A Journey of Faith

A Journey of Faith, 2017

I stopped making art after 2006. The only time I picked up a marker was to use a highlighter for a book that I was reading. In 2008, I began my adventure as a special education teacher. Suddenly, a flicker in my heart became an ache. This was my ticket to create art again. I was going to use my summer vacations to make something awesome.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Summers were spent catching up on things that couldn't get done during the year and frantic preparations on lesson plans for the following year.

My hope re-ignited when I became an art teacher in 2013. While many in-service days during the school year gave me a chance to work on art, I never finished anything. I was disappointed in myself to say the least. Nothing I made resulted to my expectations. It was frustrating. I had ideas in my head but I couldn't make them come out of me in the way I wanted. Most of my work were half-finished or discarded.

Inspiration hit me in the summer of 2017. After 11 years of suspended creativity, I completed my first picture using Premier Prisma Colored Pencils.

Now that I look at it, I can see that my mountain ranges could use some improvement. My use of shading and highlights were all over the place. I could go on and on about every mistake. Yet strangely, I loved my imperfect composition. For the first time after a very long drought, my ideas were coming to life.

“A Journey of Faith” is about my life. I came into existence naked and vulnerable. Each box is a book representing chapters in my life - things that influenced my decisions and the outcomes of such decisions. The snake and insects on the right represent how I viewed my problems back then - gigantic. Yet in retrospect, they were merely obstacles - challenges meant to strengthen me. I had such little faith in myself and in the God who loved me.

I drew the mirror shaped like a vulture to show how much I wanted to be like the people I saw in social media. I had based my identity and worth in comparison to how I perceived others. I didn't have a clear foundation on who I was and who I belonged to.

The turtle and the clock symbolize my seemingly long journey back to Christ - the ultimate source of life, my savior and redeemer.

Lastly, my feet is walking to a book with a cover of a road to an unknown destination and yet a butterfly sits atop signifying a beautiful beginning.

This significant piece of art hangs in my studio. I love seeing it everyday. It’s a constant reminder of my past, my present and how I’ve moved forward.