KASINING ESSAYS by Arnaldo de Tondo

  Essay 34. RESPECTED ARTIST, BELOVED MENTOR By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol FERNANDO SENA's place in Philippine art history, as the father of Philippine art workshops, is already secure. An art educator for most of his life, Sena began his career as a volunteer teacher in the art classes of the Children's Museum and Library Incorporated (CMLI). It was his way of paying back, because Sena himself attended art classes for free at the CMLI, after which he was awarded by the museum director a painting scholarship to the University of the East School of Music and Fine Arts. Sena taught at the CMLI for almost ten years, and later on at the University of the East and the University of the Philippines. Sena branched out to conducting art classes of his own in various venues. He was also routinely invited by organizations to conduct art classes for them. Fernando Belen Sena was born in Tondo. His father, Arturo, was a "plantsador", a fellow who irons clothes for a living. His m

  Essay 33. BORN TO BE AN ARTIST By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol Many artists excel in painting even if they never took up fine arts in college. An outstanding example is National Artist Hernando R. Ocampo, who started out as a writer. Another is Lino Severino, who was a pilot, and also Onib Olmedo, an architect. I will add to the list WELEHITO N. PEPITO. Pepito's artistic urge manifested itself early. As a child, he did doodles on any paper he could lay his hands on, and sometimes even on the walls of their house. But poverty hindered his ambition to enter fine arts college. After high school, Pepito was persuaded by a relative to migrate to Dipolog City where a job was waiting for him. Although he was a mere all around worker, Pepito was able to support himself through college. He finished his course - not fine arts, I must add - and worked for many years as a medical representative selling intravenous fluids. When the company closed he was hired to be Sales Coordinator by another com

  Essay 32. A CHILDHOOD DREAM FULFILLED By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol FE MADRID PEPITO was a late bloomer in art. Although she showed hints, even as a child, of being an artist, she only began to paint when she was married for years already. Not only did Fe liked to draw then, she was also adept in doing craft works like the fashioning of bags, slippers, bangles, and shell accessories. These she sold to help augment the family income.  She was a working student during her high school years. She worked at an art supplies store near her school, where she met kindred spirits, artists, including her future husband, the would-be-renowned painter Celso Duazo Pepito.  Fe was born in Tres de Abril, Labangon, Cebu. She grew up in a family who wasn't exactly convinced of the practicality of a career in art. She therefore chose to take up Commerce. But financial difficulties again got in the way. For the second time in her life as a student, she was obliged to work.  But those were not wasted ye

  Essay 31. BUDDING PRIDE OF TANAY By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol Proud are the artist born and raised in the lakeshore towns of Angono, Binangonan, and Tanay, because three of the greatest names in Philippine painting - Botong Francisco, Enteng Manansala, and Tam Austria - hail from there. Also, two markedly distinct schools or styles of painting originated from the place: the Botong Francisco school with their curves and graceful lines and the Manansala school of transparent cubism with their angles and jagged planes. Tam Austria, who is from Tanay, belongs to Francisco's school, while MANUEL SINQUENCO, another Tanay native, leans more towards Manansala's transparent cubism. Manuel Sinquengco was born on February 26, 1972 to Jaime Hucom Sinquenco, a master carpenter, and Lydia Buizon Samonte. The third of four children and the only boy, Sinquenco spent his grade school years at the Tanay Elementary School and high school at the Sierra Madre Institute. Sinquenco's family may b

  Essay 30. ADA'S REALM OF MAGIC By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol Engkantada is the Tagalog equivalent of the word enchantress. Engkantadas are said to guard our mountains, forests, and seas. Of the Filipino engkantadas, no one is more famous than Mariang Makiling and Mariang Sinukuan who were the resident goddesses of Mt. Makiling and Mt. Arayat respectively. Engkantadas so fascinate ADA PANOPIO that she made them the major subject of her art. Like Ada, many Filipino artists, most notably Botong Francisco have depicted Mariang Makiling and the other nature spirits time and again. The engkantadas as painted  by other artists though were always clad in baro't saya or other native Filipino attire. On the other hand Ada's engkantadas, except those characters from Philippine legends, were depicted naked, or nearly so, in the manner of Frank Frazetta's and Boris Vallejo's portrayal of goddesses and other mighty creatures in their fantasy paintings.  But Ada wasn't familiar

  Essay 29. SOCIETY PORTRAITIST PAR EXCELLENCE By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol JUN IMPAS has come a long way. The artist who learned the rudiments of the craft on his own, and started out as a painter of movie posters or cartelons, is now a most sought-after society portraitist. Judges, businessmen, and even Cardinals, among others, seek him out whenever they want their portraits painted. Impas was born in Cebu in 1970, but spent most of his young life in Surigao. Since his father Florentino senior was just a fisherman who had a wife and eleven children to feed, Impas had to take on odd jobs himself to help tide them over.  Yet, deprived though they were, the family was still blessed in having a son gifted with innate artistic talent whose creativity shone through early. The path to a future art career was opened to him when he was hired by a movie theater in Surigao City to do the posters of the movies that were to be shown. It was by way of that job that Impas's skill in painting face

Essay 28. HIGH ACHIEVER FROM GUINDULMAN By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol Prolific and versatile are words that describe SAM PENASO best. He isn't just a painter: he's also a sculptor of note and an international performance artist. Penaso is one of if not the most bemedaled artist around. Consider this: Penaso won the Grand Prize in the 4th Annual Don Papa Art Competition in 2019, the First Prizes in the 2014 and 2016 GSIS Art Competition, the First Prize in the 2012 Art Association of the Philippines Annual Art Competition, and the Third Prize in the 2001 Metrobank Young Painters Annual. He was also a Finalist in the 2006 Beppu Asia Biennale of Contemporary Art in Japan and in the 2013 Winter Grand Salon in New York. His most recent win is the Excellence Award in the 6th Geoje International Art Festival in South Korea. In 2018, he received an Award of Merit from the Philippine Art Awards and the Metrobank Award for Continuing Excellence and Service (Metrobank ACES). I first took

  Essay 27. TRANSLUCENCY IN PAINTINGS By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol JUSTINESS HENREY GODIO's artistic talent manifested itself early. He was still a child when he began drawing without prompting and guidance from anyone. This urge to create impelled him to level up and try watercolor and other paints next. He learned easily, because he didn't find studying art a chore. Drawing and mixing colors were pleasure activities for him. A native of Koronadal City, South Cotabato,  Godio was born on March 23, 1987. He could have entered fine arts school if his family had the means to support him through college. They didn't. So, Godio was dissuaded from enrolling in that, some would say, very impractical course. Nevertheless, his lack of formal schooling didn't prevent him from acquiring the knowledge and skills required of a professional artist. What Godio learned through years of unwavering practice of art enabled him to be hired as an artist in a commercial company. Godio joi

  Essay 26. PASSION FOR FACADES By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol Just when I thought of motifs of Spanish-era houses as already 'squeezed dry' by artists, along came ARIS CARANDANG with his novel low-relief re-creations of their facades. It was Lino Severino who popularized paintings of old houses in the 1970s. Severino's works have an abstract feel to them, especially the close-up images of facades, with their straight lines and nearly flat planes. Many imitators who are excellent artists themselves followed his lead.  But a deviation in technique and form occurred when Danny Pangan tackled the theme. Pangan departed from the usual depictions in paint of the old houses in full view and did instead three-dimensional (3D) interior scenes showing windows with carved wood adornments atop them. Carandang's innovation, in turn, was to do the reverse of Pangan's interior scenes. The carved wood embellishments are still.there, but they no longer adorn the interior of the house.