A journey of expressions
It’s better late than never, believes selftaught artist Abdul Hamid Mohamed as he rediscovers his artistic roots
EVERYONE has to retire from work at some point, but that doesn’t mean we have to retire from life. At 72, having served and retired from the public, corporate and academic sectors, I wasn’t quite ready to be just reading newspapers on the rocking chair, or sitting on the bench in the park. I’m a regular golfer, I love travelling and I do light workouts at the gym — all in moderation.
Then, about a year ago the pandemic came followed by the various levels of control movements and lockdown. I felt like life had come to a crushing standstill. Boredom started to creep in. Suddenly it felt like a day was longer than 24 hours.
I found myself pacing up and down in the house, wondering what to do to fill up my idle time? Soon enough, I began learning and improving my cooking skills; I bought some DIY tools and started to grind, and varnish some light furniture. I also painted garden walls. I became a handy man, fixing light bulbs and carrying out simple plumbing jobs.
I remember when I was back in school, I loved to paint. This was the one subject that I never failed to excel in. So I told myself maybe I should paint again. But then doubts started creeping in. After all, I hadn’t painted since I left secondary school. And that was well over 55 years ago.
But I began to recall all the little achievements that I did have back then.
There was that time when I participated in an annual school art exhibition and my painting was the first to be sold. And then another memory surfaced. Of the time when I attended college in the Philippines
I’d taken part in an on-the-spot painting competition. The subject was an old cathedral. I won first prize, and I do remember selling and giving away my paintings to friends and family members. With those flashbacks suddenly coming to mind, I told myself, why not? So, I decided to jump-start my hobby.
STARTING OVER
So, I did. And the result was horrendous. I’d almost forgotten how to hold the brush, let alone how to mix colours. I’d bought the wrong colours, brushes and art papers. It was incredibly frustrating and disappointing, to say the least.
I tore several pieces of finished and unfinished works because they were just too painful to look at. But having destroyed a piece, stubborn me would end up starting a new one. I referred to the Internet for the right materials and managed to pick up some simple basic techniques from YouTube.
My ability to draw and paint came back naturally. I finally remembered how to paint and this drove me to look for an art teacher who could teach me the fundamentals that I’d somehow forgotten. I found Abbie who conducted weekly classes for adults and
after several months, I improved tremendously and graduated to doing abstracts and landscapes.
Friends took notice of my paintings. However, prices of art paraphernalia had skyrocketed so much. It was silly of me to compare prices with those from my school days. Thankfully though, through social media, I managed to sell quite a number of my art work within a short span of about one year. The stay-at-home order was turning out to be a blessing.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
There are a lot of challenges that I face, being a self-taught artist who paints as a hobby. To learn and improve, I began to visit art galleries, appreciating and observing the style and techniques of professional artists.
Acrylic on canvas is my preferred medium although sometimes I do dwell in oils and watercolours. I find solace, happiness and calmness, as well as freedom of expression in my art. My works are motivated by nature and the environment — the two things that give me inspiration and trigger my creativity and emotions.
For me, there are three important ingredients to a good piece of artwork — time, mood and idea. The absence of one would result in frustrations and an incomplete piece. Also, one must know when to stop when the desired finish is achieved.
My work is an expression of my inner thoughts — of what I see and what moves me, and the thinking that lies behind it. I use strong colours as the common denominator of my expressions. Experimenting with objects, materials, and adapting them is a way of bringing out art without boundaries and inhibitions.
Art is a journey of my expressions. My piece “When Will I Sea You Again”, acrylic on canvas, was done when my cruise holiday and travel plans were cancelled due to the pandemic. Now, I’m beginning to participate in some organised art exhibitions in the city.
I should have restarted painting much earlier. But I have no regrets — better late than later, or never rather. To improve and to further develop my painting skills, I began to have a few art chat-groups, and recently founded a group comprising seven other professional artists who are all well qualified.
Armed with postgraduate degrees in fine art, they’ve also had several exhibitions locally and abroad. As the founder of the group, and a self-taught artist, I’m actually the rookie. Visiting their studios became a study tour for me. I began to discover and learn new things.
Now, I’ve become the initiator and prime mover of the group to organise and hold art exhibitions. Bearing no unforeseen circumstances (it is my fervent hope that the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the Enhanced MCO will eventually ease out), plans are afoot to put together two art exhibitions — one for a charitable organisation, and the other, a joint effort with a public library.
I am sometimes asked the question: Can just anybody paint? Well, my answer is “yes”. If you have interest and patience. It’s akin to cooking. Everybody can cook, but what’s cooking is very important.