norman rockwell caricature

a tribute to a great artist. this is my entry for C3000 Norman Rockwell challenge:)

Norman Percevel Rockwell [February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978] was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter [although his Rosie was reproduced less than others of the day], Saying Grace [1951], and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his work for the Boy Scouts of America [BSA]; producing covers for their publication Boys' Life, calendars, and other illustrations.

source: wikipedia

ana pabalan nuguid photo restoration

another photo restoration image of Ana Pabalan Nuguid. remastered in photoshop. come to think of it, this image could pass as nostalgic ad for samsung, nokia, or even the iphone:)) cheers!

cipriano nuguid photo restoration

a before and after image of an old photograph of Cipriano Nuguid, my friend Mel's late grandfather. done thru the power of adobe photoshop.

Piet Mondrian

Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1912 Mondrian [Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpiːt ˈmɔndriaːn], later [ˈmɔndriɔn]; March 7, 1872 – February 1, 1944], was a Dutch painter.

He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism. This consisted of white ground, upon which was painted a grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and the three primary colors.

Between his 1905 painting, The River Amstel, and his 1907 Amaryllis, Mondrian changed the spelling of his signature from Mondriaan to Mondrian.

Mondrian was born in Amersfoort in The Netherlands, the second of his parents' children. He was descended from Christian Dirkzoon Monderyan who lived in the Hague as early as 1670. The family moved to Winterswijk when his father, Pieter Cornelius Mondriaan, was appointed head teacher at a local primary school. Mondrian was introduced to art from a very early age: his father was a qualified drawing teacher, and with his uncle, Fritz Mondriaan [a pupil of Willem Maris of The Hague School of artists], the younger Piet often painted and drew along the river Gein.

After a strictly Protestant upbringing, in 1892, Mondrian entered the Academy for Fine Art in Amsterdam. He already was qualified as a teacher. He began his career as a teacher in primary education, but while teaching he also practiced painting. Most of his work from this period is naturalistic or impressionistic, consisting largely of landscapes. These pastoral images of his native country depict windmills, fields, and rivers, initially in the Dutch Impressionist manner of the Hague School and then in a variety of styles and techniques documenting his search for a personal style. These paintings are most definitely representational, and illustrate the influence that various artistic movements had on Mondrian, including pointillism and the vivid colors of fauvism.

On display in The Hague's Gemeentemuseum are a number of paintings from this period, including such post-impressionist works as The Red Mill and Trees in Moonlight. Another painting, Evening [Avond] [1908], a scene of haystacks in a field at dusk, even augurs future developments by using a palette consisting almost entirely of red, yellow, and blue. Although it is in no sense abstract, Avond is the earliest of Mondrian's works to emphasize the primary colors.
Piet Mondrian, View from the Dunes with Beach and Piers, Domburg, oil and pencil on cardboard, 1909, Museum of Modern Art, New York City

The earliest paintings that show an inkling of the abstraction to come are a series of canvases from 1905 to 1908, which depict dim scenes of indistinct trees and houses with reflections in still water. Although the end result leads the viewer to begin emphasizing the forms over the content, these paintings are still firmly rooted in nature, and it is only the knowledge of Mondrian's later achievements that leads one to search for the roots of his future abstraction in these works.

Mondrian's art always was intimately related to his spiritual and philosophical studies. In 1908 he became interested in the theosophical movement launched by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in the late 19th century, and he joined the Dutch branch of the Theosophical Society in 1909. The work of Blavatsky and a parallel spiritual movement, Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy, significantly affected the further development of his aesthetic. Blavatsky believed that it was possible to attain a more profound knowledge of nature than that provided by empirical means, and much of Mondrian's work for the rest of his life was inspired by his search for that spiritual knowledge.

Mondrian and his later work were deeply influenced by the 1911 Moderne Kunstkring exhibition of Cubism in Amsterdam. His search for simplification is shown in two versions of Still Life with Ginger Pot [Stilleven met Gemberpot]. The 1911 version is Cubist, in the 1912 version it is reduced to a round shape with triangles and rectangles.

source: wikipedia

korina sanchez

Korina Maria Roxas [née Sanchez] is a Filipina broadcast journalist. She is one of the frontline personalities for ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, her home network for more than two decades.

