Josephine Turalba speaks with certainty–a certainty that joy and wonder can be found everywhere, if you just know where and how to stop, look and listen. Josephine, called Jingjing, has found that well of wonder and is not loath to share it. An award-winning jewelry designer, she also possesses the heart of a painter, is gifted with the eye of a photographer, and is a mother not just in between her many roles, but throughout all of them.
From a young age, Jingjing knew that she was destined to create. Born into a family of artists, it was only natural that she would try her hand at painting. Her mother took notice and enrolled her in a painting class one summer and at the end of the program, she was praised for her beautiful paintings.
Encouraged, she set her heart on becoming a painter and after earning a degree in psychology from UP, she studied painting at the Paris American Academy. Yet the most valuable lesson she learned was not in the classroom but from watching her mother paint as a little girl.
"My mother used to paint on small coral balls and string those balls into a necklace," she relates. "They were beautiful, but she never painted them thinking, ‘will other people like this?’. She would say ‘I’ll put a little flower here’ even though it may not match the over-all look, but the end result didn’t matter as much as the fact that she enjoyed herself while she was doing it. That’s when she was really an artist."
"Why is it worth doing if you’re not enjoying it?" Her mother’s example, reinforced by her own personal experiences, helped shape this basic philosophy. Thus Jingjing always makes sure that work doesn’t feel like work at all–which isn’t hard when you are passionate about what you do. Yet Jingjing’s brand of passion isn’t all fire.
What makes her different is the air of tranquility she exudes. In fact, it is essential for her to have a calm mind in order to begin to create. Her best works usually come to her when she’s traveling because "when my mind is at rest, it is open to new ideas. When you go to a new place, it is as if you are seeing everyday things for the first time. You notice so many details. Even when I’m not traveling, as long as my mind is relaxed, it becomes open to new things."
Jingjing points out that to be a vessel of creativity, it is important to let go of all worries and restraints and to return to ‘nothing’. "I always get into ground zero when I embark on a new painting, a new line, or when I start my photo projects. Forget everything. Forget that things should be a certain way–that an earring should only go through an earhole to be called an earring; that a painting should have a familiar shape to be considered beautiful to the viewer; that a portrait can only be taken from the shoulders up. If you don’t forget these things–if you box yourself in–how can you ever create something new?"
Jingjing had her own days of darkness, when creating didn’t come so easily. "Then, I could only create when I was in the mood," she says. She had convinced herself so thoroughly that she was a bad painter and that she didn’t know how to paint anymore that her brushes collected five years’ worth of dust and the sight of a blank canvas filled her with dread.
Then two years ago, she joined a seminar called "The Landmark Forum". It was there that she realized that by dwelling on her mistakes and feelings of dissatisfaction, she was "putting my past into my future. I had to break myself free from the myth of can’t". The blank canvas was an adventure into the unknown, but the beauty of creation is in the personal journey.
Her adventures have led her to delve into a new area of painting–the abstract. The raw energy and vibrant colors all carry a spark of her spirit, pushing this Renaissance woman into her own rebirth. Her newfound "technology" for creativity, as she calls it, spurred her to greater heights in the other aspects of her artistry, most notably as a jewelry designer. Twice, she took part in the Tahitian Pearl Trophy Asia, one of the most prestigious competitions for jewelry design in the world. And twice her creations were recognized to be among the most beautiful, earning her lavish praise and a place in the winner’s circle.
Designing jewelry is her bread and butter, and what a glamorous way it is to bring food to the table. She is the main designer for Mercelles, one of the country’s leading jewelers. The talent is in the blood, for Mercelles, established in 1980, is her mother’s brainchild. Jingjing has been designing for Mercelles for over a decade. She takes care of the over-all direction of the designs and, in her words, "I make a concept and guide it to blossom."
One can almost imagine Mercelles as a jewel garden with Jingjing as its goddess, gold and sapphires blooming from her fingertips into rings, necklaces and bracelets. Walk into Mercelles and you will see that their pieces are mostly inspired by nature–rings flowering with diamonds bound in a circlet of gold, necklaces of sapphire cascading over rocks of pearls...and Jingjing in the middle of it all, looking ethereal even in casual jeans and a green jacket.
On display are her winning pieces, "Falls" which won in the necklace category in 2003 and "Ablaze" which won in the accessory category in 2005. Over 300 entries were received from all over Asia; three of those pieces belonged to Jingjing, as all of her entries qualified for the finals.
In the earrings category was "Aurora" inspired by the bright, shifting lights of the aurora borealis. In the necklace category was "Apoy", a brilliant and many-hued flame spreading from a perfect pearl, held at bay by a circlet of gray pearls only to burst into flame again at the ends. Yet what illuminated her talents this year was "Ablaze", which took the prize in its category.
