Philippine and Pacific Oil Paintings

Islands are painted badly when they are painted as postcards. What makes this collection work is that most of it happens early: a surfer out at Cloud 9 at dawn, a weaver at her loom before first light, a kayak among the Hundred Islands while the water is still flat.

What is in this collection

Around seventy paintings in four groups. Coast and water covers Siargao surf at dawn, the Hundred Islands in golden light and the Loboc river with its bamboo rafts. Mountain and forest holds the summit of Mount Apo at sunrise and the hidden cave at Tinago Falls. Craft and festival is the heart of the collection: the T'boli dreamweaver at her loom, and the masked warriors of the Moriones festival. Colonial and city takes in the horse carriages of Intramuros at golden hour.

The palette is green and blue with warm light cutting across it, and the paintings are made to hold humidity in the air rather than dry the scene out.

How each painting is made

Nothing here is printed. Each canvas is painted in oils after you order it, by an artist working from the reference on the page, which is why the lead time runs in weeks and no two are identical.

You set the dimensions rather than choosing from a fixed list. Three finishes are available: Simple for a clean, even surface, Texture for visible brushwork, and Museum for the heaviest impasto.

Choosing one for a room

Seascapes and island views want width, hung low enough that the waterline sits near seated eye level. Weaving and festival subjects are dense with pattern and colour and want size instead: they reward a viewer standing close.

These bring warmth and green into a room with little of either, and they suit a restaurant, a spa or a bright hallway. Tell us the wall and we will suggest a proportion.

An island of your own

A beach you go back to, a family house, a boat: send a photograph and an artist will look at it before anything is agreed. Shipping is free worldwide.