy onto the canvas, working intuitively to paint, layer and create. Her work is deeply abstract. “You have to create some-thing out of nothing,” Goulet says.

Color is often her guide as she starts. “I love color, and in most of my work I use bright, bold colors,” says the artist. Sometimes she’ll start with a few pre-selected colors that lead her in a particular direction. “Other times, it’s just grab and go, and I build from there. I like to keep it loose,” she says.

Goulet works in larger formats when she can as they lend a sense of freedom to the full-body movements she employs while painting. She wants her art to start a conversation, not tell a narrative. She aims to convey a feeling in her pieces and tries to paint from a place of positivity so that dark emotions don’t creep into her work. She tries to keep her pieces unique and organic, conveying a sense of movement or energy.

For artist Cory Goulet, the challenge of working in the abstract is a raw revealing of herself – both on paper and to her viewers

Goulet is particularly thoughtful about not priming her viewers when she titles her pieces, avoiding anything that might hint at the concrete. She embraces the subjectivity of abstraction. “I want people to talk about my work—what they see and how they feel about it. I want them to share their reactions in the moment and then again, later,” she says. This sharing and learning has been vital to Goulet’s artistic career and development.

PROCESS

Once Goulet is warmed up and moving with her music, she typically begins with a bright red- or orange-toned sheet of gritty UART paper, though she frequently tries new papers to see how they work. Then she’ll use water or alcohol to blend color into the paper with light and loose strokes of a paintbrush, rag or sponge. Next, she begins blocking in shapes of color and making marks with various sizes of charcoal.

She’ll add a spritz of alcohol or water for effect throughout the process as she layers in more colors, using a variety of pastels, including Unison Colour Pastels, Diane Townsend Terrage, Girault, Jack Richeson, Art Spectrum and Terry Ludwig, as well as pastel pencils, to create the contrasting broken and unbroken lines of her compositions. “I think the use of pencil or inks and gesso makes the work more interesting. Gesso helps lay color on color and adds texture and depth to my work,” she says.

As she works, Goulet often rotates the paper and then steps back to see how the different elements of the piece are connecting to ensure that she’s maintaining a keen sense of energy on the paper. She asks herself whether the colors are working in harmony and whether the lines and shapes create interesting relationships with each other.

As I worked, I rotated the piece to keep it abstracted. I continued adding marks in pastel and charcoal to further define and build up the shapes, colors and values.

Step

More sponge work was necessary to further define the abstracted shapes and points of contrast. I added details with pencil and alcohol inks.

Step 1: On a warm-toned pastel paper, I began mark-making using various sizes of charcoal. Then I started blocking in color. I did not set any pre determined agenda.

Step 2: I continued mark-making and blocking in large shapes of color, keeping it light and letting the background color show through.

Step 3a: I used a sponge to push color into the paper and create texture within the shapes. I kept it loose, with lots of movement.

Step 3b

Step 4:

5:

Step 6: I stepped back and evaluated the artwork. I asked myself questions: Does it have a sense of energy and movement? Do I like the colors? Do the shapes relate to each other? Does the eye move around the painting or get stuck in one area? Is there a sense of depth? Then I make whatever adjustments or corrections I feel are necessary.

For Vivid Dreams of Green (above) I decided that more line work and mark-making was needed to bridge the shapes and build relationships. I applied subtle variations of color and adjusted the balance between color and contrast.

MEET THE ARTIST

Cory Goulet (corygouletart.com) is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and an Associate Artist with Unison Colour. Her work has been displayed in several national galleries and museums and featured in multiple art magazines.

ITNOL (IN THE NAME OF LOVE)

ITNOL (In The Name Of Love) is a group of PROFESSIONAL ARTISTs, who willingly share our talents and abilities in obtaining the highest GOOD for others.

The group started with a simple dream by Rev. Joval Kisinamal three decades ago. Then by October 20 &21, 2012, the first Charity Art Exhibit came to fruition. It was a 2 man show in Jumbo Jenra Mall in San Fernando Pampanga of Rev. Joval Kisinamal and Ms. Agnes Batallones wherein 90% was given in full for the mission works of Agape Christian Fellowship led by the late Rev. Salvador Galzote Jr. It was indeed a success since almost all the pieces were sold to prospective buyers. The 2nd and 3rd Charity Exhibit happened in 2014 at PTS College & Advance Studies, Dasmariñas Cavite, Philippines. This time Mr. Aris Bagtas, Mr. Mark Viñas, Agnes Batallones, Mr. Jojo V. Garcia, Mr. Angelito Lepalam, Ptr. Mario Villanueva, and Rev. Joval Kisinamal joined together in the name of Charity. Wherein at this point we established to share 50% of the total sales to our partner’s mission work in every exhibit we launch. Gradually the team grew in numbers and our direction became clearer to us all. From 2012 up to the present we already conducted nine major charity exhibits. In the GRACE and MERCY of God we’ve been selling to the good clientele we call KEEPERS.

