Within the four corners of her bedroom, Dee Escalante’s 10-year-old self didn’t imagine that she would someday become an artist, especially when she had just written it on a whim in her yearbook after seeing a wall poster of a Filipino painter in their classroom, but the Master Designer seems to have established the course of her life without her younger self knowing; 16 years later, she would eventually become the person she never expected to be.
Based on the wisdom from the book of Ecclesiastes, there is indeed a time for everything—a predestined season for an artist to become one. This encapsulates the unmistakable life of Desiree Jane “Dee” Escalante, a visual artist from Bicol, Philippines.
For Dee, art was a foreign place where she didn’t see herself. Yes, she liked sketching anime characters as a teen and yes, there was a time when she didn’t go to sleep until the bright, raw, and overwhelming images filled her mind, compelling her to unleash them on paper, but pursuing art as a grown-up wasn’t part of her childhood imagination. What made her the artist she is now is purely divine; one chance encounter is all it took for her.
During the start of the pandemic in 2020, Dee ventured into gardening which she turned into a business as a side hustle. She made and sold garden pots, along with garden soil and plants. One of her customers who owns a business in Bicol, whom she refers to as Ms. E, saw great potential in her painting skills after seeing the little designs she added to her garden pots. With just one question—“Why don’t you do murals for me?”—she finally got past the threshold of her destiny.
As a muralist, Dee’s world expanded; the wall became her canvas and the world became her inspiration. Numerous mural commissions followed her after her successful deal with Ms. E; it became her gateway to traveling the country and decorating the walls with huge leaves and flowers, representing her love for nature and the happiness it brings to people.
From garden pots and walls, Dee’s artistry also found its way to canvas. She uses acrylic, gouache, watercolor, and colored pencils as her medium. Like her murals, her canvas creations are nature-inspired with the addition of winged creatures and increased vibrancy. The switch from wall to canvas made her realm feel smaller but it didn’t restrict her from creating the way she used to.
Bold, striking, and colorful, Dee’s artworks exude comfort and delight, but unlike most artists who express themselves candidly to the point that it penetrates the viewer’s heart, her magnum opus is the opposite. In a world where people are mulling over sadness and melancholia, she intends to conceal her real emotions in hopes that they will be uplifted upon looking at her art.
The lives and works of Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Polina Bright, Valerie Lin, and Jess Karp inspire Dee and her works the most, but it was Filipino visual artists Joey Hugo and Angelo Perida from the Bicol region whom she considers her mentors.
Art, for Dee, is a journey where an artist gets face-to-face with herself; it is a doorway to many opportunities, letting the artists experience everything all at once.
“Hindi rin siya madali. Maraming pagdadaanan [pero] ang kagandahan sa art, madami kang matututunan. Marami kang matututunan sa sarili mo, madidiscover sa sarili mo, marami kang mae-experience, marami kang mapupuntahan, marami kang makikilala…”
[Art is not easy as well. There’s a lot to go through but the beauty of art is the lessons it carries; you’ll learn and discover more about yourself, you’ll experience many things, you’ll go to many places, and you’ll meet a lot of people.]
Dee’s younger self might not understand how the world works yet, but if there’s one thing she needs to know, it’s that what’s meant for her will always find its way to her, even if it takes a long time, that’s why she need not be worried—the heart will always know when it’s the right time to awaken someone’s love for artistic expression.
“I think nakikita ko ‘yung sarili ko [in the future] na full-time, ito pa rin ‘yung ginagawa. And I’m praying and I’m hoping na ito pa rin habang buhay, wala nang iba.”
[I think I see myself as a full-time artist in the future, doing the same thing. I’m praying and hoping that I’ll continue doing nothing but this, forever.]
Dee’s artworks have been displayed at the Panalmingan Art Exhibit at Robinsons Place Naga (2023), Tagboan Art Fair 2023 at Naga City Hall Grounds, and Lilang Malaya, Radikal, Liberal at the Universidad de Sta. Isabel on March 22-31, 2024.