The path to ‘Inspiration’

If the path to obtaining inspiration will be based on the perspective of painter Karen Fabie Concepcion, the trail will be paved with the most eclectic elements of nature and the gentlest characteristics of the human being.

Long before Karen approaches her easel to dab oil on her canvas, she has already clearly painted her chosen subject in her mind using her heart as her brush and her wisdom as her paint. The lines and strokes on the actual canvas are merely manifestations of the joy and gratitude she has inside her. The artwork she creates is her seeming contribution to humanity’s search for inspiration. This and more are evident in her 18th one-woman show titled Inspiration, which runs until Sept. 29 at the ArtistSpace of Ayala Museum in Makati City.

Her 27 artworks on exhibit are testament that Karen is inspired and inspiring. She has the instinctive ability to capture the human form, landscape and seascape and the flora and fauna and paint them with so much heart that you feel them alive.

The human beings on her canvas are not only filled with emotions but are also filled with grace. Her horses gallop on the canvas that one almost hears them neigh in delight; her koi fish, swimming alone or in a group, are splashing out of the frame; her peacock displays its plumage amid a garden of blooms as if in salutation to the Supreme Being. Her flowers — peonies, hydrangeas, orchids — are of vivid colors you are tempted to pluck them from the frame. 

Karen, who uses photo realism as her art genre, tells me, “What inspires me is knowing how blessed I am with the people I love in my life. A lot of them have been great teachers and guardians who taught me about love and gratitude.”

Her grateful heart adds patina to her artworks. “The people I love — like my family, specially my husband and our five children — inspire me to be a better person, artist and athlete. They are so supportive of my dreams and goals,” says Karen, who is also an equestrianne  who competes in show jumping and dressage; and managing director at SMEG, a leading Italian appliance company in the Philippines that produces state-of-the-art technology appliances designed by leading Italian architects and designers.

The Path reveals Karen’s gratitude to the world. The artwork depicts an unpaved path in the middle of nowhere. Serenity is achieved with the use of robust trees and small plants as hedgerows. At the end of the trail is a shaft of light, so discreet it can only be noticed by those who choose to be inspired.

More than the obvious elements in her artworks, I personally like the almost negligible components in many frames. In The Boats, for example, the primary elements are the berthed sailing boats. Peace and quiet is spelled as the boats are moored. The negligible buoys, including their shaky shadows on the waters, are the littlest elements that also come alive in the frame, as if to say even the small ones portray their roles in keeping one’s life afloat. Far away is a mountain, the sentinel that guards the scene, below it, as imagination dictates, is a community so alive.  

“I try to keep everything happy and positive because I think that’s the kind of person I am,” says Karen, who obtained a degree in Painting at the UP College of Fine Arts.  She met fellow artist Stella Rojas who encouraged her to have her first painting exhibit in 1997. Stella, to this day, has remained Karen’s mentor in painting.

Inspiration also highlights Karen’s Pinoy Series, which essays the lively and colorful Filipino culture. Interesting in this series is the Church at Paete, which simply shows details of the centuries-old church. In one corner is a scene of young-love-sweet-love where two teenagers promenade to profess their juvenile feelings for each other. The details in Jeepney are laborious to make yet Karen still manages to portray the country’s King of the Road with quiet dignity and palpable revelry. In Pastillas and Pastillas Art, Karen resurrects the dying art of paper-cutting, which used to be very popular in Bulacan.   

“Life is wonderful. We should always be grateful for every day that is given to us. I find happiness and inspiration in my life, and I hope my paintings will bring joy to yours,” she concludes.

(For your new beginnings, please e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. I’m also on Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed Sunday!)