By Butch Galicia
Time was when socio-political blog writer Joe Rivera looked with awe at a painting, acquired it, and made it an eye-catching fixture in the hall, living room or library of his home. He still does so, every chance he gets.
However, Joe has moved on to the next level following his retirement. He has embraced the power and the message of the brush and paint against canvas.
He has thus earned the honor of having his paintings exhibited during the Don Valley Art Club’s (DVAC) spring-summer art show at the Papermill Gallery in Todmorden Hills Heritage Site in Toronto from May 4 to 15.
Appreciating Art. Joe recalled the days of yore when he gauged the visual arts, particularly painting, as “just a subject for appreciation.”
He and wife Patty, an accomplished poet-fiction writer and book author in Canada, used to admire and collect the work of University of the Philippines (UP) Fine Arts students. The couple, however, had to entrust the paintings to Patty’s siblings when they moved to and settled in Canada in 1987.
Patty, by the way, has a fourth poetry book being reviewed for publication. Her first novel, The Disappearance of the Rose, is still in search of a publisher. The novel was shortlisted in the 2015 Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for the Novel, out of 73 entries among Filipino writers.
“Both Patty and I loved visiting museums whenever we travelled,” Joe enthused.
Trips and vacations to other countries present Joe and Patty great opportunities to do their exhilarating rounds of arts and culture appreciation in every city they go to.
New York’s Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art topped their bucket list. In France, the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and the Henry Matisse and Marc Chagall museums in Nice amazed them. Most recently, they checked the local museums in the old city of Geneva.
In Toronto, they are frequent guests at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum and other art spots in the city’s west and east ends.
Different Strokes. As a child, Joe wanted to be a musician, like his late grandfather Lolo Abo, a marching band leader. “My late mother used to tell stories of my Lolo Abo, so I was fascinated by him,” Joe said.
“I think my late grandfather, surnamed Cruz, came from the Cruz family of musicians and entertainers in the Philippines, although I have no way of verifying it,” he added.
Joe loves music, but he was not meant to bask in it.
During his college years at UP, Joe put into ink and paper his thoughts and insights on social and political issues haunting the Filipino people during the martial law era in the Philippines.
He has also written a few plays staged during those dark hours in Philippine politics.
From 1987 to 2014, he adopted netizenship, opened a blog and wrote commentaries on a wide range of concerns raised in the city of Toronto, in Canada and in the US, and in the Philippines.
Learning To Paint. Joe’s recollection of his earliest experience with the art of painting involved sketches of human figures he doodled when he was very much younger.
“I think we all sketched and drew when we were children … without any serious attempt toward developing a distinct or certain art form. Sometimes, we even used water colors. I knew early on that I had the ability to sketch figures and landscapes,” he said.
His reawakening to the application of visual arts came after he retired from law practice and from his church-based volunteer work helping immigrants and refugees.
“While looking for something else to do, I received in the mail some literature from the Toronto District School Board regarding its Learn4Life courses. I scanned the literature, became interested in art classes that were open to seniors, and enrolled for a beginner’s course in drawing and painting at Central Tech,” Joe narrated.
The next term, he took a course in landscape painting; and followed it with a course in abstract impressionism.
While studying and learning to paint, Joe scoured the art galleries and coffee shops in Toronto’s east end “where I could possibly display my early paintings, as my art portfolio began to grow.”
From then on, there was no stopping Joe from participating in recent solo and group exhibits at the Ben Navaee Art Gallery, Gerrard Art Space, Flying Pony Coffee and Art Gallery, and the Papermill Art Gallery.
Being An Artist. Before he rubs a brush on canvas and creates life from color, Joe spends a lot of time reading books and magazines, mostly telling “fascinating stories that can inspire me to develop images I can transfer to the canvas.” He also seeks for a “subject in old and historical photographs that convey powerful narratives and images.”
Joe began painting in acrylic, but has since shifted to oil.
He said he started out with the realistic or objective style of painting, which all artists did at the beginning of their careers, by copying pictures or things.
Soon enough, he crossed over to abstract or non-objective art, saying “I find more room to interpret, invent and innovate and not simply be satisfied with approximating reality on the canvas.”
Visually attracted by the works of impressionist and post-impressionist painters, Joe said he admired Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, Jackson Pollack and the Canadian artist, Jean Paul Riopelle.
Featured Works. At the early May DVAC art show and sale, over 100 new and original artworks are featured, and “two of those are mine,” Joe said.
“I will be exhibiting Carnal Knowledge, oil on canvass, 24” x 30” and Dog Lying the Sun, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 30”, which are both non-objective art works.
The 65-year old DVAC — a group of some 180 artists who gather and create original paintings, drawings, and sketches and who enjoy each other’s diversity of the ideas and designs — has slated another art show in late fall.
“Being a DVAC member adds the benefit of like being enrolled in a continuing program in the arts. Every Friday night, we invite artists to speak and to give us tips on their use of tools and materials,” Joe said.
The club “offers not just fellowship among artists, but also workshops that help not only to upgrade and update one’s artistic abilities but also keep the artistic passion aflame as well,” he added.
Two club members are of Filipino descent.
For a senior like Joe, the shift from art appreciation to art creation is indeed a big leap but very well worth it. Butchgalicia
@yahoo.com