No. 12 of Top 59 Living Painters--by Bork Nerdrum

PEPITO earned his Bachelo of Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines, Cebu in 1981. Influenced by Martino Abellana, he painted in the impressionist manner. In 1994, he developed his own style inspired by Picasso’s cubism and Manansala. His paintings reflected love of God, country and family. With numerous shows here and abroad, he also serve as Trustee for Society of Philippine American Artists.

Evan was picked unanimously in a blind jurying as the Grand Prize winner of our Jose Rizal National Portraiture competition awarded in May 2022 at Nemiranda Gallery. Only 23 yrs old born at Camarines Sur, now based at Caloocan City he bested over 100 entries from midcareer realism artists. A protege of Maestro Rafael Maniago. He started Editorial Cartooning at Fifth Grade, and aleady earned so many awards and accolades throughout his young career as an artist. Definitely to watch out for, a rising star in the genre of contemporary realism.

Winner of our 500 Years of Christianity and Catholic Devotion contest (2023), in cooperation with Museo ng Arkidiyosesis ng Maynila and Manila Cathedral. Cris is the 8th of 12 children from Ronda, Cebu, he worked at Art Crafts Exports British Company at age 14 and was a designer at Bon Ace Fashion Tools. His skills were developed at Aroma Art Atelier where he learned the basics of anatomy, perspective and color theory. He won second place at Cebu Sinulog Foundation painting contest in 2012. Today, he is one of the most sought after realism artist. Meet him in person: https://youtu.be/b-SQGX_D

Clint Normandia, ( 1969 Misamis Occidental, Philippines ) Currently living in Cebu City.

Better known for his realistic rendition of any given subject,

•A Multi-awarded student of Cebu Academy of Arts. 

•A Winner of the Martino Abellana Annual Art Competition in Carcar, Cebu. 

•Won a Grand Prize Award of Art Petron 2003.

•He garnered an international art awards at International artist magazine as Finalist and at Art Renewal Center - Finalist 2022.

 A self-taught artist from Marikina who garnered several awards from various competitions, semi-finalist in MADE Metrobank Art Competition 2013 and 2023, Best in Show at Eagle Eye Art Gallery inaugural opening. 

Gary is a graduate of Fine Arts from the University of San Carlos, Top Seventh in our Jose Rizal National Portraiture competition. Aside from painting, his other passion is teaching. He eagerly shares his knowledge in the arts as an instructor of Multimedia Arts in Cebu Institute of Technology- University. He is trained in the style of Realism and loves to paint portraits. His aim as a portrait artist is not just to paint any body’s faces, but people he considers as “Winners”.

Winners for him are “everyday folks” like a hardworking and responsible father, loving husband, devoted wife, obedient children or passionate people like athletes, entrepreneurs, innovators and movers of society. The reason why he paints these “winners”, because of their contagious positive attitudes. He wants to be infected with it and be like them as “winners”. Somehow these people are very idealistic in their “approach of life”, very similar to Garry’s approach i

Francisca cultivated a motivation to capture nature through art in thick swathes of oil paint that create depth and texture on an otherwise flat canvas. Fransisca’s progress was rapid, she put her basic education on hold in place of a full-time training in art. Francisca and her works have gained recognition at Art Renewal Center's 13th International ARC Salon Competition (2017-2018) Honorable Mentions/ Da Vinci Initiative Award, and in Vision Petron “Tuklas Kultura” in 2018 where her work entitled “Bagóbo Tribes” became finalist. Her recent self-portrait is another product of her continuing innovation in style, execution and subject matter. She never ceases to surprise us! Meet her upclose: https://youtu.be/Dd0ZTgkL-W4

Romar placed Third in our 500 Years of Christianity and Catholic Devotion Contest in 2023, and Third in Jose Rizal National Portraiture competition awarded in 2022. His influence lie in the classical figurative art, choosing to hone his painting skills full time despite many dissuasion he encountered in such a traditional hometown. With a passion for art, cultivated at home since childhood, Romar knows his heart is in the right place. From still life to portraits, to landscape paintings, the 19-year-old artist relentlessly sharpens his eye for capturing everyday subjects and his skill in painting them in a naturalist style. He is now an instructor at Aroma Art Atelier, assisting their most senior instructor, the award-winning Mark Lloyd Belicario.  See him in person: https://youtu.be/nE1IIgnj7ZI 

