Filipinos love to consume art. Paintings, comics, drawings, crafts, and other art forms have always been a part of Filipino culture. However, when it comes to pursuing art, people will most likely frown and doubt your decision to pursue your passion. How do we get over these kinds of challenges? This is what Indie-Co tackled in The Art of Pursuing Your Passion: A Roundtable Discussion with Filipino Artists, which was held on Zoom and streamed on Indie-Co’s YouTube channel last April 30, 2022.

The first part of the discussion featured Jewelle Villarisco of Jewie’s Art Space and Rio Sumalinog of Charms and Clays. Elijah Alonzo of Hellydgreat was originally going to be part of the panel, but she was unable to attend. In this portion, Jewelle and Rio talk about how they developed their passion for art and how they started actively pursuing it professionally. The pair shared stories of their early days as an artist, the struggles they faced, and how they realized that they wanted to pursue their art.

The second part of the discussion featured Christa Vega of #SecretNudes, illustrator and business owner Inha Arceo, and AJ Bacar of Sskait Comics. For their discussion, they focused on their own experiences leaving the corporate world to pursue art. Like the first panel, we heard stories of how they began and the struggles they faced. In addition to this, they shared their personal advice for artists who want to pursue art as a career.

The event featured a guest performance by Munchkin, a Filipino singer-songwriter and music producer who dreams of further pursuing music production and audio engineering. The giveaway winners were also announced during the event, and each winner received a pair of earrings from Charms and Clays and a 10% discount code. The event was made possible through our partners, PocketDevs, Maya Productions, online SDG Youth Action Forum (OSYAF), Saluchem, Charms and Clays, UP Animal Science Society, JCL Cebu Sinulog, and UP Business Administration Council.

Art is a beautiful thing, and pursuing it is courageous. Never let your fears and doubts hinder you, get started, and learn along the way.