Korina Sanchez was born on October 5, 1964 in Hong Kong. Her father, Ramon P. Sanchez, Sr. [1919–2004], was the General Manager of then Hongkong landmark, Ambassador Hotel. She is the only girl of Ramon and Celia Sanchez's brood of five children. When the family came back to the Philippines, her father set up a successful carpet company, Woolcraft, Inc.

She attended St. Theresa's College, Quezon City for her elementary and secondary education, and then Maryknoll College [now Miriam College], where she earned a bachelor's degree in Communication Arts. Her first love was writing, but she was also active in extra-curriculars like singing, theater, public speaking, and high school varsity volleyball. In college, Korina excelled in courses related to creative writing, thesis writing and speech. She also completed a third-level French language course at the Makati-based Alliance Francaise de Manille. Sanchez dreamt to be in the performing arts, but she believed her "calling had always been in the field of information and communication".

From being a station weathergirl at the then Marcos government-run Maharlika Broadcasting System under the supervision of former Information Minister Greg Cendaña, she advanced to be the hourly newsbreak announcer, beat reporter and pinch-hit anchor to her seniors. In 1986, after the EDSA Revolution, Sanchez joined the reopened ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation as a senior reporter. President Ferdinand Marcos had closed down the Lopez-owned station but it was returned to the Lopez family in 1986. She became executive producer and host to programs such as 'Magandang Umaga Po' with then co-anchor Noli de Castro, 'Bayan Ko Sagot Ko', 'Hoy Gising!', 'Options', 'Balitang K', 'Isyu 101' and 'Pulso: Aksyon Balita'.

When de Castro ran for public office in 2001, Sanchez became the station's first solo woman anchor for its flagship news program 'TV Patrol'.

In 2003, Sanchez was asked to pinch-hit as co-host with actress Kris Aquino. The tandem clicked and what was supposed to be a two-week stint became a hit sixteen-month talk show. 'Morning Girls with Kris and Korina' ended in May 2004 after Sanchez was offered a slot on 'Rated K: Handa Na Ba Kayo?', a Sunday newsmagazine show.

Sanchez also had a successful career in radio through DZMM, ABS-CBN's Metro Manila radio station. She did socio-political commentary with longtime friend and colleague Ted Failon, who was also her co-anchor in Hoy Gising!. Their program was first entitled Aksyon Ngayon, and then renamed Tambalang Failon at Sanchez. When Failon was elected Congressman of the first district of Leyte province, Sanchez hosted the program on her own and it was renamed Korina sa Umaga. Three years later, the show reverted to Tambalang Failon at Sanchez after Failon opted not to run for another term.

In 2004, she was appointed ABS-CBN's Chief Correspondent for Philippine & Global Operations.

After almost two years hiatus from newscasting, she was re-installed as news anchor at Bandila, the news program of ABS-CBN [replacing Insider]. Her pilot episode ran on 3 July 2006. On 10 July 2006, she debuted Korina Today on the ANC.

On 8 May 2009, Sanchez took an indefinite leave from her DZMM radio morning program and evening newscast Bandila, in anticipation of her wedding to Senator Mar Roxas and his presidential bid for the 2010 Philippine elections. However, her magazine program Rated K remained part of the network's Sunday programming.

On November 8, 2010, Sanchez together with former Vice President Noli de Castro joined with Ted Failon in TV Patrol.

source: wikipedia

julia roberts

Julia Fiona Roberts [born October 28, 1967] is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the 1990's romantic comedy Pretty Woman, which grossed $464 million worldwide. After receiving Academy Award nominations for Steel Magnolias in 1990 and Pretty Woman in 1991, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2001 for her performance in Erin Brockovich. Her films My Best Friend's Wedding, Mystic Pizza, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, Valentine's Day, The Pelican Brief, Ocean's Eleven and Twelve have collectively brought box office receipts of over $2.4 billion, making her one of the most successful actors in terms of box office receipts.

Roberts had become one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, topping the Hollywood Reporter's annual "power list" of top-earning female stars from 2005 to 2006. Her fee for 1990's Pretty Woman was $300,000 in 2003, she was paid an unprecedented $25 million for her role in Mona Lisa Smile. As of 2010, Roberts's net worth was estimated to be $140 million.

