Should I Say Goodbye?

I know. I know. This blog has been rather dead for awhile. I seldom post and seldom comment on your posts. Did I fall off the face of the earth? I will be honest with you; there are various reasons why I have not been much of a blogger these last few months and they include limited internet time, busyness and lack of inspiration. My life has been rather hectic. I have three part-time jobs and have been working and saving hard so I can go to Europe in August. I think I not only have writer's block, but inspiration and motivation block. When times are busy and difficult as they are now, I struggle to write and be creative. There are so many things that distract me. Sadly, lately, I have not even have much of an urge to write and do art (though I think and hope that is slowly changing). Planning for my Europe trip, stress over whether things will work out and whether I will have enough money (Europe-related), stress over when my family and I are moving cities and over what I am going to study and do with my life (Career-wise: I have to apply before the end of June) have also been taking up my time and my mind. I think I need to take a step back and breath in deep.

I wonder now if this blog is a waste of time. Maybe, since I do not even seem to have much time for blogging and not many bloggers out there read my posts any more, I should leave the blogging world. But then, I get this feeling inside that I am not ready to let go. I would, in a strange way, miss all of you, especially my favourite blogs/bloggers. And would miss writing my posts and reading about people from all over the world. Should I say goodbye? To answer my own question, I really don't want to. So just pretend I never mentioned it. I have decided that I will try to make more of an effort with my blogs. Whether this resolution will last a day, I do not know. But, hopefully, I will be "seeing" you all soon.

Yes that nut in the picture is me ;)

Paper Art

There is something so enjoyable and different about this new form of art I have taken to. I like art that shows an artist’s style and creativity, that they are not just copying something that was already there or something made up by other artists. Under A Musical Sky and Journeying Afar are my own creations. Ink on brown paper with tin foil and paper (torn up books, dictionaries and maps) is new art craze of mine. City Birds is something I saw on the internet I will admit though. Enough said, here’s some of my paper art:

Under A Musical Sky

Journeying Afar

City Birds 

Colour My Life

Paint my life with an explosion of colours,

With beauty and hues of light.

For it has become dull and grey;

Infused with a sense that something is missing.

Colour my life with different shades:

With the sparkle of Spring

And the depth of Autumn; with the crispness

Of Winter and the sunshine of Summer.

For now it is the uncertainty of spring,

The brownness of autumn,

The iciness of winter

And the oppressive heat of summer.

Colour my life with Your perfect strokes.

Fill it with purpose and meaning,

With joy and peace,

So that I may become a bright light for You.

Paint me with the colours of Your love,

With the splendour of the tints of Your mercy.

Show me that this life is worth living,

That it can shine with the colours of You.

Colour this washed-out life

With the abundance of your hues,

With beauty and grace,

And with the vivid colours of the seasons.

Under a Musical Sky

This was quite a fun project that I kind of made up as I went along. I would add one thing, then decide to add another, etc etc. In case you are wondering, the part of the sky with musical notes on it is tin foil, the rest of the sky and the paper planes are made from an old torn up copy of Jane Eyre (I know, it is a sad story when I tear up one of my favourite books for art. Don't worry, I do have another copy!), the bird and the girl's dress is from pages of a dictionary (extremely shameful!) and everything else was done in black ink. I hope you like it, even though it is very different. :)

27 Million Voices

Picture drawn by Jess Leigh

Yesterday was National Human Trafficking Day. So I thought I would post this poem I wrote during the week to create awareness on modern-day slavery.

For the 27 million people held in slavery all over the world

Their cries resound all over the earth;

Cries of suffering, cries of hopelessness.

Yet few really hear them, nor are there many left to care.

They are like a vanishing wind;

Whispers of their fate are heard, yet they are left unseen.

They are bound like broods of animals,

Living a life they did not choose;

A life stolen by another.

They are forced to go where they do not want to go,

They are forced to do what they wish not to do.

Their time on earth is a living hell,

Imposed and controlled by heartless ones.

There is no escape, there is no freedom;

They are chained to their unwanted fate

While their souls cry out in agony.

Can you hear them?

Their silent cries are echoing

Against every corner of the earth,

Pleading to be set free

While sinister fingers grip them mercilessly.

Some heed the call and head into battle,

Striving to save the captive ones.

Others turn a deaf ear, a blind eye

And their hearts turn to stone,

While 27 million voices continue to scream in silence.

A Scorching Tyrant

Oh the blistering rays of the summer sun

Beating against my head and eyes;

Whilst my brain fries and my energy is sapped

The sun shines bright with menacing glee.

The scorching heat is too much for me,

It weighs me down like a burden on my back.

Yet the African Sun has no mercy;

It torments those who are utterly defenceless.

Summer is like a tyrant reigning

For as long and harsh as possible.

Summer is like a cruel master,

Casting loads too heavy to bear.

Summer gives no grace to those who wish

For inspiration and consolation,

But instead clutches them in his hot fingers,

Not letting go until clouds and rain and Autumn save the         

    day.

Who loves thee, Oh African Summer?

Perhaps those who have much electrical wind inside

And deep, cool waters outside;

Perhaps those who eccentrically find heat a blessing.

But for us who feel it as a curse

Have to bear up under the weight

Of the scorching summer fire

Until the leaves wilt and turn brown and the wind begins to    

     blow.

P.S. My apologies to those who love summer; we are all different, so I hope you don’t mind me expressing my own opinion on summer, even if you don’t agree ;). 

A Silent Plea

I always like art that has some kind of message. Something that can be powerfully depicted through a carefully thought out picture without the need to use words. It is really true that a picture can speak a thousand words. To me, art shouldn't always just be some beautiful, well-done drawing or painting, etc., though most of my pictures don't necessarily have a meaning. I believe the best artists are able to speak out against something, express something personal or tell a story through their art. That's what I loved about my art exam I did for AS Levels, Cambridge. I did a series of pictures on the aftermath of child abuse (some of you might have seen them). But I haven't really done any more art that has some meaning since (besides a self-portrait I did with lots of symbolism of who I am in the background.) So now I decided to do one. The following picture is a charcoal drawing of a slave (I think the photo I drew it from was of a real slave, but I'm not sure) and you'll see that in the background there are words. I really enjoyed doing this picture and my art teacher did help me a bit, so I can't take all the credit for it. For those of you who have read my other blog Colours of the Rain, you'll know that modern-slavery is something I'm very passionate about.

If you want to find out more about modern-day slavery you can go to Not For Sale or A21 Campaign