Jipi is our  Fifth Placer in the Jose Rizal National Portraiture competition awarded in May 2022. He is a licensed Special education teacher and a full time visual artist, deriving his inspiration from Caravaggio and Bougeureu to Amorsolo and Galicano. He is an active member of PASPI Portrait Artists Society of the Philippines Inc 

Our Top Eighth in the Jose Rizal National Portraiture competition, Izang’s path to the art world is unintentional as she has been suffering from an autoimmune disease. Her visual art works has been her way of treatment, and her deep interest in wildlife preservation. Izang gradiated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts major in Painting at FEU and is now finishing her Master of Fine Arts at PWU. 

Renulo was awaded our Matanglawin Honorable Mention at the 2020 Fourth of July Virtual Exhibit, Early awareness of art and painting came by way of his father, who did framing jobs for many local artists. A very promising young man, he trained under Tony and Vidal "Undo" Alcoseba and he actively participated in paintings exhibits in Paris (Cultural Confluence_IV 2011), Malaysia (Art Malaysia Art Tourism Fair 2013, 2014) and also joined Langkawi Art Biennale (LAB 2014) at Malaysia 2014, group exhibit in Kluang Mall, Malaysia, and Aroma Art Atelier group shows. Meet Renulo: https://youtu.be/LcPEH3iBcC4r

Angie grew up being able to draw and paint all her childhood. Sister to the ARC Living Master, she took on administrative duties for Aroma Art Atelier and started painting out of the art group’s encouragement. She pursues art with a focused mind and a passion to progress her skills in sketching and traditional oil painting. Her works painted in darker tones and limited palettes, take shape on the canvas in formal stages, from graphite to paint. She experiments with different mediums and techniques, demonstrating her perspective towards art. Visit our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/hWOQgQajVXo

One of the most versatile artists hail from a fishing village of Bohol, Philippines, graduated with Fine Arts major in Advertising, the “Stripewalker“ braved continents through his performing arts, paintings and sculptures. His endless imagination injected with humor and passion for innovation is unequalled. His series “multitext” found its home at Shangrila Hotel BGC. Sam is the Grand winner of Don Papa Rum at the Art Fair Philippines 2020. Nor surprisingly, he grabbed the blind jurying of our First Matanglawin Awards for Modern Arts in the 2020 Fourth of July Virtual Exhibit. Meet Sam: https://youtu.be/Q6ZJPnp0R4Q

“Everywhere there is beauty to behold, an artisan’s hands are just mere instruments in shaping and molding the magnificence around him. Creating art and functionality is the ultimate goal.” Eugie comes from generations of carpenters in Bulacan, he learned from his father how to choose the quality of wood and incorporates functionality in his art. He teaches history, Philippine government and political science. Watch his Facebook interview. Meet Eugie: https://youtu.be/wUvivzWMoZ8

An Iliganon-Cebuano artist, Jean "Govinda" Marquesto is a self-taught visual and theatre artist-musician. As a biology graduate, he is captivated by wild life and the Philippine culture, and uses them as recurring themes. He is also influenced by Dadaism, cubism figurative abstraction. Finalist in the 2018 International artist competition in Taipei, Taiwan.Honorable mention at the Mother May 2020 juried virtual art exhibit by Art Works Inc. at Richmond,VA. Meet Govinda Jean: https://youtu.be/EcU9bxfbLDM  

Helen Dimaya took up Fine Arts, major in Advertising at the University of the East. She also studied at the Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID) and opened an interior design firm that specializes in furniture. In the U.S., she did restoration work on old buildings and interior-designed private homes. Helen’s passion for outdoor painting bore fruit when she won in the En Plein Air Easton Quick Draw in 2015, a competition sponsored by the Chesapeake Art Gallery in Maryland and the Avalon Foundation.

Greta started a group of plein air artists at Central Park, New York where she holds sessions every week. She recently joined the Florence Academy to embark in realism style of portraiture, an added feather to her long line of accomplishments , from her solo exhibits at Manila to working as a curator at Boca Raton, until she settled in New York in 2008, where she founded the non-profit meet up for plein air artists. She is a member of the Society of Philippine American Artists holding exhibit every year.