Beinvenido Sibug, an LA-based Filipino artist has been capturing the essence of a typical world where he grew up in the Philippines–as shown in his paintings, portraits, designs, and photographs. Boi, his nickname, originally wanted to be an architect but opted for Fine Arts. A prolific artist and painter who had 47 group shows in the Philippines, 16 in Guam and 43 in the US. Sibug moved to the Island of Guam in 1992 together with his family and due to an advertising job relocation opportunity. His move also gave him a break to showcase his works as described by art critics from Asia as “A Collection of Artistic Gems.”

While Sibug employs multiple media, his expertise resides in oil, watercolor, pastel, and charcoals. His artistic talents do extend to creating graphic design and photographs, but his exceptional sense of colors and composition leads ultimately to a powerful rendering of images of beauty and order in the Pacific milieu. An artist who has been recognized through numerous awards for his incomparable works and some of his paintings has become permanent features of galleries and lobbies of the finest places in Guam, Manila, and the USA.

His weekly art group meet-ups at Raffy Studio in Bellflower doing sketching, portrait, nudes session, still life, and plein air keeps him busy and happy in Los Angeles. He is enjoying his retirement but misses the Philippines-so many happenings, according to him. Here is his Q&A from the Master Mr. Sibug.  Enjoy!

Q: Over 35 years in art. Over 100 art shows from Manila, to Guam, to California and a string of awards. How are you?

Boi: I’m doing great. Still very active in the arts, painting, and sketching if ever I have time. I meet with my friends here in Los Angeles; we do paintings, sketching portraiture, and sometimes plein air. I also join several juried shows around Los Angeles & nearby surrounding areas.

Q: What’s it like to be Boi Sibug?

Boi: I’m proud, happy, great, and still strong for my senior age. Have a lovely family, still very active in art activities, and won some awards in juried shows.

Q: How old are you now? How was life like as a youngster? Did you always like art? At what age did you realize this and what triggered it? You studied in the Philippines? Where?

Boi: I’m 68 now in my senior years. My youngster years were great, no big problems, had fun with friends, and studied.

When I was in high school, I wanted to be an architect so that’s why I tried to do some drawings and portraits for celebrities.

After I graduated in my high school, my father told me to take accounting course and so I enrolled in University of the East (UE). After one year, I realized I was not interested in numbers so I decided to transfer to UST (University of Santo Tomas) to take up Architecture. Unfortunately it was fully booked so instead I enrolled in Fine Arts majoring in Advertising.

Q: What made you decide to move to Guam and then to California?

Boi: I worked at Well Advertising in Makati as an Art Director first & after, they transferred me to their Guam branch together with my family.

Q: When did you decide to pursue photography on the side?

Boi: As I worked in several advertising agencies before, I have to learn photography as part of my job requirements. It is still related to paintings as in photography, it is important to know the art of composition, design, light & shadows, and techniques. I take some photos also as references for my paintings.

Q: Those 100+ art shows, how many of them were staged in the Philippines, Guam and in the US?

Boi: In the Philippines, I had around 47 group shows, on Guam, about 16 group shows, and in the USA 43 group shows.

Q: What work are you most proud of and why?

Boi: The portrait of my wife Helengrace done in watercolor for she is my one & only in my life. It’s a priceless piece of work.

Q: Who is your most important client?

Boi: Sherwood Hotel on Guam where I was commissioned around six (6) big oil paintings.

Q: What is your most expensive work right now that you are putting on the market?

Boi: The Tricycle done in watercolor with the size of 30” x 22”.

Q: Where can art fans follow you?

They can follow me in my Facebook page at Bienvenido Sibug, BOI Sibug Art, and my website.

Images courtesy of the artist.