Meet a proudly Igorot artist; Jordan Mang-osan
HE was once a nobody in the “elite” world of the artists, until one day he became someone who is not only recognized but multi-awarded with his great skill in drawing and painting.
Jordan Mang-osan started drawing as a hobby since elementary until he was awarded as “Artist of the Year” upon graduation in Pico Elementary School, La Trinidad, Benguet back in 1981. The recognition inspired him to continue his hobby and eventually it became his career when he was 19 years of age.
He first attended charcoal drawing in BSBT to develop his skill in drawing which qualified him to become a member of the Baguio Artist Guild in 1988.
The Tam-awan circle of artist
WHEN the Tam-awan Village is on track of development in 1985, Jordan became the care taker until the Chanum Foundation Inc. was established in 1986 that he became an automatic member as well as the Tam-awan circle of artists.
Starting to be an artist he said entailed a lot of struggles. Being born from a not so well-off family, being an artist as a profession is like a joke, with the revenue not even enough to feed him.
“In the beginning as usual if you are an artist the primary problem is the financial especially if you are still an aspiring artist not known in the world of famous artists,” he said.
But he said that the lack of finances did not hinder them not to pursue their career as artist. They made remedies by printing t-shirts, tarpaulin and cards so they could have a source of income to sustain their daily needs. “This became our bread and butter at the same painting”, he added.
Jordan is a full-time artist in the Tam-awan Village together with other artists.
The medium he uses
JOARDAN specializes in solar drawing, charcoal, acrylic paint, mix media and the latest which is pyrography.
Pyrography is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object also known as wood burning. Pyrography means “writing with fire” and is the traditional art of using a heated tip or wire to burn scorch designs to wood or leather.
Pyrography is using electrical burning pen while solar drawing is using magnifying lens and heat of the sun. Drawing using pyrography would consume about seven days of straight working while the solar drawing would require a longer time depending on the light of the sun.