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Lynda A. N. Reyes: Art and love keep me going
“When we all get the power, we all give the best, every minute of an hour….” These are the lyrics of the song “Live is Life,” popularized during the 80s by the Austrian pop group, Opus.
For artist extraordinaire, art historian and author Lynda A.N. Reyes, being alive, giving of her best, and getting power from physical challenges all affect her perspective towards life.
It was a Saturday afternoon when I visited my friend for the first time in years. She is a renaissance artist—a pianist and a do-it-yourselfer who makes her own frames perfectly. She radiated an exuberance of being as if she were on natural steroids. I was just amazed to find somebody with such deep roots that even the gale force wind of debilitating disease hasn’t blown her to bitterness or self-pity.
What’s even more noteworthy was that she emailed me a few days after, and wrote, “Tell them I am still pretty!” That certainly elicited a smile from this writer. In the back of my mind I was honestly already thinking of this amazing lady as pretty, and also as an alchemist: she transmutes negative situations into positive ones.
Reasons to live
It was fall of 1997, and Lynda just received truly terrible news: she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Type 2 cancer in the nasopharynx. “It was truly horrifying to learn about my health condition,” said Lynda.
But after her initial despair, she began to think of life. “I am not going to let the dreaded enemy deprive me of attaining my life goals,” she said. “The intent to survive was first and foremost in mind. I love life. I have reasons to love life. My loved ones—my husband Albert, my sons Roy and Allen—remain as my primary reasons to live.”
Lynda underwent 39 radiation and nine chemotherapy treatments. “Most often, I stared at the blank wall or ceiling and smile while undergoing chemotherapy in the medical facility,” she said. “I would have been branded as insane. I was simply thinking of art.”
Her thoughts focused on portraits, and peaceful landscapes with flowers in watercolor all along the way.
That was exactly 19 years ago. All of the people Lynda knew suffering the same illness succumbed to the dreaded disease. “Yes, I am the only one surviving!” she said. It’s a fact that she knows how to season her life with the right attitude, determination and will to be alive. The feat was nothing short of a miracle.
Speaking through art
For the past 20 years, Lynda has served as a panelist/judge and instructor in different art institutions in Southern California. She has also authored books and published research materials, mostly on Philippine minorities.
And when it comes to Lynda’s accomplishments as an artist, the space allotted for this article won’t suffice—she has garnered so many awards, recognitions and exhibitions in museums and galleries all over the country, averaging at least four to five each year. In 2013, she received seven.
Lynda’s art is highly representational and yet they invite the viewers to ponder. The paintings are charged with underlying philosophical messages, and speak to the viewer. Being an artist too, I see an incredible depth in her paintings, be it in oil or in watercolor.
“California Grandpa,” a watercolor painting of the artist, was selected in the prestigious art book, “Splash 14: Light and Color (The Best of Watercolor),” edited by Rachel Rubin Wolf. The book showcases the finest watercolor paintings created today by the best contemporary watercolor artist in America and around the world.
It’s been said that ship does not sink because there are waters around it; the only reason it sinks is if the waters get inside. Lynda doesn’t let her outward condition or health issues become her identity and dampen her spirit.
I reckon there is much to be learned from Lynda’s positive outlook toward life: she has proven the capacity of the indomitable human spirit and further demonstrated the incredible potential of love—love for her loved ones, love for art, the love to be alive—for her to get the power and give all the best in life despite the insurmountable odds gripping her. — BM, GMA News
Vics Magsaysay is a Los Angeles-based writer. He is also a fine-art nature photographer, painter, sculptor and graphic designer and holds a doctorate in clinical hypnotherapy.
