K A B L A G

On Being An Artist

2010-07-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

“How can you say one style is better than the other? You ought to be able to be an Abstract Expressionist next week, or a Pop artist, or a realist, without feeling you’ve given up something… I think that would be so great, to be able to change styles. And I think that’s what’s going to happen, that’s going to be the whole new scene.”

I came across this statement by Andy Warhol. I have been an Andy Warhol fan a long time. Say what you will against him but we cannot deny he’s a genius. My favorite quote from him was when he was asked a question and he didn’t say anything. He just raised his shoulders and pointed to his colleague and let him answer the question.

He once said that ‘while they are deliberating whether what you created was art or not… make more art.’

I think explaining or talking about a painting puts boundaries to it. That’s why I don’t like making statements about my art. It distorts things up. My art is my statement.

Of course I still write art statements because galleries require it and I don’t mind bending.

I have been an artist all my life and I think art is a way of life. It’s not a profession for me. It’s just the way I live. Just like everybody, I’ve been drawing before I can write but the difference was that stopping never crossed my mind.

Our system tend to put artists in a box. They want you to be something that they can identify with like a cubist, a realist, impressionist etcetera.

For me I cannot stick to one style or genre. I get bored easily. I just enjoy doing want I want. It’s my way of not being totally controlled by whatever the system dictates. It’s my way of going against the grain. Free of dogmas.

I started with the pencil when I was about 5 years old. I grew up in a remote area in the Philippines and I was just fascinated when I saw my older brother’s sketch of the Volkswagen beetle we used to own. I got hooked instantly. I started copying Superman and Spiderman from comics. I got influenced a lot by great Filipino komiks illustrators such as Redondo, Alex Nino and Malgapo because that’s the kind of art available to me at that time. I love looking and studying their drawings.

Drawing also became my refuge due to my insecurities while growing up a ‘probinsyano.’ or ‘syano’ as they say.

When I was in high school, (Quirino High School, QC Manila) I took graphic arts as an elective and started using watercolors, oils and acrylics. I was the school’s representative in art contests and coveted 2 awards for me and them.

I don’t excel in academics and this puts me down mentally during that time because as I said earlier, the system wants you to excel in academics to be accepted. They want you to be doctors and engineers. Me? I just want to draw that’s all.

I was about to take up painting in college but my brother adviced me not to because there’s no money in it.

See what I mean?

I took up advertising instead (University of Santo Tomas)and it worked out perfect because the advertising experience made me different from most artists. I had 9 years of advertising experience (Avellana and Associates)and it gave my art a fresh dimension. Advertising taught me illustration, layout, and thinking about ideas. It sharpened my conceptual abilities and learned to use non-standard materials.

I tried going back to advertising when I migrated here in the US but I got frustrated because of the culture difference. I know we were taught how to be an American back in P.I. but my provincial self persisted. I just realized I don’t have to play that game anymore. I have to be myself.

I was happy because that was the time I really started ‘painting.’ My first love.

I met Santi Bose in Oakland and he became my mentor even if he didn’t know. Up to now, I haven’t seen or met an artist like Santi that I could follow. I can relate to him because we have similar background. I gave up already because most of the art I see today are all about selling. Sorry to say but mostly they’re about the buyer not the artist.

I have no gallery representation or anything like that but I don’t mind. I’m on my own. I know myself. I dictate my art and future and have no intention of following anybody’s rules because I have to follow my own path.

I love my job as a printer, I love my family and I give them equal time and enthusiasm as my art. I accept imperfections because that's the way life is. I am an illustrator, a painter, a cubist, an impressionist, a realist, a tattoo artist, graphic designer, digital artist/printer, commercial artist, former drug addict and alcoholic, factory worker, dental assistant, production artist, abstractionist, expressionist, modernist, conceptual and pop artist, stent winder, flash artist, cartoonist, portrait artist, social realist, watercolorist, a musician sometimes, caricaturist, a cook, a son, a father, husband, brother, friend and proud of it all.

Being an artist for me is not about sticking to one or two genres. It's not about hardship or isolation. I have to be present at all times without preferences bacause art is all about life experience. I know because I am my own proof. I am an artist and living it.

Cow Palace Tattoo Expo – March, 2010

2010-07-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

I was at the Cow Palace Tattoo Expo last month with Underground Creations of San Jose, CA. Thanks to Darius Agustin and my kumpareng Ariel Cruz for letting me in.

There weren’t too many clients.

I guess it’s the economy.

I still enjoyed and learned a lot. Dee (Darius) gave me some pointers on tribals. He uses super black by intenze inks and uses plain water to break the skin first then apply the black next. The result was very smooth. You can’t see needle lines.

There were 3 new young tattoo artists and they inspired me a bit because of their guts. If they can do it, I can do it too. It takes courage to do ink because it’s on human skin. I’m actually doing it slowly but surely. I’m in no rush.

I didn’t want to be bored so I just banged away three and a half drawings for my flash. I felt like a performer when I do drawings at these conventions because I do it in front of people. I admit I still appreciate the comments but I don’t want to get it into my head because I still want to learn.

Nancey Plew introduced me to Stan who wants something done. He wants an Oni mask that looks like himself. Nancey recommended me because she saw a similar drawing that I did before. Stan just emailed his picture after the convention and I started from that. The other drawing has a generic face.

I haven’t met my homeboys for a long time so I really enjoyed meeting them again. I was with them I think about 3 or 4 years ago at Pomona, LA. I really enjoyed their company and I talked about them in my old post. I wasn’t drinking anymore when I met them but I gave it another shot because I wanted to know them more.

They talked about their gang banging days but that was past and I don’t really want to elaborate. Overall, they were fun guys and it was really nice meeting them again.

I know tattooing isn’t considered as ‘high art’ by the ‘experts.’ Art is my first love and my wife knows this :-)

I haven’t really discovered how to fuse my experience as a tattoo artist and designer with my art but I know I’m getting there. I’m starting to get some ideas.

I saw Ed Hardy’s paintings at Pusod, Berkeley about 10 years ago and that was the first time I’ve heard of him. He was incorporating Japanese and sailor style tattoos into his paintings. It was very fresh and I guess the fusion he did made it become ‘art.’

The experience I’m having in the tattoo world worried me at first because I was thinking it will take over my time for art but I immediately realized Ed Hardy. Give me a few years and I’m sure my future paintings will be influenced by it. Actually I started incorporating my flash designs into my paintings in my last exhibit with Kwatro Kantos.

It was accidental though. I didn’t pursue tattooing. It just came to me and I’m enjoying it. It’s been like this for me always. It’s like nature’s leading me to it. I just make art and all the ingredients just flow in naturally.

Oh and by the way Ike Greca, one of Ariel’s tat artists won first place for the celebrity portrait category. Congratulations Ike! Way to go. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of his winning piece.

Sabong Tattoo at the Cow Palace

2009-09-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

We just concluded another tattoo expo at the Cow Palace. It wasn’t as good as the last one but we got by.

I got excited because one design I did way back got inked for the first time.

A pinoy asked me If I have an image of sabong or cock fight. I showed him the drawing and he said that’s exactly what his friend was looking for so he ran and called them.

Two friends came. They’re all around 60 years old. Darius saw one of them wearing a shirt with the Philippine map printed in front. Darius hollered, ‘hey! wer’d ju get dat shirt?’

‘Pilipins, Pilipins.’ Why?’ The guy answered feeling a bit agitated on how Darius approached him not even saying ‘manong’ ‘po’ or ‘ho.’ You know how mainland pinoys see Fil-ams as hambugs or ‘mayayabang.’ Darius is a Fil-am who understands tagalog and ilocano but cannot speak it. Darius answered, ‘oh, because I have one here’ pointing to his temple. The Philippine map was tattooed on the left side of his forehead.

I noticed the guy calmed down because he only got the map on his shirt while Dee’s (Darius) got it on his forehead.

The guy liked the cock fight design and got it inked by Ariel. I did the design as outlines only then Ariel filled in the colors. I really made it outline only so that the tattoo artist can play with the colors.

The guy was very particular with the colors. He showed us a cell phone picture of the kind of cock or rooster he wants.

I know the other one is ‘talisayin’ but I didn’t know what they call the red one. ‘Talusapi’ he told me which my brother commented that’s bad luck because the name suggests ‘to loose.’ Talo or talu means ‘lost’ or ‘loose’ in tagalog.

I was really amused when I met the 3 sabungeros because I know their kind. My father used to own a cock fighting farm back in P.I. They remind me of my father’s friends with their polo jack, sparkling white sneakers, pomade and blue jeans. We hit it off right away.

I translated quite a few names in baybayin or alibata. We have this printed guide where there are Spanish letter translations. You won’t find Spanish letter translations in the internet like ‘ra,’ cha,’ fa,’ ‘ca’ or ‘ja.’

I also learned how a consonant can be just the consonant like instead of ‘ba,’ it will be read as ‘b’ only by adding an accent. Without accents the character will always be read as BA, KA, DA, GA and so on. Accents make the characters read as BE, BI, BO, BU or KE, KI, KO, KU.

Our group was international meaning there were two Irish, a Brazilian, Korean, Mexicans and Filipinos.

Ricky, a Mexican-American whose whole body was filled with Mexican pride tattoos told me, ‘hey Mel I can tell you’re a nice guy.’ I told him ‘yes, I always try to be.’ ‘No, no.’ he said. ‘I can tell you have a good heart just like most Filipinos. That’s why I have 3 stars and a sun tattooed on my arm.’ He showed me the tat. A small sun and 3 stars in a sea of Mexican pride tattoos. That made me feel proud and good.

I was only able to go Saturday because I had to babysit Friday and Sunday. As always, I enjoyed the company and the experience.

Nonito Donaire

2009-07-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

I’ve been a boxing fan since the Ali, Frazier and Foreman years. That was during the seventies. I’ve been following the sport regularly because you cannot escape it specially if you’re Filipino. The Philippines is a boxing fanatic country. Boxing is the main sport that puts our country on the map. It gives us great pride and honor.

Even when I migrated here in the US, I was still able to watch the fights because my brother in law is a huge boxing fan. I’ve seen Roach fight before he became a great trainer. Of course there was Duran, Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and all their fights were classics.

But I didn't get too excited because there really wasn’t a Filipino boxer that dominated the sport during my time. I was in between Flash Elorde and Manny Pacquiao so I didn’t really have something to crow about but not to put down Rolando Navarette, the Espinosas and the Penalosas. They have my respect but I did not get excited compared to Pacquiao’s era.

Not only did Pacquiao transcend boxing but Pacquiao made me believe in his ability just like the all time greats like Pryor, Arguello, Duran and Leonard. He’s one of them and he’s a pure blooded pinoy.

But one of the reasons I got really excited was that It’s not only Pacquiao that’s making a name out there but there are other top notch pinoy boxers right now.

Nonito Donaire is one of them. I’ve watched his fights in Utube and the first time I saw him fight, deng! I was really impressed. He’s very fluid and accurate. He reminds me of the technical prowess of Mayweather Jr and I think he’s still getting bigger and better. I love the way he avoids his opponents’ punches just by a hair then counters. It’s really the ‘sweet science’ when you see Donaire fight.

I think Nonito has a great potential. He may not match Pacquiao’s legacy but I can tell you that I trust him to lift the Pinoy’s boxing spirit after Pacquiao.

Another thing about Nonito Donaire is that he’s into art too. I am an artist so I gave him some of my hand-painted t-shirts to show my appreciation. I attached my card on the shirts so I hope he calls. Just a wish though.

Once I read in Pacland that he’s having his media day last Saturday at the Undisputed Gym just across the bay, I decided to go and support him.

During his training, I was able to talk to Jonathan Penalosa for a while and he told me (before knowing Darchinyan's loss to King Kong Agbeko) that Darchi was their target. He said that Darchi was trying to avoid Nonito by moving up in weight. Now that Darchinyan lost, I think there’s a big chance that he will rematch Nonito which I can predict Nonito would win again. But I think It’s gonna be up to Nonito because Nonito Donaire could either fight him again or just move on. I think Donaire’s got all the aces now that Darchi lost again. But of course Donaire has to beat Rafael Concepcion in August.

Jonathatn Penalosa told me that his (Donaire) main goal is to reach the weight of Juan Manuel Lopez and fight him. That’s really gonna be exciting and I can’t wait for that to happen. I think there’s a big chance that Donaire could upset Juan Ma Lopez. I know Juanma is bigger and more powerful but I think Donaire has the ability to beat him.

I also was able to take pictures with Dodie Boy Penalosa (another pinoy world champ) and Rachel Donaire and before we left, I told Dodie Boy (teary eyed) that they make me hella proud.

You’ll find my wife and my son Miro in the picture too.

I asked my son if he likes boxing, he said no.

Suddenly I'm Asian

2009-02-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

I guess there’s a certain pride being called ‘Asian.’ The Asian region has seen great advances the last couple of decades. Japan has been leading the way for years but China, Korea and India aren’t far behind. Besides these four countries, we also have Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. These three states compared to the big four are minor players but couldn’t be counted out as economic powers of Asia.

Here in the US, I notice Asians have that respect. Asians are mainstream. You’ll always find Indians and Chinese in the TV show Jeopardy and you’ll find them as CEOs and business owners and everybody knows that Asians excel in schools. I don’t have the statistics but I know it by observation. Asians are labeled ‘smart’ because of this.

Filipinos are definitely Asians. Our country lies in Southeast Asia but Filipinos have always been reluctantly called Asians.

The reason I think is that because in our region, we are the poorest. We don’t have that kind of respect that the Japanese and the Chinese have. We’ve been conquered by everybody and I can’t deny that we have one of the most corrupt and incompetent governments.

Filipinos are like the black sheep of Asia. I’ve also heard about the label ‘niggers of Asia.’ We are dis-owned because of the reasons stated above.

Enter Manny Pacquiao – the ‘greatest ASIAN boxer of all time.’

Suddenly there’s no reluctance in Manny Pacquiao being called ‘Asian.’ Suddenly, we are one of them.

Is Manny Pacquiao our vindication? In a way I guess but personally, I don’t care because good and bad, I’m proud to be Pinoy even without Manny. There’s a lot more to being Filipino than meets the eye but it’s a long story.

It’s just funny how suddenly Manny Pacquiao is their property.

Suddenly I became Asian.

Recent Tattoos

2009-01-29T14:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some new tattoos that I did.

I'm happy with my tattooing. I know I still have a lot to learn but I think I'm improving. My lines are getting better everytime. I'm still struggling with color but I was able to pull off one colored tat which my client liked.

I've had problems with my machine but Ariel Cruz told me how to solve that problem. My problem was that my needle doesn't prick the skin consistently. This made my lines break. I thought I had clean lines but 4 of them came back due to broken lines.

The problem was that the screw that hits or vibrates on the spring is dirty. The spark made the spring and the screw black and all I had to do was clean it with sand paper. Once I did this, my machine ran smoothly.

