MANILA, Philippines - Since childhood, Jack Salud had always wanted to sing and to paint. One fine day, as in the Puccini opera, the two disciplines merged.

He became a professional singer (with a range from high baritone to tenor two), and a professional visual artist with many one-man shows to his credit.

Salud, a youthful-looking 44, married to Kazue Yamada (of Japan) and father of two, is an understudy to bass-baritone Nomer Son, who plays Alcindoro in the forthcoming production of Puccini?s ?La Boheme.?

He was one of the 20 artists who interpreted Guyito, the carabao mascot of this newspaper, during the 20th anniversary of the Inquirer in 2005.

Salud studied classical Chinese painting with a Chinese couple, while taking up voice lessons with mezzo soprano Jay Glorioso and later (the late) baritone Emmanuel Gregorio, who continued to train him even when he was no longer feeling well.

?I wanted to polish my classical singing,? Salud said.

His first solo show was at the Ayala Museum in 1996, and since then he has had 30 one-man exhibits, including two in Tokyo. He has also developed a clientele of his own. His works have a whimsical and naïf touch, are flat, are influenced by the pointillism of the French artist Seurat.

A Management graduate of De la Salle University, Salud joined Repertory Philippines when he was 21, and has appeared in many of the productions, often musicals, of that company. He was one of the rapists in ?Man of La Mancha,? but it was a non-singing role.

He joined the Philippine Opera Company in 2002, and is a mainstay of the group, appearing in such shows as ?Tribute to Pavarotti? and the recent ?Harana,? where he sang Abelardo?s ?Bituing Marikit.?

He next appears in the key role of Prince Tamino in the POC children?s adaptation of Mozart?s ?The Magic Flute? (Sept. 19, Cultural Center of the Philippines).

?Singing is my first love, painting second,? Salud declared. ?But I still paint and consign when I?m not rehearsing. If God gives you a gift, then use it while you can.?