Heart Evangelista candidly admits she’s currently enjoying painting more than acting.
Her paintings, she said, have allowed her to show her works abroad.
It’s “totally unexpected,” quipped Evangelista, who considered painting a hidden hobby until she started holding exhibits at Ayala Museum last year, and at the prestigious Chan Hampe Gallery in Raffles Hotel, Singapore, last January. Her works, featuring mostly women, were bought by collectors such as businessman Fernando Zobel and Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson.
At age 30, she’s “adjusting” to married life. She just had her “mini-honeymoon” during the Holy Week break with husband Sen. Chiz Escudero in Japan, where they enjoyed taking photos of the cherry blossoms, shopping and eating out.
The newlywed said she had been into painting since childhood, and expressing herself through colorful canvases helped her deal with heartaches and show biz squabbles—particularly before her Feb. 15 wedding to Escudero, a union that drove a wedge between her and her parents, who did not attend the ceremony.
“Painting is therapeutic. Showing people my works is stepping out of my comfort zone, and I encourage women to be as fearless,” Evangelista said during an interview at 2nd’s restaurant in Bonifacio Global City for the launch of a short film commissioned by Cream Silk hair conditioner.
At the peak of career
Evangelista is one of the celebrities in “Cream Silk Portraits: Stories of World-Class Filipinas,” a short film that profiles women who have broken ground globally through their talents.
Alongside Evangelista, “Portraits” also features singer Lea Salonga, and TV hosts Anne Curtis and Toni Gonzaga. It is directed by Marie Jamora, who did the indie film “Ang Nawawala,” which has been screened in Hawaii International and Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festivals, with the English title “What Isn’t There.”
“Portraits” runs for 30 minutes and premieres today, April 21, at Solaire Resort and Casino. It will be aired on TV on April 26 on major networks ABS-CBN and GMA 7.
Jamora said, “The film shows women who are at the peak of their careers: Heart has her exhibits; Anne has an international lifestyle show called “F Word Out Loud”; Toni just finished touring in Abu Dhabi; Lea is having a concert at The Town Hall in New York.”
A global Pinay herself, Jamora attended Columbia University Film School and is working as a coeditor for the movie “The Death of ‘Superman Lives,’ What Happened?” in the United States.
She said the best thing about doing “Portraits” is reaching a bigger audience through TV, and working with Salonga.
“I’ve always been a Lea fan girl,” she said with a laugh.
As for Evangelista, a Cream Silk endorser for the past 16 years, “Portraits” is a reminder to “dream bigger than your usual dreams.”
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