An incident in the past
It may have been roughly fifteen years ago but I could clearly recall how one of my classmates mocked my artwork back in my sophomore year. One of our teachers asked us to draw a pigpen. I know that I don’t draw well so I tried to compensate for the lack of skills with a little décor. My teacher praised me for doing so; in fact, it was hung on the wall together with the rest of Best Artworks for that project. But in front of everyone, my classmate stood up and questioned why I qualified for the award. I was deeply saddened by her actions which made me rethink if my creativity is enough to take me to the top.
Unfortunately, this little childish incident put off the blazing flame of creativity inside me. “Maybe she was right. There’s no room for me here”, I thought. Later on, I finally gave up my dream of becoming an architect and interior designer. Aside from that one incident, it was too costly and there’s no way my family could afford it back in the day.
Rediscovering the child in me
Fast forward to the last quarter of 2021, I knew I needed to do things differently when the new year comes. With COVID variants kept coming after the other, few travel restrictions are still in place. don't like doing the same thing over and over, 2022's a great time to start moving out of my comfort zone!
If there’s one thing I believe I’m good at, that’s finding, rediscovering, unleashing the child in me again. Remember when you were a child and it doesn’t matter if you do things incorrectly or if you don’t get the result you wanted but you kept pushing forward anyway. It didn’t matter if we fail, if things didn’t go our way, if people around us were terrible. We were once unstoppable; one unfavorable remark about our work never bothered us. And it’s as if the only thing that’s worthy of our attention was we were learning and we’re happy learning.
I met the child in me once again. I met her when I finally told myself to include the following goals in this year’s list without doubts if I could do it or not:
• Enrol in a dance class (which will be due next month)
• Learn how to paint (ticked off last February)
• Learn how to play the piano (hopeful to start by 3rd quarter)
When the time came for 2022 Goal Setting, I knew I had to write goals as if I’m the 6-year old kid cooking rice in a small pot we call kun-kun or kulon, which is a small pot made from clay. The kid who was never afraid of using the wrong color in her pre-school artwork because standards and expectations didn’t exist then.
The Art Bar
With a child’s heart, I visited Art Bar in SM City Cebu thrilled to buy my first painting materials. The Art Bar was any artist's dream place.
I didn’t do much research prior to buying so I just picked a few brushes (different sizes and shapes), bought a really cheap canvas pad, and of course, acrylic paints. It wasn't my first time in the Art Bar but haven't paid attention during the previous visits. It was only when I came back to finally buy stuff that I found the place mesmerizing. There were countless art materials to choose from; they have the usual acrylic, oil paint, pouring acrylic paint, and fancy glitter and metallic paints. I did the shopping as fast as I could or else, I'll go broke! 😂
Since I'm a newbie, I just bought the cheapest ones I could find. And here are what I got:
Off to paint
The time has come to show you how I fared in my first ever acrylic painting. I did all these 3 little paintings on a Sunday afternoon at home. It was one of the most relaxing time of the day, blocking off an hour or two just to sit down and take the brushes and colors I have and start the process of creating something amazing from scratch.
I got the idea and even the colors to use from a video on Youtube. I'm not confident using the entire A4 size canvas, so I divided it into four and ended up with mini-canvases.
I'm not sure if it was the brush I got or just me being the neophyte wannabe artist who couldn't figure out how to perfectly blend the colors. Nonetheless, it's pretty decent.
Moving unto the next step:
Here's the final output:
I was so happy with the result that I moved to the next painting right away. The adrenaline in my body was tremendously out of control! 😂
Here is the 2nd final output:
And when my mother thought I was clearing all the mess I created, I pulled out another canvas and started making the 3rd one.
The final output is here:
Progress over perfection
When we're aging (and aging fast 😌), it’s difficult to learn something when at the back of our minds, what we wanted right away is to be the best. There’s a notion that you have to be perfect and do things perfectly the first time and every time and if you couldn’t do so, might as well not try. We don't want to be labeled as failures. That’s why we stop discovering who we truly are beyond the doubts and fears; we fail to uncover what we are truly capable of if we only let the child inside us take over.
I was ready to fail, but I will never be ready to stop learning. Being another multipotentialite in town, I’ve always been drawn to do anything under the sun. This time, I decided to give art, specifically painting, a try. And there, I did it! And will continue doing the same. Remember, the only limit that exists is the limit you create. Now, I'm excited to buy a keyboard! And enroll in a dance class! When my spine's back to regular programming, I will surely be doing all that! 💪
That's it for today! When was the last time you allowed the child in you to take over? ✨❤️
Living life intentionally every single day, she believes that there’s no limit to one’s potentials. Right now, she’s on the loose for the pursuit of endless holistic self-growth and development. She wants to light the way for others. She believes there’s no better way to leave a legacy than to pay it forward.
