Today, coffee is taking stage in the life of the busy people. More coffee shops can be found in the urban cities around the Philippines with coffee being a medium for business talks and mingling time. But recently coffee took stage in a different way. And it was through the idea of a Filipina painter, Sunshine Plata.
the donG: Is there someone else in the family who is into art?
Sunshine: My parents are both into business...I have an uncle and aunt in
the donG: Who are your influences in painting?
Sunshine: I realized that with that style that I have, it’s my mom and my sister Kate who have influenced me. Because I’d see my mom drawing different shapes on scratch papers while talking on the phone and I liked the shapes so much because they create a pattern. Kate was showing me doodles on her school stuff and I found them interesting that it started my 'compulsive doodling" in class!!! (good thing I NEVER got caught!!!) Well, plus my constant drawing practice since i was a kid from browsing into picture books and my discovery of the coffee as medium from going to a Ripley's museum equals a "Sunshine Plata" painting! I like the works of Van Gogh, Munsch, James Jean, Yoshitaka Amano etc. but my works don't really look like their stuff! haha!
the donG: Was there a time when you experienced something like changing your career?
Sunshine: Back then on my 2nd year of BS Psychology I already wanted to shift to fine arts, I took a shifters exam but didn’t pass. I graduated from psychology worked for a tiny bit in a corporate set up then became a preschool teacher for 5 yrs. It’s just last summer when I started painting full time since I cannot take it anymore; I just had to quit my job to give way to my art.
Sunshine: With this in mind, I am inspired back. But in line with this, I am challenged to be strong and always get up in the midst of adversities since I know that i should continue to be that tiny spark of hope that the Filipino can do it. Also my desire to share my art to more people becomes a growing mission because NOT ONLY DO I WANT TO ACHIEVE BUT I ALSO WANT (if possible) THE WHOLE NATION TO BE ACHIEVERS LIKE ME! I am so sure that there are a lot more Filipino talents and artists out there who can do a lot better than I did; they just need to be given the opportunity, support and most of all the belief! Having people believing in you creates a whole new universe of possibilities within a person.
Sunshine: My most valuable painting is DIWATA**...she appeared to me soo vividly in a dream and after that I’ve been painting fairies and winged elvin creatures on my canvass. I find her so originally Pinoy that’s why I called her DIWATA. And for me, she would embody a typical Pinoy fairy that looks beautiful at the same time cool!!! haha!
Sunshine: Thank you, I’m glad you like my titles! They just sound nice for me to hear so I adapted those titles, no particular reason why! haha!
the donG: How would your life be if you were no longer allowed to do art?
Sunshine: I’d feel like being dumped in a concentration camp ready for doomsday if I wasn’t allowed anymore to do art. haha! It’s my means of expressing my value and worth as a person and my way of communicating the wonderful visions I see vividly in my head. Because precisely the reason why I enjoyed teaching preschoolers in that five years was because somehow I get to do art in the day to day dealings with children, art is just inevitable there. But I guess if I was placed in that situation id still be finding new art mediums say like insects, dust etc. haha! Or else I’d go ballistic!!! Hey that’s a difficult question!
the donG: How do you spend your free time?
Sunshine: I spend my free time hangin’ out with friends, sight seeing, people watching, watching movies, drawing on my sketchpad, listening to music, eating ICE CREAM, CHOCOLATES, looking through pet shop windows and wishing i had a new pet, mixing nail polish colors and painting my nails, going to book shops and having a hearty laugh while reading some Dr. Seuss books (I love the illustrations by the way) etc.
Sunshine: How inclined? Not soo soo inclined!!! haha! You see, every time I sit down and paint is a new experience for me, there's always something new which I discover like do's and don’ts and new techniques and I take careful note of them so I can assure myself that I know what I’m doing more each day than I knew the day before that.
the donG: What else can we expect in your upcoming paintings? Like, are you planning to make paintings that depict a part of the Philippine history?
Sunshine: You may expect to see new ideas, new visions brewing in my mind, an improvement of myself from my day to day undertakings. more lovely diwatas, and slowly but surely some more works depicting the beauty of the Philippine culture!
Sunshine: hmmm... that Sunshine Plata's achievement was brought about majorly by the grace of God and by telling Him each day to help me in my artistic endeavors and promising Him that my works will be for His honor and glory... I dreamed to just have a mini solo show, but maybe God wanted it bigger, than everything just came pouring down on me! I’m just awestruck and grateful!
the donG: How would you encourage the Filipinos to achieve in their own field?
