• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
“Painting is like a journey, an adventure to discover something new, an experiment to come up with something, a spiritual and soulful undertaking.”
Those are the words of Negrense visual artist Rodney Martinez in describing his passion for painting, which he does on a daily basis in his studio in Bacolod City.
Martinez opened his solo art exhibition titled “Then and Now” at The Negros Museum on August 26, with Negros Cultural Foundation Inc. board member Mila Chui and the artist’s cousin, Rebecca Martinez as guests of honor. The show will run until October 31.
The artist took up Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Advertising at the University of Sto. Tomas, and has taught in the La Consolacion College-Bacolod Fine Arts program from 1974 to 1990. He has been a full-time artist since his retirement and uses different media like oil, watercolor, pastels, and resin, and also creates sculptures.
Martinez, 83, is a founding member of the Art Association of Bacolod (AAB) where he has served as president from 1980 to 1981, and from 2016 to 2018.
He is a recipient of various recognitions and awards which include the LCC Bacolod Centennial Award (2019), the LCC -Bacolod Most Outstanding Teacher in the Field of Arts, Bacolod City’s Ang Banwahanon Award for Visual Arts (2018), the Tala-an Pandangal Award by the UST Alumni Association- Bacolod Chapter, the Four Pillars of Art in Bacolod City, and the LCC-Bacolod Artist of the Year award in 1990.*
