My Life in Palette: Padayon

For a long while, it seems like I got lost.

It seems like from floating in a friendly and familiar ocean, the tides of life has let my ship suddenly sail on unfamiliar water with enormous waves that I almost drown and loose grip on holding on to what you call a work-life balance. Does it make sense to say if I say maybe I got tired? For being the corporate slave I am - yes, I got tired. I was recently transferred to a new and bigger project and I found it kinda hard to adjust. I got tired of the mundane that has been pulling me down lately with endless reports, meetings, and presentations. It has almost been two months since I last disconnected from this platform and I swear, it feels like ages.

But thank God for giving me the anchor to stay still and continue to hold on and not succumb to the storms instead. He ignited the dying ember of art in me and let that burning passion take charge to remind me that getting tired is but normal. It's just a detour route that I have to pass, not a place where I am not supposed to stay forever. It's how we cope with life's exhausting journey to take a break for a while, have ourselves recharged, and then - carry on.

Who am I to complain anyway when on the other hand, I am indeed blessed?

Padayon lang...

After almost two months of having the artistic soul in me fall into a deep slumber, it's time to wake up. Let the music continues to play. Let it continue to strum the string of art in every tiny atom that flows in my entire existence. Yes, I guess I need to listen to that voice inside me that says padayon lang (carry on).

It's like a long pause that I did but now it's time to press continue coloring my life with this messy yet colorful palette. It's time to pick up again the brushes and continue to paint - which I miss so much. And like a song that has been played on the radio loudly with me cheerfully singing along, I am glad how my heart continues to hum each melody long after it has stopped.

And so with the art-enthusiast soul in me awakens, it's my pleasure to share with you again the colorful progress on how this art, with the use of acrylic and palette knife, was done.

Step 1:

And here we go again, as how I always started with a sketch. This time, it's a colorful guitar.

Step 2:

Next, I color the guitar blue and yellow with the impromptu choice of colors I had in mind.

Step 3:

And this time, since I wanted to play and explore more with colors, I started mixing and adding colors using a palette knife.

Step 4:

And finally, I added the background with a mixture of colors.

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And tadaaaaa...it's done! Just like a song with its melody echoing in the air, without exactly knowing the lyrics, I just let my hand hum with the rhythm. I just let it flow - to where my exhausted soul could find repose amidst the chaos. And I guess, at the end of the day, no matter how many times I get lost, I will always find my way into art. My heart will always continue to strum the string that connects me to my colorful soul and yes, it will continue to play beautiful music.

My ship may have been so comfortable floating on the calm sea that I've become familiar with, but the ocean is so wide and my steering wheel is navigating me somewhere. There might be thousands of beautiful things and wonderful souls waiting for me on the other side that I might not be able to see and meet - if I stay. And so, I let the voyage continues.

Thank God for art and for making this a strong instrument for me to keep going - padayon!