Aslie Yabut, a visual artist from Mexico, Pampanga, has been making a name for himself with his mosaic pieces. Just a few months ago, one of his artworks got noticed and shared on social media by its subject who happens to be one of the country’s most popular actresses and celebrity endorsers.

This 18-year old artist is nowhere near conventional. He prefers to use materials like discarded plastic packaging. For that piece that got him noticed a while back, he used coffee packets cleverly put together with glue.


And now that the “Ber” months have started, Aslie has come up with another piece that Filipinos will surely find fitting for the season.

"Bilang isang Pinoy, si Jose Mari Chan ang unang pumapasok sa isipan natin kapag sumasapit na 'yung ‘Ber’ months," Aslie said.
(As Filipinos, we easily remember Jose Mari Chan when the ‘Ber’ months come.)
Aslie is especially pleased with how his Jose Mari Chan mosaic came out and the reactions it gets from other people.

"Kapag nakita natin ang picture niya, para na rin pong kumakanta 'yung picture sa isip natin. Sabi nga ng iba, 'image that we can hear po'," he added.
(When we see his image, it seems like the picture is humming a song in our minds. Others have described it as an 'image that we can hear'.)

Jake Malto, an artist from Sorsogon, also did a portrait with Jose Mari Chan as the subject. But instead of using paint, he used coffee.

"Dahil sa community quarantine at natigil kami sa pagtatrabaho, naging libangan ko ang drawing. Dahil sa kakulangan ng art material ay naisipan kong gamitin ang kape bilang pangkulay." Jake said.

(Since I was not working because of the community quarantine, I took up drawing to keep myself occupied. But since I lacked proper art materials, I decided to use coffee instead.)

Jake started making artworks when he was in elementary school and only took a break from it when he reached college. He got back into it in 2017 and has not stopped since. His portrait of the singer-songwriter is just one of a whole series of artworks that feature famous Filipinos.

Jose Mari Chan would certainly appreciate these artworks and maybe even the fact that their creation was prompted by the start of arguably the longest Christmas season in the world. By now, he has probably already accepted the fact that, for many Pinoys, he is as good a symbol of the season as any other.