Charisse Abellana

Above everything, I have my unwavering faith in a being bigger than my human self…God. I used to say that I live every day of my life like it will be my last. Now I live my life clinging to nothing. I live my life with arms outstretched forever grateful. I live my life in peace with my two beautiful daughters, my art and my God.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

As I was asked to write my biography for a show and I waited for my website designer to email to me my biography (written 2004), I realized that my life had changed incredibly and beyond description that I decided that I should write a new one.

My personal and artist’s life then was so different from what it is now. Years ago, it was wrought with pain, anguish and drama. At that time I truly believed that the pain, anguish and drama were, in essence, my muse. It was an addiction. Since then I experienced several added “colorful” experiences …another painful divorce, the very traumatic death of my father, the beleaguered economy and the pain and losses it brought me, the inability to paint when painting is my pure joy. All these are really no different from the experiences prior to 2004. They are still elements of life that can be viewed as hindrances, painful losses, setbacks that one may never recover from. But this time I consciously chose a different path. The elements have not changed, the belief has changed. And what is the path? I took charge of my own happiness. Because of this conscious choice, my life changed.

I am an American Filipino and very proud and blessed to be the product of both cultures…polar opposites, diverse but both rich in substance. I was born and raised in the Philippines, its culture influenced by the native aborigines, native Filipinos, Spain and United States. My Filipino roots taught me the closeness and value of family

ABOUT THE ART

I can work with all kinds of medium…pastels, watercolor, charcoal, ink on paper, mixed media. However, I am infatuated with oil! When I first used it, I knew oil on canvas is my medium of choice. I love the fluidity and the surprise of painting wet on wet. By painting wet on wet, there is that very thrilling element of surprise, and the layers and layers of paint make it more exhilarating. I love painting the sides of the thick canvas because viewing it from the side is also art in itself. Once I am done, the painting is a finished piece of art, with or without a frame.

I was trained to mix my own colors, thanks to my mentor. While training to do so, it took a while for me to get it. I would go home crying because “I could not get it.” Then one day, my patience, persistence and practice paid off. By mixing my own colors, I can put on canvas the beauty of the colors only I could imagine and know in my mind. I also knew from the time I picked up a palette knife that I am a palette knife artist. And I have always been. Palette knife paintings are thick, bold, unexpected, almost irreverent in its randomness. But there is always that moment of emotional upheavals every time I put a stroke. The paint thus becomes a sculptural element on canvas.

I am a contemporary still life and landscape artist. I will soon be painting contemporary cityscapes starting with a body of work, “Iconic LA”. I have painted since 2002. I find myself so blessed as to have shown in several prestigious galleries. I was one of the first artists to be featured at the Marriot Hotel in Woodland Hills. I had several one woman shows at “The Women’s Club of Hollywood”, NOHO Gallery at artsy and hip North Hollywood and Art Peace at Burbank . I was continually represented by Topanga Canyon Gallery for years and showed numerous times at “The Brewery”, the biggest art complex in Los Angeles. I have shown in quite a few interior designer venues including a show with British renowned architect, Sir David Chipperfield. I am so humbly blessed as to have my work hung in several homes all over the country and other parts of the world as in Sydney, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines to name a few. Although I took a sabbatical for two years after the death of my father, I am again in love…in love with painting, with art.