Junever Mahilum-West

Junever Mahilum-West is a career diplomat and a University of the Philippines graduate who likes the arts, especially painting and drawing. Amba Jones (her nickname) is mainly self-taught in painting. She only received formal instruction when she was approaching 40 years of age. She studied with a small group of budding painters under the tutelage of Masha S during her first diplomatic assignment to Paris in the late 1990’s.

A highlight in her development as a painter was gaining honorary membership in the Philippine Artists Group of Canada when she was Consul General of Toronto from 2012 to 2015. After a hiatus in painting for almost a decade, Amba Jones resumed painting in Paris in her present assignment as Ambassador to France and Monaco (since November 2021). She continues to learn independently through painting tutorials from YouTube. She primarily works with gouache on paper. Realism defines her artistic style and her work features the play of light, vibrant colors intermingled with childhood memories, particularly evoking the tropical fruits of her homeland.