Springtime in France: Baldemor

Manuel D. Baldemor is a multi-talented Filipino artist. He is a painter, sculptor, printmaker, writer and book illustrator. He was born in 1974 at Paete, Laguna Philippines, a place renowned for woodcarvers. He has contributed more than 20 designs for reproduction on UNICEF’s Christmas greeting cards for 18 straight years. Baldemor has held numerous one-man exhibits in museums and galleries not only in the Philippines but in cities around the world including Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore Osaka, Tokyo, Cairo, Teheran, Tel-Aviv, Ankara, Cascais, Madrid, Santiago, Mainz, Munich, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Prague, Bratislava, Paris, Vienna, Warsaw, Budapest, Moscow, Bern, Basel, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Uppsala, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Bergen, Oslo, Vilnius, Tallinn, Riga, London, Edinburgh, and New York. He has received 24 local and international awards and grants and has been chosen artist-in-residence in Singapore, Japan, Israel, Chile, Portugal, Estonia and Switzerland.

Baldemor states: To experience France in springtime is like trying to find gourmet mushrooms. One has to be in the right place at the right time.

There have been many unforgettable moments as I found myself watching the diffused sunrise between olive groves, chasing a sunset on Cezanne's Mont Ste-Victoire, searching for the perfect bouillabaisse simmered in saffron and Provençal herbs in Marseilles, driving along cherry trees just beginning to bloom, from perched village to chateau to abbey, until one arrives at the vineyard of contentment.

Everywhere I look, the landscape is filled with spingtime blooms - clematis, azaleas, peonies, tulips and pansies. Above, the cerulean skies look down with favor at the unfolding beauty. Below at sea level, I see fishermen stand waist-deep in mountain streams angling for trout.

I see old men playing pétanque, drinking pastis, and women carrying baskets instead of cameras at a village market amidst rows of stalls loaded with aubergines, asparagus, tomatoes and haricots verts.

With only my brushes and paints as means of communication, I manage to share my thoughts and feelings. This leads to sumptuous meals with newfound friends at tables laden with foie gras, wild truffle omelettes, ratatouille and galatea crepes washed down with glasses of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

For these and other happy memories of the many seasons I have spent in France, I will always cherish my moments of Spring.