Pinay Artist Paints with Coffee, Showcases Pinoy Talent in the US

Pinoy talent has already made a mark in the global spectrum.

The likes of Manny Pacquiao, Lea Salonga, Charice, Jessica Sanchez, Bruno Mars, Michael Cinco, and Monique Lhuillier are living proofs of this. Thus, “Pinoy Pride” has become a popular saying that we have to show how proud we are of our kababayans.

Another Pinoy is making waves in the art scene in the United States. Clarisse Pastor-Medina is a self-taught artist, born in Batangas and currently based in San Francisco.

(Photo credit: clarissepastormedina.com)

Unlike the typical artist, Pastor-Medina does not create art using regular media like oil, watercolor, or paint. She uses regular, natural, and non-toxic coffee. Additionally, she uses other non-conventional stains like wine or tea on canvas or paper.

Her artworks are usually “expressive-intuitive” with focus on the Philippines, which she said, “born of homesickness and nostalgia from childhood.”

On her website, she noted:

I am very much a work in progress and cannot claim to be a master. My goal is to remain a zealous apprentice of the arts (and life itself), while humbly working toward the fulfillment of a simple dream — to pay tribute to my beloved “kababayans” in my homeland Philippines and to all Filipinos in the diaspora by promoting our very rich cultural heritage through my visual memoirs and personal expressions in Filipiniana and Baybayin-themed art. I also hope, in my own little way, to be part of this new revolution of promoting our beautiful ancient script Baybayin, as well as spread the joy of using coffee (together with other nonconventional/nontraditional stains like wine or tea) as an artistic medium.

Her fondness for coffee as medium is due to its sepia effect, which reflects the feeling of nostalgia.

Here are a few of the artworks from her BIAK Collection.

(Balikbayan Box. Photo credit: clarissepastormedina.com)