Art therapy

Depression and stress can be crippling. It can steal the light out of your body and soul in a snap. It’s hard to imagine anything good can come out after the pain and the grieving. And it’s equally amazing how we can discover strength during our weakest and lowest moments.

These were sentiments of former chief economist of Far East Bank and Trust Co. Emma Reyes-Pante after her bank merged with the Bank of the Philippine Islands.

"I loved working for the company. But I could not cope with the merger. I became depressed, seeing a lot of my friends move out. The experience was jolting because my synchrony was lost," recalls Reyes-Pante.

The classic signs of depression were there – crying jags, nausea, loss of appetite, insomnia, always in a daze. In a matter of weeks, Reyes-Pante shed 25 pounds.

Her family sent her to the United States to begin the process of healing. While there, the sullen Reyes-Pante was pushed by her sister to go into ceramic painting at Color Me Mine (CMM), part of a growing international chain of color-it-yourself studios for ceramics, glass and other media.

"I had no artistic inclination but there I was, feverishly painting on ceramics. I spend the entire day at the studio for two weeks and I was happy working with my hands. It amazed me that when people go to the studio to paint, they left with a better disposition and really looked more relaxed," she says.

Sharing the experience

Reyes-Pante wrote to CMM president Michael Mosslin about her healing process, and was eventually granted the master licensee of CMM in the Philippines.

By July last year, the first CMM outlet in the Philippines, done in bright, pick-me-up colors, opened its doors to the public.

"I like to deal with people and I have a strong sense of empathy," she says.

Pante’s sensitivity is evident in the way she treats each customer that walks into CMM at the 5th floor of the Shangri-la Plaza.

During the interview with Reyes-Pante, a customer walked in and was greeted by Pante and her friendly staff. The customer gave a wan smile and went through the motions of studying the rows of plates, jars, mugs, glasses and figures ready for painting. Pante somehow sensed her pain. It was a sight all too familiar to people like her who have gone through the same.

"She has the saddest eyes I’ve seen in months," Reyes-Pante tells this writer and interrupts the interview to entertain the customer. In a matter of minutes, the dazed woman chose a plate ceramic and, in no time, warmed up to Reyes-Pante’s bantering and was practically pouring her heartbreak to a total stranger.

After only seven months, business, is picking up for CMM. On the drawing board are plans to open up outlets at SM Megamall and Alabang Town Center. There are also plans to put up satellite studios in two major hospitals, one at the Makati Medical Center and the Asian Hospital at Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang.

Surviving

Initially tapping the AB market, CMM is reaching out to the CD market. Aside from thosE seeking a way to de-stress, CMM also caters to families and kids.

On weekdays, except for Wednesday, the CMM studio accommodates a thin crowd. But on weekends, it’s usually a full house.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of CMM’s revenue do not come from walk-ins but from its various packages, from souvenir items to corporate giveaways.

Unlike other paint-it yourself stores that have cropped up in other malls, CMM distinguishes itself by being the only one that uses imported ceramics from the US and uses unleaded, non-toxic, food safe under-glaze for its wares.

Reyes-Pante has also tapped two local ceramics suppliers, in part to cut cost and in part to promote local materials.

"If local manufacturers meet international standards, they can supply the global market. That would revive a lot of ceramic manufacturers that have closed shop," Reyes-Pante says, adding she is investing a lot in development costs these days to see if more of CMM’s supplies could be done locally.

That CMM is surviving despite the difficult times only reflects the need for people in this stressful environment to have an outlet to express themselves artistically and productively.

"This is a healing place. When you come here, you just want to escape for awhile and forget, recharge and be able to move on," says Reyes-Pante.

More than just the fulfillment of running a successful business, it is the exhilaration coming from seeing CMM customers walk out of the studio rested and happy, finding another world and rediscovering their own strengths to let them pick up the pieces of their once shattered lives, that keeps Reyes-Pante going.

And along the way, the cash register is ringing.