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| Painting pricess of Alona Sunset |
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Sitting suspended in the air something like 80 metres above ground, protected from the more dangerous effects of gravity only by the balcony floor, I spend quite a bit of time in contemplation or generally wasting time online with my tablet.
In my vista, looking back at me, I see countless high-rise buildings. Some seem to gaze benevolently at me while others have more austere countenances. Some are quite indifferent to my existence.
These visions and others sometime capture my attention enough to stimulate me to paint.
Here, then, is a selection of some of the paintings I have created in the past months. All are in oils on canvas. The dimensions are sometimes in inches and sometimes in centimetres (it depends what is available in the shops).
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[Please click on the images if you wish to see a larger version]
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| Makati Evening - 24 x 30 in. |
Makati Evening
Makati, sometimes somewhat ungracious in the day time, takes on some of its charm at night time.
This painting is the view almost straight out the front of our balcony. The higher buildings are mostly lining Ayala avenue and are commercial high-rises. Some of the nearer ones are residential. We have view straight down Rufino street which crosses Ayala avenue as illustrated here by the the stream of head and rear lights of the cars mired in the regular rush hours. The greenish light on the right is from flood lights one of the numerous high-rise building sites one sees in Makati. Work goes on seven days a week and into the evenings.
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| Makati Sunset - 18 x 24 in. |
Makati Sunset
Sometimes, while sitting on the balcony we are graced with a flaming sunset. This one prompted me to lean out (quite safely) from the balcony to take a photograph looking right along our street — H.V. Dela Costa st.— towards the the sunset. You can still see Rufino street trickling up the left side of the painting. The second high-rise from the right with the triangular summit is one of the more imaginative you find in Makati.
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| Makati - Before the Storm - 24 x 18 in. |
Before the Storm
Looking out of the back room this time towards the Makati City Hall (on the left) with the gated village of Bel-Air 2 in the foreground. A storm is brewing over Quezon City in the north. The light is a mix of dark blue/purple storm clouds and sickly yellow from the sun.
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| Jupiter Street - 20 x 24 in. |
Jupiter Street
Just over the busy road in the direction of the painting above (North), still in Makati but just outside the Makati Central Business District (CBD) proper, lies Jupiter street with Its restaurants and bars and Karaoke salons. One already notices that the maintenance and cleaning is slightly below the standard of the CBR. It is more haphazard and populated by multi-coloured neon signs. Here one may occasionally meet tricycles, human or engine powered, which are apparently banned in the CBR.
See the finished painting on my web site PeterHobden.com
See the finished painting on my web site PeterHobden.com
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| Alona Sunset - 60 x 50 cm |
Alona Beach
And finally, as a counterpoint, a scene distant from Manila on the Island of Bicol just off Bohol Island to the south. We stayed there over a long weekend in a modest hotel on the beach and visited surrounding islands and went snorkelling and lazed on the beach. Again a sunset but what a difference in the backdrop!