Mayette Quias, “Ayen” as she prefers to be called, was born in Santiago City Isabela. Pura Tarlac. This 39 year old Architecture graduate, professionally manufactures faux barrels together with her partner Noel Nicolas, years before the pandemic strikes. Though she saw this time as an opportunity to take a break and relax, she also saw this as a great time to go back to painting.
In the absence of an available canvas at the time, and given that she has a lot of wood scraps leftover from her business; the concept of the very first “Ayens Little Town” came to life.
“May story po ang aking Ayen’s little town”, says Ayen… “Colorful houses – to give positive vibes to everyone, na wag tayong malungkot if we are confined in the four corners of our home kasi it is still the safest place ngayon and it is where you will find the most valuable treasures…your family. And even if our doors are close eventually it will open again soon for visitors. Colorful wavy skies – to remind us of people who died of Covid, to wave goodbye kasi their loved ones wasn’t able to properly say goodbye.” she added.
Ayen started painting at the age of 6, and was greatly influenced by her uncle Amante Quias (who was based in the US and become one of the designer of a famous comics strip “Peanuts”.) After arriving from the US, her uncle gave her tons of art materials which sparked her interest even more.
Ayen might not have the formal training in fine arts, but have an innate talent and passion in art. Aside from her Uncle, Ayen also gets her inspiration from Picasso’s passion when it comes to his art. “His influence in my art is not technical, our subject are not similar, neither were our styles…it was ideological. I like his openness to experimenting and how he was able to create a lot of paintings, sculpture and ceramics“ Ayen cited.
Ayen’s artworks are made from scrap woods from faux barrels, cut into her desired shapes using power tools and some DIY tools. The woods are then sanded, coated with acrylic paint and assembled.
“I love creating with wood chips while making an artwork. A simple twist of wood can give me a whole new concept for my next artwork, and nakakatulong ako sa pag sustain ng ating nature since hindi ako nagkacut ng wood.”