Salvador Bernal... The national artist. The father of theater design. The fashion designer who once dressed the presidential family. The man who introduced Philippine theater design to the world. The guru of younger designers from prestigious universities. The eloquent poet. The man of glamour and taste. The genius.... The titles do not end here. Yes indeed, Salvador Bernal can do it all! How could one man be so talented and so intelligent at the same time? Yes he was this amazing man, but he was also my ever-humble grandfather. Until now I am still in awe that I am actually related to this man! Whenever I see him I would shy away, because his presence was so empowering. Whenever he would talk to me I would get so conscious.... What does he think of me? He must think I'm incapable!
Today, my grandfather was buried at his birthplace - Dagupan. For the passed couple of days, I learned so much more of him than I already knew! My grandfather is the most creative, most intelligent, wisest, man I've ever met! I am not just saying this because we're related! Of course, he must be a national artist for some reason! One of the new things that I learned about him was how he defined originality. During the days when he was a production designer, the local productions were sensitive to budget limitations. Due to this constraint, he harnessed the design potential of inexpensive local materials, pioneering or maximizing the use of bamboo, raw abaca, abaca fiber, hemp twine, rattan chain links and gauze cacha. One of this production sets had these immaculate chandeliers, and, believe it or not, they were made of plastic pens! My art teacher always told me, "You can only be truly creative if you can create beautiful things out of very little material!" Salvador Bernal was not only a creative man he was also a man of great taste! Another thing that I admire is how he generously shared and passed on his talent, skills, and knowledge to his students and protégés. One thing I wanted to experience in my life was to become a student of my lolo. Sadly, that opportunity passed.
My lolo's blood runs through me... The art flowed from one generation to another, all coming from my great grandmother lola Banding down to me. A lot of people have been asking me to pursue this "art thing" and I've persistently refused because I didn't see anything great in me. But now, I'm finally awakened... You shouldn't be scared of taking these opportunities. Fear is a sin, because you're hindering yourself from making the best out of yourself.
Now, it's time to take this painting seriously! The light has shone on me. Art school here I come!
