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Banaue

April 7th, 2013

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.




Photography Prints




Father and Son

April 3rd, 2013

"Father and Son" is the third in my series of parent-and-child paintings.  The first two paintings are "A Moment with Dad" and "Mom and Babe."  This painting features a baby boy, instead of a baby girl, giving it a little bit of distinction from the other two.

All three paintings were made in the first quarter of this year (January to March 2013), and were painted using acrylic paints on canvas.  I finished this one on the 31st of March.

The background of this painting depicts a countryside scene, which is typical of rural villages in the Philippines.  There is a nipa hut in the background, as well as trees, mountains, shrubs, grasses, and tropical flowers.  The father is shown carrying his son in his arms, apparently standing on an elevated portion of the land.  A narrow pathway is shown on the side slope, leading down from where they are, towards the level ground below, where the nipa hut stands.



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The Balloon Vendor

April 3rd, 2013

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.


Photography Prints

The Artist

February 20th, 2013

Below is a picture of my first painting for the year 2013.  It is a self-portrait, entitled "The Artist."  It portrays me, Cyril Maza, painting on canvas.  It is an acrylic 24" X 36" portrait painting on canvas.

 







There is something special about this painting, beside being my self-portrait.  You see, I finished it on the 13th day of January, 13 years after the second millineum (2013) or 1/13/13, in my apartment that has a street number of 13131.  Funny, how the numbers are full of one's and three's, isn't it? 

Not only that, I finished this painting after fasting for two days, from Thursday evening (January 10) to Sunday morning (January 13).  I don't know how I did that (fasting), but I guess, I was just too busy painting that I had never even thought about eating within those two days.  I could have continued fasting, but my wife who was in the Philippines for vacation at that time, called me and reminded me to eat.  She got worried, after learning that I had not eaten anything since that Thursday evening.  I will never ever forget those days, for this painting will ever remind me of them.

I have already received several comments on this painting.  One comment came from a friend who said she was wondering how I was able to paint myself here.  She said, I seem to be looking at a mirror while painting this piece. 

I told her, "No.

I was not looking at a mirror while painting this.  I actually got a photograph of myself, taken by my wife (Lorna), painting our own version of Renoir's 'Two Sisters on a Terrace."  I used that picture as my starting point.  I copied that picture, but changed the colors of my shirt (white in the picture) and my pants. I also changed the background, added the table, the glass jar, the paints, and the paint brushes.  And, instead of showing the unfinished version of Renoir's painting, I showed a landscape with clouds, mountain, trees, and a lake."

The painting I was painting in the painting was supposed to look unfinished, hence I had actually refrained myself from adding more details and colors to it.  I was actually tempted to add the reflections of mountains, trees, and clouds on the water; but, I just intentionally refrained myself from doing so.  I said to myself, "save that for your next landscape painting."

Well, yes, I will probably come up with a landscape painting, similar to what I just described above, very soon.  Please watch out for it!

Parent and Child Paintings

February 20th, 2013

I just recently posted three new paintings in my two websites (http://cyril-maza.artistwebsites.com and http://cyril-maza.fineartamerica.com).  They are my first three paintings in 2013.

One of them is "The Artist," which is my first painting in 2013. 

The other two are entitled "Mom and Babe" and "A Moment with Dad."  Both paintings feature a parent and a child, with "A Moment with Dad" portraying a father, and "Mom and Babe" portraying a mother.  I completed the former on the 20th of January and the latter on the 8th of February.  I used acrylic paints on a 22" X 28" stretched canvas for each painting.



Photography PrintsPhotography Prints



Just like what I did when I painted "The Artist", I had used photos of real people to start with when I painted the two pieces.  I found those beautiful black-and-white photos from the Facebook photo albums of my younger brother and my sister-in-law.  Of course, those pictures were black-and-white, so I had to come up with my own colors.  

I chose a black background for the "A Moment with Dad" painting, and a landscape scene with a blue sky, white-bluish/pinkish clouds, and a mixture of red, green and yellow plants for the "Mom and Babe."

I have added halos around the heads of the father and the child in the "A Moment with Dad" painting to make the figures stand out in the dark background.  The lighter yellowish color around their heads made their dark, black hairs more distinct, separating the dark colored hairs from the dark background.


CSM and LLDM Emporium

February 20th, 2013

My wife and I just opened an online store at Zazzle.com. It is called "CSM and LLDM Emporium." Products featuring our art works are already available for sale.

We already have t-shirts, jackets, caps, bags, mugs, stamps, wall clocks, pillows, placemats, plates, and bottles; and are still in the process of adding more products.
Please see our store at Zazzle and keep posted for our new products and promotions. Thank you.

December Holiday Promotions

December 4th, 2012

For the holiday season, we are offering the following discounts and canvas prints at very low promotional prices. Please click on the button below for more information. Thank you very much and have a happy holiday!

Biography of Cyril Maza

December 4th, 2012

1969 - Born in Isabela, Philippines

1975 - Moved to Infanta, Quezon, Philippines

1976 - Started Elementary School

1981 - Family went to Indonesia and lived in Lampung. Studied in Calvert School

1982 - Family moved to Jakarta, Indonesia. Studied in Jakarta International School. Took fine arts as elective subject throughout the whole year and learned the basics of drawing, painting, batik making, pottery, calligraphy, candle making, and linoleum printmaking.