Roberts has been named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" eleven times, tied with Halle Berry. In 2001, Ladies Home Journal ranked her as the 11th most powerful woman in America, ahead of then national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and former first lady Laura Bush. Roberts has a production company called Red Om Films, formerly Shoelace Productions, whose name is "Moder" (her husband's last name) spelled backwards, as well as a reference to the sacred Om symbol in Hinduism, which Roberts practices. Her brother Eric Roberts, sister Lisa Roberts Gillan and niece Emma Roberts, are also actors.

source: wikipedia

Ronald Ventura - Grayground

Pinoy artist Ronald Ventura’s painting sells for nearly P47 million at Sotheby’s auction.

Renowned Filipino artist Ronald Ventura’s painting "Grayground" has sold for HK$ 8,420,000 or P46,995,832.65 at the Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings auction held on April 4 in Hong Kong.

The graphite, oil, and acrylic on canvas piece, which measures 60 inches by 155 3/4 inches (nearly four meters long), set a new auction record and beat Filipina artist Geraldine Javier’s oil-on-canvas Ella Amo’ Apasionadamente y Fue Correspondida (For She Loved Fiercely, And She is Well Loved), which raked in HK$1,460,000 in an auction last year.

With more than 10 awards to his name, the 37-year-old University of Santo Tomas fine arts graduate is currently the country's top-selling Filipino artist. Venturas have been selling for five- to six-dollar-digits in auction houses abroad. Ventura was named SPOT.ph's No.1 Most Successful Young Visual Artist late last year.

Other Filipino artists whose work was sold at the auction inlcude Ronald Caringal, Lynard Paras, Kiko Escora, Janet Balbarona, Rodel Tapaya, Andres Barrioquinto, Marina Cruz, Arturo Sanchez, Nona Garcia, Jon Jaylo, Danilo E. Dalena, MM Yu, Wawi Navarroza, Onib Olmedo, among others.

source: www.spot.ph 

Biography in brief:

[1973] Born in Manila, Philippines

[1993] Bachelor of Fine Arts, Major in Painting, University of Sto. Tomas, Philippines

[1993] Instructor, College of Fine Arts & Design, University of Sto. Tomas, Philippines

[2005] ATENEO ART AWARDS Winner Philippines - ATENEO ART GALLERY STUDIO RESIDENCY GRANT SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

[2003] Recipient - 13 ARTISTS AWARD Cultural Center of the Philippines

[2002] JURORS’ CHOICE AWARD Philippine Art Awards Philip Morris

[2001] ARTIST OF THE YEAR Art Manila  Newspaper

[2000] HONORABLE MENTION Metrobank Art Competition

[2000] WINNING ENTRY Y2000 PAP Print Competition

[1999] FINALIST Taiwan International Biennal Print and Drawing Competition

[1999] JURORS’ CHOICE AWARD Windsor & Newton Painting Competition

[1998] FIRST PLACE Lithograph Competition NCCA and PAP - JURORS’ CHOICE AWARD 

[1993] JURORS’ CHOICE AWARD AAP Art Competition

[1992] HONORABLE MENTION Metrobank Art Competition

[1990] FIRST PLACE Shell National Students Art Competition

source: kulay-diwa.com/ronald_ventura

related article: lessons-from-triumph-of-ronald-ventura

charice

Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco [born May 10, 1992], often known by the mononym Charice, is a Filipina recording artist who rose to popularity through YouTube. Dubbed by Oprah Winfrey as the Most Talented Girl in the World, she is the first and only Asian singer in history to land in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart.

She is currently working on her second album, follow up from Charice.

Crossing over to television acting, she has appeared on the second season of the hit TV series Glee as Sunshine Corazon.

Pempengco was born in Laguna, Philippines. Raised by a single mother, she helped support the family by joining amateur singing contests at age seven, from town fiestas in various provinces to singing competitions on TV. She is said to have joined almost a hundred singing contests.

In 2005, Charice joined Little Big Star, a talent show in the Philippines loosely patterned after American Idol. Eliminated after her first performance, she was later called back as a wildcard contender and eventually became one of the finalists. Although she was a consistent top scorer in the final rounds, she wasn't able to win the title in the finale and only placed third.

Charice made minor appearances on local television shows and commercials, but essentially had fallen off the radar after her stint at Little Big Star. It was not until 2007 that she gained worldwide recognition after an avid supporter under the username FalseVoice, started posting a series of her performance videos on YouTube. These videos received over 13 million hits.