Multo at Tatu

2009-01-29T13:59:00.000-08:00

nagpreprepara ako sa pagtatatu kay ludwig sa garahe sa union city... nag aayos ng gamit.

inayos kong mabuti ang mga gamit dahil ayaw kong kaunting sanggi lang ay maglaglagan dahil maselan ang mga ito't hindi pwedeng madumihan.

may kumatok, (tik-tik sa pinto ng garahe) binuksan ko, si arnold. tropa namin na customer ko din. tatlong tatu na ang ginawa ko sa kanya. gusto lang mag hang-out habang tinatatuan ko si ludwig na tropa din nya.

matapos ang mga isang oras na bullshit ay umalis na din si arnold. naiwan kami ni ludwig. si ludwig ay nakahiga sa lamesa dahil sa binti ko gagawin si tatu. pangatlo na din itong tatu nya na ginawa ko.

gamit nya habang nakadapa sa lamesa ang computer ko habang nakikipag video chat sya sa chick nya sa pilipinas. ginagawa nya ito lagi para wag daw syang mainip.

maya-maya'y may kumatok nanaman sa pinto ng garahe. tik-tik ika. sino kaya ito kako, baka si arnold ulit at may nalimutan. binuksan ko si garahe... WALANG TAO. DENG! nagkatinginan kami ni ludwig.

tuloy ang kwento namin at hindi namin pinansin.

umupo na ako at isinusuksok ko na yung needle nang biglang may tumunog sa likod ko. para bang may sumanggi don sa lalagyan ko ng mga pangtatu. lingon agad ako sa likod, wala. baka kako luminsad lang ang lalagyan.

di eto na... ika ni ludwig habang nanlalaki ang mga mata... 'PARE, TINGNAN MO 'TO O (tinuturo yung computer), SABI NUNG KA-CHAT KO, MAY NAGLALARO DAW BATA SA LIKOD NATIN...!!!'

binasa ko ang chat box... nakalagay, 'uy sino yung batang naglalaro sa likod nyo, anak mo ba yan?'

NAAAAYYYY!!!

nanlaki ang mga mata namin ni ludwig.

pinabayaan ko na dahil mag-uumpisa na akong magtatu.

pag tingin ko sa balat ni ludwig, parang balat ng manok sa takot. tayong tayo ang mga balahibo.

haha. ako din takot.

inattach ko yung tatung ginawa ko nung gabing yon.

Two Exhibits in Manila

2009-01-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

ASIMILASYON RADIKAL - post-punk aesthetics

Kwatro kantos (England Hidalgo, Mel Vera Cruz, Marcius Noceda and Carlo Ricafort) Andres Barrioquinto, Alfred Esquillo, Robert Langenegger, Romeo Lee and Santiago Bose have an ongoing exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

This show have been in the works for almost 2 years and I'm really happy that it's at the CCP now. I am honored to have my works hanged at the CCP. I have shown there back in 1986 after the EDSA revolution titled Piglas, Art at the Crossroads.

This show is different because there's only a few of us and I'm hanging my works with such great artists as Esquillo and Santi Bose.

I've been saying how Santi changed my direction in art. He's like a big brother to me regarding my art and now my works are side by side with his at the CCP. I cannot ask for more at the moment.

I just wish I could be there but I can't due to money problems and I'm new to my work so I cannot get too much time-off.

Thanks Lian Ladia for curating the show and making this happen.

Here's the link.

Click for photos here.

BLOW BY

Another on going exhibit that me and Kwatro Kantos have joined is this.

I'm stoked that they used both of my images for the postcards. The title for the image on the left is "Barok's Burden.'

Rupert's Tattoo

2008-10-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

I just did rupert’s tattoo. I’ve known Rupert Estanislao since our Pusod days back in 2000. Pusod was a space in Berkeley where we held some exciting and provocative shows. Thanks to Malou Babilonia for letting us ‘thrash’ that space.

Rupert is the lead vocalist of Eskapo - a Filipino punk band here in the bay area. He’s also a performer who was awarded the best spoken word artist by East Bay Express. What drove me to Eskapo besides us being Filipinos was their high energy and nihilistic approach to music. It’s similar to what I’m trying to convey in my paintings. We’ve collaborated in many exhibitions where I showed my art and they played the music. We basically have the same sentiments.

England Hidalgo, my partner in art, joined Eskapo some 4 years ago where he played guitar and some vocals. This helped me get closer to the group because even if I wasn’t always able to attend, I always get the invite to their shows through England.

I haven’t done any tattoo for the past 2 months and this made me feel a little nervous but unlike before, I didn’t have to practice on pigskin. I felt confident even if I haven’t done anything for quite a while.

The design was chosen by Rupert. It’s black and gray, not to small and not too big. I changed the typeface and the layout from the original because it didn’t jive for me. Rupert agreed and we went from there.

The session took 2 and a half hours plus an hour for set-up. I had a hard time stretching Rupert’s skin in some areas because the Vaseline made it slippery so I had to re-outline in some areas.

Besides this, everything went fine. I tried Darius Agustin’s advice (Da Underground Tat 2) not to use the gray shading ink because the result wasn’t smooth so I just used my outlining ink and mixed it with water just like using watercolor. I used a 3 round needle for the outline and a 5 magnum for the shading.

Rupert was happy with the result and that made me happy too.

Thanks TJ Basa for the pictures.

MacBook Pro

2008-09-12T12:03:00.001-07:00

I love my new MacBook Pro. I just acquired it 2 months ago. 15 inch, 200 gig at 2.4 ghz.

I bundled it with CS3 design standard (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat Pro). Got tired of hacking so I just bought it. Besides, I always use it and I’m gonna get even soon.

It’s gonna be my workhorse.

Another reason why I bought this was that Miro spends hours in my Mac at home. He enjoys playing Dora and Diego. I like him learning early on the PC. Plus I can be mobile. I can bring my MacBook anywhere.

I like how the screen adjusts to available light. The screen is a bit small for my needs but I have to do with it because I cannot afford the 17 inch but you can just zoom in to what you’re doing so problem solved.

I was looking for a case in the internet and the one I liked was priced at $60.00 so I just improvised. Haha. I’ve been using this case since I bought this Mac. Works perfect.

Recent Drawings 9_12_08

2008-09-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

I’m basically new in my job. 8 months to be exact and one way for me to connect to my co-workers is to draw them up. This never fails.

I used to be timid and quiet but I just told myself, what the heck, I’ll just let everybody know who I am and what I do.

Drawing always gets people’s attention and it’s one way for me to gain their respect. Once they know I’m an artist, they stop harassing me. Of course I also understand respect should come from both sides. I grew up in the province and have been a FOB so I totally understand what respect means.

Drawing my co-workers is good practice for me so I also gain something out of it even if I do it for free.

But I recently decided to charge them the next time. It’s like Bill Gates’ style… giving away softwares for free then once you’re used to the free software and couldn’t live without it, Bill Gates upgrades it for $$$.

Cool strategy :-)

My Books

2008-09-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

I got my first ever published comic book. It was a collaboration between me and Hal Nielsen of Jungle Training Productions. I’ve been doing comics for a while with Hal and this one was the latest. The other ones were mainly for presentation which I didn’t know if those ever got published.

I used a small brush that I bought at Walmart. I tried using a black pen but it didn’t work because it’s taking too much time and I hate it because I cannot afford to use too much of my time because of my 2 young kids.

You know most Filipino illustrators use a brush for comics so I tried it. It worked for me because you can cover thick and thin lines in one stroke. I’m not a master in comics but I got the job done. Hal liked it and we’re about to start on another one. It’s available for sale in Hal’s website.

This second book is a compilation of my flash designs and tattoos that I did. I published this myself. This is available for sale for $40.00 each. I can guarantee that it’s worth the price because I broke it in at the Cow Palace Tattoo expo. People who saw it loved it. You’ll find plenty of Filipino flash in this book. You can contact me if you want it.

This third book is about my art. Inside are collection of my works starting from 2000 to 2007. Available for sale at 30 bucks a pop. Also self published. Here’s my email:

melveracruz@sbcglobal.net

Cow Palace Tattoo, August, 2008

2008-09-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

Another Cow Palace tattoo expo have gone by. We were there. Ariel Cruz of Cruz Creations Tattoo and Darius Agustin of Da Underground Tattoo had 3 booths combined. I never expected us to have that many customers because summer was almost over. You know summer is the best season for business because this is the time they can show off their tattoos.

Almost all the pinoys came to us for their tats not only because we’re good (hehe) but also because we offer the most reasonable price for their money.

I had one client who asked me to draw a masked face of a samurai warrior. I charged him 30 bucks for the drawing. He told me… ‘do you know how much the other booth was charging me for this drawing?’ (not the tattoo), He said ‘three hundred fucking dollars.’ Then he added, ‘mga artist talaga o.’

Some artists may say that I charge too low and this will make our business suffer but I have my reasons. Customers will come back and they sure did. I think we had about four to five returning clients during the convention.

Billy Truong (one of my tattoo teachers) showed of his new machine. The gun was as light as a ballpen and it was using air. I find this very interesting because of the lightness of the tattoo gun and it’s practically noiseless. This will make it a lot easier to control but it costs $2000.00 for the whole setup and takes a lot of space. Ummm… never mind, maybe next time :-)

I got scared.

Darius asked me to do one tat. Boo hoo, I declined. He was tired the last day so he asked me but I wasn’t psyched to do it and I wasn’t expecting it. I showed him my book and saw the latest tattoos that I did and I guess he liked it so he trusted me. I knew I can do it but my mind just wasn’t prepared. I just got scared that I might mess up. I’m gonna be ready for the next one though.

My family joined me for the first time in almost 3 years that I have been going to tattoo expos. Miro was just running around while Isabela just oggled at people. Good thing she behaved. Millette went shopping a little bit and bought me a bracelet that I can’t put on because the buttons were too tight.

Oh, one guy asked me to draw up his idea. He asked me what if he didn’t like it. Some people don’t get it that I went to an art school and paid for it (actually my parents did). But once they ask me to draw something up, they have to pay for it. They think drawing is easy and doesn’t realize the fact that it took me years of pracice to be able to illustrate. Mga tao talaga o… hehe.

I just told him that at least he had something to start with. He liked it and when Ariel was doing his tattoo, he told me that if he weren’t sitting there having his tat done, he’s gonna hug me. That’s nice to hear.

Kwatro Kantos In Oakland

2008-09-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

We set up our art at 21 Grand in Oaktown. Kwatro Kantos is made up of Marcius Noceda, Carlo Ricafort, Engalnd Hidalgo, our curator Lian Ladia and me.

I manipulated this Ginebra image 2 years ago for one of our exhibits at Bindlestiff. I guess that image stuck with us because England suggested it to be the name of our group and everyone agreed. I came from adverising so I like using pop images. Ginebra San Miguel is an icon in the Philippines and it’s one of my favorite drinks. It’s cheap, tastes good and potent. I used to drink a lot and I can say I personally know what it means to drink Ginebra. I know all you pinoys in P.I. know this too. Like I said, it’s cheap and potent and that says a lot.

It’s basically what we’re trying to say. Art could be cheap and potent too. You know how those institutions elevate ‘art’ into this unreachable pedestal. I don’t like buying those expensive materials in art stores. Why should I do that when I can buy it at any hardware store. What’s important for us is getting our messages across regardless of what kind of materials we use. We ARE the artists so they don’t have much choice.

Art is a luxury in the Philippines. Only the rich and the middle class get interested in it because it means nothing to the majority. They have to fill their stomachs first before getting into ‘art.’

I was just contemplating and realized that there’s no tagalog translation for the word ‘exhibit.’ The closest I can think of is ‘palabas.’ It’s just a ‘show’ like a circus. Nothing serious so why give meaning to a piece of s___. Excuse my French.

We got noticed by East Bay Express and wrote something about us. Flavorpill said Kwatro Kantos is what was happening in the art scene (August – September 2008) in the San Francisco bay area and I think they’re right.

EastBay Express link.

Thanks to barbara jane reyes for her article.

WORKS

RECEPTION

Some pictures in my garage. Preparation for the exhibit.

Diesel Finger

2008-09-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

Hey, my client had my drawing printed on t-shirts. Available on this website…

ZAZZLE

Dragon With Phoenix Wings

2008-09-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

I declined to do this project the first time Chris Gingrich of Gingalley Productions offered it to me. I don’t like doing realistic drawings because it takes too much of my time plus the fact that the client cannot afford what it’s really worth. They’re a start up rock band from the bay area. Chris tried finding somebody else but nobody wants to do it so when he offered it to me the second time, I accepted. I cannot say no two times to one of my best friends. I worked with Chris for 9 years in the art department at Zomax Inc. in Fremont. He and Jerri (his girlfriend) are now the godparents of my second child Isabela.

It took me a while to finish this because of other commitments but was able to pull it off I think.

I drew the outline first, scanned it and did the rest in Photoshop using my wacom pen and pad. Photoshop and wacom made my life a lot easier. I specially like wacom because it’s a lot comfortable to draw with a pen instead of a mouse.

They now realeased the cintiq something… where you can draw straight on the computer screen. Wow!

I’m still waiting for it get cheaper. The unit costs two grand at present.

MORE PIGSKIN TATTOO

2008-07-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

I used to practice on pigskin and I did quite a few. There are variations on the pigskin like some are easy to prick and most of them I would say are thick. I had a hard time tattooing these tough pigskins but I think it’s still good training because I learned that some humans have tough skins too.

It’s good to practice on pigskin because it’s the closest you can get to human skin.

It’s still different on humans because you cannot take out the thought that you’re pricking the skin of this person and this makes you nervous but once you start, the tension goes away.

One thing I would say is that it really helps when you’re starting to tattoo, to ink pigskins first before you do it on humans. I never tried the oranges and the artificial skin that you can get at tattoo sites because I’m satisfied with the pigskin.

I never believed in what some tattoo artists say to ink yourself before you learn. They say it’s some kind of initiation but that’s kind of dumb for me. Tattooing is a universal artform and it should not be confined. You can go around this by going to an oriental store and get a slab of pigskin.

Here are more pictures...

Here's the link for the final tat... Rene

and more pictures...

last batch...

Dragon, Script, Characters and Cherry Blossoms

2008-06-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

i've been busy the last 2 weeks (besides my day job) doing tattoos.

i learned that the type of skin has a lot to do with how the needle pricks it. i did one on this lady on her wrist and i had no problems inking her but the dragon i did on another guy had me do the lines twice on some areas because of the type of his skin. the fat combined with the thickness of his skin made the needle bounce off of his skin.

i told the guy i would finish the tattto in 4 hours but it took me 9 grueling hours.

the other setback i had was our position. he was lying on his back in the sofa while i was sitting on a low chair. this made my back hurt. i had no choice because i did the tattoo in his house and that's the best space we had.

i started 830pm friday, stopped at 2 am and continued at 9am saturday. i finished at 1pm.

i told the guy on the first session that i had to stop because i was too tired and it made my hands shake. he wanted to finish it that night but he agreed to stop.

i was a bit frustrated but decided i had to make it good despite all this and finish the tattoo. that's what i did and i was glad that he liked the result.

the tattoo on the left wrist was to cover up 2 slashes. the script and the kiss mark was on the neck of the guy with the dragon.

It's been a while...

2008-04-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

I've been absent for about a year now. I was busy with a new baby (Isabela)and some side jobs. I have finished quite a few drawings and joined 3 art exhibits. No output for a long time. Just some printed materials for use in future artworks.

I have a new job now in Oakland. Love my new job but cannot tell you details. I'm taking the BART everyday. Getting used to it. Saves me gas and mileage.

Miro will be 3 years old this thursday and we'll have a celebration this coming weekend.

Having to care for 2 children takes away almost all my time. That's the reason why I cannot do some paintings lately. I have to arrange my priorities and work only on projects that makes some dough. Painting doesn't so I have to let it go for a while.

I'll try posting some stuff soon.

