ANYONE MEETING THIS attractive, articulate Spanish-Filipino mestiza for the first time would wonder why on earth she would be happily holed up in a place like the Gran Canaria?

At the prime of her life when the 50s is easily the new 40s, Isabel Echevarria Rocha seemed to belong to the vibrant Philippine society of fashion leaders, charities, pioneers of causes, a byword in the art scene. Why would she leave behind family, friends, co-artists and a husband to go barefoot in the sand?

When we first met her in June on the occasion of her ?Kayumanggi- Morena? exhibition co-presented by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of the Philippines in Madrid, she spoke of having left the Philippines in 2004 for Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain, and was apparently here to stay.

Prior to that, she was comfortably ensconced in Philippine society and the art scene with enough honors to rest on?a magna cum laude in Humanities in Art and English from St. Theresa?s Cebu; various Art Galleries in Cebu and Manila owned and operated with husband Rene; Olio Gallery at Megamall Art Center; curator of famous Serbian sculptor Boban Ilic?s exhibition at the Shangri-La; Basic Training in Museology, Art Conservation and Restoration from the National Museum Manila; third placer in the Orensanz Foundation?s awards, 2004, New York; inclusion in several books on Philippine Art by Alice Guillermo and Manuel Duldulao; partnership in the magazine Arte News based in Manhattan and distributed in New York, Spain and London.

?I like it at Las Palmas. The lifestyle is so different. Life is simple. I walk everywhere, do everything myself. It is a paradise for artists,? she says.

Athe Canarians have welcomed her openly, calling her La Otra Isabel (in contrast to the internationally famous Filipina Isabel Preysler).

When her son Iñaki told his parents he was going to Canaria to study in a hotel school, and daughter Ira followed a year after to study nursing, Isabel knew they were not coming back, and decided the only way she could be with her children was to join them. Apparently, the island is some sort of magnet that entices and holds one in her spell like a siren?s call. Being of Spanish descent, it was easy enough for Isabel to get her residency in a month?s time.

Her citizenship is due for release, she says, within the year. At the moment, she and her husband Rene shuttle between Canaria and the Philippines, and the arrangement seems to suit them both.

Stewardship of Canary

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria shares today with the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife the stewardship of the Canary islands. This rivalry led to the division of the archipelago into two provinces which ended the argument but not the rivalry. Las Palmas where Isabel and her children live has a population of 377,000 plus, while the entire province of Gran Canaria has around 820,000 with lots of tourists which is the island?s primary industry.

?Parang larger pa ang Bohol province,? Isabel says, laughing.

It was like a throwback in time to the era when living was very simple, she continues, observing how her art has changed and evolved since moving to Spain.

?My brush strokes are stronger and I now work with mixed-media because everything in terms of art material is available here in Spain.?

Her works are a fusion of the Asian and Spanish. She is fascinated by the similarity in cultures. Her paintings invariably present the Filipino to the world art scene.

Apart from awards and accomplishments, Isabel?s portraits hang in museums and state offices in the Philippines, and her oils can be found in private collections in Asia, the Middle East, US and Europe.

Exhibit

The exhibit ?Impression and Illusion,? was presented by the Yellow Door Gallery at the Rockwell Power Plant with her son Iñaki, his first, and for Isabel, the first since 1995.

?I am scared,? she confesses. ?I?m completely out of touch with the Manila art scene.?

It has helped that Yellow Door is run by Kimi Rocha, a niece she saw growing up when their mother Minda and Isabel both shared a home in New Manila and artistic aspirations that resulted in the formation of Galeria Rocha in the early ?80s in Manila.

Since then, Isabel has never stopped painting nor mentoring her students whether in her Manila or Las Palmas home. She learns from them as much as they from her. She teaches them the basics of an old style of painting in oil with the imprimatura, layers upon layers of paint, glazing upon glazing that the Venetians used to do but which takes too much time and patience for today?s painters, she says.

Then she corrects mistakes committed, mostly in anatomy since there is no School of Fine Arts yet in Las Palmas. And she lets them go to discover their own colors, their own styles, with the admonition that their painting must not look like hers, but should be theirs alone.

Isabel?s work today is a perfect fusion of her Asian and Spanish heritage. Many things like the fiestas of the Sinulog or the Pit Senor in Cebu where she grew up are so much like the religious celebrations in Spain. So are their food, she says, like the pochero, and the Filipino Colonial velo that she wore as a kid at St. Paul?s grade school in Manila.

Iñaki?s canvasses are a combination of pop with classical, the surreal and sensual with rock music that he started experimenting with as vocalist of the Lightnin Lobster and an Uruguayan guitarist Rayo Galarza.

They call themselves the Pacific Atlantic Freak Express, the Uruguayan Philippine Canary Connection formed in Las Palmas in 2005. This underground union is to Iñaki what the Velvet Underground was to Salvador Dali in the ?60s.

It would have been a totally enriching experience had Iñaki and the band been present at the exhibit that would present the dichotomy of mother and son, with their own interpretations of woman as subject matter.

What is next for Isabel is a group show in December in New York where she is bringing along one of her outstanding students from Las Palmas. Next is an invitation for a show in Bogota, Columbia where she is bringing yet another student, and an interactive painting together with Iñaki. This is again a first for mother and son.

The artist Isabel does not stop experimenting. She has already decided to start work on a series on Mariang Makiling. She has also set the ball rolling for an organization of artists in the Gran Canaria, something like the Art Association of the Philippines of long ago, she reminds us.

As we continued discussing more of her plans for the little island she had adopted and which apparently has also taken her into their hearts, we glimpse the sight of her husband Rene rushing off in his casual shorts somewhere in the mall. It certainly looks like sometime soon, the entire family will be together once more in this island in the sun far away.

E-mail the author at bibsycarballo @yahoo.com