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.

-----

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.

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. 

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.