When you hear ‘southern beauty’ do you immediately think of a southern belle? Although my southern friends are gorgeous, ‘Southern Beauty’ is actually the name of the first art exhibit I was included in.
The Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands, but the three largest are Luzon, Palawan, and Mindanao. Mindanao is the southernmost island. It’s made up of tropical beaches, cool mountains, abundant farms, a vast variety of people groups, languages, and belief systems- and it’s where I first exhibited art!
We had the honor and privilege of raising our family on the island of Mindanao. When the kids eventually became smarter than me, we hung up our homeschooling hats and moved to the big city where they could attend a ‘real’ school. It was there, in Davao City, that I began to take art more seriously.
My husband bought me art books and painting supplies. I took classes from (AMAZING) Filipino artists. I spent way too many pesos at the art store down the street. But, it wasn’t until I wandered into Alex Alagon’s gallery in the mall that I was challenged to share my art.
Are you a secret artist? I was. It was so vulnerable and scary to hold my art out for the world to see. But when Kuya Alex asked me, “How will you glorify God with your art if you never share it?” I decided to start being a little bit braver. He invited me to contribute a few paintings to a community exhibit at the local museum. And I did. And I’m glad I did. (and I got to meet Kublai Millan!)
