Art and passion 艺术与生命

Not long ago, a friend of mine said I should give up art and refocuses my life on something else. His reason is whatever I am doing now; probably someone else has already done so.

没多久以前，有位友人劝我弃艺而重新整顿我的生活目标。他给于我的原因是不论我怎么的创作，必然有人已捷足先创了。

I do agree with him to some extend. However, art is my passion! Art is in my blood! How could I just drain my own blood and replace them completely? Even if it is possible, it will be too painful for me!

我并不完全同意他的见解。我血里流的是艺术因子，艺术是我生命的一份子。我岂能流清我体内的热血而完全让其他的血在我身上流串？这可是件痛苦的事。

To be able to create art is a gift! I don’t intend to be a great artist! But I do want to be a good artist. An artist who is genuine to himself and his audience. A person who can contribute by creating the wealth of inner soul.

能从事艺术创作是一种天赋。我并没有成伟大艺术家的宏愿，但是我要成为一个好画家。一个忠于自己和群众的艺术家；一个能增潻探索心灵财富的人。

Hope and Strength！ 希望与力量！

日本大地震后，有友相约捐画救灾，展名为“希望与力量”。

这一名题可让我为难了好几天。由于事发突然，心想要画张新作品恐怕来不及，然而在那旧作品中有那些画是适合这个展岀的呢？想了许久，抬头见墙上的荷花图，心中就以荷花“出汚泥而不染”的特性，重新为这作品做个解释。

海啸灾后的日本，到处一片狼藉，泥石流为患，这不正是污泥一片的景象吗？而这荷花却能够在这污浊的环境中成长，并花开果结。但愿日本能够从灾难中走出来，有着清鲜的花叶，也拥有丰硕的莲子。

老哉？

与老友相叙，有人说自己老了！我问为何？他说孩子们近来老说他动作慢，耳朶聋，眼不明，这都不老化的特征吗？

青春就是本钱！年青的小伙子活力十足，难理解年长人士的思维。由於敬老尊贤的意识低落，孩子们才会说出那不理会父母心态的那番话。这一切的问题就在于我们的教育体制上。在迫切求取知识的当儿，我们忘了仁教美育。当我们认识到制度上有所不足时，伦理道德也不过是以学科加以补充。伦理道德也不外是知识。

其实朋友们呀！请不要为年长而难过，也不要因此低头！保持一个年青的心，用心去做一些有意义的事，生活可以是非常快乐的。

知我者稀！

齊白石先生刻有一方章，印文為寂寞之道。在過去並不能完全体會其中的寓意。最近當全心投入藝術創作的當儿，我開始對此有所了解。

從事藝術創作並不容易。往往藝術工作者為了生活而五斗米折腰。當作品超越時代，也如梵谷般的貧寒。時代看不到他的偉大，眾人也並不瞭解他。在過去的年代里，我們不曉得埋沒了多少人，又有多少才華被他人賞識？而被賞識者也不一定完全開心。正如愛因思坦先生所言，完全看懂相對論者並沒几人。

然而我們也無須為這寂寞而感到傷心。至少在你周圍有賞識你的人，而這寂寞是為了讓你有更大的創作空間。

开心的发现！

不晓得这布落格竟可以中文发表，太开心了！在过去，有好些感想，因有碍于文字上的表达局限，往往没法以英文发表。今有了中文媒介，希望有法子誏我开拓另一个抒发拙见的地方。

生活在一个中英并重的城巿，我就老被这学习双语的问题上有所困惑。学习的结果则把自己弄得中不中，西不西的。还好这些日子来已摸凊了门路，硬着头皮，希望能因此娱人娱已。

happy and happiness!

Everyone owns the seeds of happiness. Whether the seeds grow and bloom depends on how we nurture them. For some, they might grow in the beginning and winter later. For others, they continue to grow and grow till the flowers bloom. There isn’t any pattern of such growth, but constant love and care can never be absent. Once we thought we are getting what we want, our laziness and neglection might kill the fruits that we are waiting for.

Surely, we long for the right key to open the gate of happiness; there is more than one route to get us there. Some told me that money is not everything, but can we do without money? There are poor people contented with what they have and there are the rich who are happy with their life. Conversely, there are poor who hate what they have and the rich sad with the situation that they are in. So everything is in the state of mind. How we see the world around us will make a great difference in the level of happiness we get.

