Sunday, October 16, 2011

New Beginnings


Welcome to my new blog. After many false starts, I am finally making another attempt at blogging. Life has been too full of ups and downs, emotional roller coaster rides which have often taken me away from art and words. But one must try and try again, for it's better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all.

Creativity is inherently there, deeply embedded in each once of us. I believe that we are all created in the image of the Creator and therefore creativity is innate. Every child is born creative. But somewhere along life's pathway, roadblocks happen. Creativity can be a fragile flower, easily nipped in the bud by a harsh word, a critical glance, a bad experience or plain neglect. Before long much of that exuberance and imagination get buried deeper and deeper and often need a lot of coaxing and prodding to come to the fore again.

I am beginning a creative journey soon with a class of friends I have never met. As I prepare my lesson plans for this special group of people, I begin a new journey myself. In the past few days I came across a couple of quotes that reminded me to persevere in my own pursuits, one new and one old:

"Tenacity and flexibility are important as artistic skills. Willingness to work until you are successful is an important attribute."

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration" -Thomas Edison


The painting featured today is entitled The Currier Tree, a watercolour I did in 2010. This tree grew in the middle of the yard in Currier House, Cambridge MA, USA. For years it stood as a symbol for the residential college for students at Harvard University. Soon after I did this painting, the tree was removed because it was deemed unsafe due to extensive disease. I was told that a new tree will replace it, or perhaps there will be two trees. I am not sure. But what comes down will go up again. The symbol of the Currier Tree will live on.

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