Art from the Heart: BGC Art Mart

Handcrafted Teddy bears
from "My Fabric Projects."

Remember a few months ago I talked about La Pomme, a small shop that sold handcrafted supermarket items? I had loved it for its child-like charm.

It always makes me happy when creativity is expressed.

The Bonifacio Global City (BGC) Art Mart is an event held every few months to give artists and craftsman to showcase talent and sell their wares.

This is what I love about BGC. Every street you go, you really see a work of art.

I saw it advertised on facebook the day before I went, I was lucky to have found it  because they had been cancelling the event for a while because of heavy rain in the area. Worried that it would be my only chance to catch it until the next time they have it at around October or November.

The event is small but it still certainly made me happy, since everyone was so nice. All the artists there were so open to talk to me and tell me about their products. How they are made and what they are made of.

I know they are just trying to sell their products, but still I had a lot of fun talking to them. I'll be sharing a few of my favorite booths.

Handicrafts

My  Fabric Projects

Contacts:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myfabricprojects/
• Email: myfabricprojects@gmail.com

Adorable Towel Teddies

The concept of My Fabric Projects is being recyclable and Earth-friendly.  According to them, they believe that every piece of fabric can be turned into a big project. In fact, many of the fabric coming from smaller projects came from bigger projects, which I will explain later.

 Another great thing about this project is that part of the proceeds go to charity.

I love the colors coming from the towel teddy bears. According to the owner, they are handmade and takes the them around 3-4 hours to make.

Rings

One example of the smaller projects that I mentioned earlier are these rings. They look like flowers, don't they?

These are actually made from the extra fabric from bigger projects like her wallets and notebooks. Aside from rings, the flowers are also used to make necklaces. Now that I think about it, they could actually come in a pair.

Vintage Rose Necklaces

I love these necklaces. They are really pretty to look at!

These are not the necklaces I mentioned earlier. While the rings and necklaces earlier gave me the impression of child-like youth, The design on these necklaces I think is meant to attract a much older set.

I think depending on the outfit, this could really either be playful or elegant.

Trinkets by Menchie

Contacts: 

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrinketsByMenchvit
• Email: menchvit@yahoo,com
• Cellphone: +639178435328

Menchie with her Trinkets.

Menchie was the person I probably talked to the most while I was there. While I was trying to speak in Tagalog, she caught the Bisaya accent in my speech. She began encouraging me to speak Bisaya with her. She also came from Mindanao, so she knows a lot about Cagayan de Oro. We also talked about how we adjusted to life in Manila.

It was thanks to her that I found out about the free Krispy Kreme. If that wasn't enough, she gave me some studded earrings to try out so we can figure out if I was allergic to stainless steel.

She specializes on the old art of tatting or lace-making. For locks and such, she refuses to use anything that is not stainless, to prevent it from fading. The thread she uses for the lace is also imported from either the UK or the US, going that far to promise not only elegance but durability.

Ambassador Peachy Natividad with
Menchie's necklace and bead set. 

Her products have been worn by people such as, Ambassador Peachy Natividad. She s a proud owner of a necklace and bracelet set made out of shell beads.

I love that her products don't look handmade at all. They look like they came out of the pages of a magazine. The intricate design and the vintage elegance just wins my heart.

I think I have an idea on where to do my Christmas shopping.

Clay All Day

Contacts

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clayalldaybymaechan
• Email: hbchan.hc@gmail.com

Clay All Day's Clay Chibis 

Look at all these cuties!

This is one booth that summons for every fangirl to see, How many do you recognize from this bunch?

They are fandom-inspired chibi sculptures. The artist doesn't use mold and even laughingly told me how difficult it was particularly to make the 4th Doctor's curly hair. That is probably why he is one of the most expensive it seems.

The prices vary. The intricate and difficult to make it is, the more expensive. She also accepts shipping!

Hodge Podge

Contacts:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heyhodgepodge
• Email: heyhodgepodge@gmail.com

Bottlecap Fandom Keychains

Here is another fandom-inspired booth! And often a favorite among the young and the young at heart.

I have seen Hodge Podge before in other events such as Kawaii in Manila last year and CosMania also last year.

They also promised to be in CosMania this year. I am glad because I am actually a fan of their products. I have Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus keychains. Jack and Elsa phone danglers --- which I turned into a Jelsa (See meaning here) dangler.

Illustrations

Dorothea Napay (Digital Artist)

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dorotheanapay
• Website: dorotheanapay.com
• Email: dorotheanapay@gmail.com
• Phone: 09175076796 

Dorothea Napay
with prints of her art works.

She is incredibly talented despite being so young. How can anyone at 22 years old be this good? She studies AB-Multimedia Arts at the De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde and has been mentored by great artists since she was child.

When it comes to medium, she seems to be very flexible since I see both traditional and digital art on display.

I see plenty of her digital art pieces but she also seemed well-versed in other mediums such as colored pencils. Or at least it looked like colored pencils to me.

I bought 4 of her pieces. One is the sketch of the timeless Audrey Hepburn. Another looks like an incredibly detailed colored pencil sketch of a blue bird. The other are pretty digital pieces of the faces of women.