Filipino Diaspora Part III

2007-10-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

image by england hidalgo

i'm honored to be part of this photography and art exhibit at the manila town in san francisco. nancy hom curated the show. i showed with her at the berkeley arts festival gallery maybe about 4 years ago. we talked a bit about doing an exhibit and it took 4 years to materialize.

we had a panel discussion that i was nervous about but everything went okay because i just wrote and read my speech. there were about 50 to 60 people at the discussion. i intended my talk to be very clear and i guess they understood because no questions were asked after.

arvin flores is a fellow member of kwatro kantos. http://sitekreator.com/curatorialprojects/main.html
he's very articulate and i'd like to thank arvin for doing most of the talking. he's also the main writer in our group.

i have met ric rocamora a few years back at pusod, berkeley and i like his work on creating awareness on the plight of filipino ofws and veterans. he and his photographs were featured in pbs regarding the filipino veterans.

the i-hotel is historic regarding filipino-americans. this hotel became the symbol of our struggle here in the land of plenty and i'm excited to be part of this even if i was years late. that struggle happened in the seventies. the original building was demolished and all the chinese and filipino tenants were literraly dragged outside the building.

i'm not sure how it got built again but i can say that it's a great space for showcasing filipino artists. we need this badly and thanks to all the people who got this going again.

the exhibit will be up until december 31 so please come by. here are some details...

‘The Filipino Diaspora Part III: International’

EVENT: Exhibition presented by Manilatown Heritage Foundation

DESCRIPTION: Photographs by Rick Rocamora and Vic Valbuena Bareng; artwork by Mel Vera Cruz, England Hidalgo, Arvin Flores and Sharon Hing.

DETAILS: Oct. 13, 4-6 p.m. (opening reception), Oct. 13-Dec. 31 (exhibition), 1-6 p.m. (Tues.-Sat.), Manilatown Heritage Foundation, 953 Mission St., Ste. 30, San Francisco.

Oct. 27, 2007 730pm Sat - open mic

Nov. 9, 2007 Fri 730pm - Film premier: Bill Sorro: His life and activism

Nov. 14, 2007 7 - 9 pm wednesday - Book launch: God of luck and new edition of wooden fish songs
by Ruthanne Lum McCunn

Dec. 5, 2007 Wednesday 7pm - Film screening: Bloodlines

CONTACT: (415) 777-1130, mhf@manilatown.org, manilatown.org

ISABELA

2007-10-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

my baby girl came in october 7, 2007 weighing 8 pounds. millette had labored for 5 hours and more than an hour of pushing. me and arielle (my niece) were beside her during isabela's birth and i'd like to thank arielle for her concern and effort. millette said the second time was harder than the first and i am thankful that everything went well.

miro is a little jealous but we try our best to give him attention. he's very intelligent and i think he understands now.

here are some pictures...

Two tattoos I did this weekend

2007-08-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

first time i have done tattoos without practicing on pigskin. Rurik's tattoo was a funnel web spider. i used a 3 round needle because the size was a bit small for the design. it took me 4 hours for this one but it's all worth it. tattooing made me draw again.

i was drawing since i was 5 but i got tired of the praises so i experimented on stuff that most people couldn't relate to. it seems to me that the purpose of drawing was to get people's attention. show people that you're good then float on their appreciation. i got over that so i stopped creating art for their tastes meaning i stopped pleasing my audience.

but the art of tattooing made me draw again. i could spend hours drawing on human skin because it involves respect. respect for the person you're tattooing so patience is key. i didn't have patience drawing on paper or canvas because of the reason i stated above. paper or canvas are disposable. it can be used for wrapping fish or a substitute for tissue paper. human skin is disposable too but you have to wait till he or she dies.

the second one i did was for bong. he's our friend way back during our 'sho-biz' period. i did some cover-up on the heart tattoo he got in prison. it was amazing how they did that tattoo. they used paperclip as needle and the black smoke from a candle as ink. it was crude but still great once you thought about how they did it.

i just added wings and a kris sword plus the name of her mom. here are some pictures...

Sun and Cross

2007-07-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

just finished another tattoo last sunday. i was still nervous but not as nervous as tracie's. i started using the metal grips and tubes. i doubted using these grips at first because it will add more weight to the gun. but these grips are a lot more stable compared to the plastic disposables i was using. the weight of the grip balances the weight of the tattoo gun so i can have a lot of control. the plastic disposables were too light and i had to literally lift the gun while holding the plastic grip so the weight is heavier on top which makes it harder to control

i was also planning to get the 1/2 inch diameter grips but nancy and ariel adviced me to get the larger ones. good thing i followed their advice because the larger ones are heavier and i think this makes my lines more accurate.

thanks again nancy plew and ariel cruz for advicing me to use these grips.

rene is tracie's husband. he liked tracie's tattoo and that's why he had me do his first tat. i was excited that he was letting me do this but i cannot celebrate until i did the actual tat.

i did the tattoo at cruz creations in san jose and i'm happy with the result. the metal grip helped a lot and i think i will not go back to those plastics unless for small works.

i also practiced on pigskin the day before doing the tattoo. i added the outline around the design just to get used to the new grips and i noticed it kind of looked good with the outline but decided not to include it because it might make the the design look cluttered.

i used a five round (nancy's advice) needle for the whole tat including the shading around the cross. the shading might look a little dark because it's still not healed. that area should appear lighter once healed because i used gray wash. here are some pictures...

Tracie's Tattoo

2007-07-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

i overcame one obstacle last weekend when i tattooed tracie. oscar p recommended me that i do her tattoo. i was really nervous when she emailed me regarding the tattoo because she's my first ever tattoo client. i've dome 3 tats (whew! that's a lot :-) before her but those 3 people are close friends and i'm happy to say they are still my friends.

i practiced twice on pigskin as i've shown here in my blog. i did good on practice but i know it's still different in actual tattooing and i had doubts when i was about to start doing her tatttoo. the main thing i was concerned about was the scary fact that once i pricked her skin, there's no turning back. i cannot erase it or undo just like in photoshop. second thing was that i had to make my lines straight just like in practice. third thing i was thinking about was the pain that i'm going to inflict on her.

i had to erase all the fears in my mind and get the job done. nancy plew from cruz creations tattoo helped me do the set up but she cannot help me do the actual tat. i had to do it myself. it took about an hour for the set-up because nancy had to guide me step by step because i wanted to learn how to set it up the faster way. some guy in the next booth heard nancy explaining things to me and my wife overheard his reaction... he said wide eyed, is this guy going to tattoo somebody?

all my fears vanished when i finished the outlines. the fear on the guy in the next booth vanished too. i did good on the outlines and i knew coloring was easier. it took us 6 hours to finish the whole tattoo and i was really exhausted and hungry by the time we finished. i know tracie must be tired and hungry too. another lesson learned was that never tattoo on an empty stomach.

tracie just emailed me the picture of the tat after it's healed. it looked great but i missed to black out an accent on one alibata character but this can be fixed easily. tracie's husband will be my next client.

thank you ariel cruz for letting me use your shop. thanks billy truong, kenya and of cource nancy plew and ariel for having the patience to teach me about this artform.

Old Pictures from Quezon

2007-06-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

here are some old pictures i've taken about 20 years ago. the locations are unisan (where i grew up) and lucban quezon.

an old house in unisan quezon

palengke in unisan

san isidro in lucban quezon

chicharones display in lucban

girl from unisan quezon

lucban

boats from unisan

Berkeley Bus

2007-06-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

I saw this bus parked in a road some time ago in berkeley. it reminded me of my artworks.

Pig Skin Tattoo

2007-06-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

i have my first ever tattoo client and i'm nervous so i had to practice on pig skin before i do the actual tat.

the first time i held the tattoo gun, i was confused because of the weight and the machine vibrates. it's a lot different from holding a brush or a pencil.

i was happy i did the practice because i learned a lot. i learned a bit on how to tune my machine and about applying colors. i also discovered that i improved my technique. i'm getting used to the vibration and the weight of the tattoo gun. i did good on the lines on the pig skin but i know it's still different when i'm actually tattooing.

i felt good after the pig skin tat because i think i'm ready to tattoo on humans. here are pictures of the pig skin tat.

i noticed a lot of you are checking this out so here's the link to the final tattoo... Tracie

Street Art Exhibit

2007-05-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

there's going to be another art murmur coming plus the art walk in SF. i'm thinking of displaying some pieces on the streets of SF and oakland.

my fears:
1.) somebody might get offended and kill me.
2.) if somebody tries to hurt me, i don't know how to defend myself.
3.) the pulis might arrest me.
4.) i'm old and i might not be able to handle the cold weather.
5.) i will smoke a lot.

so will i let my fears get a hold of me or should i just do it? my instinct says i should just do it.

it's a kind of protest against those galleries who require artists to cut their ears. here are some pieces i'd like to show...

'Tiger Ipis' 2006 Mixed media on 3 pieces of cartons.

'White Dick, Brown Chick' 2006 Acrylic on carton

'Hangal' 2007 Acrylic on back of poster board

'MURPHY' in Datebook

2007-05-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

hello guys,

remember the guy i was talking to you about at the oakland art murmur? he's the artist who cannot get his artworks in galleries because he does it in cartons.

i was surprised and got excited when i saw his artwork in the cover of datebook. i rushed and read the article but i didn't see his name anywhere. i recognized his art immediately because i also took photos and published it on this blog.

http://melveracruz.blogspot.com/2007/05/traidor-at-art-murmur.html

i think it's unfair that they didn't mention his name but i guess they could not find him at the scene because when i took pictures of his work, i couldn't find him either. good thing he gave his card to me. that's why i knew his name was murphy.

i also told him if we could show outside the galleries together sometime. i forgot his answer but i'll call him again.

Recent Drawings

2007-05-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

i've been doing some comissioned drawings lately. i have a lot of styles in drawing. i don't believe in focusing in only one direction. most people tell me to just focus in one style but i find that boring. if they ask me why i have too many styles. i just tell them because i can.

i really enjoy drawing and these artworks are like my exercise. here they are...

TRAIDOR! At the art murmur

2007-05-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

I was at the art murmur in oakland last night. I have been hearing about this buzz recently and I’m glad to be part of it. Our show traidor is hanging at esteban sabar gallery. I also heard a lot of negative things about this gallery. This gallery they say is too commercial and hangs ‘inferior’ artworks. I walked around art murmur and found out that much of the art hanging at the galleries are pretty much the same so I don’t understand why somebody would degrade esteban sabar.

What I noticed is that a lot of the people who look at the art seem to really ‘dig’ the artworks. I have been an artist for almost forty years but I still cannot understand most of the paintings. If somebody would write heavy stuff about a door I saw leading to a bathroom in one of the galleries, that door could be a masterpice.

I have done my pieces on cardboard boxes mainly because I could not afford a canvas and it really worked for me because I am a third world artist. Those rugged boxes have the appearance of inferiority. I don’t delve too much on drawing anymore. I have proven to myself that I can draw so I turn to subject matter. For me, I can use low quality materials as long as I get my message across. Those expensive art materials conspire with ‘art’ and I don’t have to follow it.

I think the advantage of being a third world artist is that we have an overflowing sense of reality. I can see a lot of pretensions. I’m not saying this is bad. I’m just curious why I didn’t see any artwork that represent oakland. There are drive-by shootings nearby and here we are looking at art that we don’t understand.

I heard people who represent art murmur mostly came from san francisco. Most of them are artists who got evicted from sf because of gentrification and now they are gentrifying oakland because of art. Art is elitist so it attracts people who have the luxury of having time for art. I know as a third world person that most poor people don’t have the luxury of having art in their lives because their priority is to have food on their tables.

One nice thing happened to me last night though. No I didn’t sell a painting. One guy came up to me and blessed me and my paintings because they were done in cardboard boxes. He’s doing the same and his artworks cannot get in galleries because they’re done on cardboards so he spread his artworks outside the gallery. He said esteban sabar must be a cool gallery for accepting my paintings. But it’s not just the cardboards. There’s a lot more to it.

Lian ladia curated our show. Traidor! Also features works by england hidalgo, marcius noceda and carlo ricafort. it will run up to the end of this month so check it out if you have the ‘time’ :-)

Overmapped Opening

2007-04-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

i was at the somarts last thursday. it was the opening of our exhibit 'overmapped.' i was surprised at the turnout. i didn't expect it to be such a good show. there were more than 25 of us in the exhibit. they hanged the artworks in the main gallery which was huge. i was happy to see four of miro's ninongs and ninangs specially angela silva whom i haven't met again in 2 years. she gave miro very nice childrens books. thank you ninang angela.

here's a utube video about the exhibit. i didn't expect also to have a special mention by rico reyes (our curator) on this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krKAu-tivrc

the show is on until april 25 so you can still check it out. see my earlier post. here are some more pictures...

Cow Palace Tattoo Expo

2007-04-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

March 29 to April 1 2007

At the previous tattoo convention (pomona, ca), I was asked to draw ‘rodriguez’ in graffiti style by a guy whose last name ofcourse was rodriguez. He liked the drawing and took it. I always make copies of what I do for my portfolio.

I was on my table at this convention drawing something when I heard a customer looking for graffiti style drawings. So I took out the ‘rodriguez’ drawing and showed it to him but he didn’t like it so I just left the drawing lying on the table.

I was really surprised when a big bulky guy came up rushing to my table exclaiming that’s exactly what he was looking for. Is your name rodriguez I asked. He said yes and the style I did was exactly what he wants except for some additional tribals extending to his arm. I was happy because this drawing made money twice and the second one I only had to adjust a small bit. He came back the next day to have the tat done.

This tattoo expo set a record for me. On Saturday, I started drawing at 11am and was only able to rest at 5pm. 6 hours non stop of custom drawings. There were a lot more after my rest. I was really satisfied because the customers loved all the drawings I did. Whew!

These drawings I did based on the clients’ descriptions. Here they are…

Body Art Tattoo Expo

2007-03-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

i will be illustrating for cruz creations and da underground tattoo at cow palace this coming weekend. this will be a drawing marathon for me. 12 hours a day for 3 days i'll be with my pencil and drawing pad. i'll be doing on the spot tattoo designs from 20 bucks up. check it out... http://www.bodyartexpo.com/MAIN.PHP

cruz creations website: http://www.cruzcreationstattoo.com/

OVERMAPPED

2007-03-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

i'm excited to be part of this. first time i'll be exhibiting with mr. carlos villa plus ofcourse a group of other talented artists. i'll be showing 2 huge pieces, banner style. come over if you have time.

A Cartography of Filipino American Visual Arts Curated by Rico Reyes

April 5th - 25th, 2007
Reception April 5th, 5:30 - 7:30pm

The artists presented are Filipino, Filipino American, American Filipino, scholars of Philippine Studies or Pinoyphiles, marking the growth and development of the Filipino visual arts community; Overmapped is a pause, to look, and take stock of what is happening with young artists, established artists and their career trajectories, with hobbyists who find themselves deep in serious artmaking, along with many others.

These artists represent the various points on the arc of Filipino, American visual art, points defined by both artists and the academia and institutions. They address gender and sexuality, race, ethnicity, or otherness, material and formalism, conceptual and avant-garde, established and emerging. There are many points on the arc, one artist may occupy many points simultaneously, or a point might be occupied by more than one artist.

The artists are Melba Abela, Terry Acebo-Davis, Matias Aguilar, Yason Banal, Genara Banzon, The Barrionics, Eliza Barrios, Elaine Benisano, Leo Bersamina, Emily Caisip, Danilo Cuevas, Ariel Erestingcol, Robert Gutierrez, England Hidalgo, Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza, Allyn Nobles, Marcius Noceda, Johanna Poethig, Carlo Ricafort, Angela Silva, Alberto Vajrubukka, Charles Valoroso, Carlos Villa, Mel Vera Cruz, & Jenifer Wofford.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

2007-03-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

here is a drawing i did of al pacino as scarface. i used photoshop and my wacom pen. i am planning on drawing celebrities for my portfolio and i started with this.

