Julianne Del Mar

Artist

Julianne S. Delmar is a painter and homeschool mom from Cebu who took Fine Arts, majoring in painting after three years in Interior Design, both at the University of San Carlos. Her favorite subjects are urban/street scenes-buildings, people, and especially market places rather than settling for a more feasible and commission-driven style. Here's what she has to say in her approach to painting, "After technique, principles and theories, when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of painting, it is about the mood and atmosphere: the memory of an experience. The elusiveness of watercolor, with my own penmanship, allows me to capture that fleeting moment.” Her ultimate goal as an artist is to convey an experience, even nostalgia, in her work.

CREATION AND PRESERVATION

Nature and humanity – so much is to be said about the tensions between these two. However, there is one aspect of this that I wish to talk about, something in which I’m sure artists are interested in. It’s the beauty in nature. Destructions aside, somehow, we are drawn to nature, just the sheer experience of it. People add plants to their spaces, take trips, and property prices go up if it comes with a view. Beautiful, said we. But nature just be. It doesn’t try to impress you or me. Simply to behold, we stop in our tracks. This got me thinking, when a tree falls in a forest… and so on and so forth. So, if we are not around to take in nature, would it still be the same? Well maybe even better because there is no one to mess with it, but that’s another story. Sometimes it feels as though we were put here to appreciate nature, and more. Human being, being the creative that he is, makes his own beauty with the use of nature. We enhance, tweak, magnify.

One of my favorite subjects to paint, even way before this project, is the flower shops of Freedom Park. Rows and rows of fresh-cut flowers,and floral arrangements that could end up anywhere, any place, any occasion, make me wonder. Is somebody’s special day going to be made more memorable by them? Is someone going to feel appreciated? Consoled? How about an offering? Those busy flower arrangers seem to be perfunctorily fulfilling orders, while the flowers, the leaves are just calmly blooming, surviving, and eventually wilting. No matter how nicely done artificial flowers are, there just seems to be no substitute for the fresh ones. The beautiful nature used to create something else. This is the inspiration behind the Freedom Park series. (Colorful Blooms and Greens, Made-to-Order, Fresh-Cut Roses) It’s one of those cases where humans manipulate what’s in nature to produce something that to us is beautiful, something we might call art. That is why the emphasis is placed on the sellers and floral arrangers. What about fish tanks as decorations in people’s spaces? To be honest, I feel sorry when animals are treated this way. (Goldfish for Sale)

Freedom Park Series

One of my favorite subjects to paint, even way before this project, is the flower shops of Freedom Park. Rows and rows of fresh-cut flowers, and floral arrangements that could end up anywhere, any place, any occasion, make me wonder. Is somebody’s special day going to be made more memorable by them? Is someone going to feel appreciated? Consoled? How about an offering? Those busy flower arrangers seem to be perfunctorily fulfilling orders, while the flowers, the leaves are just calmly blooming, surviving, and eventually wilting. No matter how nicely done artificial flowers are, there just seems to be no substitute for the fresh ones. The beautiful nature used to create something else. This is the inspiration behind the Freedom Park series. (Colorful Blooms and Greens, Made-to-Order, Fresh-Cut Roses) It’s one of those cases where humans manipulate what’s in nature to produce something that to us is beautiful, something we might call art. That is why the emphasis is placed on the sellers and floral arrangers. What about fish tanks as decorations in people’s spaces? To be honest, I feel sorry when animals are treated this way. (Goldfish for Sale)

Title: FRESH-CUT ROSES

2023

Medium: Watercolor on Paper

Dimensions: 34.29 x 25.4 cm

Price: PHP 15,000.00

Title: GOLDFISH FOR SALE

2018

Medium: Watercolor on Paper

Dimensions: 35.56 x 25.4 cm

Price: PHP 14,000.00

Title: MADE-TO-ORDER

2023

Medium: Watercolor on Paper

Dimensions: 30.48 x 22.86 cm

Price: PHP 12,000.00

Title: COLORFUL BLOOMS AND GREENS

2023

Medium: Watercolor on Paper

Dimensions: 25.4 x 33.02 cm

Price: PHP 14,000.00

Olango Series

In some cases, we humans deliberately leave nature to be, for a couple of different reasons. Only yesterday we went on a visit to Olango Island, my first time. Declared a wetland of international importance, the wildlife sanctuary is a protected zone. It’s a vast stretch of saltwater swamp, thick mangroves tracing the horizon. A major stopover for the migratory birds, the preservation of the area means the preservation of the bird species. After peering through the scopes to observe these birds, I looked around and saw how the colors, the lines, the quiet can be so calming. It was there that the contrast between here and the Freedom Park series struck me. Here we have efforts to not get in the way of nature so as to let it do what it’s supposed to. No arranging to make it pleasing to the eye. Let the birds grow plump for their long journey ahead. But people still visit to experience its beauty. That was the idea behind the Olango series. (Protected Zone, Shoreline Birds in Olango, Egrets’ Layover, By the River of Bonbon, Cebu)