Summer and Belief Painting

I grew up in a typical family of carpenters and furniture makers in Batangas City, Philippines. One of my earliest memories is from when I was about 8 years old, and I asked my grandfather if I could help him restore an old piano. He taught me how to strip off the worn paint, and although the chemical we used was sticky and irritating on the skin, I found myself enjoying the work even at that young age. Over time, I realized that I loved working with my hands and building things myself. While other kids would ask their parents to buy them toys, I preferred making my own. I also found myself deeply drawn to the beauty of nature, especially the afternoon skies. Every time I watched the sky before the sunset, I would think that perhaps God was also a painter because the beauty I saw in nature each day was far more than any old masterpiece — it was breathtaking. My mother once told me that I began drawing with a pencil on paper when I was around 5 or 6 years old, and my very first drawing was of a figure that resembled a frog. By the time I was 8 to 10 years old, I started reading about famous Filipino artists like Juan Luna and Fernando Amorsolo. My interest in painting has only grown since then. I began experimenting with different mediums, starting with watercolor, then moving to acrylic, and eventually oil. Every day, I studied the works of the old masters, applying what I learned while adding my style to it. I now primarily use oil as my medium and prefer canvas boards—either cotton duck or linen glued to a wood panel—as my painting surface. Canvas boards are ideal for me because they provide the texture of canvas while offering the firmness of a rigid surface. While I love capturing the beauty of nature in my paintings, I've also noticed something profoundly captivating in ordinary objects—like an old bin on the side of a busy street or an abandoned ticket booth in an old park. I’m not sure if this comes with age or is a unique perspective of an artist, but I feel that if I paint these "ordinary things," people might see something extraordinary in them, which I think would be wonderful. In addition to painting—or in between painting sessions—I love playing musical instruments. I especially enjoy playing my guitar, and sometimes the ukulele and flute. I also have a passion for writing songs and poetry. To me, poetry is like painting, but instead of using paint, I use ink as my medium.