VISION

To declare the glory of GOD through our ART talent and boast HIS greatness in us.

MISSION

To share HIS LOVE tangibly by offering 50% of our gains in every painting we sell through our group exhibit/s. And to be a blessing to our fellow artists.

Presently Active Members:

Agnes Batallones - Graphic Designer / Visual Artist

Almira Reyes Francisco - Visual Artist / Illustrator

Bernard Maac -Award-Winning Visual Artist

Ben Ruz - Zenco Footstep Manager / Visual artist

Cristopher Solis - Minister / Visual Artist

Dennis Tresvalles - Award-Winning Visual Artist / Musician

Dong Ga Eludo - Senior Graphic Designer / Visual Artist / OFW

Fredie Kisinamal - Senior Graphic Designer / Visual Artist

Joval Kisinamal - Senior Graphic Designer / Visual Artist / Minister / Teacher / Chaplain / Missionary

Jojo Garcia -Visual Artist

Jhoel Eludo - Senior Graphic Designer / Visual Artist / Restaurant Owner of Kuzineros

Jonathan Barba - Visual Artist

Jonathan Benjo Manigo - Visual Artist

Jun Roco - Minister / Designer/ Visual Artist

Jhonna Rose Pasaporte - Visual Artist / OFW

Mario Villanueva - Minister / Visual Artist

Marlon Lucenara - Visual Artist / Sculpturist

Romy Masilungan - Minister / Visual Artist

Sir Fernando Sena - Master Visual Artist

Sir Rodney Martinez - Master Visual Artist

Sen Lacson - Award-Winning Visual Artist

Thea Go - Visual Artist

Trisha Alyssa Luceñara - Visual Artist

Roli Viray - Visual Artist / Graphic Artist

HUMILITY in God’s confidence we are honored to promote, live and move our being as artists gifted with our unique talent. Dios es bueno.

THE MUSEUM and GALLERY of MODERN and CONTEMPORARY ART

The Museum and Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting developments in the late 19th century to post-World War II art through 1970’s (Modern Art) and 1970’s to the present (Contemporary Art) in all media and creating a welcoming environment for its public appreciation. The Museum will promote understanding and interest in art and artists through art shows and exhibitions, curatorial research and publications, and a variety of educational programs, including lectures, guided tours, and workshops.

The Museum is an organic, changing place. Although all the works seen are part of our permanent collection, in order to show the full range of our holdings - over 2,000 objets d’art - and to accommodate important temporary exhibitions, certain works must occasionally be taken off view.

Modern Art

Modern Art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of experimentation. More recent artistic production is often called contemporary art or postmodern art.

Contemporary Art

Contemporary Art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Some define contemporary art as art produced within “our lifetime”.

Free Admission

Come Visit Us by Appointment

Mon - Fri: 10am - 4pm | Sat, Sun and Holidays: Closed

Moncada - Alcala - Bayambang National Road

(Arboleda Street) San Pedro Ili, Alcala

Pangasinan, Philippines

museumgallery.ph@gmail.com

If you can pinch clay or hold a pencil, if you can touch, see, smell or hear, art is for you. Through art, even people who don’t view themselves as creative end up reconnecting to that childlike sense of play and enjoyment they had when they got their first box of crayons in kindergarten. Art works its magic on both body and mind. Art is healing because it forces you to forge a connection between your mind and your body. Unlike exercise, which works your body, or meditation, which clears your mind, art-making accesses both mind and body to promote healing. Every time you sit down to write a song or paint a picture, you’re using mental processes in a physically engaging activity. It is hard to be bogged down in negative feelings and fear when you’re creating a piece of art. Instead, you experience a grounding, present and rewarding sense of connecting with yourself. You can even learn to engage with and interact with your art – asking it questions, engaging in a dialogue with your creation and uncovering information about yourself. It sounds hokey at first, but there’s a world of wisdom to be gained from connecting with yourself in this way. Through creativity and imagination, we find our identity and our reservoir of healing. The more we understand the relationship between creative expression and healing, the more we will discover the healing power of the arts.

