Meet Ms. Donna Camaya of Fragments Handicrafts, the winner of the Resiliency Award during the Likha ng Central Luzon 2023

“The brightest stars shine in the darkest nights” is very dear to everyone’s heart. We all face our own dark times or nights in our lives. But how do we manage to cope up? Presenting Donna S. Camaya, the Capampangan’s Starry Night.

Donna Camaya, a Filipino inventor and “only” acrylic-on-tissue painting artist in the Philippines, also a mother to a deceased daughter, and a bereaved wife, went through a lot of hardships and hardest moments in her life which she considered as her dark night time before she was able to shine the brightest. Challenges and trials came which tested her faith and shook her life as a whole. But her star shines the brightest in the dark night. She embodied dedication, inspiration and success.

Miss Donz as how she is oftenly called, started her journey with DTI in November 15 of 2018 when she registered her business name “Fragments Handicrafts” with paintings and other handcrafted products as her items. After the registration, she was invited to join and participate to various DTI programs and activities such as seminars, trainings, product development and trade fairs. She made it a point to never miss an opportunity to grow her business. However, she veered away from the spotlight in the year 2020 as her eldest daughter was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure. On that same date, her husband died. This made her burden on her shoulders heavier. But the ultimate pain came when her daughter passed-away on April of 2021.

She almost gave up with this darkest moment in life, but with the support of her family and friends, she managed to turn the situation around and looked at things with silver lining. Armed with her experience and fueled by the pains, she bounced back better and used these as her inspiration for her next master pieces.

Opportunities knocked on her door, and fortunately grabbed the challenges to participate again in numerous DTI activities amidst the agony. In one of the trade fair activities, she met an exhibit curator and was invited to join in an art show which paved way for her to meet other fellow local artists and widen her network in her chosen artistry. Timely and fitting to International Women’s Day Celebration, she launched her first solo art exhibit entitled “The Fight was Won: A Tribute to Dane” on March 08, 2023 at Clark Marriott Hotel which she dedicated to her late daughter, Dane. She was celebrated by her fellow local artists as the first and only acrylic-on-tissue painting artist in the country, using facial tissue as her canvas for her creations, and invited guests from Femme Philippines, a famous tissue brand in the country, graced the occasion. The local executives from Pampanga expressed their overflowing support for being an epitome of strength and women empowerment. The occasion served as her breakthrough moment and made her shine the brightest like the stars at night. The event became brighter when her biggest artwork entitled “Starry Night in Pampanga” was sold for Php 100,000.00 and Femme Philippines conferred a sponsorship of supply of tissue to the artist and other possible collaborations.