1983 - Went back to Infanta, Quezon. Attended Mt. Carmel High School. Became a consistent honor student. Served as a class representative to student government.

1985 - Joined a drawing contest and won second prize during a youth assembly attended by delegates from different youth organizations and schools in Infanta and other surrounding towns. Became CAT-WAS batallion commander.

1986 - Graduated high school with first honorable mention and a special leadership award. Passed the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) and was admitted to the UP College of Engineering as an entrance scholar.

1987 - Joined the UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity and the UP Kalilayan.

1988 - Was elected to the position of Radian Herald of the UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity.

1992 - Graduated from UP with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering (BSCE).

1993 - Worked in Eigentech Consultancy Services. Passed the civil engineering board exam. Met Lorna.

1995 - Worked in A. de Vera Corporation.

1996 - Got married to Lorna.

1997 - Worked in D. M. Consunji.

2001 - Worked in Fluor Daniel.

2003 - Went to Saudi Arabia to work in Petrocon Arabia Limited.

2005 - Was awarded "Employee of the Year" during the Petrocon/WorleyParsons Ramadan Iftar Dinner Party held on the 30th of October 2005 in Al-Dana Ballroom, Gulf Meridien Hotel in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

2006 - Went to Houston, Texas, in the United States to work with Jacobs Engineering, on the Motiva Crude Expansion Project, under a contract with International Plant Services (IPS).

2008 - Made first painting (self-portrait) on canvas, followed immediately by two more portrait paintings.

2010 - Contract with IPS ended. After a month, got another job with Bayer Technology Services in Baytown, Texas, and resumed working under the payroll of IPS. Moved to Baytown, Texas. Started painting again, with wife Lorna.

2011 - Received green card from USCIS. Passed the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam for civil/structural engineering, and obtained PE license in Texas. Returned to Jacobs Engineering and moved back to Houston, Texas.

2012 - Held first painting exhibit in their apartment in Houston, Texas. Sold several pieces of artworks. Joined Fine Art America.

About Cyril Maza

December 4th, 2012

Cyril Maza is both an engineer and an artist. He is a licensed professional engineer (P.E.) in Texas, and a registered civil engineer in the Philippines.

Although he started painting only in 2008, he has demonstrated his remarkable talent as an artist since childhood. He has a natural passion to build and to create, and is very much fascinated by activities where ingenuity, imagination, and creativity come into play. His childhood hobbies included drawing, playing mandolin, and solving puzzle games. He also liked to play with common household items, such as paper/cardboard boxes, glass/plastic bottles, wooden blocks, and even books. He would lay them all out on the floor forming a pattern that resembles a city, complete with buildings, roads, and parks. He would be so engulfed in his own little “world,” designing and building his own “city,” that you could leave him all alone, playing quietly by himself (or sometimes with his younger brother) for many hours.

His passion for building/creating and his fascination of the physical sciences led him into pursuing a degree in civil engineering. He received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines in 1992.

Cyril is the kind of worker who puts his mind and heart in whatever he does. As a dedicated engineer, he had his mind and heart focused on his job. His attitude and dedication to work has never been left unnoticed; for in 2005, he was awarded “Employee of the Year” by his employer, Petrocon Arabia Limited, in Saudi Arabia. That award is an undeniable proof of his undying commitment and dedication to his profession as an engineer.

In 2008, despite his normal heavy work load in the office, he managed to come up with his very first painting on canvas ever. For most people, it was just an ordinary day. But for him, that day marked a very important milestone in his new-found career as an artist. It was a day of rediscovery, the day when he rediscovered himself as an artist after many years of doing engineering work. He made a self-portrait, followed by two more portrait paintings. He was so engulfed with what he was doing that he finished all those three paintings within just a week, painting and getting to bed late at night, and then reporting back to work as an engineer the following day. He had never intended to pursue a painting career though, as those three were the only paintings he made that year. He did not do any painting in 2009. His next painting came out in 2010, which is a couple of years later.

When he started to paint again, in 2010, his wife Lorna was so amazed when she saw what he was doing that she started to paint herself. Lorna’s enthusiasm rekindled the artist’s spirit inside him. Painting became their favorite pastime from then on. During weekends, they would get down together and work side by side, both individually and as a team (working on the same canvas).

Cyril and Lorna had no formal art training and had never attended any painting classes, other than their art classes in elementary and high school. They taught themselves how to paint and have developed their own styles and techniques as they continued to paint more and more. Cyril draws inspiration from the works of great Filipino painters such as Fernando Amorsolo, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, and Juan Luna.

Lorna has always been an art enthusiast. She likes collecting seemingly worthless items and turning them into unique works of art. She had collected fruit and vegetable seeds of varying sizes and color. She had them dried and put inside long empty bottles, which she now displays in their living room. She has decorated their apartment with unimaginable and unique art works made from materials such as chocolate wrappers, used stamps, stones, strings, and even crab shells. Lorna started painting with Cyril in 2010, and has also been coming up with her own original art paintings. Interested parties may also view Lorna's paintings at the following URL: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/lorna-maza.html.

Websites for Artists

November 7th, 2012

Websites for Artists

I highly recommend this site for all artists out there who would like to sell their works.

 

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