ripplesofcolor

[ripplesofcolor]

HELLO FRIENDS!

How are y’all? Well, I’m happy because I finally finished my first plate! This week, we were thought on Philippine art and its uniqueness from other forms of art. After which, we were tasked to answer the question “In what other ways can you make art genuinely Filipino?” through a painting. Once I had my canvas, I started sketching whatever comes to my mind. In the end, I created a painting of a Filipino woman wearing a Filipiniana, a seashell necklace, and a gumamela (hibiscus) flower on her hair. I made the Filipino woman as I wanted to emphasize on the beauty of Filipinas. Filipinas are different from other women for their wavy dark hair, flat noses, and most importantly, their brown skin complexion, which us Filipinos call this as Morena (or Moreno for men). This is why I titled this artwork as “Morena”. Aside from this, the woman wore a seashell necklace and a flower on her hair to show the blessedness of Filipinos in their resources or “Ang mga biyaya ng aking lahi.” In comparison with other countries, the Philippines is rich with a variety of fauna and flora. This is one way in which Filipinos are blessed. From this, I could say that my artwork is genuinely Filipino as it highlights a Filipino woman and the blessings of my country.

I could say that my artwork is unique and different from other Philippine art as first of all, I have my own art style. My artwork is also unique especially among my classmates as I did not really use much Philippine symbols. Instead, I made a Filipina as my main subject of the work.

Although my art came out nicely, I went through several difficulties along the way. First of all, I had difficulty in deciding on what to paint as I wanted to make my work unique from others, so I avoided using on Philippine symbols to lessen the chances of having similar works with others. Another difficulty I encountered was painting. I found painting as a struggle as I am not used to painting with acrylic paint. Unlike watercolors, it is harder to blend tones with acrylic paint as it is opaque. However, as time went by, I gotten used to it.

After accomplishing this task, I realize my capabilities in canvas painting. It may not be my first time doing the activity, however I am not used to working with the medium. Through this task, I was able to practice my skills in painting. I was also able to do such because I followed the instructions and suggestions of my teacher, which I hope was able to achieve in the painting.

I am not greedy of my artwork. However I want people to appreciate my work and effort by looking at the main subject of my work. From then, they could create different interpretations of my work. Despite this, I hope they would realize the meaning behind my artwork.

If I were to rate my painting from a scale of 1-10, I would give myself an 9 because it came out nicely, however there are some parts in which I hope to perfect. Also, there is a part of me that is not satisfied yet with the outcome of my work.

I hope that I will be able to improve my skills so that I could show a better artwork to you all. Bye for now!

[ripplesofcolor]

HELLO AGAIN!I just want to share this experience with you all!  Our activity last Friday for our contemporary arts class was to visit the Gallery of Women’s Art in our school. I was excited to see the artworks featured in the gallery as I consider viewing artworks as a form of therapy. The gallery was held in a small room in our college department. The room had sufficient lighting enough for us to see the details of each artwork. The walls were painted white so to put emphasis on the colors of the artworks that were displayed there.  I also noticed that the artworks were either arranged by the central theme that was presented in the artworks or the art style that was used. The artworks were either hung up or leaned to the wall due to the lack of space. Because of the number of people in the room, the number and size of the artworks, the room felt somehow cramped. At the same time, my experience did not feel as therapeutic because of the noise that was created by the excitement of my classmates.

Although I may have felt uncomfortable during the whole experience, I still enjoyed viewing at the artworks displayed there. There were about 30 to 40 artworks displayed and they were all created by women artists. From all the artworks I viewed, I only remember a few artists that were featured there as I was not able to view all the works due to the lack of time. The first artwork I noticed was Angelica Verzosa’s “Pink Sky with Green Moon.” From the title, the main colors she used were pink and green. The art style that was used was abstract as she used different geometric shapes and bold colors to form figures. The next artwork I remember was Phyllis Zaballero’s “Pas de Deux Green.” This artist of this artwork also utilized the abstract style. However, in comparison to the previous artwork, this puts more emphasis to the color and blending. The next work and artist that caught my eye was Julie Lluch’s “Hubad” which is the Filipino term for nude. The masterpiece was in a form of a wooden sculpture of a naked woman. It utilized a lot of curve edges to emphasize the usual body shape of a woman. Another artist that is featured in the gallery was Denise Weldon. The title of her artwork was “Naluyong Dahon ng Arturyum” or “Dried Arthurium leaf”. From the title, the main subject of her work is a dried leaf. Compared to the previous artists I discussed, the art style she used was realistic but the colors she utilized were the different tones of black and white. The last artist that I was able to remember was Anita Magsaysay. The artwork that she showcased in the gallery was entitled “Mga Tindera ng Mani.” Just like Denise’s work, she used limited amount of color and used different tones of black and white. Her main subject was the two women packing nuts. The art style she used was probably semi-realistic.

Out of the five artworks I discussed, my favorite was Phyllis Zaballero’s “Pas de Deux Green” because I find that the colors she used and the way she blended her colors was interesting. The colors she used were green, yellow, white, black, and blue. This color combination somewhat resembles the colors of nature. Because of this, viewing the artwork gave a relaxing feeling as being with nature helps us relieve and forget our stress. She was also able to blend her colors with the use of curved strokes despite that they are bold hues. This somewhat shows harmony in the work as the colors were able to blend in such a manner.  Because of the colors, blending, and strokes, I was able to admire the work for a long time as it gave a therapeutic feeling.

All in all, I was enjoyed my time in the gallery. Although I liked the artworks showcased there, it would be better if other artworks that used other mediums were there as most of the works presented there used traditional art styles and mediums. It would be nice if digital paintings were also featured as art is evolving and there are more mediums in creating art these days.  

Overall, I felt happy during the gallery visit as it has been long since my last visit in a gallery or museum. Looking at the artworks there gave me mixed emotions because of the different art styles and subjects that were used. However, this still gave me a therapeutic feeling despite the lack of time and space and the noise as the artworks there were worth viewing. This made me inspired to create more art.  I hope there will be more opportunities like this so I can learn more on art. Also, I hope that my class and I will have the opportunity to showcase our works in the future.