Dine, Drink, and Appreciate Art

Anthony Fermin's "Tea Party"

Dining establishments are now serving more than food on the menu. Now you can take away not just your favorite dish, but you can also bring home a painting you like, all wrapped up to go. Art exhibits, once limited to galleries, are finding new homes in restaurants like Le Souffle, Green Halo Cafe, and Bacolod-based Hong Kong Kitchen.

The Hong Kong Kitchen’s 40-person function room offers not just the usual multiple-course Chinese meal but Negros-based visual artist Anthony Fermin’s collection of paintings of memorable places he has visited, like an Iloilo treehouse and the Bacolod Plaza Cathedral where he regularly buys flowers for his shop. To stay consistent with the restaurant’s Oriental theme, Fermin, who confessed to being partial to Chinese food, also included subjects such as dragon dance and tea party scenes in his line-up.

Green Halo Cafe, which offers a vegan menu at Cubao X, has also sponsored a number of art exhibits. Prior to Daniel “Palma” Tayona’s pen-and-ink collection that opened on December 20, Green Halo featured “Labyrinth of Blooms” by Katrina Pallon. The debut exhibit included photographs and paintings by the artist, in whose works we see the influences of French art nouveau, Asian textile prints and patterns, and Venetian masks come into play.

Truly, these restaurants are telling us that man does not live by bread alone. He also needs the finer aspects of life, art included.

Rowena Vilar: Dreaming Big

“It’s great to dream big,” says Melbourne-born Pinoy actor Rowena Vilar, who started in classical ballet and got into musical theater by chance. Just five years into her musical theater career, Rowena has taken on the roles of Kim, Gigi, and Ellen in the Sydney production of Miss Saigon, performed with Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz, and is now playing her dream role as Anita in West Side Story, produced by Audie Gemora of Stages and directed by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo.

Of course, getting there also has a lot to do with talent and discipline, which Rowena has much of. Her mom used to sing, she tells us, and her joining West Side Story came with a good recommendation from Miss Saigon co-actor Leo Valdez, who played the Engineer. During the media preview for West Side Story at the Meralco Theater, Rowena showed she was worthy of the recommendation and got some of the biggest applause from the audience.

After West Side Story, what’s next for Rowena? Let’s wait and find out. Life has a been a series of adventure for this talented Pinay, and Manila is just one of the many stops.

In this interview with Pinoycentric, Rowena talks about growing up Pinoy in Sydney and shares her best experiences working in Manila for West Side Story.

How do you like the experience of working with a Manila-based theater company?  How is it different from working in Australia and especially for grander-scale productions?

I arrived August 2 and began rehearsals on the fourth.  I loved working here right away!  There is a certain “organized chaos” here in Manila that is quite thrilling.  That’s how it felt when I first walked into rehearsals.  I had no idea what was actually happening or how, but somehow it all works.

There are major differences between working in Manila and in Oz. Shows in Oz are so meticulously organized: stage management literally timing every second–they are required to carry stopwatches.

Rehearsals are scheduled meticulously.  Dance numbers are cleaned so that every finger is in the right place and everyone is doing exactly the same thing. In addition, it is illegal not to give cast a break after 4 hours. Lateness is not tolerated unless it is a one-off occasion.  However, regardless of why, pay is docked.

I could probably give you a list as long as your arm, but I won’t bore you. And although this may seem like a better way of doing things, I don’t necessarily agree.

I have come to learn that with the organized chaos that happens here in the Philippines, Filipinos have learnt a wonderful tool and that is being able to work under pressure.

Filipinos adapt so well under high-pressure circumstances and are able to do it with ease.  I hope the more I work here, the more I too will learn this wonderful tool.

How was it like growing up Pinoy in Australia? Did your parents put in the extra effort to make you aware of your roots?

I am very Australian in some ways and also very Filipino.  I have so many relatives in Australia and Filipino friends (over 40 first-degree relatives) that regardless of whether my parents tried to make me aware of my roots, there’s no way I could escape them anyway!

Food is the biggest Filipino factor.  Us Filipinos love to eat and my family always cooked Filipino food.

Also, I can understand Bisaya perfectly as my parents would speak the language quite a lot.  As for my fluency, well, that’s questionable, and so is my accent, but I love to try anyway!

Can you tell us how you got into theater? Is there anybody in the family with a theatrical/showbiz background?

Mum used to sing when she was younger, but she never did it professionally.  However, I think she may have told me she came third in a competition on TV when she was younger.

I “fell” into musical theater.  I was a classically trained ballet dancer for 8 to 10 years, quit for 7 years, then took it up again when I saw a friend of mine in a dance concert.  After training hard in all dance types (blood, sweat, and tears),  I auditioned for a series of shows, including a musical, and ended up getting the musical theater job (Queen’s We Will Rock You).  I then became addicted and so continued with musicals.