Last day of my solo show!

My solo show ended today!

Uncle Lim Tze Peng visited the show. Happy to learn that he is delighted to see this series of works. The general feel is he liked the brush strokes and the colour combination of these series.

Earlier today, I painted several abstract ink painting in my studio. I was extending these works from a series of abstract ink paintings which I explored in late 1990's. I exhibited the oil series with momentous arts in year 2000. Somehow, I quite like these series of Chinese ink work, but not sure whether the others like them too. With so many series of work developed over the years, shall I opened another chapter of artwork by holding another exhibition on them?

Planning

I saw an old man collecting empty drink cans from car parks’ rubbish bins. I felt bad about this. There are so many people around us that actually need helps! But what can I do? I really don’t know. I recalled once, a friend told me to let them be, we are not able to help them all the time. I wonder what is the cause of all these? Maybe they were stubborn butch while they were young. But I am sure that there must be some good souls out there who do not know how to take care of themselves when they were young. How can we help them?

I always like to share with the young that they need to plan ahead. This is not because I am a good planner, it was because I, myself did not plan myself far enough. I only understand how to be a better person in recent years. Merely be good is not the key towards better life. We also need to plan, organize and getting necessary support. I wonder if all agrees?

Even simple thing can be beautiful!

Early in the morning, I went to coffee shop to buy breakfast for workers coming to fix my water pipe. I ordered four cups of hot drinks. As I was figuring how can I transport my drinks to my studio, the girl at the counter actually prepared the drinks that I am able to carry them easily. What a surprise! I never expected that to happen and that really made me happy for quite a while.

Life is never sad, the only sad thing in life is that you have no "LIFE"! In a fast pace society, so often we work and work and work, we tend to forget why are we living for. It is important for us to work with a meaningful purpose in life. Power and monies are not the only two things in the world. Sometimes we need to look beyond that. The care and the love that we are able to share enable us to attain achievements that is far from descriptions. People focus on power and monies will always compare themselves with others, and there won't be an ending point to their work. As when they didn't get what they want, they will come up lots of excuses. So needn't say much, enjoy your life, appreciate what you have, look at the tiny little good things around you, you should be happy with what you have!

What a respond!

Unexpectedly, my exhibition had attracted stream of visitors today! There were old friends, cat lovers, art students and collectors. I met an old lady from Bedok area, an interesting character; she feed about a hundred cats over her area. She shared so many interesting stories about her encounters with cats and her stories can fill an entire book. Another lady from Hougang area, she was at the gallery long before the gallery opened! I am very touch indeed. There is this old man going through the artworks slowly, without much words, he thanked me and congratulated me for the works I created. There are buyers came because they read about the show in papers. I am overwhelmed by the responses. I am excited about the respond from the public. I am happy indeed!

I should be happy!

Today, Mr Goh published his second write-up about my works and solo show. I am grateful to his encouragement and support. For most of the time, I felt that I am fighting my own battle in my art career. Nevertheless, from time to time, there are people like Mr Goh who come along and assure what I do is right. Sometimes, I really hope there are more people able to understand and appreciate my works better. But, how could I complain? In fact I consider myself as lucky with the amount supporters out there. Perhaps I need to be happy instead. I think I should!

Truth?

In life, there are things within your control and those beyond your control. What I believe is to do what is right and be our best. For matters beyond my control, many times, I leave them to ‘GOD’. This is especially true when it comes to dealing with people. What others think about you, your act, you can never dictate what is in their minds. If someone misunderstood you and prefer to think in that particular direction, let it be! Nowadays, the truth matter more than anything else. I will choose to do the right thing! As we want to be kind to others, are we kind to ourselves?

I am tired of explaining myself over the past years. Now is the time for me to have a peace of mind to do something I like to do.

Happy and good!

Catch up with two friends today. One, an old colleague of mine, read my exhibition article and rang to congratulate me. We laughed and laughed over the short conversation, and by the end of it, it make me feel good.

The other was a scholar I knew a few years back. A humble young man whom I shared some of my life experiences with. He has changed his work environment since we last met and he seems to be “enjoy” mood. That’s really good for him. Just as what I have shared with three younger ex-colleagues earlier, the happy mood will also make you a better person. I hope that everyone can be happy and be good!