Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

Or, perhaps, they just wait for the right time.

Consider Tessie Jugo, a retired art teacher, who recently held her first exhibit at age 77.

That’s one year younger than Grandma Moses, who launched her artistic career at age 78.

Unlike the famous American primitive painter, who was completely self-taught, Jugo studied art formally at the Holy Ghost College (now the College of the Holy Spirit) in the early 1960s.

“I was painting, but I also wanted to teach,” recalls Jugo. “I knew I could teach.”

Perhaps she was inspired by her mother, Josefina Mañosa, who was a Spanish teacher.

In any case, after finishing her fine arts degree, Jugo took advanced studies in art education at the University of the East.

She landed a job as an art teacher at her alma mater, but after a year, she got an offer from La Salle Green Hills (LSGH), which was then only a few years old. “They wanted me to open the art department for the grade school,” she recalls.

Back burner

She ended up staying at LSGH for 20 years, teaching art and eventually running the art department, until her retirement in 1985. In the meantime, her own art was placed on the back burner.

It took her uncle, National Artist for Architecture Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa, to start her painting again.

Even when she was still a student, he had supported and encouraged her. When she couldn’t afford to buy art materials, he made sure she got whatever she needed.

Later, when he was already a famous architect, he introduced his niece to his artist friends such as J. Elizalde Navarro and Araceli Dans.

“Tessie was Bobby’s favorite niece,” recalls Denise, the architect’s widow. “Some years ago, after her children and grandchildren left to work in Malaysia, Bobby came up with the idea that she should have an exhibit so she wouldn’t feel so lonely.”

Jugo broke out her palette and easel and got to work. It took a while to finish enough paintings for an exhibit because people would buy the paintings as the artist finished them, says Denise Mañosa.

Unfortunately, Bobby Mañosa didn’t live to see Jugo’s exhibit, but among his last instructions was to make sure his niece kept at it.

Magsaysay-Ho influence

At a glance, one can detect the strong influence of Anita Magsaysay-Ho on Jugo’s work.

“I love her style,” she says. “I was always attracted to her works—she paints a lot of women.”

Admittedly, Jugo hasn’t kept up with trends in the local art scene since her Holy Ghost days. Her work is still under the sway of the early modernists, circa the early ’60s. This may have worked to her advantage. People find her work accessible. By the end of the exhibit, most of her works were sold—and at pretty respectable prices.

Not bad for a late bloomer. But Jugo says she’s proudest of being an art teacher.

“When I die and God asks me what I did with the talent he gave me, I can say, ‘I shared it.’ That’s how I see it. If you have something good, share it with others.”