Sweet and Shy?

Paola Germar as is more than just a fashion designer, but a true contemporary artist at heart. Recently her works in the medium of painting has been taken notice of the Philippines’ major media: broadsheets, magazines and television! Last week, she was featured by TV station IBC 13 for their web exclusive segment: GOODSHOT: Young Artists with illustratorJoseph Tecson.

Group Show featuring works by :
Catalina Africa, Jan Balquin, Brisa Dominguez, Isobel Francisco, Tin Garcia, Paola Germar, Eleanor Giron, Gab Lopez, Lala Gallardo, Les Lee, Veronica Pee, Tanya Villanueva, Marija Vicente, Eva Yu, Jeona Zoleta

If you'd like to see more of Paola Germar's art, she is part of a group entitled: "Bull in the Heather."

Keeping it real. -PJV 

Successful Stories with AMS Daily

Our good friend Alpha Sanford, creator of AMSDaily, a blog that evolved from a 30-day motivational conversation with her siblings, is a Filipina living in Massachusetts with her family. Founded in 2011, AMSDaily shares stories of extraordinary people from different backgrounds.  One of AMSDaily’s visions is to tell stories of remarkable Filipinas whose mission in life is to serve others and to live better. These individuals are inspirational success stories in their own rite, while proving their value to the community through working hard with passion, goals, and vision.

These stories are anecdotal tips on personal development. With the momentum resulting from a surge for women empowerment in the United States, she decided to take stories from her motherland, the Philippines, to show the world the understated efforts of Filipina women to inspire and encourage more of their own, like many of their counterparts from developed societies, to take control their own futures as a step towards becoming a truly progressive and nurturing society.

For the second time, Alpha features me again on her website. You may read the full online interview at this link. Thank you Alpha! 

Keeping it real. - PJV 

Beyond Trends, Fall Take on Statement Necklaces

Although the trend for this year gears towards simple drop and medallion necklaces, statement necklaces are still classic choices. For Cayetano's Fall Collection, they have decided to mix-and-match by combining both the medallion necklaces and the statement and bib necklaces with which they are known for. For this season CLC plays with gold, red, orange, green, pink, brown with hints of yellow for their jewelry collection. Here are just some of the pieces that they have chosen among our proposed Fall designs. Head over to their website to view their Fall Collection, which also include earrings and wire art bangles made by other Filipino Women Artisans. Make your Fall more interesting by adding jewelry to your wardrobe, CLC shows us how as well. 

Christian Red by CLC

Christian Red

PJ Burnt Orange 

PJ Burnt Orange

Tate Green

Tate Green

Photos by Cayetano Legacy 

Keeping it real.- PJV 

"What is Art for?"

Last July, Nikki Ocean held her solo exhibit, entitled Prism Pains and Those Voices in the Wilderness, at the Finale Art File art gallery. She's a budding artist and I've seen her grow from her college days to the present date. You could say that I've been one of her biggest fans! After seeing her exhibit, I was inspired to create jewelry pieces that ran parallel and    resonated with her paintings. This led me to experiment with different forms of beaded costume jewelry, as well as incorporating materials outside my usual style. 

Bloom, Nikki Ocean
2015, Oil on Canvas
84 X 60 inches

Ghost of your future's past childhood longings, Nikki Ocean
2015, Oil on Canvas
60 X 84 inches

Heart Burn, Nikki Ocean 
2015, Oil on Canvas
48 X36 inches

Peak of Haiyan, Nikki Ocean
2015, Oil on Canvas
36 X 36 inches

Wild, Nikki Ocean
2015, Oil on Canvas
48 x 36 inches

Home is where the tides take me, Nikki Ocean
2015, Oil on Canvas
36 X 36 inches

I have always been an accessory-loving person. I love wearing jewelry regardless of it being fine, bridge or costume. I also collect those made by different artists and retail brands. When I learned to make costume jewelry in particular, it played to my strengths as an artisan since I am a very visual and creative person. If I wasn’t doing this, I might have pursued painting or sculpture. Today, I see paint my canvass with my needle and thread as my brush and paint. 

I am lucky to be surrounded by creative people from different fields, who are artists in their own way using their form of "art" to inspire, influence and showcase their own advocacy. I suppose this is an example of what art is about. At one level, art inspires and on another level, it's an indirect way to self investigation. Allain de Botton's animated guide to "What is Art For" explains it more clearly. 

Live a life of meaning. Surround yourself with art! 
Keeping it real.- PJV