As far as she can recall, Althea Jael Go has been drawing since she was a kid.
“I drew on scratch papers, calendars, books, and even walls in our home which I remember being reprimanded a lot of times by my parents because they had to repaint our walls over and over again,” she laughs.
Originally, she wanted to study Fine Arts but was discouraged by the people surrounding her as the course was deemed “not a practical choice”. So, she took up Architecture instead. However, after two years, she realized that the technicality of the course did not fit her. She then shifted to Education and worked as a full-time teacher for two years.
After a year of being married, Thea gave birth to her first child. During this time, she tried working as an online teacher to earn extra income.
“I experienced postpartum depression for a few years after two consecutive pregnancies. Not being able to work and other personal issues contributed greatly to my situation. Good thing, I have a very good husband and family who supported me during those tough years,” she reveals.
<b>First love rekindled</b>
Thea’s hiatus from art came to an end when she and her husband Jinno Leomor Go visited the Mindanao Art 2019 in Poblacion Market.
“I felt so alive looking at the paintings and other forms of art,” she shares. Jinno then encouraged her to draw again because he knew how much she enjoyed it. Aside from taking care of the kids, he wanted Thea to try to do something for herself.
“That was like God’s voice saying to me to go back to my first love. We bought some cheap art materials and I remember my first painting was the ocean. My soul felt so alive while painting for the first time after a long while. It was so nostalgic, I felt like going back to my childhood,” Thea reminisces.
She says that her most recognizable works are her floral abstracts and impressionistic works.
“I enjoy the intuitive flow of brushwork and color which is heavily driven by my thoughts and emotions as I am making the art piece. The result is most likely unplanned,” Thea explains.
The prolific artist began painting again with paper and gouache, then gradually moving to smaller canvasses. Eventually, Baihinang, an art group, invited her to join their exhibit. And, during her first two group shows, “Bai Chromatica” and “Femme in Focus”, her works were sold out.
“I believe those were God’s confirmation of His wonderful plan in my life,” Thea reflects.
<b>Live painting</b>
Recently, Thea has been creating a name for herself, this time, as a live painting artist who mostly specializes in weddings.
The lovely mom describes live painting as a form of visual art performance that entails a lot of preparation prior to the on-site painting. Usually, she conducts a meeting with the clients prior to the wedding to jot down important details they want to see in the final output.
“I go to the venue of the wedding at least an hour before the wedding starts and take several shots of the venue to help with my composition. I then start painting the background so that when the guests arrive, the canvas has some sketches and a few paintings here and there. So, I am basically part of the cocktail entertainment,” she details.
Interestingly, the guests can see how the painting progresses from rough sketches on the canvas to paint layers until the painting is finished. “People appreciate art more when they begin having that firsthand experience of how a masterpiece unfolds right before their eyes,” Thea observes.
Most of the time, she presents the painting at the end of the reception. Afterward, she goes back to her painting spot and spends a few more hours doing some detailing, refinements, tweaks, and retouches. She lets the paint dry, wraps the painting, and places it in a box before handing it over to the couple, ready to hang and display in their home.
After painting multiple weddings, Thea shares that she can now finish a live wedding painting in 3-4 hours for the smallest canvas and around 6-10 hours for the bigger canvas.
“I organize live art for event guests as well. We take photos of the guests and then create mini paintings on paper using watercolor. It is also one of our most popular services. My team and I travel anywhere around the country and now opening our doors for countries outside the Philippines as well,” Thea announces.
<b>Good steward</b>
In addition to doing art for exhibits and live painting, Thea does commissioned works, and is a children’s book illustrator. Amazingly, she was able to publish three children’s books and work with writers from the U.S., Australia, and Poland. She also loves music and songwriting, composing several Christian songs and, with her husband, producing them. Their work is now available on Spotify.
“My favorite part of my current career is that I can spend more time with my family. I can travel and paint with my husband and it gives me more flexibility to spend time with my kids. Being there for them in their formative years is such a huge blessing to me. My parents support me a lot by assisting us with childcare, especially when we are away. Moreover, I was able to earn better now doing what I love and providing an avenue for other artists to thrive in their art career as well,” she gratefully shares.
“God’s plan is always more than what I asked for. These are all God’s grace and mercy at work. My job is to be a good steward of God’s gift to me. Glory to God!” she declares.
E-mail the author at mom.about.town.dvo@gmail.com. Visit http://momabouttowndavao.blogspot.com/.