Do you personally know someone who has become a hero when this pandemic started? I think we all do – a family member, a friend, a colleague, and even perhaps, you are one of these heroes I am referring to. People from the medical field like nurses and doctors are now known as the new breed of heroes – Pandemic Heroes. Aside from them, there are several other professions from the food and service industry that we can also consider heroes.
Last December, I decided to create Christmas tree ornaments made out of air dry clay. It was already late November when I decided to check out the little Christmas tree I have had in my shopping cart. This thrifty mom I did not order or added decorative balls and ornaments anymore, simply because I can actually craft them myself. The girls can create whatever design they like too.
Indak is part of my daughter’s plate in school. They had an activity at school wherein they needed to prepare a Zine. A zine (/ziːn/ ZEEN; short for magazine or fanzine) is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via photocopier. (source: Wikipedia)
She searched for references and came up with different drawings. One of which is that featured image. In each image, a description, experience, or story is required. She thought of including something about dancing and love.
Last Saturday, October 19, my girls attended the Hulma MNL Basic Air Dry Clay Funko Pop Inspired Workshop at the Papemelroti Artisan’s Workshop in its Main Branch in Roces Avenue.
Founded last February 2019, Hulma MNL was built by friends Marge and Czarina to help artists and aspiring ones discover and develop their skills. As they have mentioned in their Facebook page: “We exist to share the love of arts and crafts.”
Kea and I have not tried painting on T-shirts, ever. But this day had to come when we dared go for it. We have plain white and colored T-shirts I ordered and got on sale online. Kea was suppose to use them for a DIY iron on project, but it did not push through. We didn’t have a printer with pigment dye to achieve great results.
This t-shirt painting activity is not new anymore. Many artists have already done this, but she haven’t. I have not, and I did not have the confidence too. My daughter inspired me to try it with her. Because of her encouragement, I did found an image in Pinterest that I could use as reference. A simple design that would be perfect for my younger daughter.
My daughter K, @heyitskea on Instagram, learned about an app she can use for digital arts. So, she decided to try it and installed AutoDesk Sketchbook. Then there was the image of her being so busy with a few little artworks. She made a few until she decided to try something a little complicated, a BTS fan art as she call it. This one below took a little time and really challenged her because she did not use any stylus, just her fingers and mobile phone.
She is an ARMY, and her bias is Kim Tae-hyung, also known by his stage name V. K may have thought of challenging herself to make something a little more complicated. That is when she saw this photo of V and tried making her fan art. She posted this in her Instagram account and captioned: “My first try on realism digital art and it’s Taehyung! ?? I’m sooooo happy! This took me a week to finish tho ? Still getting used with it (app).”
Autism is commonly heard, however, there are several speculations about Autism and of the people affected by it. In the Philippines, it is estimated that there are around 1 million people living with Autism, yet not everybody can understand what it it’s like. The Autism spectrum Disorder is a condition where a person who is diagnosed with it will not have the same experiences but are noticed by the core symptoms.
Meet Calel, he is a 6-year old who was diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) at the age of four. A year ago, he discovered his love for animals and drawing and once he starts on a sketch pad he just cannot stop – his mother Marie, started posting his artwork on Facebook, when a friend commented that if in the case the drawing is produced to be printed on a t-shirt – he definitely would buy.
After a few months, Marie launched Calel’s Wacky Art Shirts for 3 reasons: to help with Calel’s therapy needs, to develop the business to eventually be taken over by Calel (when he gets older) and to spread Autism awareness. 
There are limited specialists in the Philippines for Occupational and Speech therapy. It is in fact, costly too. Kids with ASD need to attend SPED (Special Education) classes which can cost up to Php 60,000 a year. For every shirt purchased, this will help Calel’s parents to make sure he gets the special treatments that he needs.
Calel’s future is still unclear at the age of 6. He shows signs of progress, which is good. It is hard to tell if he will be able to live a normal life. If this becomes a success, Calel’s Wacky Art Shirts may become his own business to handle.
With the first batch of t-shirts printed and distributed, people that order asked about Calel and his condition. This helps Marie to talk about Autism. It was also a chance to educate them on what the family experience day-to-day.
There are so many designs to choose from and each is unique which you will surely love. T-shirt’s come in kids, men and women’s sizes.
Calel’s Wacky Art Shirts are being offered at introductory prizes for the first 100 customers. Please visit their Instagram account for updates and designs: calelswackyartshirts You may help Calel by purchasing a shirt through their Shoppee account: Mamaneesshop They are also accepting donations for art materials like sketch pads, crayons, colored pencils and pens.