There’s something in winning and getting recognized for a piece one had little to no mastery of – a drive that kindles the flame of doing ‘that thing’ one got recognition for.
That same drive is what pushed Desiree Mendoza, a BS Interior Design freshman at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, to where she is at right now. With nothing but a single piece of paper and a modern brush pen, Desiree brought words to life with fancy strokes and decorative lines.
“It all started in a slogan making contest when I was in junior high school, given that the piece was created at our home, I had the chance of gathering ideas from the internet and there I discovered the art of calligraphy. I earned the 2nd Place in the said contest thus making me motivated in creating more,” she stated.
With the motivation to continue, Desiree made more artworks and made use of her resources to open a new world for her. Despite being a beginner and a junior high school student, she opened up her own platform and accepted commissions, “I made my commissions open in the same year (2017). I was a beginner back then and my first commission wasn’t claimed by the client. I knew I wanted to create designs for notebooks and keychains, that’s why I opened my shop named Made by Ishi Mendoza,” she said.
As a beginner, Desiree thought competing for recognition in the online art community would be hard. There are tons of other people wanting for their art to be brought to light too, and she often doubted herself in the process, but now, she takes that ‘doubt’ as something that can help her improve her art more. As tiring as it is, Desiree pursued in creating pieces that made her happy and fulfilled, “I was scared to explore new things and to show my work online, but that same Art community inspired me to create more!”
Calligraphy art is something most people would find easy, with just a brush pen and a skilled hand, one can easily make an artwork to be called. However, not everyone can execute it well, and bring harmony to the words put on paper.
Desiree’s three years of making calligraphy art definitely helped her improve her art. What was once just something she did for a contest is now a part of her life, a huge flame she will never want to put out, ever burning. Now, she is ready to venture into different fields and make her art journey more memorable. —Lei Jorielle Soria/ The Freehand Feature
IG: leftylettersbyishi FB: ishimndz
Comments