Birds and Our Apple Tree

2007-03-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

we have an apple tree in our backyard. I've always been fascinated taking photos of this apple tree. i think it's because of the contrast between the blue sky ang the brown-green branches plus the rotten apples. i like rotten stuff because i can relate. maybe because i'm getting old. even when i paint, i don't really bother to correct mistakes because that's the way it should be. sometimes when we think that we made errors... there will come a time that everything will weave together. that's always the case for me. making mistakes is natural.

i was lucky to have birds posing during those moments.

Arroyo Park

2007-03-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

No it's not gloria's. it's a park about 2 blocks from my house here in union city. millette and i took miro for play 2 days ago. it was very cold that morning but i was able to draw this scene with a little help from our son miro. i cannot finish this piece without him trying some colors out. that doodle on the lower right was his. he was just trying to live up to his name i guess :-)

TORORISTA

2007-02-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

i overheard this word between two pinoys talking and mocking each other. the guy told the other (in tagalog), 'no you're not a terorista, but a tororista.' haha. i found that really funny so i used it for my painting.

everybody now knows about the label 'terorista' or terrorist and all filipinos know about the word tororista. for those who don't, 'toro' is how we call a couple fucking each other on a stage in front of people for entertainment. this is illegal but you can still find people who perform this all over manila.

i used the cruxifiction and transformed it into a bald eagle. i also used the vienna sausage box because this is one of the staple 'colonial' food in the philippines. i just want to express how easy they fuck people's minds. if you can't get this you might be one of those people who got TOROrized.

medium: serigraph and acrylic on vienna sausage box.

The F.O.B. four

2007-02-17T16:05:00.000-08:00

nagkita-kita kami ng grupo last saturday sa bahay ni england sa oakland. meron kaming art exhibit na pinapakana na kinu-curate ni lian ladia. alam n'yo kasi ang statement naming mga pintor ay ang aming mga paintings na. kaya nagtataka ako kung bakit hinihingan pa kami ng statement ng mga galleries.

kung hihingan ako ng statement e ba't pa ako nagpinta. kaya nga ako nagpinta ay para nga iwasan ang mga pambobola. yun na ang statement ko. pero naiintindihan ko naman yan. nais ko lamang idiin ang point.

handicap naming mga artis yang magsulat lalu na kaming mga FOBs. di tayo masyadong magaling mag rambol ng mga salitang ingles. if a picture is worth a thousand words, how can you explain a painting in a few sentences? ang isang piyesa ko ay nanggaling sa kaibuturan ng aking diwa at karanasan tapos papa explain nila sa isang paragraph? that's bull. imposible. pero alam ko ganun talaga ang buhay lalo na dito sa america. madaming bullshitan kaya kailangang sumakay lang.

yan ang dahilan kung bakit di namin mai-curate ang sarili. ayaw ko ng bullshit. gusto ko aksyon na. wala akong panahon sa paligoy-ligoy. maiksi lang ang buhay boys en gels kaya wag nating sayangin ang oras sa bulshet. maaring kung sa tagalog gagawin ay mas mae-express ko ang sarili pero hindi kaya pasalamat ako kay lian sa abala. tenks lian!

the F.O.B. four:
england hidalgo - john lennon
mel vera cruz - george harisson
carlo ricafort - paul mcartney
marcius noceda - ringo starr

haha. katuwaan lang.

but we're serious. meron kaming website. eto:

http://www.sitekreator.com/curatorialprojects/main_page.html

Buhay Artista

2007-02-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

Ngayon lang ako ginanahang magkwento muli. Mahirap kasi dahil ang bilis nang tumakbo nitong aking si miro. Laging naghahabol ang lolo nyo. Syempre, sa tulong yan ng aking si Millette.

Madami nang nangyari mula nang gawin ko ang last supper. Nakadalawang attend ako ng tattoo expos kung saan ako at si Dave nag-design ng mga tatu para kina ariel cruz at darius ng cruz creations at da underground tattoo ng san jose california. Sa buong california po ay tatlo lamang silang pinoy tattoo shops na naga-attend ng mga tattoo expos.

Isa po sa di ko na mention ay si monk ng san jose din. Syempre sasabihin nyo ang ‘apat na alon’ pero di ko sila nakita sa mga tattoo conventions. Maaring nagsawa na sila sa mga ganito. Ang apat na alon po ang madalas kong mabasa sa mga tattoo magazines. Ni-revive nila ang traditional tattoo art ng pilipinas na masasabing isa sa mga pioneers ng tattooing. San diego, pomona, L.A. at san francisco ang rotation ng inaatenan kong expo. 6 times a year nangyayari ang rotation na ito.

Isa pang kwento ay ang pag-alok sa akin ni oscar penaranda upang magsalita at mag present ng aking sining sa harap ng kanyang tinuturuang pilipino class sa logan high school (union city) at ang aking participation sa book launch ng ilang filam writers sa paddy’s dito rin sa union city. Lugod kong pinaunlakan ang alok galing kay Oscar P. syempre ay kinatutuwa ko ding makasama ang mga pinoy-amerikans na manunulat. Sina Tony Robles, Sam Cacas, Janet Stickmon, Vangie Buell, Everly Posh at syempre si Oscar P. Madalas po kasing hindi nalalayo ang aming mga sentimyento.

Malaking pasalamat ko kay Oscar dahil binibigyan nya ako ng daan upang maipakita sa nakararami ang aking mga piyesa at alam kong hindi lamang ako ang nabibigyan nya ng pabuya. Isa si oscar sa mga orihinal na ‘manong’ na nagpapalawak sa kaisipan ng mga kano tungkol sa kalagayan nating mga pinoy sa amerika. Salamat sa yo Oscar P.

Galak akong nagpabuya ng aking mga ideas sa mga nakababatang estudyante ni oscar. Isang malaking karangalan para sa akin ang makapagbahagi ng kuro-kuro sa mga nakababata at sana ay nakita din nila ang ibig sabihin ng isang taong nagsasabi lamang ng katotohanan. As usual ay sinasabi ko ang totoo kong nararamdaman kabilang dito ang pagtanong sa akin ng isang estudyante kung humihitit daw ako habang nagpipinta.

Malugod kong inamin na ‘oo’ sa dahilan pong hindi negatibo ang tingin ko dyan. ang mga nagbabawal sa halamang ito ay hindi naiintindihan ang tama nito. Out of fear ang kanilang basehan samantalang ako ay based on my experience. Wala tayong dapat ikatakot dito. Sa hirap ng buhay, lahat ng tao ay kailangang ma-high paminsan-minsan. Pero bago ko tuluyang gamitin ang salitang ‘high’ ay gusto ko lamang liwanagin sa lahat na sa paningin ko ay tayo ay meron nang kanya-kanyang klase ng high. Ang tama ng kape ay isang uri ng ‘high.’ Ganon din ang tama ng alcohol na sa tingin ko ay mas dapat na bawal kundi nga lamang lahat halos ng opisyal na nagpapatakbo ng gobyerno ay one way or another ay tumutungga rin kaya di ito maipagbawal. kaya sana po ay hwag nating i-relate ang salitang high sa mga basagulero dahil baka we’re pointing at our own.

Nais ko lamang paabot sa kanila ang karanasan ng high na ito upang makakonek tayo sa naiibang antas at di na lamang puro trabaho at retirement o mundo ng dog-eat-dog ang iniisip natin. Sa paningin ko ay kailangan nating magkaroon ng alternatibong pananaw sa mga bagay-bagay at ang paghitit ay daan patungo rito. Meron po kasing mga bagay napansin ko na kung nakahitit ka lamang saka maiisip. Peaceful ang isip sa damo di gaya sa alak na war-freak. Kaya marahil hindi natatapos ang hidwaan sa mundo ay kulang sa alternatibong pananaw. Masasabi kong addictive din ang damo pero gaya din ng masarap na pagkain ay addicting at dapat ding kontrolin dahil lahat ng sobra ay masama. Pasensya na sa di nakakahagip dahil di po nanggaling sa libro ang aking paniniwala kundi’y nanggaling sa kaibuturan ng aking budhi. Nais ko lamang buksan ang nakapinid nitong pintuan.

Mabalik tayo sa mga tattoo. Lakas-loob kong tinahak ang landas na ito dahil ang daan nito ay sadyang lumatag sa harap ko ng hindi ko hinahanap. Yan kasi ang palatandaan para sa akin. Inambisyon kong matutunan ito ngunit hindi pala ganon kadali. Ang pagdrowing sa papel kumpara sa balat ng tao ay totally different entity.

Malaki ang kaibahan kaya sa ngayon ay I’m taking baby steps at a time ‘ika nga. Mahirap po dahil ayaw kong mag mess-up ng balat ng kung sino man. Idinadaan ko muna sa pag-create ng mga flash. Yan kasi ang natural na daan bago mag-umpisang gumuhit sa balat. Syempre pag umuwi ako ng Quezon ay papipilahin natin ang mga homeboys upang mapagpraktisan. Haha, don’t worry dahil gagawin ko ang lahat ng aking makakaya upang di ako mapahiya sa mga tropa.

Enjoy din ako sa mga tattoo expos dahil bukod sa napakagandang sining at training nito sa drawing ay masaya at puro koboy ang mga kasama ko. Maaring mahusgahan sila dahil puno ng tattoo pero okey sila lahat. Minsan nga ay mas madadama mo pa sa kanila ang sincerity kesa sa taong walang tattoo. Ang tattoo kasi ay na-label din gaya nating mga pinoy. Ang tingin sa mga pinoy ng nakadadami sa europa ay maid o katulong. Sa taong may tattoo naman, para bang ‘gangster’ agad ang turing pag nakita nilang may tattoo ka. Di na ‘totally’ totoo ngayon yan. Baka mga 30% na lang. Yung tungkol sa pinoy, di ko alam ang percentage.

More pictures…

The Last Supper

2006-11-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

i was comissioned to do this christian scene. he told me to make my version of the last supper in watercolor.

i googled the images right away. i didn't want to make too many changes or make it 'realistic' because this was comissioned work and i didn't want the guy who asked me to change his perception so i had to work in a conventional way. i even changed mary magdalene into a man just to follow the tradition.

one thing i changed though was that i made some apostles middle eastern looking instead of all white.

i thought of botong francisco, H.R. ocampo, manansala and francisco v. coching while doing this project. they were the ones close to what i can achieve. of cource pablo did the first cube-style art but i noticed the emergence and difference of the pinoy style cubism. it was more flowing and playful. i didn't exactly understand how this happened but i guess it was the muslim-art influence in us pinoys. the jeepney is a good example.

i specially love h. r. ocampo's work at the cultural center of the philippines but botong is my main man on this piece.

Thanksgiving Day

2006-11-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Day - Feeding Time

2006-11-11T00:16:00.000-08:00

Araw ng mga beterano
Kasama ba ang aking lolo
Kaibigan tayo yan ang sabi mo
Kayumanggi ba kaya mo niloko

T’yong sana ay ibigay mo
Ang utang mong lumolobo
Malasap man lang ang serbisyo
Bago yumao sa sementeryo

Bow

The Spider Fight In L.A.

2006-11-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

we went to a friend's house near placentia in LA some time ago. i met with my brother who lives in san diego. we were drinking beer beside our friend's swimming pool when we noticed the bushes behind the pool. we went closer to look for what me and my brother loved to play with during our childhood in quezon province, philippines. and lo and behold. we were really surprised to find what we were looking for. two tiger spiders in their separate webs. we called this kind gagambang tigre back in P.I.

my brother grabbed a long broom to get the spiders. my brother was our 'expert' when it came to spider fights you know. some animal lovers might find this disturbing but hey, spider fights just like sabong are part of our culture not only in quezon province but throughout the philippines.

we immediately grabbed a small stick and did what we used to do back in P.I. what nostalgia. imagine having a spider fight in the middle of los angeles, usa?

here are the pictures.

Vallejo Times Herald

2006-11-05T22:18:00.000-08:00

i got a call from vallejo times herald. i was interviewed regarding our exhibit at the fetterly gallery. i was sick at that time and i had to focus in that instant. i just drank 60 ml of extra strength robitussin (sisenta parekoy) and i was still high during the interview. i'm not saying that what i told him wasn't true because of my state of mind but i think i could have told him more deep-funny-shit if i wasn't sick and high. but then, they wouldn't have published it.

i hate interviews because i always thought of better things to say after. i have a slow thought process you know.

the exhibit is still on as of now. see details below.

i just want to add that none of my artworks were displayed at the main gallery. the reason i think was because i was too pinoy for them and people might get grossed out and walk away when they see my art first. but that's just my opinion and i don't really care plus they gave me the juror's choice award. was that to pacify me? hmmm.

the curator asked me why i did this piece and i told her that for me, it is okay to be a dog-eater than to be a human killer. you know vietnam, the philippines and now iraq and afghanistan. they get shocked when they hear the word 'dog-eater' and block you when you talk about dropping bombs. they'll say and do anything to justify their arrogance. you see how they glorify their WMDs in discovery channel?

that means they love dogs more than humans so we better be careful. worse because we are humans who eat dogs so imagine their hate toward humans of our kind. remember the sign 'no dogs and filipinos allowed?'

you see how programmed the american mind is? they have the knack of telling you what's wrong or right but they cannot see clearly. mass media plugged and installed this computer chip into their brains that they cannot comprehend when they hear a different point of view. it's like the blind leading the way. (no offense to blind people).

itinatayo ko lamang ang bandera kong ginula-gulanit. ayaw kong basta na lang maniwala. kahit anong dami ng degrees, awards at medalya mo, para sa akin, kung hindi mo ginagamit ang iyong puso sa pag-iisip. ignorante ka pa din.

madaming magaganda sa ilong na pango.

enough of this shit and here is the article...

Exhibit covers Filipino history in United States
By RICH FREEDMAN/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched:10/15/2006 09:49:31 AM PDT

Mel C. Vera Cruz can't understand some of his peers. "Some artists, they don't like to be associated with being 'Filipino artists,' " he said. "They don't like the label. They just wanted to be called 'artists' without the 'Filipino.' " Not Vera Cruz. He'll stand by his heritage any day. "For me, I don't see anything bad about it," he said. "That's me. That's my identity. I'm proud of being Filipino." And Vera Cruz is also proud of his inclusion in "Filipinos: One Hundred Years in America," the latest exhibit at the Fetterly Gallery in Vallejo that runs Saturday, beginning with a reception, through Nov. 30.

"I'm proud of being included," Vera Cruz said. "It's an honor for me." Vera Cruz joins Carl Angel, Crisante DeGuzman, John Yogogi Fortes, Ben Lagasca, Rick Mariani, Pearl Jones Tranter and Ro.

The exhibit is the latest pin on an extensive artistic map for Fortes, a Vallejoan whose paintings are up at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, Triton Museum in Santa Clara, and the Asian-American Art Center n New York City. "Exhibits that deal with different ethnic groups are important," Fortes said, adding that it's more than "here's a bunch of Filipinos and here's what they do.' It's not just pretty palm trees and outriggers." Whatever culture the exhibit visitor is, "people will see some good work," Fortes said.

Angel, a San Leandro resident, said he's been "a huge fan" of Fortes' work "for a very long time. So it's quite a bonus to be an exhibit with him. I'm lucky to be in such great company." Angel said he's most impressed, again, "with the diversity of the work, as well as the sheer presence of Filipino artists 'doing their thing.'" The exhibit, Angel noted, is not strictly for Filipinos.
"I think everyone should see the exhibit regardless of whether they're Filipino or not, simply because it's a good work from everyone involved," Angel said. "But Filipinos can get a different perspective on their own story from looking at the work, and non-Filipinos can get an introduction to the Filipino-American story. Art, added Angel, "is very vital to the spirit of the culture. Whether it be in painting, music, dance or film. It's the document of culture. It's the expression of our spirit as creative human beings. It allows us to examine aesthetic, and concepts, and question ideas. It's everything." Most of Angel's work, he said, "is editorial in nature and is cultural as well. Someone called it 'social surrealism' and I think that's as good as description as any."

