WHEN Tata Sevilleno picked up her paintbrush in October 2015, she let fate bring her to wherever it should go. She painted whatever was on her mind and drifted along.
When her day job in the big city became more demanding of her mind and body, she would end the long day by painting from late evening until early morning.
Whatever was left of the wee hours was spent sleeping until three hours later, she would be up to get ready for work. We can say that it was passion that triggered the artist’s dogged pursuit of her hobby. We can even say that art became an obsession.
After pursuing her dreams to become a full-time artist, Tata Sevilleno’s life became more colorful. Sometimes magical, many times, miraculous.
Again, she let fate lead her. Then, in April 9 this year, she exhibited her works for the first time at The Grove by Rockwell in Pasig City. This was followed by her first Bacolod exhibit at Victor’s Pub from May to June.
Now, running from September 1 to 30, is “Dreams x Colors” exhibit, which is a “visual journal of the mind of the artist.” Thirty-three watercolor paintings are on display and for sale at the Negros Museum which the artist describes as “distinct contrasts – the warm colors of sunsets with the cool blues of night skies, abundance and solitude, light and shadows.”
I have my personal favorites, of course. Sparkle is an eye-catching combination of a gold tree as contrasting foreground for a red-flecked dark background (9” x 12” watercolors on Canson WC Rough 200 grams per square meter, or gsm). The 12” x 9” Against Abstract Skies has a Parisian vibe to it, like a lighted up City of Lights one rainy Spring evening. Then, there is the only black and white painting in the exhibit, Trois Arbres (12” x 12”) was dramatic in its sparseness. Night Guards (10” x 10”) will be something you might want to hang on your bedroom wall to lull you to sleep - two rows of trees in black silhouette against a deep blue, star-flecked night. The Cherry Blossom series is a group of four 6” x 6” paintings of blossoming cherry trees on monochromatic backgrounds.
If you ask her about her new career, Tata will say that things couldn’t be better. She is surprised by the twists and turns of events in her life that led her to take the painter’s path that she believes more in miracles now more than ever. In 10 months, she had produced 300 paintings, which makes her a prolific painter of one work of art a day.
She receives commissions quite often that the belief in her style and preference for her art by her clients leave her incredulous that God could bestow such gift on her.
The “Dreams x Colors” exhibit of Ivhonie Maravilla Sevilleno just proves that taking risks and choosing the road our Creator meant for her to travel is taking the hand that Fate offers and walking in faith.