What Are Paintings For? “Beauty Is Its Own Excuse For Being!” – American Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. “To Awaken In Us Our Sense Of Wonder” – Filipino Writer Frank A Hilario

I journalist write to awaken in us our common sense of society; differently creative, my son Paul Hilario paints as “A recollection of the past, a revelation of the present” (Facebook post, 05 Dec 2023, image above).

I never painted in my life, but since high school, I have loved reading about artists and authors, and savoring their outputs, not necessarily in that order. Of course, I remember “Mona Lisa” of Leonardo Da Vinci, a very famous portrait of a woman by a painter who is considered a genius.

Paul Hilario’s hero as a painter is Dutch Vincent Van Gogh, also a genius. Paul says in his Facebook post “Return To Roots: A Recollection Of The Past, A Revelation Of The Present” (Facebook post, 12 Dec 2023):

My first painting influence was Vincent Van Gogh.

Paul’s mother, my wife Amparo (Ampy) Reynoso, encouraged him when she saw her son’s “painting” our walls with his “artworks.” Ampy sent him to an art class nearby, and that has made all the big impressionistic difference. Thank God for mothers with big hearts!

My son’s paternal grandfather, Dionisio Hilario (“Papang” as we called him), was a rice farmer; Paul’s maternal grandfather, Gabriel Reynoso, was a commercial artist.

Paul also was a longtime curator of IRRI’s RiceWorld Museum & Learning Center. Today, on his left hand, Paul holds rice ripe with grains; on his right hand, a paintbrush. His grandfathers are alive in him!

I just love [Van Gogh’s] textures, colors, and the emotion that exudes out of his works. It was at [the University of the Philippines Los Baños], as I was taking up my Bachelor's in Microbiology, during an art appreciation class, where I first saw his works in more detail. Because I admired his works so much, naturally I wanted to paint like him.

From minute organisms to minute details of painting, from science to art – that doesn’t happen everyday. I’m exceedingly glad it happened to one of my 5 sons.

My kind of art has never left me, starting high school when I won an essay contest at the Rizal Junior College in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan.

As a self-styled blogger, I illustrate each of my essays with images that I compose from my collection of photographs and Internet images from others, duly acknowledged. In my son’s case, he tells the story via a painting; in my case, I tell the story in words and try to summarize it via a composite image.

With a painting, the message may be different from viewer to viewer; with an essay accompanied by an image, the message should be the same, if partial to some and full to others.

“Return To ROOTS” (above image) – Of Paul’s 44 paintings mentioned, 3 are offered for a raffle: “From Green To Gold 1, 2 and 3.”. Each of the 44, he says, is priced at PhP 12,600. If you love paintings, actually they are priceless!@517