Rec in her 20s

        Resurreccion (Rec), daughter of the late congressman Manuel Banzon and Teofila Garcia, was born in Balanga, Bataan in the Philippines, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of the Philippines. She worked for twelve years as Chief of the Evaluation and Analysis of Agricultural Projects in the Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Quezon City, Manila before joining her husband, Marcelo, a now retired official (Economist) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, in Rome, Italy, where they lived for 25 years.

        While in Rome and other cities of Europe she visited, she developed her artistic talents through frequent visits to museums, attending art lectures and reading books on literature. In 1976, she studied painting in private under the tutelage of an English professor, Robert Dickerson and in 1995 with an accomplished Italian painter, Francesca di Stefano. Also in 1995, she took a formal study at the prestigious Accademia delle Belle Arti di Roma (Academy of Fine Arts of Rome) under the guidance of professors Avanessian, Balestrelli, and Berdini, studying free-form figure drawing, etching, and engraving.

Rec during the '60's

        Rec paints in oil, watercolor, acrylics, and on ceramics. Special techniques in mixed media include adding salt for texture and egg yolk/white for the finish. Her subjects include still life, landscapes, portraits, to abstract representations. Because of her international background, her paintings reflect a sensitivity to multicultural diversity by showing typical native Filipino or Italian and Classical Roman scenes. Stylistically, her paintings vary from having traditional, naif, expressionistic, fantasy, and abstract styles. She conveys art with a good touch, pictorial instinct and imagination, with a particular emphasis in the blending of colors.

        A member of the United Nations FAO Artist’s Club, she has participated in a number of art exhibits in Rome, Italy, including: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (Terme di Caracalla), Embassy of the Philippines to the Holy See (Vatican), American Embassy to Italy (Via Veneto), Incontro dei Popoli ("Meeting of the Races"; sponsored by the City of Rome and Regione Lazio at Villa Borghese), the Spanish Cultural Center (Lungotevere), Fioranello Golf Clubhouse, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (Via della Mura Appia), Sala di Esposizione Accademia Romania (Viale delle Belle Arti) with positive comments from the critics and the public. In Norfolk, Virginia, she has exhibited her paintings at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Harrison Opera House, MacArthur Memorial, and the Filipino-American Student Cultural Center at ODU (Old Dominion University) in 1998 and 1999 in occasion for the Philippine Centennial and Philippine Independence Day. A member of the Chesapeake Bay Watercolorist Society since 1998, she has exhibited at The Artists Gallery and the Huff, Poole, & Mahoney corporate lawyers building at Virginia Beach, VA in 1999 and 2000.

Rec in 1994

        Rec received a Golden Chariot (Biga d’Oro) award for her work in art from OIPEC (Organizazione Promozionale Economiche e Culturale - "Cultural, Economic, and Promotional Organization") at the awarding ceremony held at the Hilton, Rome, Italy in May 1995 and another prize from FIDA (Fonte Internazionale degli Artisti - "International Artists Foundation"), called Un Quadro Sotto l’Albero ("A Painting Under the Tree"), awarded at the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro exhibit hall in December 1994 in Rome, Italy.

        Aside from being an artist painter, she also writes poems and other articles on philosophy published in the UN FAO CASA Gazette. She is a member of the International Poetry Hall of Fame based in Maryland, U.S.A., and later became a distinguished member of the International Society of Poets. She entered a competition for her poems, "Winter" and "Enigma", which were both chosen for the Editor’s Choice Award by the National Library of Poetry (MD, USA). Writing poetry and painting give her sensitivity and freedom of expression, and nourish her emotional growth and inspiration as an artist. In this manner, she strives to reach out and to challenge the imagination of others who appreciate poetry and art.