OIL PASTEL master John Luis is a dentist. But since he was a young boy, his fascination for the arts kept him busy sketching, using graphite and charcoal as his medium. His subjects then were the members of his family whose “portraits” became his products.
Being a self-taught artist, his style gradually evolved, as he tried using oil pastel as a medium in 1994. He embarked on his first solo exhibit in 1995 at the then newly opened Victoria Plaza along J.P. Laurel St. in Davao City and his last solo exhibition was in 2010, having mounted a solo exhibit at the Davao Museum.
We asked John Luis how he looks at dentistry as a profession since he took up his pre-dentistry course at San Pedro College and graduated from the College of Dentistry from the DMSF in Davao City. He answered that his love for dentistry is on the same level as his love for painting, but he thinks that dentistry has a time limit because of advancing age or slowing down in his reflexes.
In his case, after years of dedicated practice in dentistry, he thinks he has an option as an artist where he can still be very productive in painting.
Today, John Luis has developed a passion for lace, which he has mastered in almost all his subjects, treating lace as a major part of his theme.
Viewing through his artworks which are currently on exhibit at La Herencia, half have been sold out as his paintings are always bought during his solo exhibitions, we felt a little nostalgic. The lace designs which were very much present in the past generations of our grandmothers and even our mothers who always had lace linens, tablecloths, and even party dresses. Lace is a fabric considered expensive until today.
There was a time when we were taught how to make lace veils in school because they were worn in church during mass every Sunday or at other church events.
John Luis is a happy husband and proud father of two children, Daphne Bianca, a graduate nurse from San Pedro College who chose a baking business as a career, and Dustin Bryan, a political science graduate pursuing a post-graduate course so he could teach. His wife, Elena, has a business to focus on after retiring from her job.
John Luis, excited to take us around to view the pieces on exhibit says it is high time to show people how the art medium he uses, oil pastel, can be as sharp and as fine and really be appreciated as works of art.
He feels truly inspired when he hears people say that they find his paintings beautiful. And when we asked what impact his art has made in his life, he answered “The Lord is the true painter….I am the brush he uses to deliver the message and finish the work!”
