KC Nevada's Corner of the Sky: An Inspiration

Our Own World's Version of An Artist Inspiring an Artist

Maybe some of you (my dear readers) do not know yet that I have two kids in college, in fact, I have a daughter who's taking up Fine Arts at PWU.  My husband and I really didn't see this coming, specially when we were pushing our kids to excel academically.


Normally, parents would dream for their kids to be a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer or a successful business person.  I could never seem to fathom any parents dreaming for their kids to sell artworks, and in worst cases, having to see their kids artworks displayed in some galleries awaiting for a buyer.

But don't get me wrong, there are parents who'd support their kids all-the-way just to see them thrive in their chosen field, even in the field of arts.  We have to admit, not all categories of the art can make our kids rich nor successful (let's face it, most parents think practically for their kids), but most would mean their happiness and attesting to living their lives to the fullest.

And, yes, we have become those kind of parents.

But you see, we didn't know our daughter have had this gift of creating beautiful portraits and drawings not after finding out that she's part of their high school paper and making comic strips and some drawings on the said paper.  When we did find out, we couldn't say no when she wanted to hone her artistic gift.  So she went to get a degree in Painting.

However, I'm torn whether to feel wary about her future or how she could survive competition among other artists (well, there aren't too many of them, damn good ones), or whether she could get a profession that probably would pay off well enough out of this.  I know, I can hear myself talking negatively, but I'm a mom and all I want is to see a bright, shining future under a corner of her own sky.

This perspective change right after meeting up with an artist.

Together with my daughter, we were given a chance to visit an artist in her own dwelling.  Not only did we see some of her paintings (which some have already been sold), we were able to speak with her and somehow I gained a sense of silver lining.

Meet K.C. Nevada

Korina Carla Nevada (K.C.for short) is an artist by heart, she started young at the age of 8 joining her cousins in Baguio for weekend art lessons under a renowned artist name Ted Caja, as a "saling-pusa."

Painting was only an outlet during her maturing years but her love is in singing, as she shared to us. Her passion lied in the theater arts, immersing herself in community theater arts while she was taking up an International Baccalaureate  Program in the US.  She would paint during her college years but her paintings have been given to friends only and shortly after had fallen out of it, as she was more focused on singing and acting.

However, it was fate that actually sprung her way back into painting.  Being a single mom of an epileptic boy, she needed to find ways in helping him making sure his every needs were met.  She then decided to take up Masters in Special Education at Saint Louis University.  But with her son's disabilities, life proved her that it's not going to be easy, that included finding a proper school for him.

Her own 'Maalaala Mo Kaya" story gave birth to her first Art Show entitled A Corner of the Sky. With anxiety-related issues, due to deaths in their family, there was a point in her life that she doesn't know who she was anymore, as the only roles she knew at that time was as a daughter and a mother.

There was a part of her aching to do something that is creative, until she was able to awaken something inside of her that has long been sleeping, after a visit at the craft-store with her son and saw some acrylics.  It was his son's awe of her works that activated that passion in her to paint more, until she eventually saw herself buying more canvas and art stuff.

Painting had been therapeutic to KC, it helped her in a way of finding herself, her own voice back and finding a path to where she actually belong.

Last March when her friends sent her artworks to Baguio to be checked by professional artists, an art collector based in Baguio saw her works and suggested for her to put up a show.

Her first show, A Corner of the Sky pushed through just last April.  Which was taken from a song in a musical, Pippin.

As she let her spirit free, to find her corner of the sky, she was able to come up with 20 paintings for the exhibit.  When she started painting, she felt positive about herself and her paintings express that and how she would see the world around her.

The success of the first show paved way to the next one, which happened last Nov. 15 at Kamuning Bakery.

KC's faith, believing that there is more to life with a future of possibilities, gained me a deeper understanding that indeed there is, even for my daughter and for many other artists in the making.

Apart from making more paintings under Impressionism and Post-impressionism which eventually paid off as most of her paintings have been already bought at good prices, she also uses her craft to help kids with special needs at the school where her son goes to.  At Worldlab School, Inc., she volunteered to teach Art to special kids with learning disabilities. She started with a pro-bono work and with some art materials she donated for the classes she taught an now, KC handles Middle School and High School level art classes and they are planning to exhibit her students’ work in December.

Amongst, her other projects are collaborations with fan makers where her paintings turned into prints and used as designs and she is into experimenting painting on scarves.

To know more about her and her creations, do visit KC's Artworks at Facebook.