Vera Cruz, a 42-year-old Union City resident, remembered drawing as a 5 year old but didn't officially become "an artist" until he was 30. "I think art, for me, is a main language," Vera Cruz said. "It's my way of communicating. My art tries to project the truth."_

If you go:
What: "Filipinos: One Hundred Years in America" art exhibit_When: Saturday through Nov. 30_Where: Fetterly Gallery, 3467 Sonoma Blvd., Suite 10_Contact: Vallejo Community Arts Foundation, 648-4035.

Filipino Head Hunter

2006-11-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

here are 2 posters i did. the head hunter was inspired by the book 'the last filipino head hunter' and ofcourse by the cordillera head hunters. these are actually tattoo designs that i converted into posters. i drew the outline in pencil then colored it in photoshop.

the colors i used in 'sabong' are candy colors. i intentionally did this. pinoy colors are candy colors. i didn't want to suppress myself and ride with that european monochrome.

i'm still working on more.

Three Caricatures

2006-11-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

here are 3 recent caricatures that i did. i admit i'm still developing my skills in the art of caricatures. for me caricature art is one of the hardest. some people have the knack but for me it wasn't natural. it took time for me to learn it. i can say i'm very good in portraiture but distorting a face is different. you have to find the prominent feature, distort it and make the person still recognizable. there is no secret or formula for this art. every face is different. the surest way to do caricatures is a lot of patience and practice. i'm happy with my caricatures now but i still would like to push it further.

hey, i can do yours for $50.00 printed on a 11x17 paper in full color (minus shipping). email me: melveracruz@sbcglobal.net

nancy plew of cruz creations tattoo, my brother kuya ted and dino my nephew.

Clown Car

2006-11-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

Chris Gingrich of gingalley productions commissioned me to do this illustration. It's a Scion car wrap design for a company that provides clowns to any kind of parties. it was a challenge drawing this but i had fun doing it. i had to draw a bunch of clowns (like a clown car) in four different views. here it is...

Kalabasa Ni Jose

2006-10-31T09:30:00.000-08:00

maari nating sabihin na ang mga pumpkins o kalabasang sinasayang natin sa kaarawan ng halloween ay makakapagpakain ng mga batang naulila sa mga bansang ginegera natin. ang mga tsokolate at mga candies ay nakakasira ng mga ngipin at ang gagastusin sa pagpapaayos ng ngipin nila ay pwede ring gastusin sa biktima ng mga sakuna gaya ng bagyo.

okey lang sa pinoy ang manggaya. wag lang nating kalilimutan ang compassion natin. ito ay natural sa atin dahil tayo ay third world. kita at sanay tayo sa paghihirap. kung gagayahin natin ang kultura ng kanong ito ay wag lang nating iwanan ang ating pagkamaunawain. ito ang laman ng ating kaluluwa at sana'y wag tuluyang maglaho ng dahil sa ating bulag na panggagaya. alalahanin natin na ang kalabasa po ay gulay at hindi laruan ng mababaw na pananakot upang tayo'y wag mangamoy gaya ng sinabi ni ka jose.

TIRIK OR TIRIT!!!

Luna, Amorsolo at Zobel

2006-10-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

galing ako sa press opening ng exhibit ng nasabi ko sa titolo sa asian art museum sf. na inspire ako for maybe about 2 days. matapos nyan ay unti-unti syang nawawala. marahil po ay dahil na din sa matagal ko na pong idolo sina juan luna at amorsolo. Na-exhaust ko na ang impluwensya nila sa akin. ilang beses na nilang inapuyan ang aking diwa at madami na akong paintings na sila ang inspirasyon. madaming panahon na ang buong katauhan ko ay nag-aapoy ng dahil kina amorsolo at luna. sa ngayon ay ama ko pa din sila ngunit hindi na katulad ng dati. i have moved on kumbaga. sa ngayong sinusulat ko ito ay nakaplano sa isip kong mag produce ng isa hanggang tatlong piyesa ukol sa nadama ko nang makita ko ang show.

ang unang dahilan at pumunta ako sa exhibit ay syempre upang masilayan muli ang kanilang mga gawa. pangalawa ay upang magkita kami ni ms. zen lopez, glendale cultural comissioner at fellow bangger kung sino ang nagbigay ng tiket sa akin upang makapasok sa exclusive event na ito. salamat ng madami sa yo zen! pero bago ko ituloy ang kwento ay gusto ko munang linawin na diyos pa din ang tingin ko kay amorsolo.

kita ko ang hagod ni luna at sa totoo lamang ay kaya ko ding gawin ang mga hagod nya. hindi po kagaya ni amorsolo na hindi ko pa din maintindihan kung paano nya ginagawa. magpasa-hanggang ngayon ay wala pa akong nakitang kasing galing ni amorsolo. napaka natural nya. walang effort kung titingnan mo ngunit WOW... langit ang kanyang mga piyesa. isa pa po ay consistent si amorsolo. kahit titatamad sya ay makikita mo pa din ang kanyang pagka henyo. si luna ay halata ang kanyang mga mali kung tinatamad at kita ang kakulangan ng pasensya nya. pero alam ko he could have done it if he wanted to. madaming gumagaya kay amorsolo ngunit ikinalulungkot kong sabihin na wala pa ding nakakatumbas sa kanyang virtuosity. syempre pag dating sa personalidad ay malayo ang agwat nila at yang personalidad na yan ang nagpa angat kay juan luna. at yan din ang dahilan kung bakit mas mataas na diyos si luna keysa kay amorsolo para sa akin.

gaya po ng sinabi ko, i have moved on kasi hindi lang sa kanila ang pilosopiya ng art at pinili kong tahakin din ang ibang landas. hindi ko na ninais ma-achieve ang kanilang kakayanan technically dahil alam kong hindi ko magagawa ito ng biglaan. alam ko this will come in time. sa kaso po ni amorsolo ay baka sa next life ko pa bago ako ma satisfy.

laking gulat ko nang habang naghihintay ako sa labas ng museum, nahandon si don jaime zobel at dalawa pang ayalas. na istar struck ang lolo nyo. nakadama ako ng nerbyos ngunit pinilit kong magkaroon ng composure. agad sa isip ko na sila nga pala ang may pakana ng lahat ng ito. hindi ko agad na realize ito dahil hindi ko akalaing maga-attend sila sa opening.

so ngayong na mention ko na ang zobel ay dumako na tayo sa mga piyesa ni fernando zobel. marahil po at isa na ako dito ay magtataka kayo kung bakit napasama si zobel sa show na ito. syempre mare-realize agad nating lahat na ahhhh... ayala kasi ang nag sponsor ng show kaya syempre natural lang ang self promotion. wala tayong idea kung sino si fernando zobel as an artist. hindi sya kasing sikat nila juan at amorsolo. agad papasok sa isip natin na nepotism ang nangyari. maaari nga pong unfair kay botong francisco at iba pa ang nangyari. ngunit salamat sa banggaan. miyembro ako ng banggaan kung saan miyembro din ang ilang mga prominenteng artists ng ating bayan. hindi ko na sila ine-name drop kasi baka may makaligtaan akong i-mention. sa madaling salita ay inenlighten nila ako kung bakit karapat-dapat si fernando zobel sa show na ito.

according sa kanila, si zobel ay artist ng mga artist. alam nila yan dahil kilala nila si fernando zobel personally. para sa akin ay napaka laking honor na purihin ka ng mga kapwa artists. hindi kayang tumbasan ang pugay ng mga kapwa artist kaysa sa pugay ng manunulat dahil iba ang relasyon namin sa isa't-isa. mas alam ng kapwa artist ang karanasan ng kagaya nya dahil iisa ang aming landas.

tireless ang behind the scene contributions ni fernando zobel at sya ang nagpasikat sa ilang national artists natin sa paraan ng mga collaborations at promotions. ayala museum, ateneo art gallery at luz gallery ang ilan sa mga tinatag at na impluwensya ni zobel. malaking impluwensya yan dahil mula dyan ay madaming umusbong na mga prominenteng artists natin sa ngayon.

sa kabila ng lahat ng yan, kung ang pag-uusapan natin ay ang tungkol sa 'painting' lamang. masasabi ko din sa aking sarili na hindi kasing tindi ng output nina amorsolo at luna ang output ni zobel. para sa paningin ko ay hindi ganon katibay ang mga paintings nya in terms of virtuosity. hindi pa ganon ka-expert ang kanyang hagod. halata ko yan dahil alam ko ang tinutukoy nya. sa tingin ko, nagawa ni jose joya ang gusto nyang palabasin. hawak ni zobel ang idea o konsepto ngunit sa execution ay bitin.

maaring merong danger sa ginawa ng ayala dahil nagpo-promote sila ng hindi accurate na information. masasabi kong mas inuna dapat si botong francisco. para sa akin mas importante si botong francisco keysa kay zobel in terms of achievements in painting.

aktuwali po ay tinanong ko yan sa curator kung bakit di nila sinama si botong. sagot sa akin ay wala daw silang koleksyon ng botong francisco at sa kolesyon lang daw ng ayala ang karamihang nakasabit.

ang tingin kong flaw nyan ay dapat at least ay nilinaw at at least ay minention nila si botong francisco. kung idadaan sa batas ay talo ako dahil malinaw sa titolo ng exhibit... "PIONEERS OF PHILIPPINE ART" and definitely zobel was a pioneer of philippine art kaya hanggang dyan lang ako. tama nga ang sinabi ng kapwa bangger na natural lamang ang self promotion at hindi na ito kahiya-hiya sa panahon ngayon. ginawa na itong tama ni andy warhol.

inspite of everything ay dapat pasalamatan natin ang mga ayalas for bringing this exhibit here. salamat mga ser!

narito ang mga retrato. sinadya kong i-lowres ang mga ito para i-protect ang copyrights.

Filipinos: 100 Years In America

2006-10-21T00:03:00.000-07:00

napasali ako dito sa exhibit na ito sa fetterly gallery. sina miro salazar at julina ng dating togonon gallery ang mga jurors. medjo nagtaka lang ako dahil walo lamang ang nag submit. siguro hindi 'prestigious' ang exhibit na ito kaya ganon. o baka ayaw lang nilang ma associate as 'pinoy artist.' isa pa siguro ay dahil sa $20.00 fee. o baka wala lang silang time. pero hindi. dahil kung sa chelsea, new york ginanap ang exhibit na ito ay tiyak ako na magkakaroon sila ng oras at pipila pa. vallejo kasi. para bang slow town ang vallejo at walang exposure.

sinalihan ko kasi malakas ang kutob ko na mapipili ang mga gawa ko. gusto ko din mapasali sa laban ng mga noypits dito sa amerika. ito lang kasi ang alam ko at di ko kayang magpanggap. ito ang kinalakihan ko at proud ako.

madami akong gustong sabihin tungkol sa mga struggles ng mga noypits kasi madalas din akong masagasaan. madaming labels na nakadikit sa akin gaya ng probinsyano, FOB, third world, outsider, dog-eater, colored, at madami pa. lahat yan ay totoo pero kung papayag ako na mababang uri nga ako dahil sa mga labels na yan ay walang mangyayari. tuloy-tuloy ang yurak na madadanasan ko.

kailangan kong itayo ang sarili kong bandila kahit gula-gulanit. dog eater nga ako pero hindi ako bulag na robot kagaya ng nakararami. alam kong ako ay madumi at di ko ito itinatago hindi kagaya nila na mga banal kuno. di nila binibilang ang pinapatay nila sa iraq pero pag nakadinig ng dog eater ay para bang nakakita ng cannibal. kasuklam-suklam ka. di nyo alam kayo yun. ang babantot n'yo! sige sambahin n'yo ang mga aso at bale walain ang mga pinagpapatay n'yong tao sa iraq. bugok din kayo kala n'yo ba? di nila kasi nakikita kung papaano katayin ang mga manok, baboy at baka na kinakain nila. akala e dumadating na lamang sa safeway na naka pakete na galing kay lord. wahaha. pare-pareho lamang tayong lahat.

ang mga piyesa ko ay galing sa point of view ng isang demonized dog-eater-adik na pinoy artist na napabarkada sa mga tambay.

mga kasama kong pinoy artists:

Carl Angel, Cristina DeGuzman, John Yoyogi Fortes, Ben Lagasca, Rick Mariani, Pearl Jones Tranter, at Ro

salamat nga pala mel orpilla for organizing this exhibit pati na din sa fetterly gallery at sa mga tauhan nito for hosting.

Christopher Columbus

2006-10-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

my version of mr. christopher columbus...

NEVER FORGET

2006-09-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

THE REASON WHY.

a visual comment about 9/11

Papan

2006-08-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

We were walking from the WIC office in Union City when I saw this family of wild ducks (papan) resting beside a fountain. When I was in the Philippines, it was very rare for me to see this kind of creature. We hunted them to near extinction and here they are just sitting near the BART station. Kung sa atin ito, may paglalagyan yan. Adobong papan?

Vacuum Nemo

2006-08-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

Cherries

2006-08-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

My mom bought some cherries a few days back and noticed some siamese twins. I arranged them and took these shots...

Reflections

2006-08-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Some shots I took 3 weeks ago at the park two blocks away from our house.

England's Bomb

2006-08-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

i met england hidalgo at the pacific bridge gallery (oakland, ca) during santiago bose's and carlos villa's workshop. that was 6 years ago. he was the only pinoy visual artist who, like me, attended santiago's manong workshop religiously. we did an installation with santiago outside the gallery where we burned everything afterwards to symbolize our sympathy to the manongs. england is also part of the punk band eskapo and dilubyo based in vallejo. we exhibited together a lot of times and we even started an art group called 'agunyas.'

he asked me to cover up one of his old tattoos that he did on himself. ofcourse i obliged and was so happy that he let me tattoo on him. his is my third tattoo. the outlines are shakey but i think i did justice on the finished art. the tattoo is black only image of a world war 2 bomb. someone asked him why a 'bomb.' i told england to answer... cause he's da bomb :-)

salamat england!

