A Childhood Dream Fulfilled

 

Essay 32. A CHILDHOOD DREAM FULFILLED

By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol

FE MADRID PEPITO was a late bloomer in art. Although she showed hints, even as a child, of being an artist, she only began to paint when she was married for years already. Not only did Fe liked to draw then, she was also adept in doing craft works like the fashioning of bags, slippers, bangles, and shell accessories. These she sold to help augment the family income. 

She was a working student during her high school years. She worked at an art supplies store near her school, where she met kindred spirits, artists, including her future husband, the would-be-renowned painter Celso Duazo Pepito. 

Fe was born in Tres de Abril, Labangon, Cebu. She grew up in a family who wasn't exactly convinced of the practicality of a career in art. She therefore chose to take up Commerce. But financial difficulties again got in the way. For the second time in her life as a student, she was obliged to work. 

But those were not wasted years, because it was then that Fe was given the opportunity to observe how painters work. During weekends, Fe would tag along with boyfriend Celso and his fellow artists to wherever scenic place they would go to paint. Watching them, she realized how absorbing the task of painting was,  because even when it was time to eat, and she was hungry already, these painters seemed not to notice the rumbling of their stomachs and just continue on painting. That was an amusing memory Fe never tires of telling to this day. 

Fe and Celso got married in 1984. One would expect that living with a painter would inspire Fe to finally paint. She didn't: she wasn't ready yet. Perhaps, Fe saw the need to have another quite different source of income aside from the selling of artworks. She therefore enrolled in optometry, and after graduation, worked as an optometrist for some time.

Fe's yearning to create remains, though. Yet, despite her being around artists for years, it was only in 1993 that she finally found the confidence to paint. She started with flowers, and used pastel as her medium. She tried other media later on before finally settling on oil as her regular medium. 

The Amorsolo of the South, Martino Abellana, was Fe's lodestar. Many Cebuano painters looked up to him and emulated his style. Fe did that too, and painted in the manner of Abellana's later impressionist-inspired works. But while Abellana loved to paint fields and beach scenes, Fe was drawn more into painting waterfalls and brooks, and the boulders and rocks that dot them. What excites Fe is the challenge of interpreting the dance of light on the flowing water and the textures of rocks. But unlike a true impressionists, Fe uses subtle earth colors, an inadvertent reflection of her unobtrusive, self-effacing personality. 

Now in her senior years, with her passion to paint still undiminished, Fe hopes to again join fellow artist in their future exhibitions. Being a pioneer member and treasurer of the Cebu Artists Incorporated, Fe participated in their group's art exhibits which took them not only to different Philippine cities, but also to Malaysia, Indonesia, Peru, and the USA. Fe had achieved her childhood dream of becoming a professional artist. And that gives her much pleasure. But nowadays, the pleasure she derives from painting pales in comparison to the joy and upliftment she feels from being a doting "lola" to her grandchildren.