Celebrating a lifetime as an artist
View Royal artist Ed Araquel, 76, is displaying a snapshot of his work at the Coast Collective Gallery in Colwood. Araquel has made a living as a painter in the Philippines and Canada.
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Updated: July 02, 2009 1:23 PM
Whether it’s in pastels, acrylic, oil or water colour paint, View Royal artist Ed Araquel can paint a picture.
Araquel, 76, started painting at the age of 12 in the Philippines.
“(I painted) mostly portraits of soldiers who died during the war,” Araquel said. “I can’t remember how much I got (paid), but it wasn’t very much.”
During his teen years Araquel apprenticed with a local artist while attending school.
“When I graduated from high school I didn’t have anything else to do so I worked as an artist,” Araquel said. “I have been an artist all my life. I’ve never known anything else.”
Over the years Araquel has found several avenues to generate revenue using his artwork. As an avid golfer he is also well-known for painting golf courses from across North America.
“In the recession in the 1980s, portraits stopped being saleable,” Araquel said. “That’s when I started painting golf courses.”
Locally he has painted such courses as Olympic View, Highland Pacific and the Victoria Golf Club.
“I play more golf than I paint,” he said. “I always play the course first, then I paint it.”
Araquel moved to Canada in 1965, living first in Toronto. It wasn’t until 2000 when he moved to the Island first settling in Sooke and then View Royal.
In his current show titled “Faces and Places in Many Ways,” Araquel exhibits 62 paintings, mostly landscapes and portraits, with local scenes such as the cliffs on Dallas Road and the Fisgard Lighthouse.
Araquel’s paintings are on display until July 5 at the Coast Collective Gallery, 3221 Heatherbell Road. See www.coastcollective.ca.
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