Getting My Mojo Back (pt. II)

 I have been making works of art, intending to continue filling up the sketchpad. The first is a remake of my previous work on another sketchpad. It depicts me and my girl lying down while holding hands. The two others are just random artworks. 

The next three are music-related. Left: One is a scene from the My Chemical Romance music video of their song "Helena." It depicts the scene when the lady is about to collapse into the coffin again after ballet dancing when she rises from death. Center: This is an attempt to make a Chester Bennington image. Chester is the vocalist of the band Linkin Park, which was very influential in my youth. Right: This one is an image of a Rastafarian smoking weed. I made this on April 20, 2024 (4-20). Of course, it is not that music-related, but the model I thought of drawing was Bob Marley.

Two recent charcoal sketches I made were Yoshi Toranaga from Shogun (left) and Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother (right). I made the Yoshi Toranaga sketch because I recently became hooked on the show Shogun on Disney+ and instantly became a fan. I have also been a fan of Hiroyuki Sanada as an actor. Finally, the last sketch I made is an attempt to make Robin Scherbatsky, played by Cobie Smulders. I have long been a fan of How I Met Your Mother and have watched 9 seasons more than 10 times. Sometimes, I even enjoy leaving it to play in the background while doing other things.

Arte Centenaryo

 

 

Five paintings of mine are featured in the university's centennial art exhibit entitled "Arte Centenaryo". The art exhibit will run from April 3 - May 2, 2024. This particular art exhibition is actually my first time joining an art exhibit (now I am in my mid-30s). I actually had been invited to last year's exhibit but I was unable to promptly reply to the invitation. If I was able to join, It would have been the first time that I would be in an art exhibit with my father. Unfortunately, that kind of experience would not happen in the future, since he died last year.

During the putting up and opening program of the exhibit, many of the guests and artists actually praised my works. Some who were my father's friends and patrons talked of how great it was that I was following my father's footsteps. I have in turn always replied to their praises that I could never measure up to my father in terms of artistry. I try though. 

With all the praise my paintings received, I hope that I will be able to sell any of them. It is not that I am not happy with the praises. I am in fact very happy. But praise just doesn't pay for the materials used in the artworks, as well as all the time and effort I invested in them. Also, the art exhibit is for a cause wherein a certain percentage of the sales will support scholarship funding for deserving students. So far, "Pagpanulo" is receiving so much attention, which makes me very happy and expectant that it might sell in the future.

All in all, the experience is very uplifting. I dedicate this first experience of joining an art exhibit to my father. 

My artist profile in the catalogue

Solace

 

Solace (acrylic on canvas, 15"x20")

Solace 

    (noun) -comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.

    (verb) -give comfort or consolation to.

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Initially, I never wanted to paint anything cheezy, I just wanted to try a sunset scene. I have viewed a lot of paintings depicting sunsets, but I have never actually painted one using acrylic. I tried painting it using a photo taken by my sister as a reference. In the photo was me and my girl looking at the sun as it set. When I completed the painting, I asked my girl what should be a good title for the work. One suggestion of hers that caught my attention was the word "solace". I was immediately attracted to the word and decided for it to be its title. Come to think of it, I have always told her that even though sunsets are beautiful, I find them sad. I believe that "comfort in sadness" is relatable to this painting. She, herself, finds comfort (when she's sad) in seeing sunsets -- her favorite. And I, in turn, find comfort in being with her despite the sadness of sunsets.

Hardwork's Rest

 

Hardwork's Rest (acrylic on canvas, 15"x20")

Filipinos have always considered water buffalos/carabaos as a symbol of hard work. They have long been companions of our farmers in plowing the fields, towing heavy loads of produce, and even a means of transportation, especially since most poor farmers neither have farm-to-market roads, nor trucks and automobiles. I have long been fascinated by these beasts of hard work, and have truly admired them. In fact, they are one of my favorite animals, despite not being overly cute. I even dream that one day, I would retire on a farm where I could raise a carabao, and live a chill life. It was my aim to paint a chill life with a carabao in this particular painting, hence "Hardwork's Rest".

In this particular painting, I painted the carabao wading, resting, and cooling down in a creek for I believe that all hard workers deserve a good rest. Unfortunately, I only made this on a smaller canvas. I hope I can do another work depicting a carabao on a bigger canvas, to give justice to my fascination with the beast.

