portrait of an artist

I took a long break from anything that concerned web publishing including uploading on the blog. After a month of revising my web site, trying to hot-wire my brain to understand and speak the mind-numbing, alien language of html script, I went away with a brain burn.

Everytime I see a web program or anything that resembles it, I get a feeling darn close to hurling.

So am I cured from this web disease? Not really. So why am I back then? Well, I want to share with you the good fortune of a Filipino artist with such enormous talent.

Mario Parial (a painter of international stature comparable to the likes of Manansala, Joya, H.R. Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, Ang Kiukok among others) was here last December 2006 with his family for a gallery opening in Singapore. My family and I met up with them.


Mario and his son Mikel (also a fantastic painter) are Leica shooters. So for the next couple of hours, we were excitedly swapping lenses like little boys with new little toys.

Here's my shot of him using his beautiful Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4. It's a very pretty lens that is tempting me to begin spending an enormous time on ebay again. Oh well.

Just when you think you are ready to settle with a gorgeous lens like a 35 summicron, another lens comes along to shake your sturdy belief. Often, it starts with friend innocently telling you, "Hey, since you're here, why don't you try this lens on your camera?" and the next thing you know, you're spending more and more time ogling at those lenses found in auction websites with thier prices causing you heart burn. Sigh.

To get back to Mario, here's a news link on his works being included in Sotheby’s category of Southeast Asian paintings. This is the third time his works are being auctioned internationally. The latest auction is happening on April 2007 here in Singapore.

If you haven't bought any of Mario's works yet, now is the time to start getting ready for the auction. It is said that his paintings are getting harder and harder to come by.

Unlike publishing websites and reading html scripts, looking at his paintings will not give you brain burn.

In fact, you can ogle them to your heart's content.