Ingrid Aimee Peñaflor

The Power of Limits to Enhance Creativity

Channel your efforts—and strengthen your impact.

by Susan Abbott

Fresh out of art school, I was on the hunt for a gallery. I put together a portfolio showing everything I could do as a young painter: expressive charcoal figure drawings, loose plein air oil landscapes, detailed watercolor still lifes. I thought gallery owners would be impressed by my wide range of styles and subjects. After all, my mom was!

Instead of praise, however, I was met with puzzled looks. “What are you trying to say with your work?” the dealers asked. “What, exactly, is it that you do?” I retreated to my studio to think about my answers, and decades later, I’m still figuring this out. For an artist, there are no more difficult questions, and each of us must find our own response.

The minimalist master Agnes Martin (American, 1912– 2004) searched until she came upon a visual idea that felt like hers alone to explore. In describing her breakthrough moment, she said, “Then a grid came into my mind … and so I painted it and then I was satisfied. I thought, This is my vision.” Hundreds of beautiful grids later, we can see the prolific fruit born of that very specific idea.

Cultivation of Limits

The public often has the impression that making art is about freedom, but from an artist’s perspective, the work is more about narrowing possibilities than about having endless choices. Beginners experiment enthusiastically with many media and techniques, and they happily try out the wildly diverse styles of their teachers. Later, as they move on from instruction and begin the journey to becoming independent artists, they must figure out what they want to say and how to say it.

Defining the limits of our creative practice takes more time than making a few quick decisions. It’s an organic process that begins as we seed ideas, weed out the unworkable, and then winnow the endless possibilities that art presents to us. We achieve strong technique in a medium or two, develop a recognizable style and explore deeply personal subjects. As we do these things, we grow our limits, choice by choice, painting by painting.

When we reach our goal of building a professional life, our name becomes associated with our imagery. We are “Jane Doe, who makes colorful acrylic abstractions” or “John Smith, the photorealist watercolor landscape painter.” We continue down these chosen paths until it feels as if our creativity is stifled by the rules we’ve created for ourselves. Then it’s time to start experimenting again.

Elements of Landscape: Roads (oil on four panels, 12×12 each)

Focused Explorations

If limits can sometimes inhibit us as artists, why do they also help us? One reason is that when we have no limits on the way we work, expertise becomes difficult. Developing the skills we need to state our vision takes time and repetition. With 10,000 hours of practice under our belts, we can achieve proficiency in a few media—in pastel and oil, for example, or in printmaking and watercolor. But to achieve expertise in four or five media? That’s a daunting challenge.

Too many ways of seeing can also slow down our efforts to develop an individual vision. We live in a time when the internet and print media give us access to the entire history of art, as well as to an enormous quantity of contemporary artwork. It’s easy to be influenced by the thousands of images that flash by as we scroll Facebook and Instagram posts and browse YouTube videos. Amid all this noise, how does an artist find a separate, identifiable voice?

A good starting point is to set guidelines for your work, rather than looking for too much guidance from others. This might mean committing to exploring just one small corner of your own wide interests. Let’s say, for example, you want to paint still lifes. Narrow down that idea even further and try a series using the same medium, the same canvas size or the same few props. Experiment with different compositions within these limits and see how far and in what direction this one path can lead you.

Elements of Landscape: Fields (oil on four panels, 12×12 each)

Distinctive Creations

It seems paradoxical that our powers as artists grow from the very limits we impose on ourselves, but consider this thought experiment: Imagine a painting by van Gogh. Chances are that you can immediately envision his colorful, textured, bold artwork in your mind’s eye. Now, imagine putting the work of another painter—say, Degas—beside that of van Gogh. You immediately sense how different Degas’ painting, with its subtle colors, smooth brushwork and urbane Parisian figures, is from van Gogh’s Provençal sunflowers. Both began with paint and canvas, so how did they end up in such different places?

The answer is that they each, over time, limited their subjects, colors, brushwork and composition. They experimented, but within boundaries they set for themselves. Narrowing their choices allowed these artists to create painting after painting that expresses a unique vision and authentic voice.

So, if you’re struggling with uncertainty in your work, try giving up the idea of infinite possibilities and instead dive deeper into a few of your most exciting ideas. To get started, try the challenges presented here. You may find new creative freedom when you discover the power of limits.

Challenges:

1

Limit Your Subject: Pick a subject that interests you and then narrow that choice further. Rather than thinking, I’ll paint plein air landscapes, think, For the next few months, I’ll paint plein air landscapes at the same place and the same time of day. For my series shown here, I did just that, returning every week to a nearby farm with 12×12 panels for an afternoon of oil painting. By the end of the year, I felt my ability to observe color in the landscape had greatly improved. By adding the further limitations of medium and canvas size, I had fewer decisions to make, and I created a visually unified series.

