Houston Public Media Covers Artists On Board Exhibit

We're in the news!

Amy Bishop of Houston Public Media just recently released a news article covering Art DeckCo's Artist on Board Skateboard Art Exhibit in Galerie Spectra.

She went to Galerie Spectra last Friday, 27th of May 2016, to interview a number of artists who are participating in the current ArtDeckCo Exhibit.  My wife and I were among those who were interviewed.  She also interviewed Katherine Sloan, who is one of the founders of ArtDeckCo.

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Special Artists Reception - Artists on Board

There is a special Artists Reception tonight from 5-9 pm at Galerie Spectra.  See more details below:

Spectra Artists, Inc. 303 Memorial Way, Unit #822

Memorial City Mall, Houston TX 77024

Spectra Artists September Exhibition

This month's exhibition will run from September 11 to October 8, 2015.  Participating Artists Include the following:

Norman Gabitzsch
Cyril Maza
Lorna Maza
David Stein
Karuna Rajanayakam
Yoshi Romero
Lou Sprecher
Tatsiana Saleh
Brian Harig...
Thais Kruse
Maria Kellar
Ryan Hollaway
George Daniels
Cedric Akue
Marguerite Baldwin
Pat Waughtal
Maryann Lucas
David Mortenson
Maureen Mo Huddleston
Suzanne Buckland
Shida Rad
Yvonne A. Ybarra
Nan Toole
Lorena Fernandez

Galerie Spectra is located at 303 Memorial City Way Suite 822, Houston TX 77024.  It is in the north hallway of Memorial City Mall, between The Limited and Visible Changes, next to Dillard's and across from Camille Bridal Store.

Frog Hunters

These two men (a father and a son) are hunting for frogs. Armed with lamps and nets, they venture into the night, walking barefooted on the muddy field, looking for some fresh frogs for their family's next-day meals.

According to Wikipedia, "frog legs are one of the better-known delicacies of French and Cantonese cuisine. They are also eaten in other regions, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the region of Alentejo in Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, northwest Greece, and Northern Italy, as well as the Southern regions of the United States. Currently the world's largest exporter of frogs is Indonesia, also a large consumer. In regions such as Brazil, Mexico and the Caribbean many frogs are still caught wild. A type of frog called the edible frog is most often used for this dish. Frog legs are rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A and potassium. They are often said to taste like chicken because of their mild flavor, with a texture most similar to chicken wings. The taste and texture of frog meat is approximately between chicken and fish. Frogs are raised commercially in certain countries, e.g. Vietnam. Frog muscle does not resolve rigor mortis as quickly as warm-blooded muscle (chicken, for example), so heat from cooking can cause fresh frog legs to twitch."

This is an acrylic on canvas painting.  I finished this painting on August 31, 2013.

This is another scene painted from my childhood memories. I was a little kid back then, living with my family in a farm. Our house was nearly surrounded by rice fields with many frogs croaking and hopping around. I remember myself running after those frogs one night.

Playing Cards

"Three Men and a Lady Playing Cards" is the last painting I finished before the end of the year 2012. At the time, I was also working on another painting, which I continued and finished early in 2013. Just like what the title of this painting says, it portrays three men and a lady, who are busy playing cards.

I painted this based on photographs (not one but several photographs) of real people. The three men are actually one and the same person, myself, and the lady is my wife. Before I started painting this, I asked my wife to take several photographs of me, from different angles and in different positions while I was holding the cards. I also took several pictures of her. Once I got all the photos, I picked the most suitable ones, arranged them, and started sketching the images on a 30" X 48" stretched canvas.

The original painting is a 30" X 48" acrylic painting on canvas.  Prints of this painting are available for purchase in my Zazzle and Fine Art America (FAA) stores.  Please click on the appropriate links in my side bar to visit the websites.  Or, simply click on the image below to open the FAA page.

Harvest Time and Kids Eating Mangoes

"Harvest Time" is actually a version of another painting called "Kids Eating Mangoes" by Cyril Maza.  It shows a group of teenage kids having fun and eating mangoes, with a farmer and some farm animals around them, depicting a typical farm scene in some rural villages in the Philippines.

A nipa hut is shown standing not so far away from where the kids are. There is also a carabao, a couple of ducks, a rooster, a dog, a couple of pigs, piles of rice straws; as well as trees, mountains, and rice fields, in the background.

The original is a 20" X 30" acrylic painting on canvas, painted by husband and wife, Cyril Maza and Lorna Llanes D. Maza (LLDM). 

To purchase prints and/or greeting cards, simply click on the images below.  They will lead you to their respective pages in the Fine Art America website.

The original "Kids Eating Mangoes" is a 16" X 20" acrylic painting on canvas, and is one of Cyril Maza's first paintings.

Banaue

I finished another painting this afternoon, April 7, 2011.  It is an acrylic painting on a 11" X 14" X 5/8" canvas.  

I have named it "Banaue," after the municipality called Banaue (Banawe) in the province of Ifugao in the Philippines. Banaue is widely known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Batad Rice Terraces and Bangaan Rice Terraces. 

The Ifugao Rice Terraces (Banaue Rice Terraces or Hagdan-hagdang Palayan ng Banaue) begin at the base of the mountain range and extend several thousand feet upwards. They are commonly referred to by Filipinos as the "Eight Wonder of the World." Accordingly, the total length of the terraces, when put end to end, would encircle half of the globe. 

The rice terraces manifest the engineering skill and ingenuity of Ifugaos, who built them 2,000 years ago. They are irrigated by means of mountain streams and springs that have been tapped and channeled into canals that run downhill through the rice terraces.

The Balloon Vendor

Seen from the perspective of a small child looking up to an old bearded man, the painting shows a man with outstretched right arm holding out and offering a green balloon to nearby passersby. The man wears a long sleeve shirt and a blue hat to protect himself from the heat of the sun, as he goes walking along the city streets through out the whole day. He would normally hang out in crowded places such as city parks, public markets, and churchyards. Sunday is probably one of his favorite days of the week, for it is on Sundays that he encounters the most number of people; specially with kids going to church with their parents.

I finished this painting on March 31, 2013.