Pomona Tattoo Expo

2006-07-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

just been to the pomona tattoo convention. i didn’t bring millette and miro because we cannot afford the hotel room so i went alone with the boys. i rode with ariel (www.gotinktattoo.com) in his pick-up truck with robert and lorena (ariel’s girlfriend). we arrived in LA at 1am friday, slept a bit then went straight to the convention. this was my third time going with ariel at tattoo conventions. i am the shop’s illustrator. i do custom artworks for ariel’s shop in san jose. i am learning a lot and i am very excited about this new direction. the art of tattooing made me love drawing again and it made me discover new things. drawing has an all new purpose for me. i‘m also fascinated about the stories darius’ and ariel’s friends were telling me. darius’ shop is also located in san jose, ca - da underground tattoo shop.

i feel liberated about doing gallery shows for now. doing gallery shows seem like pointless. it’s stupid to pursue these galleries. there are millions of artists and the pressure to stay on top is senseless so this direction does me great.

even if i’m not really tattooing yet, the feeling of seeing my designs getting tattooed is exhilarating. doing shows cannot match the feeling i get once i see my designs on somebody’s skin. imagine how i will feel when i get to the next stage which is being a tattooist.

humans are my gallery now. i had this pinoy flash about flags, suns and the philippine map and i think it’s a hit among pinoys. i cannot keep count now on how many people already had my sun/flag design. you may say these are simple designs but it’s not that. it is the attitude that these pinoys have that excites me. they are the carriers of our identity and i’m very proud that i did the designs on them to show it off.

i don’t understand filipinos who try to assimilate. you know those pinoys who are proud to be in the midst of whites. they even boast about it and it irritates me. they don’t realize that they become apes when they do this. these guys who get the sun tattoos are different. they are downright proud and screaming about their filipinoness.

the filipino sun tattoo as one of ariel’s friends told me started in prison. i’m not sure if he was right but he saw this first hand. he was in san quentin and he said lifers in that prison wear this tattoo. so i guess i started from that point. i used their symbol to make it more aesthetically appealing.

participating in these conventions is also a challenge. illustrating a piece straight from somebody’s mind in 30 to 40 minutes is a great exercise. i did this 3 days, 12 hours a day straight. jingle lang ang pahinga ika nga. it’s like a drawing marathon. it’s also good meditation.

i enjoyed hanging out with ariel and darius’ friends. they’re all hillarious specially jay and jaime. besides being funny, these guys know how to curse man. haha. i was really laughing all the way with these guys. they’re a bunch of way cool and funny people.

hey thanks guys the grrrreat weekend!

here are some pictures i took...

The Impressionists

2006-07-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

i watched the impressionists yesterday. i borrowed the dvd from the library.

god i love monet! i was more of a manet fan before. i saw some monet originals a few years back in nyc and it changed me. manet was more of a technical person. monet was more from the inside. he was a notch a rebel compared to manet. manet was an academic that challenged the subject matter whereas monet challenged everything the academicians believed in. monet is my man.

here is a small dialog that i did with the impressionists titled 'impressionist bulul.' i also learned how hard it was to draw this image. the bulul is so simple but highly complicated. it's hard to see the subtle shadows upfront so my advice is to never underestimate anything.

Cubist Bulul

2006-07-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

3 versions of the cubist bulul i did last week. the bulul is the rice god of the cordilleras. i never realized its power until i met santi bose. i used to think that catholicism was the only true belief system. false! the bulul is as powerful. the bulul's advantage is that it was never manipulated like jesus by opportunists. the schemers demonized it because they don't have control over it.

this image is a reaction to this notion. the bulul was influenced but never conquered.

Rose Insektos

2006-07-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

shots i took from our rose outside.

4th of July

2006-07-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

labing isang taon na ako sa amerika pero ayaw pa ding tanggapin ng katauhan ko ang holiday nilang ito dahil tuwing sasapit itong holiday nilang ito ay nakukumpirma ang pagkaka-nakaw at paglimot sa totoong kwento ng lupaing ito. independence day nila sa mga kapwa nila puti sa britain. paano yung mga indians na pinagpapatay nila. nasan ang kwento nila? wala bang holiday sa pag alala sa pagpaslang nila sa naunang may ari ng lupang ito?

ang mga indians ay parang pinoy din. kakulay natin sila. tayo ay itinuring ding indians at pinagplanuhan din nilang i-massacre at ubusin. mabababang uri tayo at walang karapatan sa tingin nila. salamat kina rizal na may lahing indio at di tuluyang nasakop ang ating lahi.

para sa mga naniniwala sa kaarawang ito. mag-isip pong mabuti dahil kayo ay nalinlang na. wag nyo din pong kalimutan ang tunay na kwento ng lupang ito. ang mga indians ay di nila binigyan ng pagkakataong maging independent sa sarili nilang lupa.

ang 'freedom' po ay sa kanila lang at hindi sa mga salungat sa ideas nila. so don't get carried away by their ignorant smile.

ang july 4 ay para lamang sa mga nag-implement nito, para sa mga bulag at ignorante.

Tribal Designs

2006-06-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Mga tribal designs na ginawa ko para kay ariel ng cruz creations tattoo. sarap laruin ng designs na to. parang kabayaran ko ito sa kanya bilang pasasalamat sa free education ko sa kanila para maging isang tattooist. exercise ko na din ito tungkol sa tattoo designs. madami pa akong dapat matutunan pero i'm getting there.

i did my second tattoo last week on nancy. thanks nancy for letting me practice on you. medjo nahirapan ako sa second tattoo na ito dahil ninerbyos ako. nanginig ang aking kamay sa kaba pero binigyan pa din ako ni nancy ng b+ na grade. akala ko c ang grade ko pero hindi. sabi nya e mas worse ang second tattoo na ginawa nya noon. post ko ang picture soon.

Paru-Paro

2006-06-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

matagal ko nang ginawa ang paru-parong ito. isa sa mga una kong projects nung bago ako dito sa america. cubist ang style. nakita ito ng aking pinsan na si david sa aking website. nagustuhan nya at kinumisyon nya akong gumawa pa ng isa. i still enjoy doing these types of art. basta't tungkol sa drowing ay ayos sa akin.

ika nga ni man ray ay wala kang dapat masamang tinapay sa mga nag dro-drowing kasi never silang makasakit ng kapwa. di daw gaya ng mga engineers o arkitekto na kung pangit o mali ang design ay maaring mag result into a disaster.

ang sarap magdrowing! sana makatagpo ako ng isang bilyonaryong aampon sa akin at sa aking pamilya upang magdrowing na lang ng magdrowing habang buhay.

eto yung luma...

at eto naman yung bago...

Painter

2006-06-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

pinag mat-alan ko itong painter software dati pa. problema ko wala akong pambili kaya pinirata ko na lang. galing ng mga brush textures nya. parang totoo. narito ang sampol. gamit ko ang wacom pad at painter 8.

Cholo's Eyes

2006-06-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

I met cholo at the cow palace tattoo convention. he got his eyelids tattooed at that event. he's a super nice guy. thanks for the pic cholo.

The Emperor's New Clothes

2006-06-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

Bawal Ang Mangga

2006-06-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

a new and foreign virus arrived in North America via New York

Foreign rabbit virus contained in four states. At press time in late
August, the Department of Agriculture's Foreign Animal Disease
Diagnostic Laboratory

SARS, the Ebola virus, and mad cow disease wreaked

Samples of pandemic flu virus found in
3 foreign warehouses of shipper

this mosquito-borne virus had only been found in
parts of Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East

and no foreign virus types were detected in the United States

When the deadly SARS virus struck China

Filipino Tattoo Flashes

2006-06-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

here are 2 sets of flash that i did. one is a set of philippine flags, suns and philippine maps combined. a lot of pinoy tattoo enthusiasts want this. a sign that filipinos doesn't like losing their sense of pride. they may be american citizens but that's only in paper.

i remember when i took my oath to become a us citizen. they want me to swear and take out any kind of allegiance to my former country and beliefs... i raised my right hand spoke what they want me to speak and forget everything afterwards. haha. that's bull. you cannot take my 30 years of experience being pinoy in an instant. sorry i cannot eat your stupid burger all my life... i still want RICE and something to go with it!!!

the next one was based on ariel's (cruz creations tattoo) suggestion. i did a set of pinoy warriors from lapu-lapu to sakay. i don't see anynody having this yet. not sure why.

My First Tattoo Victim

2006-06-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

yelow boys en gels,

kennedy said i did a good job for my first tattoo. it wasn't easy as i thought. now i have more respect for tattoo artists.

my first problem was keeping the lines straight. keeping your lines straight is one of the basics and the most important. this is the first thing they look for in a good tattoo. good thing billy recommended that we buy a pig skin first for practice. we went to a vietnamese market and they gave us the pig skin for free. if we didn't do this kennedy might have killed me.

the tattoo machine was heavy plus it vibrates and it will take me more practice to get used to it. add my tension to that and that equals crooked lines. it took me 3 hours to do my first tattoo. we did three stencils before putting it in the right place but we were happy with the result.

i guess you noticed the kennedys... john, jackie and robert are the name of kennedy's (my friend) children. jackie and robert was an existing tattoo on kennedy's arm. we just added john to it. he was born recently. we tried to match the lettering style from the existing tattoo and i guess it came out okay for a first time.

it was a coincidence but guess what kennedy's wife's name is? - caroline. haha.

thanks ken for letting me use your skin!

Tattooed Designs That I Did

2006-05-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

here are some samples so far of the designs i did that got tattooed on skin. tattoo artists are ariel, billy and nancy from cruz creations tattoo where i'm having my training and darius from underground tattoos both from san jose, california. it excites me to think that my designs will be permanently on people's skin. a lot different from paintings because your canvas are humans.

i tried selling my flashes in shops in hayward 2 weeks ago with no luck but one of the tattoo artists i was trying to sell my flashes to said that i was doing the right thing making flashes first before tattooing because he said that a tattoo artist must first develop his drawing style before using the needle. he also acknowledged the flashes i did. he has not seen any filipino flashes in his 15 years of tattoing. so that's nice to hear.

i used to think that tattooing should be the same as drawing but it's not. there are lots of different rules you have to follow in tattooing because of it's limitations like you cannot use too many lines because if you do, lines too close to each other will close out in time. in tattooing... bolder is better.

i'm also learning a bit about the japanese style through billy and some alibata through ariel.

thank you billy, ariel, nancy, robert and darius for your generosity.

First Tattoo Volunteer

2006-05-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

Kennedy is my first human canvas. i'm going to tattoo him this afternoon at the shop. I've worked with kennedy for 9 years and i designed two of his tattoos. i was the resident artist in the company where we used to work so i guess that's the reason why he trusted me. i was nervous but after seeing the tv show inked last night, i relaxed a bit because the apprentice in the tv show was a 14 year old so i thought if he can do it i can too.

i've used kennedy in some of my paintings. see picture.

i haven't decided yet what kind of tattoo i'm going to do. kennedy is a super cool guy. astig pero malambot ang puso so i was thinking of an image of a heart with wings or a bleeding heart.

Alay Kay Nanay

2006-05-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

hay naku. kung pag-uusapan natin ang tungkol kay inang ay madaming kwento at napaka kulay.

leonila castro po ang ngalan ng nanay ko. 78 years old. lumaki sya nung panahon ng hapon. tumira sila sa tubas, quezon. ang tubas po ay isang liblib na lugar about 6 miles from unisan, quezon sa bundok peninsula. noong 40's ay napaka rangya sa puno at wild animals ng lugar na ito. maswerte si nanay dahil nadanasan nya ang buhay na walang elektrisidad, walang running water... sa madaling salita po ay parang buhay tarzan. puno ang kwento nya ng tungkol sa mga baboy damo, wild deers, mga naglipanang unggoy sa paligid na hina-hunt para kainin. sa discovery channel ko na lang nakikita ang mga ito. natatawa nga ako dahil minsang may pinalabas sa discovery channel tungkol sa isang tribo sa south america. nagha-harvest sila ng some kind of tree trunk na ginagawa nilang parang harina para ma-bake at kainin. alam ni inang ang pangalan ng kahoy na pinanggagalingan at ginagawa din daw nila ito noon. uraro daw kung tawagin nila. a kind of palm tree.

hindi naabot ng hapon ang tubas dahil ito'y masyadong liblib para sa kanila kaya safe sila ermat sa tubas.

bago ang tag hapon ay valedictorian si ermat sa local school at madalas syang mapalaban sa mga regional school contests.

typical cinderella story po si ermat dahil after the war ay napangasawa nya ang anak ng pinakamayamang pamilya sa lugar namin. si erpat po yun. madalas namin syang biruin na gold digger ngunit di totoo yan dahil labintatlong supling po ang niluwal nya wid my erpat. waw! what an achievement. e si misis isang anak lang e suko na ata. hehe.

ang taguya naman kay erpat ay sa tinagal-tagal daw namalengke ay tinapa dn pala ang makukuha. masakit ang taguyang ito para kay ermat ngunit alam nya na madami lang naiinggit sa kanya.

artistic po ang family ng ermat ko. mga tiyuhin ko ay pulos musicians at comedians. siguro dyan ko nakuha ang pagka mabiro ko.

alam ko ang nakita ni erpat kay ermat. bukod sa maganda sya ay matalino, matapang at mababait ang mga ka-pamilya. napansin ko po yan kay erpat. ayaw nya sa mga pamilyang mandarambong. di nya pinahahalata ang diskriminasyon nya rito pero pansin ko po ang bias nya.

walang tumbas ang utang ko kay ermat. ang kabayaran nito sa tingin ko ay ang magpalaki rin ng bata gaya ni miro pero kung napansin nyo ang letrato sa taas ay sya pa din madalas ang nag-aalaga kay miro. wala na akong lusot.

yumao na si erpat kaya si ermat ang pinuno ng pamilya namin. kung tawagin namin sya ay 'the matriarch' o 5-star general. sya ang konsensya ng pamilya. madalas rin syang magbigay ng matatalas na opinyon pero pag binalanse natin ay masasabing nasa tama sya lagi. opo napaka balanse ng kanyang isip at oras na mag desisyon sya ay nakakasiguradong sa ikabubuti.

si ermat ang sentro namin. labingtatlo kami lahat at super close kami. syempre kasama din dyan ang inlaws at mga pamangkin at apo. sya ang nagbigay ng pundasyon ng isip sa aming magkakapatid. madalang sa obserbasyon ko ang pamilyang magkakasundo. well... exception kami dyan. all for one and one for all po kami kahit ang lalayo ng mga personalidad namin. siguro ang pagkaka iba-iba ng ng personalities namin ang nagpapayabong sa aming samahan so maiimagine nyo kung paano kami harapin ni ermat.

so ang section pong ito ay iniaalay ko sa aking ina. homage kumbaga. salamat nay!

Kumpirmado!

2006-05-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

binalikan ko nung hapon ang mga inakay na insekto at opo na-confirm ko na ladybugs nga ang mga inakay dahil nakita ko ang kanilang ina na pagala-gala sa malapit na sanga.

ngunit meron pa akong nakitang ibang langkay ng mga insektong inakay. kulay itim naman so 'di ko nanaman sure kung kasamahan nila ito. kumuha din ako ng ilan pang letrato. eto...

Baby Ladybugs

2006-05-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

di ko sigurado kung ladybugs nga ito pero mukang. kita ko kaninang 11am sa apple tree sa labas ng bahay habang pinapasyal ko si miro. nagbubusisi na sya dahil sa boredom but i managed to take a few shots.

Back Piece

2006-05-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

i sketched this for somebody's back. my reference is a boris vallejo artwork. just tweaked and added some stuff. i'm not really a boris fan because i find most of his compositions stiff because of his models. he doesn't play too much on his models so most of his stuff are obviously posed. just my 2 cents.

the client already saw this while i was sketching and he really liked it. i don't know when ariel will do this.