2

Limit Medium and Size: Create a series that limits the paper, panel or canvas you use to the same size and shape. Explore how this format (square, rectangle, diptych—or even circle) influences the way you design your painting. Investigate how other artists have used this format and what you can learn from their design choices. In this series of oils, for example, I explored the possibilities of creating narratives about landscapes with a polyptych (multi-panel) format. Each four-panel set addresses a different landscape element—adding another layer of limitation.

3

Limit Your Palette: Working with the same three pigments for a series of paintings is an effective way to develop a more individual color approach. Pick just three primary colors, for example, and do a series of paintings that explore the wide range of color compositions available from a triad. Here are two options you can try. The cool-triad colors are based on lemon yellow, alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue. The warm-triad colors are based on cadmium yellow pale, cadmium red and Prussian blue.

MASTERING ART FUNDAMENTALS

By : Artists Network Staff

Every now and then it’s important to take yourself back to school and focus on elevating your core techniques. We all know the art fundamentals of color theory, color mixing and perspective are the building blocks to great painting, so taking the time to kick those skills up a notch is always worth it.

Read our chat with artist Scott Maier, Executive Director of Video for Artists Network, and the instructor for our new interactive courses on Perspective Drawing, Color Mixing and Color Theory. With these courses you get personalized video feedback on your paintings directly from Scott. Here he discusses the importance of gaining a deeper understanding of the fundamentals, how to embrace the “practice” of painting and drawing over the perfection, and why breaking your own habits is the key to success.

What is your art background?

Scott Maier: I’ve been painting for nearly 25 years, beginning when I got my BFA in painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and my MFA from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Since then, I’ve continued to paint (plein air landscapes, mostly) while spending over 15 years teaching Painting, Drawing, Art Appreciation, Color Theory, and Design Fundamentals at various colleges and universities. I also taught art courses online where I gained an appreciation for the tools that digital technology provide artists.

The power of multi-point perspective at work in one of Scott Maier’s paintings.

Why is it so important to master the fundamentals of color mixing, perspective and color theory?

Art fundamentals aren’t skills you learn and move beyond. Mastering the fundamentals is something that is ultimately never achieved. It’s about being on the path towards mastery, not becoming a master. It’s about developing an ever-deepening understanding and appreciation for line, shape, color, form, texture, etc.

What is the most common challenge artists face in mastering these fundamentals? How will your courses help address those challenges?

When beginning to learn these fundamentals, the biggest challenge students face is their own patience. My experience in teaching adults is that they can be unkind and impatient with themselves. Fundamental classes like Color Theory, Perspective, and Color Mixing require students to challenge their perceptions, which can feel uncomfortable first. My course exercises are designed to help students embrace the “practice” of painting and drawing, not the perfection. They are intended to help students develop healthy mindsets, so they can gain their own understanding of the concepts.

For the folks that have never taken an interactive course, can you explain the type of video feedback you will provide?

In all the feedback, I strive to point out what is working well and what could use additional attention. I try to give high quality feedback that students can use to evaluate their own work moving forward. In each painting, it’s important to observe the strengths and weaknesses. This allows artists to move into the next painting with intention, focusing on repeating strengths and strengthening weaknesses.

How do you continue to master these art fundamentals in your own work and what challenges have you faced?

The biggest challenge I’ve faced is breaking my own habits. It’s easy to fall into a pattern of painting, ultimately creating a rut that’s difficult to get out of. As much as I can, I approach each painting as an entirely new experience, changing my pigments and materials every few months. It’s satisfying to use the materials I’m comfortable with in a process that leads to predictable results. But it’s an even greater feeling when I’ve had a successful painting experience that’s kept me on my toes. I often come away with a new or deeper understanding of the fundamentals.

For example, replacing Cobalt Blue with Phthalo allowed me to see “blue” in the landscape in a whole new way. And positively transformed my painting process. It was challenging working with the intensity of Phthalo, but it led to a greater appreciation for color and the landscape.

What advice do you have for artists struggling with mastering color and perspective?

First, get comfortable “wasting” materials. If you’re struggling with color, use paint. A lot of it. If you’ve mixed a color and you know it’s not right, keep working on it until it is. Wasted paint is a necessary sacrifice for better painting. If you’re struggling with perspective, draw a lot. More precisely, sketch a lot. Much of what’s needed to understand perspective can be accomplished in a quick sketch rather than a fully rendered drawing. Making 100 sketches in 1 hour is more beneficial than one finished drawing in the same amount of time.

