Ma. Victoria Ortega-Pollisco

Painter

A lawyer by profession and an artist by passion. Weekdays, Vicky is busy drafting, reviewing, and finalizing contracts for real estate projects. On weekends, she replaces legal pens and pads with paintbrushes pouring her colorful heart on vast and small canvases of realistic flowers. She is the Philippines’ Georgia O’Keefe! Painting each petal of the rose, birds of paradise, tulips, calla lilies, orchids…in unique colors, details, and textures. Inspired by nature’s blooms, Vicky “wants the viewer to smell the roses or feel the velvety petals of the flowers when they look at her paintings.”She caught the painting bug two decades ago under the tutelage of Rody Herrera but focused on realistic flowers instead of her mentor’s forte on portraits and realism of barrio scenes.

Eight years ago, she added abstracts to her art portfolio. Prompted by an interior designer’s request to buy two abstracts for her condominium unit, Vicky said, “Why buy? I can paint them!” And paint she did under Fidel M. Sarmiento. Vicky has held several successful solo art exhibits from her hometown in San Fernando, La Union, to the Archaeology of Power Plant Mall and Chef Jessie at Rockwell Club. She recently held her first online art exhibit. Her commissioned works grace restaurants in her hometown and the homes and law offices of her friends. Her paintings are also displayed at the model units of Bonifacio Civic Center Tower in BGC.

Vicky graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a Bachelor of Science in Legal Management (1985) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1989. She passed the 1989 bar exams and the real estate broker’s exams in 1990. She has been in the real estate business for 33 years, having worked for San Lorenzo Development Corporation, KPPI Land Corporation (now Shang Properties Inc.), Rockwell Land Corporation, and Bonifacio Civic Center Holdings Inc.