This is the story of a woman who is “semi-retired” at 43 years old. She has been a Developmental Aid worker and currently creates and sells her art works. What’s a day like for a self taught artist?

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Titled “A Day In The Life Of A Woman,” this series celebrates the women in our lives. From the everyday to inspirational, the series aims to highlight women from various fields and share a bit of the diversity we experience every day.

Primavera Dequito is currently “in-between contracts” but her friend calls it “semi-retired.” A self-taught artist, she has been successful in selling her art, specialising in painting freeform or freestyle Mandala using acrylic paint on canvas. She also does pen art or “doodling” on Medium Density Fibreboard and on thick black paper to keep it fresh and for variety.

She has conducted several workshops on Basic Mandala Art in Davao City and was featured in a local daily last year. Whether or not she lands a job, she plans to organize more workshops this year and get her previous artworks printed on a calendar or sold digitally.

Below is how a day in her life goes:

7 AM: Usually I wake up at 5AM but it takes me another full hour to get out of bed and start doing regular housework such as sweeping the front and backyard. This is my version of low-impact exercise. It doesn’t burn many calories but it gets the body circulation in top shape.

8 AM: Breakfast with the family and updating my Mom’s daily health monitoring record book.

9 AM: More housework like weeding and pruning. Otherwise, I am off to the supermarket, drugstore, or banks to get what I need for the house like groceries, medicine and money to pay bills.

10 AM: Read my e-books on Mandala after which I read online articles and websites on certain sectors just to keep myself abreast with issues pertaining to sectors that I’m interested in working for.

12 NN: Lunch with the family.

1 PM – 4 PM: Work on my drawings or paintings or whatever media that I’ve been commissioned to work on by my clients. In between, I annoy my pet cat, Hissler.

5 PM: Bond with my mom while watching local news on television.

6 PM: Update my social media accounts and respond to messages, if any.

7 PM: Dinner with the family.

8 PM: Since I got a lot of orders for pen art/doodle on black 5R paper during last year’s Christmas, I decided to produce more as “stocks on hand”.

10 PM: Lights off.

Overcoming Challenges Through Art And Passion

Primavera says creating art has helped her mentally and emotionally overcome the stress of finding a new job in developmental aid. “My Mandala artworks have kept my life ‘centered’ and my thoughts grounded amidst the trials I’m facing today. So I’m encouraging art enthusiasts and those seeking emotional release through non-verbal outlet to discover therapeutic art.”

She also believes that passion can help her achieve her goals. “My mind is a blank slate so far on how to get started because of other pressing priorities from the domestic front, but the passion is there, and I believe it should be included as the 5th “P” in the Four Ps of Marketing,” she shares.

See more of Primavera’s art on Instagram @Veradeek274.