Her ultimate goal in life is to reach the state of enlightenment where there’s nothing but peace, love, happiness, and contentment - nothing more, nothing less.
If you are captivated by what this girl just wrote here, an upvote is pretty appreciated. Follow her as she tells her stories full of positivities. The next story might be for you! ❤️
Oh, Pat, what a beautiful post! I thoroughly enjoyed it. The photos and the art are on point, as is the writing. Your journey and the way you share it are very inspiring. They bring out the kind of inspiration that actually generates action, which is pretty much the best.
I would love to do some shopping at The Art Bar. The place looks so cool! And the results you had from your artsy evening are great. Looking forward to seeing more of this, and I'm also curious about the dance class you mentioned.
I hope you're well, long time no see! Stay safe and happy, and see you around.
Hey there, @beautifulwreck! Nah, all ain't well. My spine injury's back after 6 years. I'm on PT now but feeling better today. I hope you are doing great! :)
Inspiration is one thing and action is another. In order to go limitless, we have to believe that we can actually do whatever we set our minds and hearts into. Or if later on, we found out we couldn't really do it, at least we tried.
I used to say "I'm afraid to swim. I don't think I can do it" "I'm not a reader so I won't read books" "I'm not creative so I won't try any sort of art" "I suck at Math so I'm not getting any work with Math" "I tremble when I speak in public, maybe I should hide forever and avoid speaking in front of people"
All these turned out to be lies I've been telling myself for the longest time and when I started believing that it's okay to fail and to fail endlessly until I learn a thing or two, I've accepted the fact that failure is inevitable. And if I had to fail more than I could imagine just to explore where my potential ends, I'd gladly do so.
I hope we all find peace and joy in doing the uncomfortable. ❤️
I'm very excited about the dance class, too. 😂 Once my spine ain't hurting anymore, will definitely enrol right away! 😁
Hi! I'm sorry to hear that your spine injury is back. Wishing for a speedy recovery for you, hope that PT helps.
Been there, done that. I like the way you summarized it. Awesome mindset!
Feel better soon, stay happy and safe.❤️
Waaaaaa. Im so happy and excited for youuu! Makainspire man ni uy. This made me reflect on the things I wanna do or try again as well! Haha cheering for youuu ❤
Hi, @herkeepsake! We don't have forever to contemplate when we'll do new stuff, I hope you'll finally try the things on your list! Kaya ra kaayu na, ikaw pa! 😁
Amazing!
Thank you! 😁
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Very good, I like to learn to be like that
Thank you @mnurhiver 😁
You're welcome @patsitivity , How are you
I find your artwork impressive.
I love drawing too when I was a kid. I was just not able to develop it mainly because of the nature of the environment that I grew up in.
I frequently visit creative art work communities to find inspiration.
I never paint so I learned a lot from your post.
Keep it up!
Hi @thecuriousfool, I'm flattered hearing your compliments.
I'm sorry to hear about the situation when you were still a kid. I hope you are in a better place now. Maybe it is not too late to try painting. Hehe 😁
It's nothing too serious. We just had to heavy stuff as kids to survive. 🙂 My hands at that time are too stiff to draw. 😃
I strongly believe its not late. A lot people would say so.
I'm also currently re-discovering my talent in arts. 🙂
What a lovely way of explaining your way in the creation of this post! I was totally satisfied with your works and how you narrate your feelings. Greetings!
Aweeee thank you for the kind words @andreany. Appreciate it! 🥰
Amiga, me encanto tu trabajo, tus obras son muy hermosas y con colores muy vivos! Me encantaron las fotos de la tienda en donde conseguiste los materiales, que inspirador. Me hizo recordar las veces en que iba a las tienda de arte solo a mirar y tocar los materiales, es un poco raro pero a mi me inspira un montón!
Aprecio mucho el arte tradicional, incluso quiero volver a ello lo más pronto posible,ya que lo he abandonado. Ame tu obra y espero ver más de tus trabajos amiga. Sigue así! Un abrazo🌸✨
el paraíso si existe
Oh my! Like a kid in a candy store, eh!?
Today just happens to be the 6 year anniversary of my adult tap class! It was so much fun!! Two of my besties and I took a class from another friend of ours from roller derby! We were TERRIBLE but we had a blast! What sort of dance will you be taking?
Also your paintings are gorgeous.
That's right! I love the spirit here @barracudadiaries! I can feel the excitement of taking the classes you've mentioned. We all have fun when we're out of our comfort zones, right?
I might check beginner's hip hop hehe
OOh! that sounds so fun! I can't wait to hear about your next adventure!
!hivebits