I'm glad to announce that the Southern Philippines Medical Center has successfully conducted the 1st Mindanao Nursing Management Summit last May 23-24, 2012 at the Davao Convention Center, Davao City. Mr. Patrick Soria, RN, the Over-all Chairperson of Mindanao Nursing Summit, entrusted me to design the official logo of the event. With the theme, “Illuminating the Path for the Future of Nursing and Healthcare Transformation", the summit offers nurses educational and professional sessions that will elevate their nursing practice, inspire transformation, promote innovation and energize them to survive & trive in the new age of health care.

My design is inspired the Vinta which is a cultural symbol of Mindanao and is also a metaphor for a community. The sail can also be seen alternatively as a book, symbol for knowledge, which nurses will acquire through the sessions. Embedded in the sail is a lamp with fire, a symbol of Nurisng and illumination. Tribal patterns and the ukkil-inspired shape of the fire and sea depicts the culture of Mindanao.


I'm happy to be part of this historical event and i'm currently designing for next year's summit :D So to all Nurses out there, watch out for the 2nd Mindanao Nursing Summit! Visit their website http://www.mindanaonursingsummit.com/.

This year I had the opportunity to shoot during the street dance parade for our city's Hermosa Festival. It is one of the highlights of the fiesta where students are on their colorful outfits, joyously dancing to the lively beat. Even though the weather is gloomy, the vibrant array of graceful dancers didn't stop to pay tribute to the miraculous shrine of La Virgen del Pilar. Every movement and detail tells different stories about our city and every story is of great significance in our existence today. Along side the street dancers are huge floats made of flowers depicting the beautiful scapes and sceneries that Zamboanga is truly proud of. Here are some of my photos of the said event together with some story about Zamboanga.


Colores y Bailes. A festival without colors is like a flower without fragrance. Colors and Dances come together to show our celebration of life. Hermosa means "beauty", and this festival is all about the beauty. The beauty of our city, its culture, people and heritage.


Adelante. The war cry of Zamboanga which means "to go forward". Amidst all the negative image of the city, together we move forward and push through all the obstacles and become frontliners of peace and development. We do it with the guidance of our faith and harmony amongst our brothers and sisters.


Bellas y Personas. What makes Zamboanga special is the diversity of its culture and people. It is the melting pot of Western Mindanao where people live together in harmony despite of differences in customs and beliefs. We believe that respect begets respect, and love begets love (amor con amor se paga).


Hardin de Flores. Zamboanga was once dubbed as the City of Flowers. Accordingly, the place grew the most number of species of endemic flowers, the most biodiverse in the region. Before it became Zamboanga, Subanons were the first settlers of this ancient place called Jambangan ("Flowers arraged in a Vase"). In the early years of Zamboanga as a city, the streets were once filled with bougainvillea vines and the plaza were filled with a kaleidoscope of floral life.


La Abundancia del Mar. Zamboanga is also known as the Sardines capital with 8 out of 11 sardines companies located in the region. The seas of Zamboanga are rich with natural resources such as seaweeds and aquatic life. Aside from the food that it supplies, it also supports livelihood among the people sustaining almost 20,000 workers in this industry alone.


Nuestra Senora La Virgen del Pilar. The gloomy weather cannot stop the people from shouting out these phrases. Zamboanga's patronness, our Lady of the Pillar, was introduced during the establishment of the Real Fuerza del San Jose in 1635, built during the Spanish period. Hermosa Festival is one of the oldest festival in the country.


La Herencia Latina. Zamboanga is known to be Asia's Latin City for its highly influenced hispanic roots. During the building of the fort, Zamboanga had a transformation. The Spaniards introduced Christianity to the locals. They also learned to speak spanish and therefore creating a creole language known as Chabacano de Zamboanga. The Latin heritage can also be seen in the architecture, food, clothing, music, dance and more.


Mariposa. Where there are flowers, there are butterlflies. A Butterfly is a symbol of transformation and beauty. Like flowers, they come in different colors and sizes. They both represent the Hermosa festival which is a festival of the celebration the beauty of life. Zamboanga is like a butterfly undergoing metamorphosis adapting to change and developing into a better beautiful place to live in.


Vamos a Zamboanga! Let us not be ignorant about the rich culture that Zamboanga has to offer. It is a peaceful place that is worthy of recognition and many people missed its wonderful festivities. There are places to be visited, delicacies to be tasted, music to be heard, sceneries to be seen, stories to be heard and experiences just waiting for you to be discovered.

Here are four album layouts i did for JoeArt Production earlier this year. My designs are inspired by scrapbooks which are customized, embellished and fun to look at. There is also one which has a Greek theme with palettes inspired by the island of Santorini. Currently, I am working with new layouts but i can barely finish them in one month coz we have been busy lately. Click on the image for the full view of the album. More after the jump.

Kim2x and Chu2x







TJ and Sharize







Van and KC







Jerry and Ana






More here [1] [2] [3]

A while ago I was watching the first episode of "Work of Art", an American Reality show similar to Project Runway but the contestants create artworks instead of dresses. The artists were paired togehter and were challenged to make a portait of their pair. Most of them made a painting showing the personalities of their subject using colors and composition. The unique ones, unfortunately, landed on the bottom three. One was painted on an easle, the other is a type of installation, and the last one is a simple abstract painting. According to the judges, a portrait should embody the subject and show its personality. The astract painter was eliminated because her work was too abstract and it might not translate as a portrait to other people.

Talking about portrait, I went through my files and looked for my self-portraits. I had many of them because it's hard to incorporate my personality in one artwork. Some of these are just plain photographs while others had a little more effort that i put in to. Here's the different sides of me. The last one is my favorite above all. Click on the image to for full view (More after the jump).




Making a self-portait is not just an expression of my self. It's not only for facebook purposes, to have a nice profile picture. The process is what makes it a self-portrait. I am becoming aware of who I am on that moment, and what influence me as a person and as an artist. Sometimes they are created spontaneously and sometimes I am inspired by others to create my own portraits. If you were to create your self-portait now, how would it be? Is it a photo, a drawing or a painting? It is colorful, dull or in black and white?