• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
A retired teacher from Carlos Hilado Memorial State University opened her Valentine’s solo art exhibition at her two-storey art gallery in Talisay City, Negros Occidental on February 13, and will run until February 29.
Pablita Nava’s show features handmade greeting cards she created, as well as her latest artworks in pen and ink, and white ink on black paper, which she created during her vacation in Canada last year.
The Ablit Nava Art Gallery at 21 Domingo Lizares Street, Talisay City houses the artist’s paintings in oil and acrylic, six aquariums, stuffed toys, plastic cars, dolls, and other toys that have been outgrown by her grandchildren, among others.
After her retirement in 2014, Nava started to create an art gallery to pursue her passion for the arts and to preserve things she had collected, as well as those that have been given to her.
She started painting personalized greeting cards, which she sold to bookstores in Iloilo when she was in college, and this had helped her earn a little income. When she returned to Negros, she started making cards for selected stores in Bacolod City.
Nava said she started to paint seriously when she turned 60, after teaching for 38 years. She has no formal training in painting but acquired her skills through experience.*
