As Urban Dictionary puts it, an ARTISTPRENEUR is an “artist with an entrepreneurial mindset. Someone with artistic abilities who is able to look at themselves as a business in addition to being an artist.”
Perfect to that description is the up and coming Cebuano artist, Jennifer Ann Regidor, who’s fresh from completing her Junior High studies at sixteen with honors and distinction in Arts. Not only she draws, she also paints and does calligraphy prints on personalized notebooks, cards, bags and other merchandise which she sells to her friends and to people she meets in bazaars. At such a young age, she is able to complement her artistic abilities with her entrepreneurial skills. Now that is worth a shout-out in this spotlight corner!
I knew Jen when she was still in grade school when I asked her to join the scrabble varsity team for Milo Little Olympics. I already noticed her in class and in Scrabble practices that she dabbles in drawing and I wasn’t even surprised that she has widened her horizon to other art forms in high school.
When I saw her calligraphy art works in Facebook, I loved her designs so I asked her to make greeting cards for my boyfriend on our monthsary. I loved each card she made because nothing beats giving a personalized card that can’t be found in any regular card store.
Now with years of practice up in her sleeves, and a load of eye-candy masterpieces to her name, she has reached the stage of trying new medium to work on and eyeing on some new projects, as well.
On a school break, I met up with her and asked her some questions over coffee. Jen was candid in sharing how she started her passion for art, her work and her future plans for her masterpieces.
Let us know more about the young artistpreneur.
Lifeisbeyeeutiful (L): Tell us a little about yourself
Jennifer Ann Regidor (J): I love to draw. I’ve drawn since I was a little kid back in Nursery. I just really enjoyed drawing, painting and doing all the art stuff. It became a hobby until I kept doing it for years.
L: At what age did you start getting into arts and crafts?
J: It started at a very young age. When I was about two and a half, I went to daycare and I had fun doing projects there. That’s how I discovered art at that stage of my life. Then in Nursery, I was considered as an “artist” because of the art stuff I kept doing in school.
L: How did you get into the hobby?
J: I got into the hobby because I grew up with people who are into arts – my two brothers and my mother. My mother is into drawing and my brother influenced me to try doing arts.
L: Where do you get inspirations from your own creations?
J: I get my inspiration from Instagram, YouTube and artists that I follow on Facebook and other social media platforms. They helped me develop my style in drawing. And when I see something that inspires me, I try to incorporate it in my own art.
L: Where do you get all your materials?
J: I get my materials from Scribe and National Bookstore.
L: Was it hard for you?
J: It was hard for me to get into art especially when my older brother wasn’t that friendly to me when it comes to my art, he’d tell me my art was bad (giggling in between) but it made me more determined to improve my art style. And now he appreciates my craft and even asks me to draw something for him.
L: What was the hardest thing you ever made or did?
J: The hardest thing that I made was the project I did for school – it was a pop-up book. We were only given a short amount of time. Then in the middle of the week working on it, they changed the instructions so we had to start all over again. I cried over it a lot of times out of frustration but we pulled it through and our project won first place.
L: What is your favorite thing to make?
J: My favorite thing to do is working on portraits of beautiful women.
L: What are other crafts you would love to learn?
J: I would love to learn sculpting. I am amazed watching videos of artists making something beautiful out of clay. So it inspired me to try it for myself using the kids’ clay for practice. There is a specific clay that one use in sculpting though and it’s quite expensive.
L: Do you ever see yourself holding a workshop of your own to little kids or even adults in the future?
J: YESSSS! I want to hold a workshop for kids and to other people. It will be a great experience but I don’t have funds right now but I have plans in the future.
L: What advice can you give to other kids who are into arts or calligraphy?
J: Practice well with your craft so you’ll get better with it.
For personalized merchandise or other crafts made by Jen, just contact her through her mobile 0932-4178583. You can also check out her work through her Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.a.regidor and Instagram account, @jinipirdraws
A former educator and now working as a freelance writer. Simply living her own version of life’s passion – music, mobile photography, story telling, road trips and food trailing! 🙂