Second, think of painting and drawing as verbs, not nouns. Your finished paintings and drawings are records of the experiences you had making them. If you’re not enjoying the process, it will show in the finished product. If you love the process, you will make more art and get farther along the path towards mastery.

The interactive streaming courses with Scott Maier, Perspective Drawing, Color Mixing and Color Theory run Jan 11-Jan 24, 2020. During that time, Scott will provide assignments and send video-recorded feedback to each student. After the course dates, viewers will continue to have access to the recorded videos, discussion boards, and gallery, where you can share work and ideas with other students in the community.

AND DESIRE”

We canvas various physiological expressions of longing alongside visual documentation of lovers immortalized through time.

What is desire? A quickening of the pulse? An appetite for action, for closeness, for the intensity borne out of an incidental meeting of the minds, a longing to dominate another’s body, to be dominated, to possess, relinquish, to know, and make known? And what does it mean to desire, which is to say, how do we express and actualize an abstract idea, an inkling, into action? What are the languages that we use to connect with one another?

Today, we contemplate the art of desire. We canvas various physiological expressions of longing alongside visual documentation of lovers immortalized through time.

Many of our daily interactions, as well as the intimate, more nuanced occasions, are mediated by objects. It is a revealing, intimate experience to share one’s desires with another, and can often feel unnerving at times. Objects act as brilliant silent mediators which allow us to gently and tenderly reveal more about ourselves. As simple as an item of clothing left behind, a borrowed book, or a small token of affection, sharing experiences through objects allows us to truly share in another’s thinking processes. By considering these objects as a form of pedagogy, as objects which teach, we are able to learn about our own desires as well as others.

What if we read these tokens of affection or borrowed items as we did artistic objects? When we consider their form, meaning, and production, we are able to understand how we accept affection, and how others may offer or provide it.

Ingrid Aimee Peñaflor

RORSCHACHIST ABSTRACTION

By Arnaldo B. Mirasol

Red Nude, 2012, acrylic monoprint on paper, Roy Espinosa collection

The painting above, Red Nude, is an acrylic monoprint on paper. It is part of what I call my Rorschachist Abstraction series (a few samples below) - so called because the titles I gave to the paintings in this suite were based on images I seem to discern in the finished artworks. The Rorschach or Inkblot Test, named after its creator, Hermann Rorschach, is a psychological test where a patient is asked to describe what forms he sees in mirror-image inkblot marks on paper. The psychologist then used the patient’s interpretation of the marks to adjudge what that patient’s state of mind or personality characteristics are. It has been used to detect latent thought disorder in people, especially in cases where patients seem to hold back, and wouldn’t volunteer to describe their thinking processes openly.

Brown Cliffs of Nowhere, 2008, oil on paper

Arkong Bato (Stone Arch), 2008, oil on paper

Herodes, 2015,oil on paper

White Widow, 2012, acrylic monoprint on paper

Segmented Rainbow, 2012, acrylic monoprint on paper

Even though my paintings from 1981 to 2007 are of the realist mode, I have in my list of favorite artists ten abstractionists who I know are also masters of the realist technique - like Buds Convocar, Ross Capili, Max Balatbat, Isagani Fuentes, Fitz Herrera, Demi Padua, Allain Hablo, Gus Albor, Lao Lian Ben and Raul Isidro. Their art have inspired me, and drove me into dabbling in abstraction. With good result I guess, because after my painting Evolution of the Naos (bottom) earned accolades from an art dealer and a few fellow artists, I am now convinced that the abstract route is the one I should try to traverse from now on.

But some may question my leap into abstraction. I have been a realist painter for more than three decades now, and many art theorists look askance at painters whose shift to abstraction is rather abrupt. Well, all I can say is my shift was not abrupt, because I have been at it - experimenting in creating new forms and utilizing new techniques - since 2008. I have paid my dues, so to speak. And I can say with confidence that I have exhausted all the possibilities of realism and have nothing more to add to it.

Unlike some child abstract expressionists, or even adults for that matter, who’ve gained prominence lately - thanks to online hype and sleek marketing strategies - what I worried about in my early youth was how to get my drawings of the human form right. The thought of leapfrogging into being an abstract expressionist by creating art using the drip and splatter technique never entered my mind. Those “instant abstractionists” have not done right, in my opinion. They have not hewed closely to what art and being an artist is about. The word art after all was derived from the Latin ars, which means skill. Thus, a painter who aspire to do abstractions should hone his skill in drawing and realistic painting first. He should first learn the rules before daring to break them.

Evolution of the Naos, 2008, oil on paper

Little Ben, 2015, oil on paper