Sunshine: There's a book entitled "Dream and your dreams will fall short".... it just says if you include God in your day to day undertakings and do your damn best to glorify Him with your talents, you will reap more surprises than you aspired for. To all my fellow Filipinos out there... "dream and your dreams will fall short". I hope you believe that, it happened to me! Filipinos are known to be pious people and were not born Filipinos for nothing, so go ahead and do it! Remember Bamboo's song Pinoy Ako: "sabi nila may anting anting ako pero di nila alam na diyos ang dahilan ko".
Sunshine Plata indeed gives us another reason to dream big and to always make God the perfect reason for every achievement. Her love for art influences today’s generation by imparting great achievements through unique ideas.
*lolo – grandfather
**diwata - fairy
30 comments:
I hope there is a web-page where I can see more of her work :)
yes. just click on the paintings posted here and it will lead you to her web-page.
What a beautiful piece of art!I like her paintings,no wonder it cost much :)
Wow! Coffee Paintings. hehe.... they are beautiful pieces of art. What a talented and pretty lady. *envy*
Hi Don, thanks for writing about this talented artist. Her medium is very unusual and interesting. I've been wanting to own an artwork by a Filipino to display in my home. Thanks to you, that wish may come true.
Thank you for visiting my blog, it is really appreciated. :)
Definitely Maybe!
Not Just Another Blog...
amor, unique and it portrays dreams.
eclife, she is talented and an achiever.
babette, buying Sunshine's painting would best be on your priority list.
thank u so much dong for including me in ur blog! It is an honor to be here! i wish u abundant blessings!hope to see u guys in my next exhibit!
-sunshine plata
(coffee painter)
hi sunshine! it's my pleasure and my privilege to feature your paintings here and more than that is who the person really is behind these unique paintings.
thanks for dropping by. we will surely be there on your next exhibit.
This is a very interesting interview.
galing nya naman.. nice art.
wow, she's very talented/creative! i think i'm in love with her works now. =D and mmmmmmmm, coffee.
coffee paintings? i missed that Ripley's episode.
Nice work! A talented artist !
Those interviews are very interesting ! Good idea. There are a lot of interesting Filipinos to interview. Enough material to get you going...
carver&jasper, thanks a lot.
acey, what more when you get to see it in on her exhibit.
ely, i'll hope i can find where we can search for that.
sidney, thank you very much. the Filipinos are very talented in this field.
interesting.i've seen her being featured in the local tv channels and it's interesting how she finds great pleasure in coffee and making it a medium for her artworks. her artworks must have been smelled great! who would have ever thought.
oh so you did an interview with Manix Abrera. he was my classmate in French and his uncle was my guitar instructor. such a loopy coincidence with talented people.
good job on this interviews...hope to read more!
wow! nice coffee paintings..
another Filipino achiever..
another nice pics..
another wonderful interview..
another well written article..
by the one and only " DONG HO"..
Keep it up Dong!..=)
wow, thanks for this post dom. it surely is a ray of sunshine in the art scene.
i have seen her twice in tv. mel and jay and unang hirit (yata). i just adore her work. ang galing.
rayts, astig! small world it is.
dra. rio, maraming maraming salamat. may one and only ka pa. lol.
oggie, i'm so honored to have sunshine online interview on my blog in the same with the others that i did before and that includes you on bloggurs.
lawstude, she has been in the news lately and she really deserve this recognition.
wow, she does have her own style and an interesting medium! Galing!
That's a remarkable interview!
So inspiring and heartwarming.
sniff*** always wanted to be an artist but never really given it a chance to explore...I am so happy for her.
Very good interview Dong! She is very artistic and talented and I love her motto!
napanood ko sya sa TV sa news sa GMA, ang galing nga niya. :) To think na coffee lang ang ginamit niya. :)
gizelle, yes. she has a unique medium and her theme on most of her paintings depicts fantasy.
haydee, at least through your photographs, you can still be an artist.
true. thanks toe.
ethyl, she was featured in many shows.
Love the fieries & how she used coffee as her paint,Wow.How does she holds the lines? i was thinking that she do it like batik painting.
Thanks for bring her out.
hi maya, amazing how she does it. thanks. it's my honor to feature her here.
Thank you for sharing some of her lovely and impressive works of art.
i love the pics...
hi rachel and dak, let sunshine plata's paintings inspire others.
great interview!!
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