Newman: Painting beauty, encouraging art

While encouraging other artists to pursue their passions, former Saipan resident Olivia Malit Newman continues to share Saipan’s scenic beauty with art lovers and patrons.

Newman, one of 23 artists to display their work at the Organized Brotherhood Relating to Arts Exhibition at Guam’s Micronesian Mall, showcased her piece on Managaha Island. The exhibition ended last Dec. 10.

Aligning with the exhibition’s theme, “Waves and Strokes,” Newman displayed the 24” x 36” acrylic work featuring Saipan’s Managaha Island at the exhibition as she considers it one of her favorite pieces.

“I used to live on Saipan for 11 years and I love Managaha, so I was so inspired to do a big painting this time,” Newman said.

But Managaha was not the first or last of Newman’s take on Saipan. Having already completed two versions of Suicide Cliff, and her piece on Forbidden Island, which have already been sold, she is excited about her most recent piece on Saipan, which features Bird Island.

“Right now, I’m actually in the process of making Bird Island’s view. I can’t wait for this to finish…” she said.

Newman plans to submit it to one of Guam’s exhibitions, and hopefully display it in Hawaii.

“There is always a call for artists here in Guam. Sometimes they’ll feature [the work submitted] in Hawaii, Taiwan, or Fiji. This time, after we submit it and if it gets accepted, then they will bring it to Hawaii,” she said.

Since landscapes are her favorite pieces, Newman take hikes and observe nature, and later put her observations on a canvas. She said she hopes to convey the beauty of the islands to other art enthusiasts.

“I want to portray the beauty of the islands of Guam and Saipan,” she said. “I was born and raised in the Philippines, but it was when I stayed on Saipan and Guam that I learned to appreciate the island sights, appreciate nature, meditate, relax and take care of yourself,” she said.

Shortly after college, Newman moved to Saipan, and it became her home for 11 years. It was here where her buried passion for art resurfaced. “[Art] has been my passion since I was in high school. My parents didn’t want me to take Fine Arts because they kept saying there’s no money in art…I became a dentist [and] moved to Saipan, and then, all of a sudden, I just felt like, why don’t I go back to painting? That’s my passion anyway and I did it.”

After her time on Saipan, and after the loss of her husband, she relocated to Guam in 2008.

Newman has now become a full-time artist and has assumed the lead role in the art group OBRA, or Organized Brotherhood Relating to Arts, since 2014.

With OBRA, she tries to create a platform for other artists to unleash their creativity. “Since the exhibit at the Micronesia Mall, there’s a lot of new artists that want to join us. It’s going to be more of a time investment for me… [but] I want this group to enjoy what they are doing and I want them to have fun,” she said.

Since becoming OBRA’s president, Newmam said her goal is shorter meetings, less talk and more paintings. “So we did it. And most artists like that because they cannot paint at home or at school, and they want to see other artists’ work so they can learn from them, and share, so it’s really a good inspiration and exposure.”

Aside from Newman, other artists featured at the OBRA exhibit were Maila Pujol, Marcial Pontillas, Richelle Canto, Maria Fitzpatrck, Grace Gueco, Andrew Gulac, Yeon Sook Park, Paul Mendiola, Marcus Villaverde, Novem Gimoto, Sharon Cardona, Gisela Guile, Ehrian Marquez, Lolit Poblete, Rachael Nussbaum, Renee Veksler, Karen De Waal, Stephanie Quitugua, Viola Roces, Angel Piper, Maggie Clark, and Zamie Zamora. Their art combined gave the exhibit an impressive 50 pieces.