Masterpieces, an encore!

To celebrate twenty-five splendid years in the fashion industry, Joy Bernaldez, Cebu's talented fashion designer will present a unique by-invitation-only fashion show and selling exhibit at the Atlantic ballroom of the Cebu Waterfront Hotel on December 2, 2005.

This lady, responsible for the dainty wearable silhouettes with delicate hand paintings or fine embroidery on jusi, has invited the island's twenty two top Cebuano artists to create their very own individual masterpieces on jusi gowns she specially designed and executed for this momentous milestone. Meet some of the artists who have graciously accepted her kind invitation to join this once-in-a-lifetime presentation.

Celso Duazo Pepito started as an impressionist under the influence of Martino Abellana at the University of the Philippines College-Cebu .He slowly shifted to cubist paintings that highlight his own unique style. His works depict Filipino moral values and social conditions. Pepito goes beyond art and adopts a social mission to elevate local talents.

Florentino Impas Jr. is an artist with great promise. His vast experiences as a movie billboard artist enables him to master the skill and art of portraying human figures. He likewise creates true to life romantic settings, giving him the potential of becoming a great realist.

Sofronio de la Cerna's impressionist paintings of everyday scenes depict the Filipino way of life. He creates ordinary subjects into something interesting, enabling the viewer to recognize hidden meanings. He has a good understanding of color and uses this gift to produce vibrant artworks.

Benjie Goyha hails from Samboan, Cebu. A largely self-taught artist, his background in serigraphs helps him transform possibilities he encounters in his work into a more vibrant and meaningful aspiration. Jose "Kimsoy" Yap Jr. studied at the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts in New York. Although his painting style has traces of Western influence, an intrinsic Filipino character remains in his art pieces. He makes use of line and space, making the most of each minute stroke to bring about the best effect with the color, size and texture of the paper.

Gabriel Abellana lives in a world of art. His father Dr. Ramon Abellana though a dentist was a sculptor and musician, as well; his uncle, the late Martino Abellana, was renowned artist. His paintings are mostly of beautiful landscapes and local sceneries that display the peaceful serenity of his hometown and the calmness of his personal nature.

Antonio Alcoseba has won two awards in the Art Association of the Philippines' Annual Art Contest. He got his inspiration to paint from the late Martino Abellana, as well as from Jose "Kimsoy" Yap, Jr. He received the top prize at the Costa Mesa Art Painting Contest in California, U.S.A.

Jorge Lao is generous with his paint consistency. He does not scrimp on the use of oil. Bold, swift and daring in his strokes in one painting and yet soft, and subtle in another. Lao is president of Kolor Sugbu. Ramoncito "Dodong" Bandibas is a fashion and interior designer. Although varied subjects of interest take center stage, he has devoted most of his creative time painting women vendors and endemic tropical flora through macro treatment and the use of bright hues, overemphasizing limbs and appendages as his signature stamp in his artworks.