I AM AN ARTIST

Dearest reader

Growing up, my dad used to tell us stories of his childhood one particular story that he would say to us, was the story of how his father didn't allow him to study Fine Arts.

?My father is an outstanding artist, and he is very talented, I remember always going to his room to see sketches of buildings scattered all over the place, he could make human sketches, and he could even make sculptures using clay.?

And I was always fascinated by them. On one occasion I asked my father why he didn't pursue a career in fine arts, and he told me his father ( my grandfather) wasn't in support of this decision, and my grandfather wanted him to study a more “professional” course. And fine art wasn't something that was considered professional back then.

Any assignment that ever required any form of painting or drawing was always done by my father, and he never rushed into any of his drawings, he would always take his time,?

?Whenever he was drawing or painting, there would always be a look of peace and satisfaction on his face,? and he looked like he was in another world.

sometimes, I would only need a simple painting of an orange, but my father would take it so seriously, and he wouldn't mind staying up all night to draw it, and I would wake up the next morning to a glamorous painting of an orange.?

I used to secretly wish that his? “artist genes”? would be passed down to me and with every coming age I would be expectant of the day I would be able to draw like my dad.

Sadly I could never draw like him, and neither could any of my siblings. And he tried teaching us, but none of us were as good as him.

Some years later, my sister got into tech and she would make awesome designs on her computer.? And it got me thinking,

What really is art?

Is art only done on canvas?

Do you only have to hold a brush to an easel to be considered an artist?

And the answer is no

My sister could create incredible designs on her laptop and I realized that her own expression of art was through a digital medium.

And for me, it's through writing, painting pictures, and immortalizing memories of my life with words.

?Growing up as a child, I often wondered what my talent was, and what it was that I was exceptionally good at,

?Without finding any, I came to the conclusion that I didn't have any talent, and that I was not as artistic and creative as my father and my sister.

Which was a very big lie by the way,

I used to write but I never considered myself a writer, and even when people said? I was a? good writer, I never believed them, and I thought they were lying to me.

?I knew writing was a form of art, but I thought that only people that wrote fiction could be considered artists.

?I have never been good at writing fiction. The funny thing is that I know how to write fiction, but I realized early on that fiction wasn't really my thing, but I admire people that write fiction and I enjoy reading it.

??I find it very difficult to come up with a story that is not based on true events.

Documenting stories of my life wasn't something I ever imagined I would be doing.

I got the idea of people documenting their lives from a novel I read in secondary school.?

In the novel, the protagonist worked for an organization whose main source of content was stories in people's heads, stories from their life, their struggles, and their fears.

They believed that these kinds of stories should not die with the individual, but be kept, as a form of living art.

I deeply resonated with it because I felt like I needed to tell my story and document my life. The stories that have inspired me the most, are mostly true-life stories.

And as a believer in Christ, it's amazing to me that the greatest and most powerful book to have ever existed ( the bible) is made up of true life stories of people that actually existed and walked the surface of this earth.?

With this understanding, I suddenly felt the need to document my life and tell my story.

Writing for me is not just scribbling words on a blank screen, it’s one of the truest expressions of my being, my brain is constantly bursting with new and exciting ways to tell my story, and how best my story can inspire someone.?

And then it dawned on me!!!

?THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT ART IS,?

Art is being able to express yourself beautifully and creatively, it's something you find peace doing, something that gives you pure joy,

Something calming and soothing.

For some people, their art is cooking, for some, it's painting, for others it's singing and even talking.

And it's amazing how one can be artistic in just about anything.?

Art is a personal expression of oneself and it should not be limited to just one form, I believe that everybody is artistic, but we all express it differently

Writing is a beautiful form of self-expression, writing takes me to a place that merely talking about my feelings can't take me to.?

Writing about my feelings and my thoughts, gives me a sense of peace, and it's indeed a very beautiful feeling.

I’m grateful to God for the gift of writing, and I consider myself an amazing artist.

dearest reader, in what ways do you express your art?, please tell me in the comments section, I would love to hear it.

from Lysa, with love.