When asked the story behind "Ablaze", Jingjing tells of how she was contemplating the theme when she was in Boracay. Asking herself over and over "what could be fire?" she found her answer henna-tattooed on many a sunbather: the Sun. She was inspired by how the sun’s rays twisted and curled around their arms, and decided that she would turn the Sun into an armband.
Setting colored sapphires and diamonds and the gray beauty of Tahitian pearls on white, rose and yellow gold, she created "Ablaze". She describes it: "The pearls are the ice, and as they melt away they are represented by the blue sapphires and diamonds. Then comes the fire, melting them, in the background." What’s amazing about Jingjing’s creations is how she makes the stones and pearls move and come to life so that there is no question what force of nature inspired them.
Nature is a great source of inspiration in all her fields of artistry. Yet Jingjing stresses that for her, it is not about representing accurate images of the ordinary, but to look at it from a different perspective so that it becomes extraordinary.
Taking photographs of everyday things is one of her favorite challenges. "When I look at something, I want to be able to say that I’ve never seen it shot that way before," she says. "If you take a picture of a friend in the usual way, there’s nothing wrong with that. But take her picture from a bird’s eye view, it’s different. It’s fresh. And you get to see a side of her that you’ve never seen before."
Winning the Tahitian Pearl Trophy twice was truly different and fresh in the international jewelry scene. Being the only Filipino who has ever won, she believes that her success in the competition not only highlighted her talent but blazed a trail for all Filipino jewel designers.
"My award is truly a milestone for our country, "she says. Being among international talents led her to reminisce about her days as a student in Paris. Then, Filipino nationalism wasn’t really in vogue, and so she was surprised and awed by how her classmates held a fierce pride for their own cultures and heritage. "It made me come to grips with my own identity as a Filipino. I asked myself, why isn’t the Philippines on the map of the world from an artistic point of view? And I realized that it is because we are always looking for outside influences to determine who we are. I began to look for the Filipino within that will come out and shine forth. I came to love what I discovered."
Indeed, you can see from her paintings that her colors come from a Filipino palette–all bright light and vibrant hues of orange, yellow, red and purple that shout out. "Parang jeepney," she laughs.
She is also challenged to bring new designs every year to the biggest jewel fair in the world: the Vicenza Oro in Italy. She strives to make these designs distinctly Filipino. "It is challenging to rack my brains…because if they see something that looks like one of their designs, they will snub you," she says.
The challenge to be different has been very rewarding, for Jingjing has proved that Filipino designers are not copycats. "We can be trendsetters if we want to be," she boldly says. She relates a story of how, several years back, she brought what she calls a "fading design" to the Vicenza fair. "The color trend was just beginning. I came up with rings in a classic design but instead of solid colors, I made the color fade from a dark shade to a light shade and then an even lighter shade. No one else in the fair had a design like ours, and now you can find that design all over!"
That said, the Philippine delegation can certainly hold its own among the European giants of the jewelry industry. Although the raw materials do not come from the Philippines (our metals, pearls and stones are not unalloyed), the designs are purely Filipino. These designs are ordered wholesale by Europeans and other Asians and even by jewelry connoisseurs, bringing prestige to the Filipino craftsman.
Yet the greatest impact that her creative process has had in her life is neither in her craftsmanship nor in the recognition our country has received for her talents. Rather, she feels that she is at her most creative when relating to her loved ones.
"When we are born, we are given templates to live by. Letting go of them for a little while makes us creative in that we cease to become effects of some circumstances in our lives. Even with parents or with my husband (Jingjing is married to Active Group president and Asian Spirit chairman Toti Turalba) I’m used to seeing them and relating to them in a certain way, becoming reactive instead of creative. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I can create my relationships and strive to make them filled with acceptance. When I create, I become the author of my own life."
Everyone would agree that it is most challenging to be creative as a parent. Jingjing admits that it is easy to fall into the template of nagging mom to her son. Jingjing does her best to give her son enough space and to constantly encourage him in his efforts, as her mother did with her. The pride in her voice when she lists her son’s accomplishments–excellent student, athlete, and budding artist–makes it clear that nurturing her son and creating her relationship with him is the best of her works.
She tells how he once brought home junk–old computer parts and other scraps–and remade them "from nothing into a semi-sculpture painting." She has high hopes of having a mother-son exhibit someday.
Jingjing’s personality in itself is a breath of fresh air, calming and inspiring. Her gift of looking at things from different perspectives– as painter, photographer, designer, wife, mother, daughter–may seem to be something unique to her. But by sharing herself through her work and through her stories, she has given us a key to unlock our own creativity. All we need is the courage to use it as she has.
"At the end of the day, my husband, children and I always pray together and thank God for giving us a wonderful day today. It is always a wonderful day–you just have to create it."