First Kiss

First Kiss (acrylic on canvas, 15"x20")

One of the iconic places in VSU is the Frog Fountain. In the past, students of VSU would joke about how one is not a true Viscan if he/she has not kissed one of the frogs of the frog fountain. I attempted to present the scene of a student and her first encounter with the frog of the Frog Fountain. I am actually quite disappointed with the painting. It had errors. Unfortunately, one of the requirements of the "Arte Centinaryo" at the university is to make an artwork depicting a scene in the university. I am really not good at painting landscapes, and environment scenes. Hence, the result.

Future Builder

 

Future Builder (acrylic on canvas, 18"x24")

The artwork depicts a young girl making sand castles on the beach. The inspiration for this scene was a daughter of my friends, who was making sand castles on the beach even when she was just alone and even when the waves constantly threatened the structure she made, she still had lots of fun building things. It is my hope that the people could continue to have "fun" while building things for the future.

I made this painting in 2023. I rushed to make this one when I heard that I had an opportunity to join the 2023 exhibit at the university. It was supposed to be my first exhibit and the first one that I could be in the exhibit with my father who happened to be one of the best artists in Baybay. Unfortunately, I was not able to reply to the invitation promptly, and when I did reply, it was already too late. The organizers have already printed the program. Sadly, this exhibit was the last one that my father was able to join in. He died days later. After his death, I vowed to join in the next exhibit to continue a bit of his legacy. Now I am one of the artists in the upcoming 2024 "Arte Centinaryo" exhibit at the university.

Provincial Life

 

Provincial Life (acrylic on canvas, 20"x28")

My inspiration for creating the artwork was a scene in the early morning when I visited a friend on the provincial outskirts of Baybay (my hometown). I came across a boy cleaning fish in a small creek. This scene fascinated me since I was accustomed to only seeing fish being cleaned in the kitchen or in the marketplace immediately after buying the fish. The scene was so “provincial” that he decided to make the artwork and entitled it “The Provincial Life”.

This artwork took too long to complete. I believe I started painting this in 2012, but I only managed to complete this in 2019, which is seven years later. Initially, I signed the painting with "DEANSTERF" which is my tag. In 2024, I started signing my paintings with a stylized "Dean Flandez", so I also signed this one with it over my previous DEANSTERF sign. 

Ang Silot kang Pandaguan

Ang Silot kang Pandaguan (acrylic on canvas, 24"x30")

Pandaguan is the son of Sicalac and Sicavay, who were the first man and woman, according to the stories of the Pintados (in Miguel Lorca's Relacion de las Yslas Felipinas, 1580s). He was punished by the gods Captan and Maguayen for the death of the shark that he captured using a net and brought to land. This resulted in him being sent to the netherworld, where he roamed for a while until the gods took pity on him, and brought him back to life. When he came back, he went to his home only to find that his wife had left with another man. Even when he ordered his son to get her, the woman still did not come since she thought that no man could come back to life. This enraged Pandaguan and he went back to the netherworld. In this painting, the artist attempts to present a scene when Pandaguan was punished by Captan and Maguayen with lightning bolts. 

Since my reading of Loarca's Relacion de las Yslas Felipinas, I wanted to paint scenes about the belief system of the Pintados, who are the ancestors of my people (Visayans). I decided to paint this one. It took me a week to complete.

Pagpanulô

Pagpanulô (acrylic on canvas, 24"x30")

Pagpanulô (or pangilaw) is the gathering of shellfish, crabs, shrimps, and other marine organisms during low tides at night. It is usually done with flashlights and headlamps for the person to see the organisms in the water and sand. I attempted to paint this said activity by depicting two women who have already collected a lot of shellfish and are preparing them to be consumed later on. The inspiration for making the painting was when I went to the homeplace of my fiancee. One of the activities we did while there was to gather shellfish (panulô) with her sisters. It was my first experience of panulô. After the gathering, we immediately ate the ones we had taken by cooking them in vinegar (kilaw). The experience was so satisfying and rewarding that I decided to make a painting about it. It took me a week to complete the painting.

This painting will be a part of the "Arte Centinaryo" (art exhibit) during the VSU Centennial Anniversary in April 2024.