Bulaklak Ng Dila

2006-05-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

natapos ang bulaklak ng dila sa bindlestiff.

i'm satisfied with the outcome even if just a few people came on the last day. barbara jane reyes came with her fiance oscar borromeo from the bronx. i felt stupid because i forgot to take their picture. barbara jane gave miro 2 books about frida kahlo and salvador dali that i forgot to bring home last night. she said it was like force-feeding miro to be an artist. i don't mind really because i know i'm democratic. not a lot of kids get exposed to art and poetry at that early age. i know i wasn't.

it was nice talking with oscar. we talked about the similiarities between artists and poets. the best part being able to know and understand our directions and the down side of not being understood. i also found out a few things about ecuador like i didn't know there were black people there. they got there because of a slave shipwreck plus he told me he had gout. ARAY KU PO!!!

thank you ninang barb and ninong oscar.

friday was jampacked because of the bands that played. you know they have their own followers so the place was packed. i like alex's band tsubibo. they can sound heavy even if they're playing slow.

i love eskapo. max the drummer was great. he's awesome. i think eskapo matched my angst in my artworks. they just rocked without the cutesy stuff. england played guitar because bruce their guitarist recently passed away. rupert sprained his ankle during their set but they still delivered. great, great music guys. thanks!

we watched kidlat tahimik's film last night. very interesting. i think it was shot in 1975 and looking at those old scenes was exciting. i love the 'tuli' part. i didn't experience the pukpok while chewing banana leaves but i definitely know that story because of friends' accounts. mayaman kami noon kaya sa doctor ako tinulian. opo hindi ako supot.

i could relate to that film because i had the same experiences. coming from quezon province then manila to san francisco. dalawang immigrations ang nangyari sa akin. from 'syano' to being a FOB. i know kidlat is from baguio but i'm not sure if he shot this film there bacause it was very similar to my province like the coconuts, paragos and penitensya.

it was also great hanging out and art-talking with marcius, julius, angelica and lian. i love their works and i'm learning a lot from them. i like hanging out with younger people (and old people too) because of their fresh ideas. first time i'm being exposed to film and it's a very good experience for me.

Heber Bartolome's Exhibit

2006-04-26T22:26:00.000-07:00

si ka heber po ay nakilala ko thru banggaan. yahoo group ito ng mga pinoy artists all around the globe. madami pa akong kwento tungkol sa banggaan pero saka na lang dahil mahigit isang nobela kung ikwe-kwento ko lahat. sa madaling salita ay pinaunlakan ni ka heber ang lolo nyo na mag contribute ng isang tula upang basahin sa opening ng kanyang show. madami kaming pinaunlakan nya.

kung pinoy ka at di mo kilala si heber bartolome ay either ikaw ay bata pa o kung matanda ka naman (baby boomer) ay super sosyal mo o elite ka o kaya naman ay nagpapanggap ka lang na di mo sya kilala dahil feeling elite ka. kung ikaw naman ay maka amerikano kaya di mo sya kilala ay ikukumpara ko si heber katumbas ng mga idol mong kano. pinaghalo syang peter paul and mary, bob dylan at crosby, stills, nash and young. pinakasikat nyang komposisyon ang 'tayo'y mga pinoy.'

matagal akong tumambay sa baryo at mga kanta nya ang madalas kinakanta namin kaya naman nang makilala ko sya sa banggaan ay binigyan ko agad sya ng tribute portrait plus isang karikatura.

kasama din si pepe da hepe nag perform sa opening ni ka heber. madami pang mga tanyag na artists/poets nag perform pero di ko na sasabihin kung sinu-sino.

narito ang tula na pinadala ko. tamang tama po dahil ang bumasa ng aking tula ay ang idol ko ding si jose tence ruiz (according to ka heber). eto naman ang ilang links na sinulat nina jim ayson at fats lasay (ng banggaan din).

http://www.korakora.org/wordpress/?p=45

http://www.philmusic.com/blog/index.php?p=184

PINTURANG PULA

kasama ng mga tambay
kaharap namin ay tagay
kantahan sa kanto
utot ng dila’y awit mo

inihain ng mahal kong nanay
almusal n’yang masarap na tunay
tapsilog na sinubo ng kamay
limot ang masasamang bagay

di biro ang pagsakay ng bus
para kang may pasan na krus
sumakay man ako sa ibang agos
awit mo sa puso ko’y tagos

awitin mong sumasabay
sa diwa kong naglalakbay
wika ng ilong na pango
huwag akong magpapa-pako

pinoy akong sumasakay
si nena ay aking ka-akbay
napasuot sa salimu-ot
kanta mo ang s’yang humugot

sa laban ng aking barangay
tanglaw mo’y laging taglay
ang sugo ni putla, ‘yan ay babala
huwag ma-aya sa maapoy nya’ng dila

laganap ang mga asong ulol
sila’y ngumingiyaw, di kumakahol
taliwas na landas mag-ingat sa ahas
pag inabot ng malas, wala nang lunas

kulay ng pintura tawagin mang pula
dinemonyo ni mama dahil sa takot n’ya
ang magpapalaya sa mga madadaya
ay matapat na dila, yan ang tunay na biyaya

bow.

MADRUGADA

2006-03-31T09:56:00.000-08:00

me and some artist friends organized this group back in our avellana days. we did this to escape the 'boxed-in' life of advertising. you know i've been painting while doing my 9 to 5 job as always. this was what i was doing during my 9 years at avellana and associates and I’m quite thrilled to say that at least in my mind I influenced some other avellana graphic artists to do the same. It felt ‘illegal’ doing stuff that’s not related to our work but in this case we got the license.

I think it’s because what we were doing was what we got to know as ‘art.’ You know the heaviness of that word. You can get away with almost anything with it. You can do drugs, be a bad boy if you’re an artist. So I guess this was the reason why we got away with it. Besides, art really is an exercise of the mind and when you exercise your mind, you get more creative so it’s a win-win situation. Of course we didn’t really paint while working. We painted during our free time.

Me and my friends realized that we need to formalize the group and we named it madrugada. Cris Villanueva thought of the name. I think it means ‘dawn’ or madaling araw in tagalog.

We deliberated on how to initiate new members. I suggested there should be no initiation. The criteria should be his/her dedication to his craft. As long as the person produced any kind of art, that person could be a member. Plus new members should be able to survive drinking with us. I think this got vetoed to a more structured kind of background check which did not materialize either so I guess the former is the unwritten rule we follow.

All members were excited about the group. Each member produced a lot of art and we really had fun doing it. We held exhibits in any venue who allowed us. We did 2 at the city gallery in luneta. I think we did it 2 times at the windows café because we knew the owner. You know how hard it is to look for venues because all gallery owners think of profit first before art. This was one of the reasons why art becomes 50% less when you hang it in a gallery. This didn’t stop us though. We pushed through and we’re still doing it today.

Once in a while starting today I will feature a madrugada member on this blog so I hope you enjoy. I will not ask for each members’ background. I will write and feature their art based on how I see and know them.

Joel Fabonan

2006-03-31T09:33:00.000-08:00

Si joel fabonan po, dating full time rock star na ngayo’y part time na lang dahil art na ang mas pinagkaka-abalahan nya ngayon. He just did his second one person show in a gallery in timog. Fabo and I worked in the creative department of avellana and associates. He was one of the founders of our madrugada art group. I’m going to feature each members’ art on this blog.

We almost formed a blues/rock band where he sang and I played guitar but nothing happened because we always got drunk before we could play.

Fabo is a highly creative person and has a great sense of humor. I love his grafitti-style art where he tells random stories of perceived ‘baduy’ stuff. For me it’s important to expose the pinoy’s real mentality. The essence of the majority. Not just the elite’s point of view. Most art I see in manila are inspired by the collectors because they are the buyers so most artists tend to make art that cater to their tastes.

Fabonan’s art are honest. I know it came from deep in his heart. Here are some of his paintings done in discarded cardboards.

King's Crown

2006-03-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

This is a drawing ariel asked me to do. he told me to design a tribal style king's crown. i'm not sure if he did the tattoo.

we just did the tattoo expo at the cow palace. it was a drawing marathon. i'll tell you the story soon.

Filipino Heritage At Logan

2006-03-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

ninerbyos ako bago ako magsalita sa logan high school (union city) dahil baka may kumontra pero awa ni lord ay sumang-yon sila lahat. nirekumenda ako ni oscar penaranda kay ms. tina bobadilla, isang teacher sa logan to speak in her pinoy heritage class. narito ang ilang larawan at ang aking pinagsasabi...

...I am a self proclaimed artist. My art education is my life experience. It took me 30 years to call myself an artist. no institution or person can give me this title. It just came to me. I have decided. Unlike doctors or engineers, they need some kind of certificate to be official. I did not. that’s one of the things that excites me about art.

Art is my bridge so that I can go as close as I can get to freedom. Problem is that our system is in an all-out war to control everything. They want my art in a gallery which is confined so that they can measure and institionalize it. For me once you hang an artwork in a gallery it becomes 50% less art. The other 50% are showbiz and politics. So if I hang my art in a gallery, at least I know.

‘Freedom’ is a manipulated word just like the word ‘god.’ They promised freedom to captivate our minds. To have control. ‘God’ and ‘freedom’ go hand in hand in hustling our minds so that they can fulfill their interests. Once you think you’re free, you will defend it with your life and even kill for it. But in actuality, nobody and no one is free. Nobody is free in a school or a 9 to 5 job. All corners of our lives have rules so how can anybody be free?

Maybe we should name it ‘freedom lite.’ As in miller lite or budlite. But that cannot be because the word free is absolute. No ifs and buts. Unless you check the meaning in an American dictionary. It will say what they want you to believe about the word. They defined it according to their desires and made it ‘official.’ How can Christopher Columbus discover this land when there are already people here when he came? They fed this to the people… everybody believed and no one questioned it.

My point is that life is full of deceptions so it is important to be awake. It is full of junk that is dangerous and this is what I want to say in my art. My art is the truth between the lies they speak. I want people who look at my art to know that I know. You don’t have to accept it. It’s just my way of expressing myself about the truth. They may say it’s not art, it’s politics… because they cannot realize that art itself is politics because they are burried too deep in their dogmas.

They were made to believe that art should be cubist, expressionist, impressionist… all the isms. Being accepted in a gallery is a game of politics. Going to art school is part of the political game. It doesn’t mean that if you have a masters degree in art that you are a superior artist. Art cannot be measured. Art degrees were just instilled in the mind and all people who feel the truth knows it. It is the person who must decide. Our life experience is way more important.

I like what Andy Warhol said. He said that while the museums and critics are deciding what you created was real art or not, make more art.

If we follow the critics, nothing will change. Everything will be redundant because their criticisms were mostly based in existing knowledge.

Everybody can be an artist. Engineers and doctors can be artists. The thing I think is that you have to master your craft before you can produce art. Once you know, no priest or any high minister can decide for you. I said ‘once you KNOW’ instead of ‘achieved’ because knowing is awakening. You may achieve everything but still remain ignorant. knowing is truth.

amen.

ngayon ko lang napansin na wala akong sinabi tungkol sa pagkapinoy ko but my art speaks for itself. alam kong di ko nabigyan ng hustisya ang mga trabaho ko sa speech na ito. bwisit! ang hirap gumawa ng speech! there's no way i can describe my art thru words. masyado nang madaming pasikot-sikot. pwede ba mag-inuman na lang tayo?

Malmon Kong

2006-03-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

just finished this for my cousin dandoy. malmon is the name of their fraternity mascot.

Fly On My Windshield

2006-03-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

i took this shot while waiting for millette at the school for the blind. first time i took a shot of a fly from underneath.

Ninong

2006-03-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

narito ng sagot ko sa liham ng inaanak ko. natanggap ko last week ang sulat na ito mula kay mary ann. anak ni pareng ding na di ko alam na inaanak ko pala. nalaman ko dahil sa liham na ito. narito...

kumusta mary ann. ang laki mo na. kumusta si diding? alam mo ay mauubos ang papel na ito kung ikukwento ko lahat sa yo ang pinagsamahan namin ng tatay mo. isa syang tapat at tunay na kaibigan at ikinagagalak kong maging ninong mo. pakiabot na lang sa kanya ang aking pagbati at sana maliban sa walang trabaho ay nasa mabuti rin kayong kalagayan.

ako sa ngayon ay wala ding trabaho. magi-isang taon na akong laid-off pero sa abot ng aking makakaya ay ikakagalak kong makatulong sa yo. di mo isinalaysay ang halagang kailangan mo kaya wala akong idea kung gaano kalaki ang iyong kailangan. isa pang problema ay di ko pwedeng ilakip sa sulat na ito ang pera dahil baka mawala.

kung makakatawag ka sa numerong ito 681-5760 ay magagawan natin ito ng paraan. numero ito ng bahay namin sa maynila. hanapin mo si kuya jess o kaya si ate florence. ipapasabi ko na ang dahilan at paki paalala na lang sa kanila.

kung makakapag-iwan ka ng cell phone number ay maganda rin para makontak ko kayo ng derecho.

di ko maiipangako na kakayanin ko ang halagang kailangan mo pero sana’y sapat.

musta na lang sa kumpare ko, sa kumare at sa iyong mga kapatid. sana magkita tayo at ulit kami ni diding pag umuwi kami. narito ang ilang letrato namin ni diding at ang pamilya ko. - millette ang pangalan ng misis ko at miro naman ang anak namin. lalaki. ninong nya sila bandong, nanding at reden. kilala ng tatay mo ang mga yan.

paki sabi sumulat din sya.

paki paalala rin... mga yumaong tropa na sina pareng noy, si osbourn o usi, si bokyo, at dennis black.

NONO

2006-03-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

my homeboy NONO and forest whitaker.

whenever i see forest whitaker's face. he reminds me of my homeboy nono.

Lucban, Quezon

2006-03-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

Shot of a house in Lucban, Quezon using my pentax k2.

I Saw Mang Gene Last Night

2006-03-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

i was having this art exhibit in my old classroom. they hanged works that i thought somebody did for me. it was all red in theme like a chinese silk cloth. the only reminder that i did the paintings was because of its huge sizes.

when the reception was over we went home of course but the next day i had to check the artworks again just to make sure it was mine. it was a weekend so i know the classroom/gallery will be closed but there should be somebody there to open the door.

as i went in the classroom/gallery i noticed mang gene at a corner sweeping. i was shocked. i know mang gene passed away 2 years ago. i shouted in excitement and called him - PLEN!!! (meaning friend). that's how we used to call each other. mang gene was our janitor during my 9 years at avellana and associates. he was struck by a bus while riding his bicycle in antipolo. that's how he died. he was about 60 and as strong as a carabao.

i asked him why. he told me that that's the way things are. shit happens - he didn't say this but it's what he meant.

we hugged each other. nangingilid pa ang luha ko... then i asked him if i could take his picture so that i can show it to living people. fuck! i didn't bring my camera but mang gene handed me this mini digicam so i pointed it to him but it didn't work. i tried shooting again but we were distracted by children playing outside the classroom/gallery. when i looked at mang gene outside the camera he was gone. and that's when i woke up.

wow! thanks PLEN for the visit. i'm very happy.

i will post mang gene's picture once i find it.

i remember some other dead people visiting me thru my dreams. my best friend apol visited me during his birthday. my lolo and lola also did.

by the way those paintings were really mine.

Ibon Head

2006-02-28T21:28:00.000-08:00

took these shots months ago. This is a head of a bird being devoured or should i say being recycled by ants - our natural cleaner.

