Atty. Joy Rojas II, a visual artist who gets inspiration through his travels

Ni Oggie Medina

DURING his teen years at La Salle Greenhills, Atty. Jose Ferdinand “Joy” Mendoza Rojas II used to do buy-and-sell of different kinds of goods. He would sell them to the parents of his classmates and to the offices where his father Jose Agreda Rojas would go during summer time. Later, he was exposed to real estate business after graduating at the University of Massachusetts where he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree, majors in economics and political science, cum laude, in 1988.

Then he graduated at Ateneo de Manila University Law School in 1994 with Juris Doctor of Law. In that same year, he passed the grueling bar exams. After that, he tried working in a private law firm as an associate from 1994 to 1995. He later became a partner at Rojas Sales De Leon Tecson & Desiderio Law Office. In 2000, he put up his own law office, the Jose M. Rojas II Law Office, which is engaged in the general practice of law.

Though he has been into business and legal works, he has his other side: the visual artistry in him that began as a part of charity endeavor for him to help others. This former PCSO general manager, known for his compassion and action, participated in most art-for-cause exhibits. On December 2, 2017, he held his first solo show at Mandaluyong City’s Saturday Group Gallery. His show focused on strong material on winning racehorses since he was once chairman of the Philippine Racing Commission.

Art critic Sid Reyes claimed that Rojas pursued a strain of abstraction in the tradition of French informel and matier or matter painting initiated by Jean Dubuffet, Jean Futrier and Georges Mathieu. “Rojas transforms a surface into an encounter with the infinite varieties of sensation, tension, and languorous mood,” noted Reyes.

His artistic journey has continued at the Artist Space in Makati City. He is part of the Saturday Group, one of the country’s oldest and most respected artists’ organizations, and has joined its many group exhibitions and collaborated with its artists.

Atty. Joy paints most of the time in his rented studio in Pasig City. He has been drawing and sketching horses and he believes painting is his expression of memories of places in abstract colors. He says he gets inspiration from the places, whether in the Philippines or abroad, usually in Japan, France, Spain and other European countries. He creates and innovates with his naturally gifted independent mind.

During weekdays, he focuses his time and energy to work, whether business or legal or even at times artistic. “Friday and Saturday nights, I devote my time with my wife,” he explains. On Sundays, he usually interacts with his in-laws and family members during lunch or dinner. He is also a lay minister at St. Peter and Paul Parish Church in Makati City. At times, he is invited as a guest in a Sunday radio program.

If he brings his work at home, it is not a problem with his wife because “my wife is also doing work even during weekends, so we complement each other.” His wife, Atty. Patricia Bunye-Rojas, is the first woman president of LES (Licensing Executives Society) Philippines, the local society of LES International, a worldwide federation of professionals involved in the transfer of technology, industrial and intellectual property rights.

If he has enough time, he reads autobiographies, the real life stories of people, as well as fictions. “I also love to read history books because there is something from the past that can be learned and applied at the present and future,” he says with alacrity.

During his early age, he was very active in playing tennis and badminton. Later on, he gets involved in equestrian and horse-back riding. “But I am involved in horse-breeding and horse-racing as a hobby,” says Atty. Joy who used to be the director and corporate secretary from 1997 to 2006 of the PHILTOBO (Philippine Thoroughbred Owners and Breeder Organization, Inc.).

Youngest among the brood of 7, Atty. Joy, a member of the Manila Jaycees from 1988 to 2006, ends this interview with this philosophy, “Make the most of your life by sharing what you have and serving others’ needs, and you will find happiness in your heart.”

It is certainly a truism after all that happiness is an elusive transitory thing but if you bring happiness to someone else then it comes to you with contentment and peace.