I come from a
family of poets and painters. My
paternal grandfather encapsulated both painter and poet to the fullest effect. Back in the 1990’s, my grandparents lived
in Canada. My grandfather’s paintings
and poems were so important and ingrained in him that he had a sunroom with
minimal closed walls and maximum glass windows. The windows were so spotlessly clean that Mother
Nature herself in all her glory of sunshine and blue skies along, gloomy
beauty of rain, and purity of snow was so clear that you could almost feel
like you were outside. He had a table
of paintbrushes and thick paints.
He showed me these paintings against the dramatic backdrop of Mother Nature
and would say, “You will see the paintings best in the light.” My aunt was also a painter. I
remember him and her showing me their Chinese paintings that had dark colors
and multitude of mountains. I also come from a
family of writers and rebels. At a young
age, I learned meaning of “The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword.” I learned how stringing and forming certain
words had the power to hurt or heal. I
learned that words could form and create magical and memorable stories of our
lives to share and speak out to others.
I was taught to fight for what you believe in even if you are in the
lonely minority because living a life of personal truth, morals and principles
held the greatest meaning than to live a life unlived and not meant to be
that was actually the saddest life there can possibly be. I came to believe that timing is everything
in life, and that it is most important to pick battles in order to win wars. Growing up, I
always considered myself a writer.
Never an artist. My aunt
enrolled me in a drawing class when I was living with her one summer. I learned how to draw flying birds and
buck-toothed bunnies. I was bored in
those art classes. It was not until I
was in high school and then in college that I fell in love with clay and
ceramics. There was something about the
feel of the clay in my hands. With my
hands, I had the power to build, mold, and really create anything and
everything. All through college whenever I was stressed from a brain draining
psychology class, I escaped to the chilly ceramics room to pound and punch
clay to form something. Really Anything. It was fun.
It was invigorating. It was
empowering. Recently and completely
unexpectedly, I stopped by at a pottery place just to check it out for grins
and giggles. I joined a bunch of
strangers on a Friday night that had tons of free food (you can always get me
to go somewhere if there is food and especially if it is free) and shelves
and shelves of beautiful and whimsical pottery pieces. Plates.
Bowls. Cups. Cute figurines. All these pieces were meant for serving,
supporting, or just bringing a big smile.
The name of the game was that you pick a piece, paint it, and wait at
least a week to find out how the piece turned out. That night, I listened to many of these
ladies fretting over what paint colors to choose from and saying, “Oh, this
is so stressful and I do not know what I am doing!” I could have chosen any piece. There were a large variety of colors to
choose from. However, I stuck with a simple vase and the
four paint glazes they had to offer. I
wanted to keep it simple. Simple is
usually better. Less is more. I listened to these ladies’ conversations
with a lazy ear as my main interest and focuses that night were the cheese and
crackers and just shutting down my mind down to paint. No thinking. Only painting. Without even thinking and me keeping
uncharacteristically quiet, I painted.
I was the first one
to finish painting my piece and leave that pottery place on that night. I was probably also the first one to pick
up my piece a week later. I was
completely pleasantly surprised at my very first painted vase that was decked
out in warm cinnamon brown and cool teal. I was
shocked at how the colors I had painted on had been supposedly muted and
boring before going into the kiln, but actually came out in brighter than
ever with a shiny and glossy sheen. I was hooked. Since then, I have
painted a bowl and three plates. I had
a blast with three plates, but one plate was annoying and getting me frustrated,
impatient, and mentally challenged with the art of symmetry versus asymmetry. The only wiring in my mind when I am about to
paint are the colors I will choose and the extra design I might make, whether
it be dots, stripes, or even bubbles.
Each time I have had to hand in a piece to be put into the kiln, I
have no clue how the piece will really turn out. I have no idea if the colors will really
mesh and matchmake well together. I also
must wait at least a whole week to see the final product in all its painted
glory. I have realized that this whole process of
picking a piece, painting it, and waiting on the final product is so much
like life. There is so much that you
can or do put out there, do or even overdo, and then you have no choice but
to patiently wait on the results meeting and matching what you put out
there. You can do everything and
everything you do still will not be good enough. You can try your hardest and your best and
none of these is good enough. There
are times in our lives that are dark or a completely frightening stark white and
blank canvas that you have no clue what to do or put on only to find it in
you to make your own canvas and bring colors and light back to your life and
canvas. You can only hope for your faith
and patience to get you through that waiting time for what you waited for to
be and meet what you originally hoped for.
A vase, three plates,
and a bowl later, maybe I would have
to say that I am merely a humbled artist full of poet, painter, writer, and
rebel—all coming from my family. The
time I paint is my quiet time. My
quiet time for my mind, However, it has also been my time of bringing colors back
to the stark white piece AND colors back into my mind and life. I came to terms that this 2019 was one of
the most challenging years of my life. I have and am still making my peace with
2019. I am ready to leave 2019, but,
more than that, I am more than ready to embrace 2020 and bring the brightest
of colors back to it that were muted and faded in 2019. It is fun.
It is invigorating. It is
empowering. It takes quite a
lot to bring hope, light, brightness, and, indeed, colors back into our lives
during our darkest and most difficult and challenging times. When did your life maybe seem black and
white? Where do you escape to that
brings you comfort, joy, and, maybe, just maybe quieting your unquiet
mind? What did it take for you to
bring colors back into your life? How
have you or do you bring colors into your life? Keep smilin’ until
we meet again, Mary |
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