In June 2007, Ten Songs/Productions, a music publishing company in Sweden, invited Pempengco to a demo-recording after producers saw her videos. She recorded seven songs – six covers and an original song entitled "Amazing".

She was then invited to the South Korean talent show Star King on its October 13, 2007 edition, she sang "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and a duet of "A Whole New World" with Kyuhyun, from Super Junior.

After watching her Star King performance on YouTube, Ellen DeGeneres extended an on-air invitation to Pempengco to guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She flew to the United States for the first time and performed two songs on the December 19, 2007 episode of the show – "I Will Always Love You" and "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going".

Following her American debut on Ellen, she made a second appearance on Star King as the "Most Requested Foreign Act" of the show. On its December 28 edition, she performed Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and sang a duet with singer Lena Park.

In January 2008, she was invited to the Malacañang Palace where she performed for Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She returned to the international scene when she guested on the April 8 episode of The Paul O'Grady Show in London, England.

Her self-titled Philippine debut album Charice was released in May 2008. The mini album, consisting of six songs and six backing tracks, was awarded gold certification in the Philippines in October 2008. The album eventually achieved platinum status in 2009.

Pempengco appeared on the May 12 edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show in an episode entitled the "World's Smartest Kids", where she performed Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing. After the show, Oprah Winfrey contacted David Foster to see what the legendary music producer could do for Pempengco. She performed with Foster for the first time as one of the entertainers on the May 17 opening of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut.

She made her debut on the international concert stage in Foster's May 23 tribute concert, Hitman: David Foster and Friends, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. She performed a medley of songs from The Bodyguard as well as her standard, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". A CD/DVD of the concert, including Pempengco's The Bodyguard medley, was released on November 11, 2008. The show was aired several times on PBS and other public television networks starting in December 2008 under the Great Performances banner.

One of the singers at the concert was Pempengco's idol, Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli subsequently expressed interest in performing a duet with her and personally invited her to be a guest on his birthday concert "The Cinema Tribute" held on July 20 at the Teatro del Silenzio in his hometown of Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy. Aside from her solo performance, she sang a duet of "The Prayer" with the famous tenor in front of more than 8,000 people.

She was invited to perform for the Feyenoord's Centennial Anniversary in the Netherlands held on September 26. Before a crowd of about 50,000 football [soccer] fans, she sang the team's anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone."

When she guested on the "Dreams Come True" episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 9, Oprah referred to her as "The Most Talented Girl in the World." She sang Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" with David Foster on piano, after which Oprah surprised her with an appearance by Celine Dion via satellite, who invited her to sing a special duet at New York City's Madison Square Garden as part of Dion's Taking Chances Tour.

She performed her promised duet with Celine Dion on September 15. They sang "Because You Loved Me," dedicated to Pempengco's mother. The performance received rave reviews in The New York Post and The New York Times. The duet was eventually featured on the September 19 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. She would then perform at the Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children Benefit Concert at the Wynn Las Vegas casino resort.

In November, she and David Foster guested on Good Morning America to promote Foster's tribute album, Hitman: David Foster and Friends. She performed The Bodyguard medley and "I Will Survive."

source: wikipedia

bea alonzo

Phylbert Angellie Ranollo Fagestrom [born October 17, 1987], popularly known as Bea Alonzo, is a Filipino film and television actress, and singer. She is currently part of ABS-CBN contract talents.

Phylbert Angellie Ranollo Fagestrom was born on October 17, 1987 in Philippines. Her father is British, and her mother is Filipino. She attended Ususan Elementary School in Ususan and Colegio de Sta Ana. Taguig City

In 2003, at age 15, Alonzo joined the TV drama Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay. She later appeared in soap operas like It Might Be You, Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin, Maging Sino Ka Man and Maging Sino Ka Man: Ang Pagbabalik.

In June 2008, Alonzo released her debut album The Real Me under Star Records. It was also in mid-2008 when it was announced that she would play the leading character Betty Pengson in the TV sitcom Yo Soy Betty La Fea, which originated from Colombia. The Philippines' version was entitled I Love Betty La Fea. The show premiered on September 2008 at the primetime slot; it ran for six consecutive months.

source: wikipedia