To the right of the foyer a room is peppered with some of his artworks including his early sketches drawn in pencil. On the other side of the foyer is the main gallery, which houses most of his paintings. “I don’t want to be stuck in one concept or style. I just go with whatever I feel like painting. No rules. No one can dictate me. As an artist, I need to evolve. I like challenges. I love experimenting. I love them all–figurative, abstract, landscape,” Veridiano says. The entire level is wrapped with floor-to ceiling louvres made of ipil wood, which open widely, allowing unhampered views as far as the eyes can see. The louvres are matched with ipil wood flooring, which ties together the warm and cosy vibe the owner aimed to achieve.

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The gallery continues to the primary  bedroom, which can be found towards the end of this level. Here, a huge floating bed backdropped by My Geisha 1 catches the eye. The open layout allows natural light and air to flow fluidly into the room without the use of air conditioning. What made this spot even more interesting is the absence of elements that separate the bedroom from the bathroom. “I was supposed to enclose the bathroom with glass partitions but I would like to observe it first. I may just retain this as is because I love the fact that light and breeze flow freely here,” he explains. Behind the freestanding tub is a vignette composed of a trio of male nude paintings interspersed with towering indoor plants. 

Going one level down brings you to a spacious lanai fringed by pocket man-made ponds that also lead to the main dining area and an adjacent spa room and powder room. On the other side of the lanai is the guest room where Veridiano would usually spend the night now that the master bedroom has become part of the gallery upstairs. 

The studio can be found at the lowest level of the house, facing the river. It is also in this area where he invites young, less fortunate painters for workshops under the mentorship of experienced artists. “I want to have someone to teach them how to paint professionally. I will also take charge of the materials. I have five artists under this programme now. They can also sell their paintings or hold an exhibit here,” he says. The studio exudes this feeling of guiltless excess: beautiful splashes of colours everywhere, large abstract paintings on the walls, and a smorgasbord of furniture pieces collected over the years from the different corners of the world. “I want this place to be inspiring…to evoke joy,” he says.

While Veridiano has been a long-time art enthusiast himself, he just started getting personally involved in the art sphere only in 2019 when he met with some of his old friends from Laguna. “We were thinking of ways to promote our province and then they said why not promote the local artists. When I was introduced to some of their works including those of Lito Ballaran, I was in awe and I got inspired,” he says. Hailing from San Pablo City, Ballaran, a painter whose works echo impressionism and realism, would later on play a role in Veridiano’s artful journey.

The group had plans in the drawing board already about this initiative to help promote homegrown artists who lack resources and exposure, however, everything got halted by the pandemic. “I rushed from Nagcarlan to Manila before the lockdown because I thought it would be more convenient to get stuck in the city,” Veridiano says, since everything was on a pause including his landscape projects. It is in isolation that Veridiano rediscovered his talent for drawing, and later, in painting. “I tried to draw on paper and I even used a red pen because that was what I had around. I drew the face of my mother and to my delight the result was not disappointing. I told myself, ‘Aba, maganda!’ [Wow, it’s beautiful,” he says, happy with the outcome of his first work. From pen and paper, he then tried using pencil, and when the lockdown was gradually lifted, he bought more artist-grade materials. “Without me realising it, I would wake up at 2am sometimes to paint. I would get in the zone and would not stop until I finished what I was doing. If I mix a colour that I like, I would perfect it and repeat it on my other works. Before I knew it, I amassed a lot of finished artworks already,” he says, some he would even give away as gifts. 

As a frustrated architect, Veridiano knew early on when he was younger that he liked to draw and paint but it was only recently that he allowed himself to dive deep into it. “It came at the right time because I can now afford buying professional grade materials. Had I started in my youth, I would not be able to buy these things and that might have discouraged me,” he explains. 

The landscape artist grew up in poverty, up in the hills of Nagcarlan where he would walk long hours going to school every day. “When I was seven, every time I would walk down the hills going to school, I would pass by a huge anubing tree along the way. I remember I would pray in front of that tree begging to lift me out of poverty. I was so tired walking up and down the hills everyday to the point that I promised myself I would work hard elsewhere and never return here,” Veridiano narrates. “But guess what? When I bought this property, to my surprise, that very tree was inside the lot I now own,” he adds, as if fate was teasing him. The irony of it all is that he now feels more at home and at peace when he stays in Nagcarlan, away from the urban jungle.

The self-taught landscape artist declares he is also a self-taught painter. “I do not have any formal art education. I would just watch Youtube videos and see how they use this and that, how they combine colours, etc. And then I would try the techniques on my own, sometimes modifying them. There are times I would send photos of my works to Lito Ballaran and he would guide me,” he shares, adding that it was Ballaran who encouraged him to try using acrylic and canvas, which he willingly did. The result is a huge collection of oversized paintings that continues to grow to this day. 

As Veridiano carried on with her new-found love for painting, he started to visit major art fairs in different countries. “I visit art fairs in order for me to gauge where I am at now in my craft. Are my works at par with other artists? I want to check out the current trends as well. Additionally, I am very interested to learn more about how to run a gallery, that is, without exploiting young and promising artists. I want to uplift them,” he says. “I prayed to God to give me an outlet or work that I can do on my own when I retire; a work that does not require me to depend on others. In landscaping, I had to depend on many people, on my team. But with painting, it’s all me. It’s my creative freedom,” the artist continues.

While Veridiano admits he does not consider this second home as his dream home just yet because to say so  already means he will stop building—which is not the case. “I still want to build more,” he declares.

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