by OP Monzon
Patrick Esmao’s first visit to the National Museum to see “Spolarium” by Juan Luna is a treasure in this young man’s heart, a sight to behold, an incident he could never forget. The sight of the painting came as a shudder to him, its magnitude, its reverence and its significance to the Filipino people. In his young mind, he framed his dream to become, to paint something big and grand like the Spolarium.
He considers his sense of belongingness to MUSTRA, a group of young artists which provide wholesome amity and solidarity to every member. Through acrylics, oil paints and a canvas in front of them, they have become life-long friends. “We come from different walks of life but we have something in common, we are addicted to painting. We critic each other to improve, refine, polish. But we let God come into our work in our moments of silence and we let him intervene as our work is not solely ours.”
Patrick Esmao is both a teacher and an artist. At the start of the interview, we asked him, “which is heavier on the scale, to teach or to paint?” He answered with a grin on his face, “can I answer that question at the end? I need to reflect.”
Patrick was busy at the time of interview arranging a painting catalog to set up for their forthcoming exhibit, “DUUMVIRATE’S JOURNEY” a Two-Man Art Exhibit with Reynaldo Francisco at The Art Gallery of the Philippine Heart Center. Despite the burden of an exhibit trail, he answers our questions over coffee.
BACKGROUND
Patrick is a bright student being a high school and college scholar. He expresses awe and appreciation to the role Mary y’ Nino Foundation played in his life, being able to finish school and being supported to develop his own creativity and talent. He remembers he gave a few pieces of his work as a gift to his benefactors from the US.
He was born and raised in Baras, a province of Rizal where many young people are nurtured to become the artists that they dream to be. We have asked the same question many times to many artists from Rizal, to answer why.
Nemiranda from Angono, acclaimed Father of Imaginative Figurism says, they train their artists young, “we have organized many art workshops for the young and these opportunities are continued to the present”. Jo Florendo from Tanay exclaimed, “the beautiful terrain and the work of the people contribute to the making of the artist.” The spirit of Botong Francisco never sleeps and will forever be an inspiration to the simple townsfolk of Rizal, he became National Artist in 1973.
FINDING HIS SKILLS IN THE ART
Patrick begins to discover his propensity to paint during college in Morong, a neighboring town of Baras where he finished his Baccalaureate in Industrial Education major in Drafting at the University of Rizal System.
The University is where he learned the rudiments of visual arts.
As a young student, he participated in art contests, poster making, painting and crafting decors for school celebrations. He recalls that he loves to paint anime’ and cartoons. He dreams of becoming an illustrator. Unknowingly, he was developing his skills slowly, he has a particular interest in geometric patterns, lines, designs, a curiosity that would give way to his inclination for modernist, geometric art. He does not claim any distinct style in art, “I’m still on the stage of exploring the different style of painting, a what-I-feel-like-doing attitude.”
HE LOVES TO TEACH
Patrick teaches at Rizal High School in Pasig City for nearly 10 years handling Grade-10 TLE subject. He teaches Architectural Drafting to Grade 10.
“We do manual plans in class; the objective for students is to finish a plan for a single story residential house and build a scale model of their design.”
The teacher finds that most of his students are artistic in many ways. Since they choose Drafting as their specialization, he expects them to have a background in drawing and arts. In cases where there are difficulties on his subject, he has to adjust and modify the output required of them.
Patrick believes his students inspire him more than he could inspire them. Every start of the school year, he is challenged to face new opportunities and immense possibilities in teaching. He admits his students’ design ideas are more current and bold.
“In a way, I can say that art relates to my job. Drafting is more mechanical. The basic elements and principles observed in visual arts and drafting is the same. This is based on my personal experiences and observations as a teacher. I have the same confusion during my high school days. Students mistake drafting for painting and they get frustrated. As a teacher, I try to address this issue during our class orientation and at the beginning of a project they must deliver.”
THE RHYTHM IN HIS DREAMS
“I was inspired by Fernando Amorsolo and I started painting rustic landscapes and rural scenes. I also like to do nude paintings, still life and geometric abstracts. I experiment on materials to create geometric patterns and most of these artworks are mixed media. I like seeing the rhythm in my artwork.”
When asked about his most significant work, Patrick says without any hesitation that it is his work called, “too-dimensional”, a series of five 3 x 4 feet mixed media art. He added that he gave his all, his mind, his heart and time in this project. He says, “I terribly love the result.”
It was inspired by the works of artist Matt Shlian.
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WHO IS MATT SHLIAN?
“Artist and designer Matt Shlian describe himself as a paper engineer. His work is somewhat atypical, a hybrid between art and science, where paper folding meets nanotechnology. Shlian, who began his journey by studying ceramics, found that he was interested in a variety of artistic endeavors including glass, painting, performance and sound. Although he earned a joint major in ceramics and print media, far from making traditional ceramics or print works, Shlian would instead create large digital prints and folded pop-up spreads.” ~ Information taken from Matt Shlian talks to Yatzer
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He admires many contemporary and modernist artists. He learns about them through Facebook and social media. He admires the art of Ronald Ventura and his record-breaking sales in auctions; of the master artist from Cebu Orley Ypon and the color and texture of his life like painting. Anton Millare, Raffy Napay, to name a few young talents in contemporary art. He names Filipino National Artists Fernando Amorsolo, Botong Francisco and Vicente Manansala for their timeless artworks.
