Percival (Percy) Denolo was born on January 24, 1973 in Pres. Roxas, Capiz. He was known “Onyok” to their place at Valenzuela City where he now resides. He is married to Rosemarie Rodrigo Denolo and blessed with 2 kids: Chrosper Mark and Clark Cyrhoss. He was four years old when his parents discover his artistic side because he constantly draw anything in their backyard. He studied Bachelor of Science in Education, Major in Industrial Arts at Technological University of the Philippines. He worked for 16 years at Rebisco Company. After that, he was given the chance to be a comics and editorial artist at People’s Balita because of the late Carlo J. Caparas. He can use all kinds of mediums: charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic and oil paints. From paper to walls, he just can paint on anything. But his shadow mud art expertise made him more famous.
Being talented, he has the opportunity to creatively achieve more, because he has multiple creative sources to draw from. Though mud is cheaper than other art mediums, it is technically not easy to use. Percy’s discovery of using a termite colony further enhanced his creativity. Aside from being a devoted conservationist, he was amazed by the effect and texture of the mud itself as a medium. The termite colony tucked in their backyard has been his main supplier of mud up until now. When it rains, he scrapes off the softened mud which goes through a cleansing process.
In 2016, he had an opportunity to appear on TV via Pilipinas Got Talent Season 5. They were only given 1.5 minutes to present during the audition, hence instead of painting in a canvas, he presented an unconventional style of performance: mud shadow art. He used the mud on glass with his bare hands. The judges were stunned and no wonder that audition on You Tube has reached 897,636 views to date. It was a hit! Though he didn’t win the talent show, he left a memorable mark and was tagged as the “first Filipino mud shadow artist and performer.”
Over time, he was able to learn techniques of mud on canvas. The results are nothing short of awe-inspiring. He studied different ways to make his art work as functional and lasting. Being a talented artist he has been recognized and given a lot of awards. He has done a lot of performances and exhibits as well.
Got to recently visit Mr. Percy at his home gallery in Ugong, Valenzuela. His artworks there are stellar and its all viewable publicly if you message ahead. I hope we get to see more of him soon!