Spain, Exactly A Year Ago

Palaces, paradores, churros con chocolate, the yummiest paella I've ever tasted, hot, well-dressed Spanish men, effortlessly stylish women, ostentatiously designed buildings, watching build these infrastructures, opera houses, a Jose Rizal monument, well-lit airports, comic book-themed museums, tapas, croquetas, napoleones, intricately-tiled floors and ceilings, audio guides, going through the city alone, street performers, boquerias, being able to take pictures in museums, Ramon Casas, and more and more museums...

As my officemate Regina leaves for Europe and consequently, leaves some work for me to take over, I can't help but reminisce about my trip last year with my mom and sister! And of course, become a little nervous for new things to be in charge of.

One year later, I still dream of going back. I don't ever want those dreams to end, unless it means actually fulfilling them!

Most pictures taken in Spain, with a few exceptions taken during side trips in Morocco and the south of France.

Follow Friday

Day 10

Eighty square meters would be intimidating for some people, but not for CD. I've never known her to be daunted by such a size, having seen her past work sprawl over the entire wall space of a circular room at some point. This month, she prepares for the Busan Biennale in September, and draws a very(!) big picture for us to see. She documents almost every step of the way in her blog, and reading it has been something I look forward to when I end each afternoon.

I met her a couple of years ago (wow, CD! We've been friends for years!), assisting her in a production design job, and being a frequent art director or assistant since. She's taught me everything (I'm probably exaggerating, but it definitely feels like that much) I know about shooting and being in the art dept, and I even got my first ever make up lesson from her! Now, I just watch as she completes drawings in sizes like these, and I am always surprised and in awe of her work!

Yes, 80 square meters would be intimidating for some people, but not for CD.

Can't wait to see the final product!! We miss you!!

Follow CD (Christina Dy) on her blog about her work for the Busan Biennale and life in Korea as a foreign artist, http://www.christinady.wordpress.com :-)

Wall Lords

To make up for my lack of blog posts, I leave you with a plethora of pictures from the last artsy-fartsy event I went to: Wall Lords Philippines 2010. Eight different graffiti crews from Manila fought for a spot at the Wall Lords Asia championships in Shanghai this weekend!

How exciting this must have been for all of them and especially for the winner! It was a very packed and sweaty event, and I had to convince my friends who were with me to stay so we could watch some more. Not to mention, the whole place smelled like spray paint! But it was so much fun!! How can an event with live painting where you can watch each and every step until the final product be anything less than a Saturday afternoon well spent? :-)

If I'm not mistaken, she was the only girl in the competition! Great job, too!

UGK

MSF

DNB

There was even a battle for who could "throw up" a word best. Could barely see anything at this point, but so exciting to see them work within their 3-minute time limit. :-)

RS

TVCP

Only got to see them at the last minutes!

SDFK

KST

PSP (Okay, I know this stands for Pilipinas Street Plan)

I just love how in each of the pictures, you can spot, though minute, details that contribute to the final look of all the murals. They're not obvious right away, but if you really look closely, you'll find them.

And as you can see, by the last pictures of each of the crew's work, I couldn't get any clear ones anymore. Too many people at that point!

Congratulations to Pilipinas Street Plan (PSP) for winning! We actually hired them a couple of weeks ago to paint a wall for a music video, but since it hasn't come out, I can't show it yet. They were very nice guys and I'm so happy for them for winning and representing the Philippines in Shanghai! :-)

Thank you Marco and Gino for sticking around with me!! Hehehe :-)

Wall Lords Philippines was held at the Collective, Makati City, Philippines on Saturday, August 6, 2010 (Wow, how late am I!?!). For more information on the different crews, and their work, visit their websites: MSF http://rest22.multiply.com, TVCP http://rakers.multiply.com, UGK http://flipthecolors.multiply.com, SDFK http://showdowncrew.blogspot.com, PSP http://pilipinastreetplan.blogspot.com, DNB http://day-nightbombers.blogspot.com, KST http://kstreetpinas.multiply.com. For more information on the events (and not to mention, clearer pictures of the final products!), both here and abroad, visit http://walllordsph.multiply.com/ and http://www.wall-lords.com/, respectively. :-)