BALANCING LIFE ON ART AND FAMILY
“I usually paint in the afternoon or at night. I also take advantage of weekends and holidays to paint. I have always wanted to be a full-time artist, I believe I can develop and improve more if I paint full-time. But it’s very hard for me to give up the security of having a life-long career as a teacher. Teaching provides for my daily needs and that even include painting materials. I might not be able to produce artworks if not for my income as a teacher. I sometimes spend more money in buying art materials than paying my bills or buying new clothes."
There, he has already answered the prolog question on his choice and balance between art and teaching. His teaching sustains his art and his art sustains his teaching, a kind of symbiotic relationship between his two loves.
As Baras is far from Pasig where he teaches, he needs to rent an apartment near his school. Patrick preoccupies himself with painting, teaching and weekends in Baras to visit his mother, where you can find him with his brushes, gardening and cleaning the backyard. To maintain his physique and health, he goes to the gym regularly.
STARTING RIGHT ON THE ARTY SIDE OF LIFE
He remembers his first sell to a local restaurant in Paseo Rizal Morong where presented his art portfolio to the owner. He would remember his name, Mr. Bing Ramos whom he considers his first collector and patron. Mr. Ramos would always tell him how he loves his paintings whenever he visits him in the restaurant.
He bought four of his paintings and he could well remember one of them, a painting of their old house in the middle of a rice field during summer. He had that first feel of confidence in his work and he was motivated to continue. He bought his first cell phone on the money he earned from the paintings.
He started painting ten years ago. There were mixed moments of inspiration and frustration, “I still consider myself as a struggling artist but I pursue art because of encouragement from gallery visitors. Painting provides me an escape from my regular school work. The joy of doing something I love is one of the greatest achievements I can have.”
INFLUENCES ON HIS PAINTING CAREER AND MUSTRA
"An encounter that inspires me was when artist Adler Llagas made an “on the spot” demonstration using watercolor in our school. To learn that he is also from Baras inspire me more than ever."
During the younger stage of MUSTRA, the group used to meet, observe and paint at the studio of Angelito Jo Florendo, Adler Llagas and Antonio Daleon in Morong. These three artists help the group start, “they were very generous in sharing their talents and giving bits of advice on the intricacies on how to paint.
MUSTRA is an art group started by Rommel G. Francisco in 2008 along with other artists including William Alvarez Jr. and Perfecto “Buboy” Palero Jr. Rommel decided to organized an artist group in Morong as other neighboring towns in Rizal have organized their own group to support local visual artists. The mission of MUSTRA is to learn from each other and help find avenues to showcase their artwork.
ART EXHIBIT HISTORY
Patrick Esmao had a 8 Group Exhibits with MUSTRA and ARTVAN and 2 Two-Man exhibits with Palero, “Scapes” in 2015 and R. Francisco, “Duumvirate’s Journey” in 2017.
“Every exhibit is special and unique; it’s an opportunity to showcase new works, to inspire others, and to earn some cash. But I have to say that the exhibits with Artvan headed by Prof. Phoebe Beltran-Almazan are very special to me. I only exhibited one painting each year but what makes it special is the advocacy that comes with it. Working with this collective of art educators makes me feel satisfied both as an artist and educator.”
THE PATRICK ESMAO’S LIST FROM THE BUCKET
1. A regular regimen of work out at the gym provides good circulation and greater stamina to work hard for art and school. 2. Ride a bike or go mountaineering, hoping he could afford the gears for biking. 3. Go fishing and take a selfie of his first catch. 4. Finish a Master’s degree in Education. Maybe another second degree, in God’s time. 5. First One-Man Art Exhibit. More art exhibits with MUSTRA, ARTVAN and to be part of other Artist’s Groups. 6. More Art Workshops for children. 7. Participative street mural and a dream to represent the country in international art events. 8. A better life for family, a comfortable life for mother, and to find a partner in life in God’s time.
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Dr. Orestes P. Monzon chairs Department of Nuclear Medicine at the UST Hospital and sits as radiologist member of the Board of Radiologic Technology at the Professional Regulation Commission. He turned from art collector to visual artist. He facilitates AA APPRECIATING ART and plans for ORDINARY ARTISTS, a group composed of ordinary artists, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and hearing impaired.
From Clinical Gaze to Artistic Eye by Alma C. Miclat / Lifestyle Inquirer http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/243846/from-clinical-gaze-to-artistic-eye/
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Above picture, left to right: Patrick Esmao, Wiliam Alvarez, the author and Perfecto ‘Buboy’ Palero during the Philippine Heart Center Art Gallery 2017 exhibit awarding.
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