From Waiting for Meetings to Being 'Your Own Boss'
Written by: Alliah Importante | 10 months ago
Inha Arceo started her corporate job in 2015 and lasted for six years. Back then, it wasn't in her head to enter the art world and pursue being an artist. During the pandemic, she started to want to do something else that she enjoyed than just stare at her computer waiting for her meetings. Inha began with painting, and she started to get clients, then realized it was an opportunity to take hold of. After some time, she tried digital arts, so to her, it was a learning process that became a business. She did not expect it, but it just happened, and she continued pursuing it.
For Inha, having a corporate job is also security because if you are a freelancer, you're on the other side of the spectrum. It was her main struggle during that time, and if she would be willing to sacrifice something that gives her a stable source of income, or can she venture out into the unknown. Despite all of these, she said it's exciting, and when you step out, it's really a reality at the same time where you have to sustain yourself as well and not just go out there doing art.
When you look at Inha Arceo's illustrations on her Instagram, you will see that some of them have Filipino places like Siargao. Inha likes to travel to European countries, especially before the pandemic. Although she travels to Europe most of the time, she also has her usual favorite places here in the Philippines, mainly beaches. Every time she goes to the beach, she always makes it a point to have a cup of coffee and let everything in her surroundings sink in like the sense of the sea, and the smell of coffee just makes her feel alive. It may seem cheesy to some people, but to her, it just makes her feel human, and she thinks it is essential.
The inspirations for her artworks come from trying to illustrate things that make you, you. She would usually incorporate a quote if you noticed in her illustrations that some of them really come from her. To Inha, these quotes are like wherever she is in a specific place makes her appreciate little things or the good things in life. Places, traveling, coffee, and maybe even life realizations are some of the things that inspire her art. Being passionate about something will make you alive and know more about life. As Inha Arceo said, "Be yourself and do something that would make you passionate or feel alive at the moment."