#12. Impermanence
How we are constantly changing, sometimes even without realising it
It’s pouring rain, grey, and the leaves are falling. A melancholy feeling settles momentarily and is quickly replaced by deep appreciation—deep appreciation marked by feeling the feelings.
I took this photo while walking my dog in the neighbourhood. Autumn is almost at its full beauty, offering a rich palette of seasonal colours.
Seven years have passed since I started painting as a hobby. When I first started, it was marked by escapism. Life felt colourless, apathetic, and meaningless. Things that used to matter didn’t matter anymore, and I didn’t know how to capture that feeling anymore. Everything was out of my control.
Painting and drawing weren’t. Although the results weren’t as expected, and I couldn’t recreate what I wanted, it was more than enough. I could play with colours. I could retrieve the young passion of simply choosing stationary, feeling the paper, and selecting art supplies. I could shift my perspective.
2024 vs. 2020—Recently, I participated in the "easiest art challenge" by Mimimoo Illustration, which involved redrawing old artwork. I was pleasantly surprised by how much my paintings had improved. Sometimes, I get caught up in expectations, and it's easy to overlook all the effort I've put in over the past years. So, it's rewarding to see that it's paying off.
Like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in The Little Prince: “It’s the time you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.”
The beauty I saw in my photo references and surroundings gradually transferred into my perception, daily life, and feelings.
2023 vs. 2018—I never aim to paint realistically. I am very happy with my whimsical style. However, every now and then, it's very satisfying to capture something a bit closer to reality or at least to paint something that's easily recognisable by others.
We are often caught up in distractions and routine. We often need to remember about progress, the reasons behind what we do what we do and early beginnings. We need to remember to celebrate progress!
Sometimes, routine makes everything feel the same. Yet, when we look back, things used to be different, and like waking up a day older every day (if we’re among the lucky ones), everything is constantly changing.
2024 vs. 2018— Similar to a fitness journey, it doesn't mean we don't recognise our bodies' worth; it's just that when we get leaner and stronger, we can do so much more. Likewise, I used to like my drawings in the past, but now I can enjoy the process more because I'm less focused on certain aspects and more connected to the creative side.
Change, progress or evolution don’t necessarily equal to better or worse. It’s just a mark of how things are different. We gather new experiences and let go of others; we transition from different cycles and enter into various phases; we meet new people, and others seem to fade away.
Hopefully, our life stories, paintings, photos, songs, people and memories are filled with unforgettable moments that warm and fuzzy our hearts.
2024—I created this seasonal illustration to welcome this year’s Fall inspired by the photo at the beginning of this post.
Nothing here is new; it’s not unique. Quite the opposite. We all have gone through it.
It’s just life’s constant cycle of change that, by changing so much, somehow remains the same :)
Thanks for reading!
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