Kasaysayan Ni Apol

2006-02-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

sa panaon, unisan, quezon ako lumaki at isa si poling o apol sa mga una kong kalaro. abot kami with some other friends sa lahat ng sulok ng gubat ng panaon sa paglalaro ng baril-barilan, estukadahan at kung anu-ano pa. hindi si poling artist pero sa tingin ko ay nagbigay sya sa akin ng di pangkaraniwang takbo ng pagi-isip.

una akong namangha sa kanya ng lumambitin sya sa isang sanga ng mangga sa likuran ng bahay namin at nag loop sya ng 360 degrees sabay talon una ang paa sa lupa. nanlaki ang mata ko noon sa pagkamangha. grade 1 pa lang kami noon. 7 years old sya ako ay six. agad kong tinawag ang iba pa naming tropa para ipakita ang di pangkaraniwang abilidad ni apol. dumating ang ilan, si jaime velasco at si nestor cabana. inulit ni apol ang kanyang ginawa kaya mula non ay myembro na kami ng fan club ni apol.

madami pang mga milagrong ginagawa si apol. madalas syang manalo sa kara y cruz at iba pang sugal. sa kaha, libo-libong lastiko na nakabalabal sa leeg nya pagka panalo. wow. buntot lagi kay apol ang mga bata. kasama ako dun. pero madalas ay di tumatagal ng ilang oras ay ubos na muli ang kanyang napanalunan. natalo nang muli.

alam nyo sa ‘hood’ namin ay walang batas. natural law laang ang nage-exist sa amin. kung mang-apid ka ay natural laang na may mang-a-apid rin sa ‘yo. isang barrio ang panaon na malayo sa bayan. sa bayan ng unisan may pulis pero sa barrio namin ay alaws kaya kahit seven years old ka ay pwede kang magsugal. ang ‘respect’ sa panaon ay nae-earn dipende sa pagkatao mo. tinawag kong ‘hood’ ang barrio namin dahil sa mga namamalas kong kwento ngayon tungkol sa kultura ng hip hop. di nalalayo ang buhay sa baryo namin. madami akong tropa na maitutumbas ang kilos, kaugalian at buhay kina snoop dog, 50 cent at iba pa. natatawa nga ako minsan dahil nakikita ko ang tropa ko sa kanila. parallel kung baga.

malaking lungkot ko nang mabalitaan kong nag istokwa si poling. kung di ako nagkakamali ay grade six kami nang maglayas yang si apol. taon ang binilang bago kami magkita muli. madami syang mabubulaklak na kwento tungkol sa kanyang paglalayas. napaka alien sa akin n’yang maglayas at sa murang edad ay ginawa na nya ito. matindi! - yan ang tingin ko. hanggang sa mag-binata kami ay best friend ko si apol. walang araw tuwing bakasyon na hindi kami naka tambay sa bahay nilang barong-barong sa tapat namin. tuwing gabi ay syempre - isang ipit na lambanog ang tinutumba namin kahit sipol lang ang pulutan.

lumilipas ang panahon ay tuloy ang rak en rol namin. hindi nagbabago ang style ni apol. malapit sya sa dark side. never syang nag drugs sa kabila ng kung anu-anong tinitira namin. downers, uppers, alcohol. titirahin namin kung anong mahagilap. ang pagkalapit nya sa dark side ay naiiba. mas serious kumbaga. ang ambisyon nya ay magtayo ng organized crime organization. kita ko ang mga plano nya dahil nang kami’y mga binata ay nagre-recruit na sya ng mga loyalists na mga bagets na pabuntot-buntot sa amin. kasama namin ang mga batang ito kahit saan kami magpunta. sa beach, sa ligawan, sa inuman at iba pa. ginagawa namin silang taga takbo o errand runners. masaya na ang mga batang makasama kami dahil lahat ng chibog namin ay chibog din nila.

isa sa madaming mga main events sa buhay ni apol ay nang sya ay ma-bust sa kasong armed robbery, carnap at frustrated homicide. nagtrabaho sya sa isang businessman sa maynila. sa madaling salita ay inakyat-bahay nya kasama ang ilang di ko kilalang kalalakihan ang pinagtratrabahuhan nya. inside job ang sabi ng mga parak.

ilang beses ko na ding pinayuhan si apol na kung papasok sya sa mga gawaing ganyan ay piliin na nya ang side ng gobyerno. ayaw nya. sa tingin ko ay hindi sya mali dahil sa nakikita ko sa ngayon ay di mo na malaman kung sino talaga ang mga gangsters - pulis ba o sibilyan. obvious na mga pulis din ang nagpapatakbo ng mga sindikato.

hindi natuloy ang pagpaslang nila sa nilooban nila sa di ko alam na dahilan. nagkagulo ang plano ng grupo nya at nagkahiwalay.

una nya akong tinawagan noon upang ibenta ang sasakyang kinarnap nila. ala naman akong idea sa mga pangyayari at isa pa ay wala naman akong pambili kaya tinawagan nya ang isang tropa pa namin. ngunit di naglaon ay nabasyo sya sa di ko na din matandaang dahilan.

isang buwan syang nakapiit sa quezon city jail sa may kamuning. dusa ang mga magulang ni apol. napabenta tuloy ang kanilang barong-barong para sa pyansa. ilang beses ko din dinalaw si apol sa loob ng kulungan. isang beses pa ay muntik na akong di makalabas dahil sa katangahan ko. nalimutan kong may nakasingit nga pala sa wallet kong dalawang joints ng damo. maalala ko ay nasa may check point na kami sa may pintuan ng kalabusan. ang tanga ko sa loob-loobin ko. mabuti na laang dahil siguro sa muka kong inosente at hindi na chinek ng bantay ang wallet ko. siyet!

malaki ang nagagawa ng dalaw kay apol dahil malalaman ng mga les-pu na may kapamilya ang inmate at isang dahilan ito para di ka ma salvage. uso kasi ang salvage noon.

nakalabas din si apol after 1 month dahil nga sa pyansa ngunit tuloy ang kaso. hindi rin naglaon ay nawala ang kaso dahil hindi na sumusipot ang nagsampa nito sa trials. hindi nagbago si apol bagkus ay parang nagkaroon pa sya ng badge dahil sa karanasan nyang ito. na people’s journal pa sila at pinakita sa tv patrol ang nangyari.

sa kabila ng lahat ay masaya pa din kasama si apol. tawanan at kulitan pa din pag nagsasama-sama kami. madaming nagpapayo sa akin na iwasan ko sya pero paano ka iiwas sa tao na anim na taon pa laang kayo ay kasama mo na.

sikat ang apol nang umuwi ng panaon. alam ng lahat ang nangyari. na-earn ni apol ang respect na matagal na nyang hinahanap. nagkaroon sya ng notoriety dahil sa kanyang dinanas.

ang gulo sa panaon ay madalas ay family feud. ubusan ng lahi kumbaga na very common sa lahat ng sulok ng pilipinas at sa tingin ko’y hindi lang. ilang pamilya ang involved sa away na ito. ang pinakang siga ay siyang namumuno sa dahilang sya ang pinaka madaming napatay at siya ang may kayang lumantad ng harapan. di sya nagtatago bagkus ay sya ang sumusugod. mang taling ang pangalan nya. kung di ako nagkakamali ay apat ang naitumba nya at ang isa ay pinsan pa nya.

napatay si mang taling sa estasyon ng tren sa lucena. binaril sya ng shotgun sa likod. ang pumatay sa kanya ay isang ding taga panaon na nakaaway ng anak ni mang taling tungkol sa utang sa sabong. kulambo kung sya’y tawagin. tinaga ni zaldy (anak ni mang taling) si kulambo ngunit di napuruhan. ilang beses sinubukang patayin ni mang taling si kulambo ngunit merong sa palos si kulambo. nangyari nga ang kanyang kinatatakutan ng matiempohan sya ni kulambo sa estasyon ng tren sa lucena. isang bala ng shotgun ang sumabog sa kanyang dibdib at si kulambo ang may kagagawan nito.

dito pumasok ang apol sa kwento. tropa namin si zaldy na anak ni mang taling. nagkaron ng conspiracy ang apol at zaldy para mahuli ang kulambo. nag ennact ng fake na away ang dalawa. may sugat pa kunyari ang apol sa kamay sa pagsangga ng itak-itakan ni zaldy. sa mata ng mga mamamayan ay invovled na ang apol sa family feud at nasa side sya ni kulambo.

kinupkop ng kulambo si apol sa kanyang hideout sa pasig sa buong akala na nagtatago si apol sa mga naiwang pamilya ni mang taling. alang kamalay-malay ang kulambo sa conspiracy against him. timbog ang kulambo ng pulis ng pasig ng maisuplong sya ni apol. natransfer si kulambo sa lucena city jail kung saan sya nag serve ng sintensya. nabalitaan naming nakatakas sya ngunit ibang kwento na ito.

kudos nanaman ang tinanggap ng apol sa kanyang ginawa. lahat kami ay sangayon na di muna dapat umuwi ng panaon si apol. ngunit sa di ko alam na dahilan ay nagpakita pa din sya sa probinsya namin. nais nya sigurong malasap ang tagumpay ng kanyang ginawa kaya sya bumalik.

di eto na... inuman sa tapat ng riles sa may train station ng panaon. alex parafina. isa ding tropa ngunit kakampi ng kalabang pamilya ng taling.

kaharap ang apol sa inuman kasama ang isa pang best friend namin na nagngangalang nono. si nono ay isang napaka loyal na kaibigan ng apol. he’s apol’s right hand man. madami ding kwento ang buhay ni nono pero sobrang haba kaya sa susunod na laang.

walang nagawa ang nono ng biglang sumulpot ang alex parafina dala ang patalim sabay tusok sa may kaliwang kili-kili ni apol. tumama ang patalim sa kaliwang braso ni apol. tumagos ito hanggang kili-kili, sa dibdib abot sa may puso. dumampot ng bato ang nono dahil ala syang dala. binato nya ang alex ngunit alang epekto ito. hindi nasapol ang puso ni apol ngunit nagkaroon ng hemorage sa kapabayaan ng mga doktor sa isang ospital sa lucena. dala ito ng kahirapan. di ka aasikasuhin masyado sa ospital kung alam nilang wala kang pambayad. tinawagan ako ng pamilya ni apol upang magpatulong mapa-transfer sa mas mabuting ospital ngunit huli na ang lahat. pumanaw si apol after 3 days sa ospital.

24 years old sya nang bawian ng buhay. di ko malaman ang pakiramdam ko noon. lito, galit, excitement, nerbyos... halo-halo. alam kong napaka inosente ko noon ngunit nawala after mangyari ito. natuklasan ko at ng ibang tropa kung gaano kaseryoso ang kanyang ginawa. sa murang edad ay napakadaming nangyari. fast lane ang linya ni apol. di sya humihinto hanggang sa huling hininga. sa burol at libing na lang kami nagkita ni apol. kausong ako sa kanyang kabaong habang dinadala patungong sementeryo. blangko ang isip ko noon.

maganda din in a way na maaga syang umalis dahil kung hindi ay malamang na damay ako sa lahat pang mga papasukan ni apol. paano mo ba naman iiwasan ang taong kalaro mo ng mga bata pa kayo, kabarkada ng mga binata kayo at kasama mo sa lahat ng mga kalokohan dala ng isip n’yong bata? para sa akin ay maikukumpara ang buhay ni apol kina hendrix, james dean at iba pang kagaya nila. better to burn out than to fade away ika nga.

People At The Tattoo Shop

2006-02-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

caricatures of my teachers at the tattoo shop - billy, ariel and robert.

Japanese Waterfalls

2006-02-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

Tattoo design for the back of one of ariel's clients...

Blue Bird

2006-02-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

i found this blue bird dead in our backyard last tuesday. i always wondered where the birds bury their dead. do they have a bird cemetery? i haven't had the time to research the name of this bird so he'll be just like the iraq native casualty - no name, no number.

i know this bird because i always see it outside. i was observing the sounds it was making and i know it makes like hundreds of different sounds. i believe they have their own language. i assumed it was a natural death because i didn't see any wounds.

i placed him under the apple tree after. when i came back i noticed another bird singing or was it crying? you know we always identify birds' chirps as music but i know this bird wasn't singing. it was mourning this unindentified blue bird.

Wacom Pad

2006-02-10T23:15:00.000-08:00

woohoo! i'm happy.

i just fixed my wacom pad. i upgraded to tiger OS two days ago after months of hesitation. i hate doing operating system upgrades because i know there will always be problems. the first thing that went nuts after upgrading was my wacom pad.

AAAAAAHHHH!!!

i love my wacom. my wacom tablet is my life and this upgrade almost ruined my life. after 2 days of research, driver updates... boom! i got it to work. the answer came from the wacom website but it took me a while to find it.

i congratulate myself. i'm alive again :-)

now i should be ready for more fuck-ups...

State Of The Union

2006-02-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

FREE!

2006-01-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

i read the letters to the editor section of the chronicle and found this headline: ‘freedom isn’t free... you need to sacrifice.’

this is weird because i know the meaning of the word. free is free and nothing more. if you add something before or after this word the meaning should be different.

so i immediately searched the meaning of the word ‘free’ in the merriam-webster online. i was shocked at first but instantly realized and just shrugged because it’s already normal at how they manipulate the meaning of words. i find it funny and stupid that almost everybody fall for this crap. funny because people think that they really are free and stupid because we kill people for this word.

it is amusing to me how the word ‘free’ affects us. it makes us happy to see it in ads and it has the same effect when it is fed to us through the media. it’s like the magic word. it’s scary because the merriam-webster dictionary made it ‘official’ when they defined it.

i wasn’t convinced by their ‘official’ definition so i also searched the meaning in a tagalog-english and a spanish-english dictionary online. i saw how the american dictionary went a long way (too long) to define the word compared to the other two languages.

so please people... accept your fates. it is true that nothing and nobody is free in america. you ain’t free fools!

if you have no worries searching for the word ‘bomb’ in yahoo then you have the right to disagree.

Legend On My Tshirt

2006-01-25T17:43:00.000-08:00

alam nyo ay matagal ko nang idol ang juan dela cruz band. kombinasyon sila ng black sabbath at led zep pero ginawa nilang pinoy. di ko inabot nang unang magkakasama sila pero nang magkaisip ako ay una silang pumasok sa aking consciousness.

mabigat ang bagsakan ng bandang ito at sa aking puso ay kabilang sila sa mga sinasamba nating banda gaya ng stones at yun nga, led zepellin. peyborit ko si pepe pero syempre di pahuhuli si wally gonzales. masasabi kong napaka tamis ng mga melodies ng kanyang gibson guitar.

nang ilabas nya ang kanyang solo album ay napanganga ako sa wally’s blues. waw kako! dinala ako sa ulap ng komposisyon nyang ito. tumatak sa isip ko ang kanta at hanggang ngayon ay all time favorite ko ang wally’s blues. ito ang isa sa dahilan kung bakit dumampot din ako ng gitara at ginawang hobby ito. kaya naman po laking tuwa ko ng suotin ni wally ang isa sa mga hand painted shirts ko.

nasa australia po si wally with paolo santos kung saan meron silang gig. nagkataon naman na malaki kay edd aragon (http://edd-aragon.com/) ang inorder n’yang tshirt sa akin. ka-member ko po si edd sa banggaan. si edd po ay isang batikang dibuhista sa sydney. sa kanya rin po ang mga paintings sa background. isa po si edd sa nag-asikaso kay wally sa australia.

according to edd, nang makita ni wally gonzales ang tshirt ay nagustuhan nya ito kaya minabuti ni edd na ibigay na lang ang t-shirt kay wally. the t-shirt might be worthy but not me. haha.

nag cross na rin po ang landas namin ni wally. nalungkot ako nang matagal syang nawala sa scene kaya naman ng umuwi ako at nabalitaan kong nagbalik na si wally ay agad akong dumalo sa gig nya. nagsabi ako sa waiter kung saan sya tutugtog kung pwedeng kunan ng bidjo si wally. di raw pwede sabi ng waiter kaya laking gulat ko nang si wally mismo ang lumapit sa akin at pinayagan akong kunan sya ng bidjo. nakatabi po ang film ko ng wally’s blues - live! salamat wally. at edd :-)

Slimy Snail

2006-01-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

i took a picture of this innocent looking snail. the closer i focused, my mind started drifting on something else. i just read a zen book saying that the more a person is deprived of sex the more he/she craves it. i also read in a friend’s t-shirt - there’s really nothing exciting about sex unless you’re not getting it. these quotes may be true but it may also be like food. once you’re done eating you get hungry again.