Welbart Slowhands

The Whys of Slowhands

Art Has Given Welbart Slowhands His Place Under The Sun

Text by Sara Grace Fojas  

Monday, August 5, 2019 / C-3 

When Joel Rodriguez Bar­tolome was young, the teacher gave his class an assignment to draw he­roes and important personalities of history. He decided to draw a portrait of Elvis Presley. The portrait was not displayed. 

Joe, or “Welbart Slowhands” as he calls himself, has always had his own interpretation of things. He loves telling stories through the use of a brush and paint slathered on a can­vas inside his 4x7-meter studio in San Fernando, Pampanga. 

“I love to tell stories through my paintings. I’ve been doing semi-autobiographical pieces since I was young,” he says. “I remember how, at an early age, I would draw images of helicopters and fish everywhere in the house. In high school, I learned how to draw portraits. I call myself Welbart Slowhands to symbolize my journey as a self-taught art practitioner.” 

His early exposure to art started inside the parish church of his father’s hometown in Paombong, Bulacan, which contains the masterpieces of the late local master Celing Marasi­gan. “I always saw them while at­tending mass,” Welbart recounts. “It was my early exposure to figurative painting. Maybe that is the reason why I love the works of Caravaggio, Diego Velazquez, and Michaelan­gelo. I am also very fascinated with how Fernando Amorsolo plays light in his paintings.” 

But Welbart’s passion and calling to art didn’t become his profession, at first. Due to financial constraints, he decided to become a nurse and accepted a 12-hour shift for a bedrid­den patient. 

“After I bathed my patient, Lola Choleng, cleaned her room, and pre­pared her medicine and food for the day, I didn't have anything else to do,” he says. “I almost read all the books and magazine in my employer’s li­brary. But my interest in art never left me so I thought of doing cross-stitch­es during my free time. Then I shifted to drawing and water color.” 

Art slowly made a comeback in Welbart’s life. He couldn’t help explor­ing different mediums and learning about new processes. Adventurous, he always tries various techniques when it comes to making his pieces. His first work, he admits, was made with the wrong process because he used mediums like acrylic, opaque, and impasto. There was also a time his first oil-on-canvas piece took almost a month to dry be­cause he used a lot of linseed oil. 

“It was trial and error but I achieved it. I frequented Na­tional Book Store Shangri-la Mall for private reading in order to learn,” he says. “I could not afford to buy expen­sive art books and this branch allows private reading.” 

He was exploring the world of art but he hid it from his employer. Little did he know that his first cli­ent would be the daughter of his pa­tient’s doctor. 

“When they discovered it, I was surprised that they really liked it,” he says. “My first portrait commission was for the daughter of my patient’s doctor. I also did portraits for my em­ployer, even after I resigned. I got lots of inspirations, tips, and advice from the senior artists I met in my business. I am so thankful to all my friends in the art industry, both the masters and the newbies.” 

Welbart was eventually able to do two solo shows about anger and despair after his fa­ther died: “You Will Be Loved and Other Lies” at the Ben­Cab Museum and “#iamhypocrite” at Altro Mondo in Aya­la Center. 

“The show in BenCab Museum was before I suffered depression,” says Welbart, “After four years in hibernation, I came out with the #iamhypocrite,” my fifth solo show. I am very grateful now. I learned to do away with all the dramas and just be happy, thanks to my fiancée, my aging mother, and my sister who is undergoing dialysis. My favorite item in my studio is a photo of me and my fiancée during my second solo show. They are my ‘whys’ to live again.” 

Inside his studio, he finds solace— with its old and new unfinished pieces, framing materials, fishing tools, art materials, and some clothes. Here, he doesn’t only make art but takes a break from the world. It’s where he does his meditation at midnight or early in the morning. And these hours of self-reflection grew into his recent­ly concluded exhibit “The Only Way Out Is In” at the Village Art Gallery in Alabang. 

“It was about how meditation and prayers helped me understand the things that burdened me before and my reflection on my recent visit to Bhutan,” Welbart says. “Creat­ing art brought me a lot of positive changes. My patience was also chal­lenged by unwanted situations that stressed me out. But I am glad that, with the help of my newfound philos­ophy, I now handle things lightly and calmly. Art has given me a special place in the sun.”