Studio Works

I love my body
24×36 inches
Acrylic on tarpaulin
July 2016

It took me 35 years to be able to say that I love my body. When I look at the mirror every morning, I now honor my skin, hair, eyes, nose, belly, legs and feet exactly as they are. Bodyshaming is something we all do, whether to others or to ourselves. We can really do more to encourage each other to love our bodies.

bodypositive #acrylic #painting #montalutstudio

My first completed commissioned work! Thanks for letting me be part of this happy moment in your family, Mia and Pete.

For Adam and Eva
18×14 inches
Acrylic on canvas
June 30, 2016

#acrylic #painting #tagaytay #lake #montalutstudio

You and I
24×36 inches
Acrylic on tarpaulin
June 24, 2016

#montalutstudio #play #acrylic #painting

My first muse
12×8 inches
Acrylic on paper
June 14, 2016

Once upon a time, I would paint the sun, day in, day out. The sun was my resting place, the one subject that let me stop thinking and just paint away. Maybe someday my quest for the meaning of Montalut will lead me back to sun and light.

#sun #acrylic #painting

Mattea
20×16 inches
Acrylic on canvas
June 6 & 9, 2016

At the painting party of my goddaughter, Mattea, I invited her friends to do a group painting as a gift for her. We used a prepared palette with all the colors laid out (big mistake!), and in 5 minutes our group masterpiece turned into a big birthday mud pie. I tried to salvage it by painting a portrait, Mattea herself joined in, and voila, we ended up with a collaborative portrait! What a super cool 7th birthday treat.

#acrylic #painting #portrait #collab

Musel
12×18 inches
Acrylic on canvas
June 9, 2016

Added finishing touches today to this portrait of my good friend, Cez, painted at a forest reserve north of Manila two weeks ago. Was a slow painting day because I deviated from my normal blue tones to give way to warmer browns and yellow greens. Seems I’m moving towards a warmer palette these days…a sign of warmer (i.e. happier) insides maybe?

#pleinair #painting #lamesaecopark #portrait

Batanes
Acrylic on canvas
June 9, 2016

I’ve painted this house atop a cliff many times, but this time it came out calm and at ease. What an interesting greeting as my first painting at the new studio.

#calm #play #acrylic #painting #montalutstudio #mountain #sea #batanes

Balsa
12×18 inches
Acrylic on canvas
April 27, 2016

A “balsa” is a bamboo raft that makes for happy lounging at sea. Last weekend I took my niece, Patrice, to a windsurfing cove in Anilao, Batangas. We sat on the balsa at midday, wind blowing from all directions, fishes swimming underneath, and I set out to paint. Of course the canvas fell in the water and my palette got blown over many times, but it’s working like this with the raw energy of a floating raft, feet soaked in seawater, and the maddeningly hot sun on our backs that makes outdoor painting so worth it!

#thisisthelife #sun #sea #beach #summer #pleinair #painting #acrylic #anilao