Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to be invited back to WWF’s Island House to do some art. The location is truly a paradise that’s isolated from our ever more chaotic city. The staffs and volunteers there were also very friendly and accommodating, quite a stark contrast from the hostile faces that’s becoming common on our local news. I was telling the manager who invited me for the event that the environment there felt like Hawaii, and I sincerely meant it!

Inside the mostly quiet and sweet-smelling (my neighbor lady was selling incense oil) heritage building, I was able to concentrate and make a satisfying brush-and-ink drawing of the historic house. Once in a while, a staff would bring a group of guests to tour our room. Some guests would occasionally come over and watch me draw and I would invite them to help themselves with the critically endangered animals stickers and mini cards that were left over from my previous exhibition. I especially like seeing kids and would sometimes ask and write out their names in Chinese calligraphy, most of the kids and their parents really liked that despite my rusty skill.

Besides interacting with the occasional guests, I also befriended a few of the staffs at the Island House. A couple of them told me, out of the blue, that they loved to draw when they were young, but never pursued an artistic career. That surprised me somewhat. Maybe seeing me draw actually kindled their love of art? One’s love of art can actually bring out the artists in people, just like how I wanted to become an artist after seeing Lim Cheng Hoe and Wu Guanzhong’s exhibitions in SG? I sure hope they would continue to draw and make art on their own.

I really love doing art and would do it full-time if I can afford so. Would you want me to become a full-time artist, my Father in Heaven?