meanwhile

I cannot traverse the ocean, the sea is rough.The case is always like this, when the tropical typhoon is leaving the country, its tail will always hit this part of southern Philippines.Upon exit, the island suffer a heavy downpour.The moon should be bright tonight, but ominous clouds covered the midnight sky.

Helen's Garden, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 70 inches

In the ocean when its full moon, all marine creatures are blazing with beautiful colors.The rays of the moon are blanket of light to all species.

Turtle Song, acrylic on canvas, 34 x 26 inches, private collection

Easterly Wind

In the onset of ber,..months, the season in the Philippines started to shift. From the hot windless afternoon, it would slowly change to calm mornings, but after mid day the wind from the east would slowly arrive blowing its way towards the south.

The deep blue colors of the ocean would now be splattered with sea waves. The situation will be heightened until 4 o'clock. We call this ocean temperament as "amihan" or easterly wind.

This natural phenomenon stayed till  the months of December or sometimes till February. In between this months typhoons are expected.

 During the fair weather, amihan wind heightened the festive atmosphere of Christmas.  It causes the leaves of the trees to constantly sway while the cold mist of the morning greets us and accompany us till the evenings.This is the pleasant time for bonfires  on the beach or in plains, for star gazing, while the Christmas songs were played in the air.

boat decoration

I was commissioned to decorate the boats hull, the designs reflect the island's living creatures, here's the images of the preparations..

preliminary sketches

sketch on the other panel

colors and under paintings..

halfway through the process

The finished two pieces works on panels to be installed on the passenger boat's facade (sorry, not familiar with boat architecture terms!). Done in enamel on panels, it will be installed when its dried..

this will be installed on the right side..

previous work

good day, everyone..
I saw a whale shark again yesterday while aboard  a pump boat going for swimming with my friends.
You could tell easily if there's one ,-there's this flock of seabirds, going around in this area of water.
The creature feeds on krills- a tiny organism that look like shrimps,when its around its color is reddish brown.There are also other fishes like jack fish, scud and small tuna, all are participating in the feast.
So I jump into the water and found this 80 foot long gentle creature

Unfortunately I don't have an underwater camera, but same excitement are expressed in this acrylic painting I did 3 years ago:

the link below is my painting posted in an art website fineartamerica.com
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/whale-shark-morning-jonathan-benitez.html

whale shark morning, acrylic on canvas, 34x26 inches

whale shark dawn, 36x24 inches, acrylic on canvas

art blogs, travel blogs about Palawan art

here's the blogs that mention the art scene of Palawan artists

http://travelkage.blogspot.com/2002/12/of-art-and-aritsans-puerto-princesa.html

this blog is almost complete in updating the contemporary Philippine Art scene:

http://philvisualarts.blogspot.com/

previous acrylics

these works were done in the year 1999-2003..

portrait, 34x26 inches, sand and acrylic on canvas 1999

Dodong, 34x26 inches,  acrylic on canvas 1999

coral reef,  36x48 inches, paper collage and acrylic on canvas 2003

still life , 21x18 inches, acrylic on canvas 2012

instead of the typical flowers or immobile objects, my still life are ordinary thrown away everyday objects found floating or awashed in the beach..

fisherman's wife, 34x40inches, acrylic on canvas 2009

my portraits were not poignant, but ordinary persons I see everyday.Sun burned skin from daily toils are my kind of beauty, beauty from everyday struggle, to cope living in the sea.

fishclouds, 30x30 inches,  acrylic on board 2012

fisherman's wife, 36x48 inches, acrylic on canvas 2012

new acrylic

Just finished this piece.I don't have a title for this yet. It has the same similarity with my digital work-"underwater portrait series" done last year 2011.

34x26 acrylic on canvas 2012

Past curatorial work

One of my unforgettable curatorial activity in the past few years with The Kalinawa Foundation, http://www.kalinawa.com/   a Canadian group who helps organize and support indigenous art all over the Philippines.
The report tackles my one man saga to organize everything, from start to finish..
Every time I read my report, I  just nod my head, and smile, realizing my accomplishment is not an easy one, but since I love what I am doing, I keep on doing it..
here's the link to my report:
http://www.kalinawa.com/uploadfile/curator/Curators%20Note_Palawan_2.pdf

photos from the Kalinawa Foundation:
http://www.kalinawa.com/uploadfile/photo/Photo%20Essay_Palawan_2.pdf

PALAWAN PURE By JONATHAN BENITEZ

PALAWAN PURE By JONATHAN BENITEZ

My personal collection of unshown, non-figurative  acrylics from the year 2008 were shown in this online gallery. The name is Peridot Online Gallery.This works were done on vellum paper with my favorite acrylics.
Same motif and subject matter were explored.
Expressing my relationship with the ocean environment.

The works are spontaneous, drips and dabs of paints were allowed to glide.I have no premeditated images in my head upon creating these works.Like a child, I let loose of all the strokes, let the accidents happen. Control were sometimes utilized to define or enhanced the shapes that appear.

The sea is what I always think of, after all the works were
done..images can be seen in this link:

http://www.todoentertainment.com/jonathan-benitez-l-peridot-online-gallery-l-todo--entertainment-com.ws#!idb=16608189&idpnl=ad&idart=96422&pg2=0&anc=BlogDetail16608189

yellow tide, 30x23 inches, acrylic on vellum paper

seashell and memories, 30x23 inches, acrylic on vellum paper

pink sunset, 30x23 inches, acrylic on vellum paper

low tide, 30x23 inches, acrylic on vellum paper

mangrove leaf, 30x23 inches, acrylic on vellum paper