Watercolor has the texture of memory

Water has the texture of memory," poet Marge Evasco once wrote. For visual artist Ephraim Samson, watercolor is an effective way of rendering the runny and fluid surfaces of remembrance, since memory has an ineffable, dreamlike sheen to it. But this is a difficult, almost monkish undertaking.

According to Samson in a conversation with Philippine STAR two years ago, "In watercolor, everything is final. In oil, you can paint over and over. In fact, the more texture you put, the better. In watercolor, once you make a mistake, you can’t paint over it. You’ll just have to get a new piece of paper and start over."

Artists – or at least those who are dead serious about their art – love challenges the way Don Quijote adores windmills: Monsters and obstacles were meant for jousting. Samson has repeatedly proved how much he has mastered this medium – not only in our shores but in the US as well.

In 2002, Samson took Best of Show honors at the 42nd Lodi Art Show, which was sponsored by the Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Winery, and repeated the feat at the 51st Annual Stockton Art League Exhibit, both in Northern California. The artist won for his watercolor opuses "Pacific Seafood" and "Where Life Begins." Both pieces are characterized by hyperrealist portrayal of subjects. The golden straws in "Where Life Begins" interweave in dizzying, dazzling patterns, while the pinkish fish (danggit and maya-maya) in "Pacific Seafood" look fresh enough for empty bellies.

For his 20th one-man show titled Empty Nest at the Crucible Gallery, Samson prepared six pieces (two large ones) all done using the tricky, risky medium. In his Nest series, the artist probably thought of the most difficult objects and surfaces to render in watercolor (nest, hay, corn, straw hat, jars of food, walls etc.) and proved that the medium could capture textural subtleties, all those devilish details. Samson reveals that all this started as a joke.

"Someone commented, ‘Ephraim, kapag nakagawa ka ng dayami, sasaludo ako sa ‘yo,’ (laughs)," says Samson, who adds that he has learned to incorporate techniques such as masking and lifting into artistic sleight of hand. "Mahirap kasi ilagan ‘yung mga white portions you need to retain for transparency. In watercolor, the more tricks, the better."

Many art aficionados are familiar with Samson’s beginnings as a cinema cartel artist – those who draw larger-than-life cutouts, posters and billboards for movie houses. These days, computer graphics advertise movies on exhibition, but in the ‘70s and ‘80s portraits of action stars and bomba starlets punctuate the asphalt armpit of C.M. Recto Ave.

"This was how I learned to excel in portraits. I drew cutouts that were displayed in Galaxy, Odeon and Center. I used tinting color, flat paint, gasoline and katsa. I was paid per piece – around P100 to P200 each. Pero nung napasyal ako sa mga galleries kagaya ng Hidalgo at Gallery Blue, I told myself this is what I want to pursue."

This first exhibit sold a measly two paintings, but Samson considers this his icebreaker. He joined the Saturday Group of artists, did portraits and nude sketching, and honed his craft. Samson eventually made a name for himself in the Philippine art scene, mounting one-man shows, joining group exhibitions, and raking in awards. He moved with his second wife to the States, and there Samson found himself starting at square one – making his living doing $10-sketches of Japanese tourists, commissioned portraits of executives, and murals for hotels and hospitals.

He joined contests and on-the-spot sessions. His American counterparts were surprised at how fast Samson worked and at his "secret weapon": a stamping pencil that the artist makes himself by rolling tissue. ("I roll it on my legs na parang gumagawa ako ng lubid hanggang sa tamang tigas na angkop sa kagustuhan ko," the artist explains.)

Samson joined the American Watercolor Society, became an instructor at the EMG Gallery in California, received good advice from late great watercolorist Carl Miller ("You are an Asian, paint Asian subjects…"), and won prestigious awards for his startling watercolor techniques.

Does he consider his show at The Crucible a sort of homecoming?

"Yes, and it is the most challenging," Samson shares. "This is also the most difficult thing I’ve ever done with the medium. Mahilo-hilo ako sa detalye (laughs).

And just like what Bob Dylan said about writing Tangled Up In Blue, which took the folk-rock legend two years to write but 10 years to live. Samson concludes, "You know, it takes me three to four days to finish a watercolor painting, but 15 years of experience to get these results."

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Ephraim Samson’s exhibit titled Empty Nest is on view until April 3 at The Crucible Gallery, at the fourth floor of Building A, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. For inquiries, call 635-6061.