{"id":1381,"date":"2013-07-19T07:32:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T14:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/66.147.244.209\/~canadiu3\/?p=1381"},"modified":"2014-02-01T07:34:33","modified_gmt":"2014-02-01T15:34:33","slug":"a-life-of-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2013\/07\/19\/a-life-of-art\/","title":{"rendered":"A Life of Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"102543gc8yig4kukmp0yuy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhimsically captivating\u201d and \u201cout of this realm\u201d are just some of the words that will come to mind when one sees the artworks of Filipino pop surrealist Buhay Mendoza whose painting career literally started like a walk in a park. Buhay talks about his humble beginnings, artistic influences, and gives tips to aspiring visual artists.<\/p>\n

PCI: How did your love affair with painting start?<\/em>
\nBuhay<\/strong>: In 2008, I was enjoying a picnic with my friends at Parks & Wild Life and we saw a group of artists doing a plein air session. I got really interested so I asked one of them if I could join their group so I can learn how to paint. And that was it. At first, I thought it\u2019s just going to be a fun hobby, but it\u2019s definitely more than I could\u2019ve imagined. In the same year, we had an exhibit, which was monumental for me. The first artwork I ever sold was bought by a maid and was paid in installments. Everything else is history.<\/p>\n

\"102809ovhnoicpzgv3qfjf\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PCI: What made you decide to paint full-time?<\/em>
\nBuhay<\/strong>: I always pray before making major decisions. By that time, I was working at a call center in Manila so I asked for a sign: if I ever made a sale on my first solo exhibit, I\u2019ll dedicate my time to painting. That night, I sold 9 out of the 25 artworks I displayed.<\/p>\n

PCI: Who are your artistic inspirations and influences?<\/em>
\nBuhay<\/strong>: Mark Ryden greatly influenced me. Of course I\u2019m also inspired by the greats: Picasso, Monet, Warhol, Rembrandt. There are also some contemporary artists.<\/p>\n

PCI: Do you have a favorite piece among your creations?<\/em>
\nBuhay<\/strong>: I treat them as if they\u2019re my kids, I love them all. But my favorite is called \u201cLove Knot\u201d and Cielo en la Tierra (Heaven on Earth).<\/p>\n

PCI: What were the obstacles you encountered as an artist in the Philippines?<\/em>
\nBuhay<\/strong>: I\u2019d say it\u2019s the general public\u2019s awareness and appreciation of art. It\u2019s so different from the way art is valued in other countries.<\/p>\n

PCI: How did you overcome that setback?<\/em>
\nBuhay<\/strong>: I simply love what I do. But I do hope that one day we can get some support from the government, like school art programs that focus on the importance of music and art in our culture.<\/p>\n

\"102733yw8ywy414u9qb8n7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PCI: Do you have any tips for aspiring artists?<\/em>
\nBuhay<\/strong>: If they want to be a visual artist like me, it will be difficult. They should be ready to starve and struggle at first. They need to be honest with themselves as well. This profession is driven by passion. We don\u2019t it to chase fame, but mainly (for self expression) to promote our culture.<\/p>\n

You can see more of Buhay\u2019s artwork on his two-week solo exhibit at Gallery Nine, SM Megamall entitled \u201cBiologo.\u201d It will run from August 13 \u2013 25, 2013.<\/p>\n

All photos courtesy of Buhay Mendoza.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhimsically captivating\u201d and \u201cout of this realm\u201d are just some of the words that will come to mind when one …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-art-and-culture","mauthors-ching-dee","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}