Look & Sea

He started out as a foreign currency analyst at the Philippine National Bank. Today, the fluctuations that matter most to artist Tito Estrada are the waves of the deep sea, whose essence he captures on canvass.

Tito is bursting into the art scene the way colors make a splash on his canvass. Bright oranges, lime greens, watermelon pink and aquamarine form vivid images on his canvass. This Pangasinan-born artist, who was once also an antiques dealer, is drawn to an unfathomable subject – the sea – whose depths he tries to plumb with brush and paint.

"When I want to get excited, I go to the sea," says Tito, two of whose murals will adorn the lobby of the Hotel Philippine Plaza when it formally opens as a Sofitel Hotel early next year.

Tito’s work caught the discerning eye of the hotel’s GM Bernd Schneider during an exhibit of the Asian Institute of Management at the hotel, which featured Filipino creativity.

Recalls Tito: "The affair opened Monday night, but we set it up Sunday night until the following day Monday. After I set up, nakapili na yung GM kung ano’ng painting ang gusto niya. Doon sa limang dala ko, tatlo yung gusto nya. Yung dalawa naka-hang na ngayon sa office niya. He bought them on the spot. Actually, hinanap niya ako nung dinner na. Sabi ko dun sa aking receptionist, ‘wag mo kong papakilala ha, wag mo ko ituturo because I don’t know how to explain my paintings. But he looked for me. He introduced himself, he wanted a meeting as soon as possible for the hotel."

The hotel’s marketing director Rose Libongco told me the theme of Tito’s works complement the hotel, which has a splendid and unobstructed view of the sea.

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What differentiates Tito’s works from other seascapes and underwater-themed art is his use of capiz – another product of the sea – as a distinguishing mark and unique touch. Iridescent images of capiz shells find their way into the middle of curlicues, "gasses" and other abstract art.

What attracted Tito to capiz?

"It’s Filipino and it’s from the water," says Tito, who, despite his love for the sea, confesses that he cannot swim!

Though the sea is his muse, it is the mountains that clear Tito’s busy mind. It was in the mountains that Tito made a life-altering decision – to take up the brush.

After 12 years in the bank and 15 years in the antiques and interior design business, Tito decided one day that it was time to move on. He had some exposure to art because of his business interests, and he was a voracious reader of art books. But he had no formal training in art having taken up Business Management in college.

After his mountain hiatus, he went straight for National Bookstore and bought all his art needs – paintbrushes, acrylic, thinner. For the next three months he was hardly ever without a paintbrush.

It was the boldest stroke of his life.

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Now that his works are becoming collectors’ items, Tito is exploring more themes for his art. He plans to incorporate the callado (filigree work found in barongs and tablecloths) into his future artworks. He is also planning a children’s book featuring stories about the sea, where he will come up with 30 different artworks for each narrative in the book.

Tito usually starts painting at midnight till the crack of dawn in his breezy home, which he shares with pet Labrador, "Cobra." He still maintains his interior design consultancy (among his celebrity clients is Sorsogon Rep. Chiz Escudero), which he blends with his love for painting. A lot of Tito’s interiors feature murals, which Tito envisions. He then hires art students from leading universities to execute his ideas on walls.

If painting is his life’s work, what is Tito’s hobby?

"Painting is my hobby," laughs Tito. "I don’t work!"

Truly, if you love what you’re doing, you never need to work a day in your life. Sea for yourself!

(Galleria Estrada may be reached at tel. no. 924-2558)

You won’t recycle this

Every Christmas, for more than 30 years now, Ju.D Lao has been churning out delicious fruitcakes from her kitchen for the exquisite palates of the rich and famous. Her limited products have graced even the tables of the Malacanang Palace in the past. Despite the many places that her products have gone to, Ju.D Lao has always identified herself as a hobbyist who is lucky enough to have clients who bring her fruitcakes all over town, or should we say, all over the world.

"I’ve had clients who sent my Chewy Chewkies to London by DHL for her daughter, and nuns who sent our fruitcakes to Belgium for their congregation," Ju.D says. "We don’t have the means to facilitate these international deliveries, the best that we can do is to pack them in cartons so that it will be more convenient for clients when they make the delivery arrangements themselves." But it seems nobody is complaining, since this fruitcake baker can only make a limited supply of fruitcakes each year.

Earlier this year, the Philippine Marketing Awards Institute gave Ju.D Products Philippines the award for Best Fruitcake Manufacturer in recognition of their excellence in the business. Special recognition was also given to a new product released only last year – The Ginger Cranberry Fruitcake garnered the award for the Most Outstanding Fruitcake in the National Category of Product Quality Excellence Award.

(For more details on the Ju.D Fruitcakes, call 633-0260 or 633-1188.)