Some 40 years ago,pastry chef Penk Ching and her sister Shen Ratilla began making their mark as two of the most accomplished cake artists in the country, whipping up their masterpieces from sugar and flour. Some 13 years ago, however, Penk discovered a new medium, painting, specifically the more challenging medium of watercolor. “I was in a meeting when I bumped into two friends who were taking watercolor classes,” she recounts. “I got interested, and they volunteered to buy the materials for me. Since they cost an arm and a leg, I told them, ‘I can’t back out, because the materials were so expensive!’”
Now, in a full circle moment, Penk is holding her one-woman show, Whispers in Watercolor, throughout the month of December at Chef Jessie, Rockwell Center, Makati.
The afternoon launch was attended by family and friends, and Penk’s paintings line the walls at Chef Jessie, all for sale. “I feel so calm and relaxed when I paint,” says this cakemaker to celebrity and VIP weddings and events. “And I am a frustrated painter, as well as a frustrated ballerina!” The latter fixation shows in many of her subjects, graceful dancers. “I had wanted to study fine arts, but my parents told me that there was no money in art in the late 1970, because who would want to buy my painting? But I’ve finally turned my frustrations into happiness, which was worth waiting for. Art is for any age, as long as you feel the soul of what you are doing.”
Penk has finally been able to fulfill her dream, even after all this time. “We have to enjoy life, especially in our senior years!”
