RO
Ask this researcher why she constantly paints and here is her usual reply,
"At the age of 26, I had a stroke. The right side of my upper body and right arm were paralyzed. I regained the use of my hand and arm by physical therapy and drawing portraits of the nurses, doctors and patients. The nurses in the hospital loved me because I drew portraits of even their distant cousin twice removed or friend of a friend of a friend.
A year later I was diagnosed with two brain aneurysms (middle cerebral and basilar arteries). An aneurysm is a ballooning of blood vessels. Four years ago, I developed diastolic hypertension. And I am prone to incapacitating, debilitating headaches. So severe I have to bang my head against the walls and floor. I can implode any time, any place and I wonÕt have anything to leave this world but my paintings and of course my children. But you know what they say only the good die young, so I think IÕll be around for a whileÉ.."
Being a living, walking time bomb, Ro, a Vallejo resident since 1991 feels that she has to paint while she still can and as much as she can. She has possessed this rare gift since childhood. She has always been able to draw and paint anything. She grew up in a poverty-stricken district of Manila surrounded by dilapidated, shabby dwellings. Moreover, her nickname while growing up was "pangit" which means ugly. She never believed that she or the world was ugly. She tried to draw and paint the beauty in everything. As she got older her desire to paint gets more intense, " I get so engrossed in my painting, I forget to eat, forget to sleep, IÕve even refused chocolate and sex and thatÕs a big thing! This is what they mean when they say, Ō Any talent that we are born with eventually surfaces as a need.Õ"
She loves the sciences but the arts have always been her passion. "I like to describe myself as an artist first and a scientist second, that way it doesnÕt sound too mechanical." In her younger days, she was not always comfortable describing herself as an artist. In her mind she couldn t call herself an artist because she doesn t have a Fine Arts degree. "Come to think about it, most great artists we know have no degree. There s no chance for me of ever going to art school, scholarships do not cover disability, three children and an aging but still beautiful mother."
Plus, these life-threatening events decisively influenced her pledge to pursue art more and the lack of formal training has given her more creative freedom. Having lived in Asia, Europe and the States has also been instrumental in the development of her personal sense of style.
She plans to permanently settle in Vallejo, where she has lived for the past nine years. She loves Vallejo because it reminds of her the Philippines. One of the best things sheÕs ever done is join the Vallejo Artists Guild. Good timing too, because the guild just got a new home on Florida and Marin. This is so wonderful of BJ Conrad to donate this space. Artists cannot function without support. Every culture since time immemorial has supported its creative heritage.
Ro s courage, sense of humor and industriousness is inversely proportional to her petite physique. She credits her growing up in an impoverished Third World country and her remarkable mother for her perseverance, diligence, flexibility and open-mindedness. Growing up poor and going through enormous physical and socio-cultural difficulties makes her more appreciative. It is sad how people who grew up here takes a lot of things for granted.
The main project she is working on now is a mural for the company she works for, a Bay Area biotech giant. Fittingly, she works at the Cardiovascular Research department. She is the perfect poster child for this project. This is the company that has come up with treatments for heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin s lymphoma, growth hormone deficiency, cystic fibrosis, etc. "Working in a company where one has the opportunity to save lives and improve patients quality of life is very rewarding." It helps too that the company has been consistently named as one of the best companies to work for in the country by both Fortune and Working MotherÕs magazine.
Ro s recent focus has been her collages. She likes to take other people s casts-off and use them in her paintings. She says " Cognito ergo recyclo. " Her paintings reflect her ability to take something revolting, ubiquitous and ugly and turn it into something beautiful, effective and most importantly fun. The Junk Mail and Catalog triolets are captivating, whimsical and profound. She strives to create a vivid, uniquely sensual experience for her viewers.
She chooses to give her works tentative titles or no titles at all to let the viewers make their own interpretations. This also allows her paintings to stand on their own and speak for itself in many different voices. "I invite anybody to make their own interpretations, stories and poetry out of my paintings. I will add the best stories to my website. And who will decide which is the best story? "I would, of course!"
Most artists paint in series, Ro paints in three s or what she refers to as triads or triolets. A very appropriate term since the dictionary defines a triad as a collection of three things having something in common. She reasons she has so many painting series she wants to do but she may not have time to do them all so she has confined her work to an array of three, a triolet.
"I might have a brief journey in this life but if I have a profound influence or if my work has made even one living person happy, I know I have lived. But you know, my family would say that a bad weed like me will live longer. So I ll beat all these illnesses. I want to be able to see my grandchildren, teach art to kids of all ages, grow old with my partner, Bill, - and I know I ll make a grand old lady! Just think of all the stories I can tell and all the works of art I can show them!"
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