Drawing my blank

 “I am not the picture you’ve painted in your mind of me. No matter how beautiful, or how horrible it may be. They are your colours; and your own artistry”- Suhaib Rumi

  This adulting life is very confusing;one day you are rich, the next day you are a mathematician. So hello fellow mathematicians and welcome to my thoughts :)


     Hands were made for doing. For a carpenter to carve, a sculptor’s to sculpt, a mother’s to love and a father’s to protect. Mine are the hands of an artist. Every brush stroke of paint I make, every instrument I hold to play, every sketch I make, every everything that I ever; it all comes from a passion within. When speaking to a person who does possess my passion for the arts, it’s as though our conversation is not a conversation at all; but rather a sharing of different languages. They cannot grasp the idea that art is not solely a descriptive language , it’s a conjoining of both mind, body and soul. 

      Small trip down memory lane, I vividly remember when I discovered that I could really really draw...like for reals. The year was 2011 B.C. (Before Covid). 6^th November to be exact. Surprised that I can remember that much detail? Well, what if I told you that I can remember the faces of my classmates in kindergarten or that I remember the first day I joined pre-school ,or that if you could put me in an empty classroom, I could show you all my sitting positions from kindergarten all the way up to university? Yeah,blame it on high visual memory-a right brained thing (you can close your mouth now). So for as long as I live, many memories will remain etched at the back of my mind like a splash of white paint on a black background (sigh!! 8.4.4  compositions with their miraba minnes and misuli tinginyas…never again!)

      Art is the core of my being. It is engraved into every detail of my persona. Through art, I have learnt to find satisfaction in deconstruction. My father has always taught me to do things in spite of. In spite of others, in spite of circumstance, in spite of financial standing, in spite of constant doubt. I aspire to continue following that advice. I do not want to be limited by the width of brush that life offers me. I wish not to be constrained by the room from which I draw. I aspire for the lessons and skills I have learnt in my drawing room to leak through the cement walls and stamp the future ideals within me  as I apply them in my everyday life. Paper mâché ,for instance, challenges me to experiment with the messy and unexpected. Origami helps me to appreciate the beauty in simplicity. Manipulating the memory of the paper in an entirely reversible manner, resulting in folds, forms and patterns ;reflects the possibility of making something out of nothing. Painting reminds me to be adventurous with my forms of self-expression. Sketching teaches me the importance of rhythm and routine. Drawing is a way of thinking with pictures.

         I would like to paint a bright future and inspire others to use their hands to make something beautiful. I would like for others to see me and say, “ Look at what she’s done, in spite of. Worry less about your life expectancy ;rather more of what you expect from life and what life expects from you. If your life is your biggest project, why not design it? That is what I call drawing my blank.

P.S: Thank you for diving into my thoughts and thank you so much for helping the blog grow! Feel free to share this with your artistic friends  and engage with us by telling us what  your passions in the comment section. If you adored this article, then you will for sure enjoy my love letter to music. So subscribe to the blog to be the first to sip the tea!