Design Folder: Your Online Design and Decorating Resource

a-list: j pacena’s ‘after mall hours’

A few weeks ago, we featured our friend interior designer April Frigilliana-Pacena and her winning design for MADE 2008. While April makes a name for herself in interior design, her husband, J Pacena II is making a mark in the art scene with his current solo exhibit entitled “After Mall Hours” at the Blanc Peninsula Manila.

Here are some shots from the exhibit’s opening night last friday, November 6. (images c/o the artist)

If you are in the Makati area, make time to drop by his exhibit, which runs until November 26. The gallery is open everyday; free admission. Read below for the details about the artist and the exhibit.

Congratulations J! More exhibits to come! -ardel

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(Text via the After Mall Hours facebook event page)

Transitions, realizations and choosing directions… themes translated using acrylic, pastel and archival ink on paper and canvas. Through the images of conflicts of man, the irregularities of life represented by floating geometrical shapes and deconstructed images of photographs of landscapes, abandoned houses and other spaces in Japan as a product of reflections of 30 years of existence. There are dialogues and conversations within the frames of artwork, showing conflicting views and feelings of the subjects and the influences of people through a man’s life stages.

For more information about this exhibition, visit www.blanc.ph or contact +639209276436 or send an email to info@blanc.ph.

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a-list: abi goy

These works by Filipina graphic designer Abi Goy make me smile. They’re fun and feminine yet strong at the same time. Apart from illustrations for popular children’s books, Goy also creates cute postcards and pillowcase designs. I wonder what inspires her to make these whimsical but chic illustrations. Her other works, which you can find at her website, will definitely make you instant fans. -lilli

a-list: pepper roxas

Isabel “Pepper” Roxas is a young Filipino illustrator and graphic designer based in Astoria, Queens, New York. She was a Fullbright scholar and a graduate of the Pratt Institute’s graduate design program. She’s a member of Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK) and has been drawing for kids since 1998. I stumbled upon her and her website last week through a recent post in Always Saturday about her art prints and her store in La’O Center in Arnaiz Ave., Makati.

I love her art! It’s quite rare that I come across artists who produce what I call “child-friendly” art or artworks that can be displayed in a nursery or kid’s room. I especially love one drawing in her website (top photo) of a girl with a huge flower because it somehow reminds me of my flower drawings when I was a child. I also like her illustrations for Araw sa Palengke (Day in the Market) which bring back childhood memories when I used to go to the market with my mom. (Hmmm, now I know what to give for my godchild Sophia’s birthday!)

It’s such a shame that it was only now that I came to know about her and her work. I had two children’s rooms for Space Starters early this year and I could have featured her art prints there!  Maybe next time…

To know more about Pepper and her art, visit her website here and her blog here. You can also purchase her prints, illustrated cards (above), and other items in her shop here. -ardel

a-list: CANVAS

I have always loved art. Like interior design, I was exposed to art at an early age because my uncle is a painter. I have always enjoyed watching him work on his plates while he was still studying in UP Fine Arts. My appreciation then was limited to their aesthetic/visual value. It was only recently, through my clients and a couple of art enthusiasts whom I have interviewed for the magazine, that I learned to appreciate their value in a broader sense. Unlike before, when it was a thing for the elites, art is now reaching out to the general public with restaurants, coffee shops, and furniture showrooms being new venues for their exhibits. To join in this endeavor, we are including a new section here in Design Folder called A-list (art list) where we will feature anything and everything related to Philippine art and Filipino artists.

Recently, through their Facebook page, I stumbled upon CANVAS (Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development), a local organization that promotes awareness and appreciation for Philippine art, culture and environment. Apart from organizing exhibits that showcase the best among our young contemporary Filipino artists, they also engage in projects that lead to the publication of books, prints, and other merchandise that make artworks become accessible to more people.

I especially love their program on children’s books. CANVAS’s Romeo Forbes Children’s Literature Initiative is a program wherein they come up with children’s books whose stories are inspired by a particular artwork.

Elmer Borlongan’s contest piece (left) which inspired the first CANVAS storywriting compretition. The winning story went to Becky Bravo’s “The Rocking Horse”.

Rodel Tapaya’s contest piece (left) in 2006 which inspired the winning story by Fernando Gonzales entitled “Ang Batang Maraming Bawal”.

CANVAS first commissions a young Filipino artist to do an original, large scale painting. Then, the artwork becomes the inspiration of an open writing competition. The winning story is finally illustrated in large scale paintings by the same artist. This initiative allows for a less intimidating venue to promote Philippine art and literature to children and to more people, globally.

We are so happy to see sir John (Jose John Santos III), our former painting teacher back in high school, as one of the featured artists of CANVAS (below)! I wonder if he still remembers us, hehe!

Check CANVAS’s website here to learn more about the organization and to see the rest of their children’s books. They also have an online store here where you can purchase their art-related products.

*all images via CANVAS’s facebook album here