Story and photos by Oliver Samson | Correspondent
A YOUNG nun, whose beauty is hidden by her habit, sets her heart out through art during her solitary moments—mostly at night—relishing her God-given talent as she makes strokes across her medium.
Her painting is not remote from the church’s culture. The church has been so rich with arts, and it continues to be.
Sis. Venus Marie S. Pegar, 39, formation directress at the Sisters of Saint Francis Xavier (SFX) community in San Pedro, Laguna, preserves and enriches the artistic tradition of her family. Her father was a painter and she has two brothers who are artists by profession.
Her community in Laguna is home to three Myanmar nationals, who are fellow SFX sisters, and 18 resident seniors of the Mother of Mercy Home for the Abandoned and Elderly, which is part of the community.
Pegar’s passion for painting comes second to her religious vow. She puts her artistry across media, using oil and acrylic, to recount her stories.
Her local superior, as well as the congregation’s mother general, who is based in Myanmar, approve and morally support her art.
Her family is also supportive. In fact, her brothers provide her with the materials she uses.
This year, in March and April, she joined a monthlong art exhibit by the United Women Artists Association of the Philippines (UWAAP), of which she is a member, at the Manila International Peace Center in Binondo, Manila.
She displayed three of her paintings, including her Behind Her Complexity, Behind Her Thoughts and Her Color.
All three paintings depicted the same woman whom Pegar described as “ripened through time.”
Some guests assumed the woman was the artist herself.
But regardless of who was correct, the art fare was an opportunity for Pegar to articulate her artistry, inspire others—artists and nonartists alike—and raise fund for the congregation’s missions here and abroad, and the studies of its aspirants.
“Her [Pegar’s] paintings can sell from P5,000 to P100,000,” said Menchu VB. Arandilla, who is UWAAP president and its founder in 2014.
But Pegar said she can give her paintings at lower prices.
She also can offer her service if someone is interested in commissioning her to do a particular work.
“I can paint for other people as long as the subject does not put my religious vow at stake,” she said.
The nun refuses to paint nude people, anything political and violence.
Pegar, who was born in Leyte, began to harness her dormant passion for painting at the tender age of 8. She developed it through the years.
The richness of religious life and experiences provides her with an immense source of subjects. The beauty of the outside world offers the same opportunity.
Pegar has been a professed nun for four years now. As formation directress, she oversees the congregation’s postulants. She also helps the Myanmar sisters look after the community’s elderly residents, who came from different provinces.
Her effort to raise fund for her congregation’s missions through her paintings caught the attention of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference-Office of the Social Communication after joining UWAAP’s art exhibit in March and April.
She was mentioned in an article in the conference’s publication this year.
Her colorful life was also featured by ABS-CBN in its weekly prime-time show Maalaala Mo Kaya on August 30, 2014. The episode was titled “Sulat,” with actress Jessy Mendiola portraying her.
Currently, Pegar is finishing the last few paintings for a book on women trafficking, which is co-authored by an Australian and a Filipina.
The book will contain three chapters and 22 stories. Each chapter and each story requires one painting. Plus the painting for the cover, she needs to finish 26 paintings.
She is done with 21 paintings. Ten were already taken by the Australian author on June 1. Pegar will surrender the payment for her works to the congregation.
She vowed to continue painting to raise funds for the congregation’s missions here and abroad and for the studies of young women who are aspiring to become nuns.
Image credits: Oliver Samson