Andrew Mendoza

Andrew Mendoza is a self-taught Painter born in Philippines and migrated to Canada in 2009. He is passionately painting portraits, landscape and with his signature subject bamboo painting.

Manitoba Plein Air Painting:
Ironically, discovering Plein Air Art Painting around the world through media influenced me to experience the joy of painting in nature. Manitoba is a vast prairie, yet its simplicity has inspired an array of interesting landscapes. Although seen as simple at first, the scenes I have chosen has allowed me to focus on what it is about the scene that catches my attention with regards to composition. There is a correlation between warm and cool, light and shadow that makes painting in an impressionistic style so elegant and the same time so complex. This truly puts the phrase "Nothing is ever as simple as it seems" in to perspective. Painting in nature has brought out a desire to seek out more locations and I feel that I am just getting stated.

Bamboo Painting:
The moment a museum curator to me that i could be an artist my brain immediately clicked to thick like ONE. From then on, I searched for a subject to paint. To the common eye, all bamboo can look similar in shape and color. But in the eyes of an artist, they poses a personality that has captured my imaginative and naïve artistic way of thinking. Painting under these tall grasses challenged me to portray their likeness. Each bamboo is its own individual being, they carry so much character within the formation of their roots, body, stem, leaves and thorns. They are not always green in color but varies from brown to orange, giving them a distinct and vibrant contrast. Creating a work of art is a slow and smooth process but the inspiration comes in flashes. The versatility of bamboo has given me the opportunity to reimagine them as a sculpture and rearrange their structure into many other forms such as human or animal.

Portrait Painter:
I also aspire to be a skillful portrait painter as well. Adopting traditional technique of grisaille, glazing and scumbling to finish a portrait. Oil paint and soft pastel are both my favorite mediums.