I never thought I would ever do musical theater as I was mainly a dancer back then, but fate has a funny way of pushing you in the right direction–my life has always been a constant adventure!

As Anita in West Side Story (Photo by Jeff Arcilla)

 

People who watched you on West Side Story were impressed with your dancing, and now we know why.

I would have to say my classical ballet training has never left me.  In every style, “lines” are so important. If you can hit the right ones, this is what makes it visually appealing.

Also, I am a perfectionist. The problem–or maybe it isn’t one?–is that I’m never ever fully satisfied with my performances.  I’m always seeking a way to make it better, stronger, snappier.  I know I can always do a better job.  Honestly, I have not been totally satisfied with any of my performances yet. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

You’ve done a lot since you started in 2003, having been a part of large-scale, world-class productions like We Will Rock You and Miss Saigon, among others. Do you have a dream role? Is there a musical you’re really intent on doing, given the opportunity?

To tell you the truth, Anita is a dream role for anyone who is an actor/singer/dancer.  The spectrum of emotional colors and what she represents in the show I can’t see matched by any other that comes to mind.

From outspoken fun, sexy “America” to the unconditional love in “A Boy Like That/I Have a Love,” even after Maria betrays her, to the near-rape scene where she is a broken woman.  I love the role.

The other role I would love to sink my teeth in more would be Kim from Miss Saigon.  I’ve been lucky enough to have had a taste and feel that given the opportunity, I would love to take a bigger bite!

The West Side experience must have been a unique one for you. Can you share some of your most favorite memories from the show that you’ll take with you back to Sydney?

Well, firstly meeting [West Side Story female lead star] Joanna Ampil [was memorable]. I was so starstruck!  She is now a dear friend of mine.  I will always stay in touch with her and hopefully sing on the same stage as her again too!

Also meeting Lea Salonga!  I’ve been so in awe of her since I was a teenager and now she even knows who I am! My friends are going to be sooooo jealous!

It’s hard to say what in particular is the most unique from the rest. I can’t really pick one as the whole thing has been a totally different experience from anything I’ve ever had!

Can you share one aspect about Rowena Vilar that hasn’t been written yet?

I’ll give you two.  I am a huge animal lover and I looooove designer shoes. [Laughter]

Surely you’re missing Australia and the family. Did your parents come over to watch you in one of your performances?

I do miss Australia but not that much.  I miss the people I love, but the place itself . . . not really.  My parents came for opening night and stayed for two weeks.  They missed only one of my performances.

Have you been able to do the tourist thing since you arrived in Manila? What places have you visited? How has the Manila experience enriched the Pinoy in you?

I’ve been to Boracay and Baguio.  Beautiful! I think the food has enriched the Pinoy in me! [Laughter]. Well, really, there’s only one Pinoy restaurant in Sydney!

After West Side Story, what’s next for Rowena Vilar?

Well, I’m looking at a pop career here.  I think it’s great to dream big!  Nothing is concrete, but a few whispers have come up about some projects.  I’m going back to Oz for a short while as I have some business to do there, but I’ll be back in no time!

I have a manager here (the famous Girlie Rodis) who is taking care of me.  So hopefully next year the ball gets rolling and big things happen!No Tags

Coffee, a Great Equalizer, Says This Artist

Photo by Reuters

Filipino visual artist Sunshine Plata doesn’t drink her coffee (she actually prefers tea). She paints with it.

Sunshine started using coffee as a medium in 2000, when she discovered a nineteenth-century signature rendered in coffee at the Ripley’s Museum in Shangri-La Mall in Mandaluyong City. That was her lightbulb moment.

Then a psychology student dabbling in watercolor and oil,  Sunshine was looking for a medium that was accessible, cheaper, and unique, saying she felt guilty that her parents would readily shell out money for her art materials.

That was the start of her love affair with coffee, and she hasn’t looked back since.


Universal medium
“Unlike other medium, coffee is eco-friendly and gives off a distinct aroma.  It’s also a lot cheaper than oils and watercolor,” says this former preschool teacher. In fact, one of her works, “Bagong Umaga [New Morning],” a painting inspired by coffee farmers, was produced with just a bottle of instant coffee costing P150.

While she’s been painting with coffee for eight years now, Sunshine admits that she’s still learning the ins and outs of the medium. She’s mastered producing dark hues on watercolor paper with just a few scoops of coffee and knows just how little to add to produce a light stain similar to aged paper. These coffee-rendered images should last longer than 75 years.

Thankfully, her craft isn’t brand loyal, and she can easily shift from imported to local coffee brands.

