The Music of Ray LaMontagne

The first song I've heard of American folk singer Ray LaMontagne was "I Could Hold You In My Arms" and that was 2 years ago. (The song was actually first released in 2004 in the album Trouble). I simply love the sound of his husky voice paired with the acoustic guitar. It is only now that I get to hear more songs by the 39-year-old Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter on Grooveshark. Now I have so many favorites by him. ^_^ He's like the male counterpart of Norah Jones, only his music has more guitar.

Listen to his song "Be Here Now". It just stirs my emotions!

A Bender at Pedro Juan's Bar

"Mag inuman nalang tayo!" said Avhel, after learning that we couldn't sell our stuff at the bar. It's a long story. There's just some conflict between him and the organizer. Well, since we're in a bar and a number of his friends are there too,  there's no reason not to go drinking instead. 

I very much enjoyed the live reggae music by the band Lion and the Scouts. Their music, plus the bar's ambiance with the presence of dread-headed people, makes you feel like your in Jamaica hehe. Pedro Juan's Grill & Restaurant is located along Rev. G. Aglipay Ave. corner A. Mabini St.,  Mandaluyong City. 

Anyways, I consigned the shirts I made to Avhel. His shop is also in Mandaluyong City. They might have a better chance of getting sold there. 

My locktician Avhel a.k.a. Pinoy Dreadman invited me to go to Pedro Juan Reggae Bar tomorrow where The Lion & The Scouts will be performing.  He will be promoting there his dreadlocks service and sell some of his reggae apparel and accessories and he asked if I would like to sell my Zion 1930 and Marley shirt there also.

I accepted, of course. Because aside for the the chance to sell some shirts, I'd like to see if Pinoy reggae-lovers are a potential market. And I've never been to a reggae bar so I'm really excited about tomorrow. ^_^

Whatever Happened to BuhayBohemio Shirts?

If you've been following my blog you will recall that I've created my own line of shirts and launched it here last February. I've sold a few shirts, mostly to close friends and Facebook friends (thanks guys!) If I've exerted in marketing it I would probably have sold more shirts. 

I didn't market it outside Facebook because it feels kinda premature to do so with only four designs. If the designs are targeted to a niche market, like BloggerShirts, it would be okay. But the shirts I've designed are of mixed themes.

So I designed six more shirts of different themes. That will give me ten shirt designs to sell. Ten shirts seems enough to open an online store.

So this is a little preview of coming designs for BuhayBohemio Shirts. I'm taking my time in making the stencils though. I might replace some of them, or I might not produce any of them at all. I dunno. Though they are good designs, I feel that they are not, well, artful or unique?

Actually, I've just recently thought of a style and technique in screen printing that would give my shirts the   look that I am hoping for. I'm still studying the pros and cons. Hmm... maybe I should push through with these six designs, and when I start selling them I'll experiment on my technique. I hope it works!

I was very amused when I saw this work by artist David Buckingam from Los Angeles. I guess he really has a nice way of saying things hehe.

The artist makes cool sculptures from old stuff like road signs, fuel cans, tractor parts, wooden crates - anything he finds interesting from abandoned factories, dodgy neighborhoods, and low deserts of Southern California. 

See more of his grungy artworks in his website. ^_^

Independence Day at Avida Settings

Yesterday's a holiday and my friends and I decided to spend the day  just being care-fee. The night before, we stayed at my parent's new empty house at Avida Settings in Molino, Cavite. It was a drinking spree - red wine, rhum and vodka with some cheeses and chips. We watched favorite videos online and even made a crazy  video of ourselves. We slept on the floor with mattresses that we brought along. 

The next day after breakfast, that was lovingly prepared by my sister-in-law Erlaine who with my brother and little niece live in another house behind the house that we stayed in, we headed for the pool at the village clubhouse for a swim. It's actually my first time to go swimming there. I love it being an infinity pool and we had the entire pool to ourselves because we swam in the morning until early afternoon (for the price of sunburn).

