Mother, daughter & a canvas of colors

"I don’t know if it’s in the genes," says Addie Sycip-Cukingnan. Painting, that is. Maybe that’s why she and daughter Tisha are both painters.

But what Addie does know is that she saw her daughter’s potential as an artist even when Tisha was still very little.

"My mom enrolled me in an art class when I was six," recalls Tisha. "I took class for a year and then that was it." Tisha adds that it was not until she was in high school that she started working on her art again. These days, Tisha is quick to let her mom know that she paints largely because she is forced to by Addie, who insists, "I know that she has great talent."

Mother and daughter are as different as different can be. Addie loves to paint flowers and beautiful landscapes that she either recalls from memory or that she copies from books she reads. "I am a realist painter. I like to make my paintings look as close to what the real thing looks like," says Addie.

"I paint how I feel," quips Tisha. "It’s a mood thing, and most of the time I’m in a bad mood because I am forced to complete something or meet a deadline." This reluctant artist recently graduated with a degree in Architecture, magna cum laude, from the University of the Philippines.

"Perhaps it is because she is still young that she does not realize how good she is," says Addie. She has so many other things to do, painting is not a priority for her at the moment."

Addie reveals that though her mother bought her all the materials she needed for drawing and sketching, she was not encouraged to pursue it as a profession. In Chinese families like the Sycips, painting and the arts can only be considered a hobby, definitely not a career.

Summers spent in Baguio as a child left her free to do all the drawing she wanted. "I drew flowers and everything else that I liked," shares Addie. "I would doodle every chance I got. In school I got my worst grades in Math and Science because I preferred to doodle and sketch when the subjects were boring."

As expected, work took priority over art and she let her love for art take a back seat to running their family business (a Japanese retaurant). Today, she is still busy with her business (she runs a Japanese fast food take-out and delivery business) but she makes sure she spends time on her art.

"Now I make time for my paintings. This is why my younger daughters, Leslie, 18 and Karen, 11 have seen more of the artist in their mother," says Addie. But it is her husband, ent specialist and surgeon Alexander Cukingnan, who is her biggest fan.

Addie looks forward to the day when she can finally retire and devote her full attention to painting. "I will spend all my time painting. There is so much that I can still do and I would like to accomplish that," Addie says confidently.

Tisha, however, looks at life from another side and says: "I just graduated from college and all I want to do is bum around. Perhaps I will paint but I would like to spend time just doing nothing much."

This despite the demands of their upcoming exhibit with the Arte Pintura group, of which they are both members, which opens on April 4.

"I can finish a painting in four or five hours. But what happens is that I do not know what will come out at the end of the painting," laughs Tisha. "I paint when I am reminded that the exhibit is a day away and I have to finish something for it."

Addie, on the other hand, prepares for the exhibit way in advance. "I am a very organized person. I like to do a lot of paintings and then make a selection as to which ones I will use for an exhibit," explains Addie.

Tisha and I have very different styles when it comes to how we paint, although we both use oil and acrylic, I like to use easy strokes with my works. Tisha for her part likes to pound on the canvas," shares Addie.

"I guess it is because most of the time I am in a bad mood when I have to paint so I begin by pounding, killing the canvas," explains 21-year-old Tisha; she shows us just how hard she pounds, and we are surprised that the canvas does not end up with holes. "And then if I don’t like what I did I leave it for a few hours and then come back to it again."

How do they know when a work is finished?

"I know that when I like what I have before me, then the work is done. Although there were times when my works were really bad too. There was a time when I could not paint a nice rose, it would look like a gumamela-but now I can do a rose," says Addie.

"When Mom comes in the room and says that my painting is nice, that’s when I know it is done. But what I do notice is that people who see my paintings always ask me questions about what is happening in my work. I allow them to see whatever they want in my work. All I know is that the painting normally represents the mood I was in when I painted it," points out Tisha.

"Tisha has a lot of talent. Many people have said that. I don’t want to see what she has go to waste," insists Addie.

By way of some kind of agreement, Tisha says, "I was so happy when I made money on some of my paintings. My grandmother bought them. It was nice to earn P30,000 for the works I had done."

I want to retire early and paint, paint, paint," shares Addie. "I was told by Malang (who will be guest artist at the Arte Pintura exhibit) that discipline is important. He says that I have to set aside at least one hour a day to perfect my style."

"I think that as a graduate of architecture I am better at the research aspect of the profession. I am not really a good designer. I want to run the office," says Tisha. "Painting? Well, I promised a cousin of mine that I would do some for his new condo. But I really just want to bum around and paint when the time allows."

Two views, one art–that is Addie and Tisha in a nutshell.

Addie and Tisha join nine other artists of the Arte Pintura Group in their fifth anniversary exhibit at the GSIS Museum (Financial Center, Roxas Blvd.). The exhibit opens on April 4 and runs until June 4.