“I tried Maxwell when I ran out of Nescafe, and my dad scolded me because it was very expensive. I’ve also used Great Taste and even coffee grounds from Figaro. Using grounds can be tedious, however, because you have to heat water and filter the mixture. With instant coffee, just tap water will do,” she shares.

Sunshine was featured in a Ripley’s Believe It or Not special edition cartoon in March 2008 as the artist who creates lifelike pictures with coffee grounds.

Overcoming limitations
Sunshine’s images of fairies and fairy-tale characters come from her dreams and children’s books that she reads, only they’re rendered in browns and whites. While many are quick to say that the medium is limiting, Sunshine sees it as a challenge. “It should make you more creative and encourage you to explore the medium,” she says.

She does miss the colors and plans to work with mixed media soon so she could bring the colors back in her work. She recently bought some Chuck Taylors and plans to paint on them as well.

Part of her advocacy is to make people aware that there is more to art than just oils and watercolors and that anyone–rich or poor–can paint as long as he has some coffee in his kitchen. Her artist credo encapsulates her sentiments for the art of coffee painting: “I wish to make coffee a unique medium to be used by anyone, anywhere in the world, regardless of race, religious or political belief, rich or poor, in their creative expression in the field of arts.”

Which is to say, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for this artist. “Many galleries wouldn’t let me exhibit in the past because they say that coffee isn’t a legitimate medium, and I feel that creative expression shouldn’t be limited. What if you don’t have access to traditional art media–does it mean you can’t express yourself anymore?”

She’s recently found a supporter in Nestle Philippines, manufacturer of coffee brand Nescafe, which sponsored her first solo exhibit in January this year. Twenty-seven of her 33 displayed works were sold in one night. The Ripley’s Museum in New York was also interested in two of her works–“Fairy of Sorrows” and “Reina de la Luna”–which it bought for $2,500. One of the paintings was featured in the Martha Stewart show for the April Fools’ Day special, which had the audience guessing what medium was used.

After coffee, what’s next for Sunshine Plata? “I’m hoping to try out a different medium–anything organic and anything that stains.”

First Person: Memories of Homes

This juniper was the only other living thing in my first apartment where I lived alone many years ago.

I am moving to my new home this week–my twentieth address since I was born–and in the middle of cleaning the jalousie and polishing the wooden floor, I wonder about this house’s history. I’ve always been fascinated by the character of houses and the stories they tell.

One of the more memorable houses in my lifetime is my aunt’s house in Cavite. Big, bold, and boisterous, the house, more than 20 years old, is never without people. Quiet moments are scarce there, and the house is never without visitors as it serves as a halfway home for relatives from the Visayas who come to visit. Despite my craving for peace and quiet—writerly moments, I call them—I am drawn to that house, maybe because I feel most at home there, in the presence of family.

Another significant memory of houses in my childhood is my grandmother Estrella’s house in Bacolod City, where I lived until I was eleven. Even now, almost two decades later, I still remember the glossy shine and the smoothness of the house’s wooden bamboo floors and hot summer months quenched by a bath in our own well.

Another home that I remember fondly is my first apartment in Taguig. During this “year of living independently,” I battled the depression that comes with living alone. I learned to cook for one. I kept the house company during the weekends, polishing the floor while listening to relationship advice over the radio.

Its walls had a coldness to it and I tried to be kind to it by playing Lea Salonga throughout the night or some other music, depending on whether someone was staying for the evening. I would read poetry aloud in the middle of the night when I’d wake up scared of being alone. But I came to love it, and when my contract was up, I was sad to go and gave away some of my possessions because I didn’t want to be reminded of the memories of that home.

Today, as I clean out the big, tall closets in this place I will soon call home, I start to wonder what this house has seen. I am sure the walls have seen a lot of sex in their lifetime. I wonder if the happier moments in this house outweigh the sad ones. I also wonder if anybody has died in this house—and if someone had and I knew, would I still take it?

My wild imagination starts conjuring scenes of devil worship and human sacrifices a la Rosemary’s Baby. But my saner self takes over and I focus on my plans for this house. Like whether I should repaint its mint green doors in the rooms above, a shade a stark contrast to my color scheme, or when to replace the blinds—a repository of years-old dust—allergens! I fear another allergy attack.

Despite the fact that I’ve moved a lot since I was a kid, I never walk into the door of a potential home and say, “I will stay only a year.” There is always the longing to stay, maybe longer, maybe forever. I’ve come to love the homes I’ve lived in like I would my own child. During idle moments, I find myself scrubbing tiles and walls, seemingly rubbing away the age with bleach and detergent.

The kitchen tiles in this new home are starting to break. The locks and doorknob are rough with age. I may have to replace all these soon, if only because I want to love this house back and so I want to make it more lovable despite its flaws, like an only child. The house has a lot of potential, I know. I am positive I will have a lot of good memories here.