We also enjoyed a little picnic. We ate our lunch of roast chicken and pork, with rice, chips and soda under a small tree. I really had fun that day. I think my friends and I will do this often.

My "Sleeping Buddha"

Here's another digital artwork I made that I'm selling. This painting is inspired by a statue of a sleeping Buddha made of jade. Instead of the original color or greens I used browns. The earth tones somehow gave a tranquil effect. As if Buddha is serenely sleeping on the ground among dried leaves. He was actually known to do this when he was wandering.

One of 3 sections of my Sleeping Buddha digital art.

Three 16" x 20" stretched canvas prints. Total length of 48". PhP 5,600. Click photo to enlarge.

Three 20" x 24" stretched canvas prints. Total length of 60". PhP 7,200.

Three 30" x 40" stretched canvas prints. Total length of 90". PhP 12,800.

Inquire here. ^_^

The Guardian Lions at Jones Bridge

In one of my trips to Divisoria I took pictures of these big beautiful Chinese lion statues that stood guard at the Lawton end of Jones Bridge in Manila and I decided to make a digital artwork out of it and sell prints.

In China they are called Shishi (imperial guardian lions) and are often called Fu dogs in the West. Fu is the pinyin word for buddha or prosperity. They were probably thought of as dogs because they look more like  Chow Chow dogs with the proportions and fluffy tails.

Anyways, pairs of fu dog statues are traditionally placed in front of Chinese Imperial palaces, Imperial tombs, temples, and homes of government officials.  Back then, only wealthy families can afford to have stone carved fu dogs at their gates - and the bigger the statues the richer they must be. But today, with materials like concrete and cast stone, big fu dog statues are no longer just for the elite.

Fu dog statues are like the Eastern version of gargoyles. They are believed to ward off demons and evil spirits.

A pair of 11" x 14" prints with 20" x 23" frames

for PhP 3,000. Click on photo to enlarge.

A pair of 30" x 40" stretched canvas prints for PhP 8,600.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Inquire here. ^_^

Happy 1st Year BloggerShirts.Com!

Here's our new design for BloggerShirts for the month of June.

In the same month last year Fitz opened our online store BloggerShirts.Com. Yup, it has been a year of selling shirts to Pinoy bloggers nationwide. ^_^

BloggerShirts currently has 15 shirt designs.

My Bohemian Fashion: (Looking) Back to School

June is here and it's back to the classrooms  for the youngsters. Most universities will start the 2012-2013 school year on June 11. Some schools have already started yesterday, June 4.

I really can't help but remember my college days. Life seemed simple then. You just do your homework,  study hard and dream of a bright future. I took up architecture in Adamson University. That was from 1991 to 1996. (I felt old all of a sudden hehe) That was the grunge era. Music by Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, and the like played in my Walkman as I commute from Alabang to Manila.

If I have then the money and the fashion sense that I have now, I may have dressed this way in the campus. Except for the dreadlocks - long hair on men is not allowed there. My hair was already shoulder length when the administration made that stupid implementation.  I should have studied in UP. I'd probably be more bohemian than I already am now. ^_^

My New Favorite Evil Queen

I watched Snow White and the Huntsman yesterday. It's one great movie! I love the all the twist the writers made on the Brothers Grim original. Real cool production and special effects. Christ Hemsworth and Kristen Stewart were great - especially Charlize Theron who played Ravenna. She really gave justice to the character of a woman obsessed with keeping her beauty, youth and power. The scenes that shows her are always the best part. She's my new favorite evil queen! And her costumes - wow! They are designed by Colleen Atwood who has received 9 Academy Awards for best costume designer.

In case you're wondering who my old favorite evil queens are:

 

Jadis, also known as the White Witch or the Queen of Narnia, played by Tilda Swinton in the movie Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, 2005. Nice dreads.

The Evil Queen, played by Monica Bellucci from the movie The Brothers Grimm, 2005. She's so pretty!