Artist: MJ De Jesus
Size: 18in x 24in
Medium: Oil on canvas

Story behind the Artwork:

“Harvest” portrays the hardwork of our rice farmers in broad daylight.

I’d like to show the colors of rice hay and how admirable our culture can be through this painting.

Rice has been on the table of each Filipino family, so this particular subject is very personal to me.

We always share rice with our Family and peers. It’s not Filipino cuisine without Rice.
I’d also like to highlight the importance of our rice farmers since it’s becoming an issue these days.

Rice should be affordable for every Filipino regardless of their social status, and without our local farmers, there will be not much food on the table for our Filipino Families.

However, when I was painting this, I’d also like to show energy and optimism, and so I was listening to Guitar music in the process of this painting, though it’s not Kundiman, but listening to music adds to my energy and expression. The music, emotion, memories and expression influences my brush strokes when I was painting this subject especially the hay as a collective – so this is another memory preserved on canvas. My love for culture, our farmers, personal temperament in colors and expression are now imprinted in this painting. And I hope that you as my audience, can enjoy and feel the daylight, love for culture, and soul of the artist in this particular painting as well.