Dorothea's illustrations
as cards and stickers.

I met her again on my second time at the Art Mart. With the latest trend of adult coloring books, she seems to be giving it a shot as well. Her table has a few pages of beautiful kaleidoscopic-looking patterns.

If this much she can achieve at the age of 22, it is frightening to think what she can do in the future. Elegant and perfectly random, this girl is a real gem.

Sha Erandio (Watercolor Artist)

Sha with her Watercolor Prints.

Me: Did you go to school for art?
Sha: Who me? No. This is a hobby!.

My jaw literally just dropped when she told me that and I couldn't even get another word out except, "Wow!"

The concept of her watercolor paintings seem remind me a lot of something that the talented photographer, Zemotion would do. I just love them!

If I could be half this good at all, as a hobby or professionally I am definitely primed to rule the world. Or at least take it as a sign to rule the art world.


Maria Sarah Orlina (Illustrator)

Contacts:

• Tumblr: sarahlovestodraw@tumblr.com
• Instagram: @mariamariasarah
• Email: mariasarahorlina@gmail.com
• Phone: 09327661289

Sarah with a few of her illustrations.

The best word I can come up with to describe Sarah's art is that it is raw and passionate. I liked talking to her and Marcela, whom she shared a booth with.

I was drawn immediately to her Hayao Miyazaki prints. She had one of Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro. She also had non-Miyazaki ones like Graveyard of the Fireflies. Both of us could probably sob remembering how the siblings in the story died.

Not talking about that anymore since I will probably just tear up.

She and Marcela are great and evil negotiators. They were smooth at convincing to buy more than I initially thought I should. Sarah was cheering me on to buy more and it was so funny. I liked their chiding personalities so much, that I just gave in. Not that I have any regrets. Her art has a lot of personality. She portrays women in a feminine --- but in a way that is not too pretty or sexualized. 

Marcela Suller (Illustrator)

Contact: 

• Instagram: @marcelasuller

Marcela with her postcards

She shared a booth with Sarah. There is something child-like about her art that would probably appeal to people of young and young at heart.

Her side of the book was like sifting through pages of a children's story book. I can actually see her illustrating her own children's book someday. I hope she does. I would totally buy it!

I especially love her illustrations for animals. When she found out I love dogs and cats, she evilly brought out her prettiest portraits of both, which made a dent on my budget. Isn't that just evil?

Joking aside--- she is very talented. I wanted to buy all of her illustrations.

Eman Sia (Visual Artist)

Contacts:

Email: emansia13@yahoomail.com

Instagram: @eman_sia

Phone: +63 906 295 6576

Guardians by Eman Sia

Unfortunately, I couldn't take photos of the artist himself since he was still too busy setting up and I was afraid that it would be pretty rude to ask him to pose for a photo when he was clearly busy.

At least I got to admire his work --- and admire them I did. I love the the vibrant colors on the fridge magnets --- yes, those are fridge magnets. And that painting with its intricate looking designs looked like it was about to pop out from the canvass.

His customized fridge magnets.

Someone who can can make all these tiny details matter must really have a lot of patience. I wasn't able to get a closer look to see what medium he was using. My best guess is that it could be acrylic or mixed media ---

--- I cheated. I checked his facebook and it is indeed acrylic.

Aside from the colors, the themes for his art leans towards fantastical. Aside from Guardians, he has naiads and chimeras in his portfolio and they are still just as lovely. I can also see the nature theme in a few.

Sabrina Palmares aka It's a Mustard World

• Website: itsamustardworld.wordpress.com
• Facebook: mustardworld
• Email: itsamustardworld@gmail.com

Sabrina with her Mustard World Illustrations.

I told myself that I shouldn't go to Art Mart for a second time, but I am just horrible at taking my own advice. In the end, I am glad I did. I found another precious booth.

Sabrina is an Advertising graduate with a bit of background in art. She has her own blog as well, which she calls "A Mustard World."

No relation to A Sweet World.

We chatted a bit as bloggers, both agreeing how our blogs are like our own little world. It makes us happy when people read our blogs, but it isn't really the reason why we do them.

I am in love with Mustard World. With her art, she included the stories behind them. So if you think about it, it is like your free online short story book. The stories are really quite short, so you can read them pretty quickly, They are fun for kids and endearing for adults. I really hope someday she debuts a book.

Mustard World buttons
and postcards.

I love the rustic and homey feel her art give off. I was very close to buying something but I wasn't lying when I said I didn't have the budget.

I promised her that I would read her website when I was more awake.

As promised, I read and are really quick reads. But too much for me to read in one sitting. I can proudly say I read at least half now though.  My favorites were:

The Book Page Glitch, because I just love the thought of it. Imagine. There is a phenomenon where for a few moments two worlds converge. Our world and the world you are reading at the moment of the phenomenon. If that happened, what book do you think you'd read and why?

Catnip was also really cute. Hitchhikers at Poppy Hill was cute and delightfully creepy. It combines cute with popular legends. I love the Traveling Door and the Wooden Jack Rabbit too.  I am going to stop now before this list will grow too long.