How I started
Hellooo!! It’s me.
Thought it’s about time I did an introduction around here and it’s pretty apt for my first blog post!
I’m Mel, the painter behind all the floral works you see here; some writing too. My name really is Melissa, and here’s my story on how I started —
I havent painted all my life. It only began seriously 3.5 years ago, as part of a gap year I took and of which I decided to start A Brush With Mel shortly after. Before that, I was in public service and back in school, Economics was what I majored in.
It wasnt that I disliked my job / what I studied. Back then, it just felt like it was the right time to move.
Painting — was a desire I buried but never quite left me since primary school. With a whole lot of encouragement from my best friend to give it a shot, and being single with nothing to tie me down financially, I went and took a gap year.
How I spent it was planned/intentional, but the outcome could’ve been anyone’s guess. For all I knew, I could’ve turned out to be a terrible painter. The last 3 months of it was set aside for painting, and that’s what I did at my desk everyday for hours on end.
I’d be lying if I said they were the best 3 months of my life. On one hand it was liberating to paint for nothing/whatever I wanted. On the other, it was stressful with insomnia for company; the time was coming for me to decide on what’s next when my gap year was up. The pressure, to have something decent to show at the end of it, was also real.
What made me decide to continue painting full time after my gap year, was the progress that 3 months yielded. It definitely wasnt enough to be good, but good enough for me to want to pursue it longer, to see how far I could go.
And that pretty much sums up how A Brush With Mel came about and here I am.
3.5 years in, I’d say —
nothing’s overnight. It’s still just the beginning, with more to come!
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If you’d like to know more about my journey / are thinking of taking time to pursue some interests and would like me to share more, feel free to reach out via email/ IG DM!
