Inspiration from “Madama Butterfly”

I listen to opera in my studio and it is my painting music. Here are two paintings that are inspired from Cio-Cio San's aria "Un Bel Di Vedremo" from Puccini's "Madama Butterfly." I've taken the imagery from Pinkerton's parting words to her. ``O Butterfly My tiny little child-wife, I'll return with the roses, The warm…

“In the Moonlight”

My inspiration for this is a small copper painting by Adam Elsheimer, "The Flight into Egypt." Painted in 1609, it was the first painting of its kind which showed the biblical scene in a nocturnal forest, as described by Matthew (2:13). His contemporaries marveled at his rendering of the Milky Way, which has never been…

“Rules of Engagement” and Santos

My first landscape featuring the area around Santa Fe. In my painting studio I have a view of pinon trees on a hill. I witness ravens, rabbits, lizards and prairie dogs. This painting incorporates a lot of Santa Fe. My Santo Nino from the Philippines feels right at home in this land. I suppose my…

Crowning the Grand Sow

This is the final painting. I released it and then took it back after awhile because there was something missing I thought. So in 2009 I revised it. My creative process: from drawing to finished painting. I love the little piggy in the foreground, scratching his side, completely unimpressed by the wondrous coronation next to…