In so much as appreciation for the arts is concerned, I used to be a passive observer.
When the pandemic broke out, it woke up one of my sleeper talent which was painting. Painting was not just a diversion for me. It provided me solace during those uncertain times.
Thus, even if I am a late bloomer in painting, I truly appreciate the mind, heart and soul placed by painters into each of their masterpieces.
A Pigment of Imagination
The visual artist Pedrong Masipag had his second solo exhibit at the Okada Manila, last April 7, 2022. It was entitled, ” Pedrong Masipag Has a Dream.”
I was one of the fortunate ones, who was able to view his collection.
More than the brushstrokes, the tonal values and the techniques used, one can see the passion and mastery placed on each canvas.
My eyes feasted on the hues and tones of his art works. His paintings evoked a sense of nostalgia but with a modernistic depiction. It was like you are transported to a different time and place but captured not with the usual drab colors but in a burst of pigments, instead.
I drooled over his paintings. I was drawn most especially to those paintings that had fishes as subjects (naturally).
Every Picture Tells A Story
I gravitated to one in a particular.
It was a portrait of Pedrong Masipag as a fisherman, carrying a gigantic orange fish over the smaller gray colored fishes. I actually do not know what the title of the painting was but I hope to meet the artist in person and ask him myself.
The painting spoke to me on a different level.
It was something in the lines of, “if you are industrious (Pedrong Masipag) you would most likely get the bigger catch. Big as it is, you hold on to your catch tightly— as you hover over the smaller ones.”
I guess for me, the message came across as personal because I am a staunch believer of hard work and perseverance.
His True Colours
https://www.facebook.com/PedrongMasipag1989/
Mr. Neptalie Aunzo is the man behind the paintings. The most inspirational detail about the Aunzo is that he is self-taught in his field of expertise.
“Pedro Masipag is just a moniker attributed to him after the main subject of his paintings which is a man dressed in Barong Tagalog, the national costume of the Philippines. ” Daily Mirror
Pedrong Masipag or Industrious or Hardworking Peter is usually present in most of Aunzo’s paintings. He is depicted as a hardworking Filipino man doing his best to earn a living. He painted this fellow as an anti thesis to the well known Filipino character Juan Tamad who lounge lazily under a tree waiting for the fruit to fall.
While Pedrong Masipag might be a fictitious character, Aunzo draws inspiration from his character.
In his words –
“Pedrong Masipag is clothed with Barong Tagalog for he is a decent person, with high morals and earns an honest penny through his hard work.”– Pedrong Masipag
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