From a generous soul
In her relatively small studio are big voices that fill the room and big dreams that fill the air. Rellie Liwag breathes through her art with the candor of an enlightened being, sure of herself, confident of her gift, grateful to the Giver.
“I am a late bloomer,” Rellie says of her talent in painting as she effortlessly lifts from the floor a painting titled
Provence Series 2, which, by the looks of it, is cumbersome with pointillism. She puts it on top of a console; her mind meanders, like the leaves and colorful flowers on her canvas, swaying to the gentle breeze. This and 26 more paintings will form the Faces, Bodies & Places II, her second solo exhibit in the Philippines after 10 years of her first solo show. The exhibit will be held at the ArtistSpace of Ayala Museum in Makati City from Oct. 21 to Nov. 6.
Her Provence Series 2 is both melodious and mellifluous in her rendering, bountiful in her style of impressionism. A lady in a coral summer dress stands in the middle of a field of flowers in lavender, yellow and orange, alone but not lonely. In fact, she is in a celebratory mood, as if rediscovering herself, in reverence, in reverie. It could have been a depiction of Rellie’s life.
Rellie, who finished a degree in Communication Arts at Maryknoll College (now Miriam College), was, for a time, a fashion model for Pitoy Moreno and Auggie Cordero. She worked as a visual aids specialist for McKinsey and Co. Inc. in Los Angeles, California for five years. Later she moved to ITT Sheraton, also in LA, as administrative assistant in the human resources office. The artist in her stubbornly surfaced so she studied oil painting in West LA before relocating to the Philippines with her family after 18 years of living in the US. With the paintbrush in her hand and a canvas before her, she found her new self, her new joy, her new aspiration. Upon her return to Manila, she joined Galerie Joaquin and was invited to join the Guevarra Group of Artists. Since then, she has joined many a group exhibit.
Her joy of self-rediscovery is perhaps the joy she depicts in Provence Series 1, a modern mother-and-child in a prairie of lavenders. The mother is Rellie’s past, grateful and genial. The child is Rellie’s subconscious in her newfound joy, looking forward to the future with deference to the enormity of the present and the past.
Her Autumn in China proves of Rellie’s resilience. On a 24 in. x 36 in. canvas can be found trees growing on a boulder, upright in their tenacity to welcome the change, mindful of their purpose on earth, attentive to their surroundings.
The series of Batanes in her collection is a sonnet all together. Bucolic in appearance, lyrical in feel. Her pride of place, of the Philippines, for that matter, is evident in Batanes, Batanes Lighthouse, Batanes Sabtang, Batanes Sunset and Batanes View of the Ocean. The series is a travelogue of someone who has found her joyful soul.
Her landscapes are a territory of a soul that has known the peculiarity and provenance of peace. The painting titled
Farm Tomita in Japan evokes Zen but it’s not just about it. It is a story in itself, a fairy tale set in a real land, just like the artist’s dreams that have materialized, achieved through her rich visualization. Farm Tomita may be her ode to the lessons she learned when she took up ink painting under a Japanese master named Harumichi Sakata.
Truth is, Rellie, to consciously upgrade her craft, always treads the avenue of learning by enrolling in different art classes. She enrolled at the Arts Student League of New York City under the tutelage of Bob Cenedella, with private tutorials in his studio in Tribeca. She also took art classes at the National Academy of Fine Arts in New York. She was so accustomed to her craft and sure of her talent that she held her second solo exhibition titled The Land of My Birth in 2010 at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue in New York. The human form is also a favorite subject of Rellie. Her
Body Beautiful is devoid of trappings, where truths about a woman’s form are unrobed and presented au nauturelle. The result is a naked soul — human at all sorts, in salutation of other creations before her.
Her mastery of her craft is also shown in the portraits she paints. I will dare say that her Juliet, an oil painting on canvas, is a modern Mona Lisa. It’s adroit in rendition and heavy on mystery with that turgid smile without the lips parting. It’s Victorian in essence but the emotion is encompassing. Go, see it.
“I like doing people’s portraits,” Rellie confides. “I love looking inside them, capturing their essence. It’s always a privilege and a blessing to paint people.”
Talk about portraits and you will see Rellie pouring out her heart and soul in the artwork Sacred Heart of Jesus
Christ in linen on canvas. It is, for me, the modern “Eye” for wherever you go, the merciful eyes of the Lord follow you, as if blessing you with a grace you think you don’t deserve but because God is filled with mercy and compassion and generosity, He gives it to you just the same. Just by staring at this painting is already a blessing.