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Tuesday, June 03, 2003
From Tanay with love
By Ritchie Landis Doner Quijano
A painter from Tanay, Rizal now considers Cebu as his second home. He has been hereseveral times in the past and in addition, some local artists note that his colors are very Cebuano.
The peripatetic-bohemian chap is Joel Cristobal. It seems that he has fallen in love with the Abellana tradition and the Cebuano landscape. Whenever he’s visiting, outdoor excursions with fellow artists and on-the-spot landscape painting become the general order of the day. His association with Cebuano artists started in 1999 when he met Celso Pepito and Ber Hermoso. But his artistic inclinations started early, during his childhood, as he drew popular comic characters much like any other kid. In secondary school at La Salette High, he received a plaque of appreciation for excelling in the arts and won second prize for the “Mga Bayani Ng Bayan” art competition, also in the same school. He furthered his talent by enrolling as a student of painter Martin Catolos. Another award came after graduation, as he was named “Artist of the Year” at San Ildefonso College.
After school, his painting was shelved for awhile when his interest was diverted to music, as he was influenced by his musician-father Precioso Cristobal. He learned the guitar, formed a band and started playing around Rizal province.
Concentrating on music brought him to places like Palau and Malaysia, where
he performed as a professional. But this stage was only a temporary shift in
his artistic development. In 1996, when he returned home, he started to paint
again and got acquainted with the Tanay Artists Group and joined their exhibits.
Coming home was a turning point in his art that made him decide to work full-timeas a visual artist. The guys from Cebu, Celso and Ber, happened to be in Tanayinteracting with the local group. After seeing the great potential in him, they
encouraged Joel with invitations to visit Cebu. From them, Joel quickly learned
the importance of tonal values and the proper use of color through the law of
simultaneous contrast.
In 2000, Joel was elected as one of the board of directors of Ugnayan Pilipino ArtsFoundation, a new group that surfaced in Tanay. A couple of months ago, Joel sneaked in here for a full two-week visit, without notice, painting the parolas of Liloan and the hills of Talamban with Pepito as his personal tour guide. Nights are always long and loud at Celso’s residence when Joel is around. Rounds of Tanduay 65 washed down with beer augments the intensity of Joel’s guitar strums accompanying the videoke. Local artists Jet Florendo, Orley Ypon, Pronnie Cerna, Jun Impas and I always find the time for the longest evenings and days spent jamming with a friend from Tanay, whether we’re painting or on a drinking spree.
(June 3, 2003 issue)
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