Father's Day is here! Mama on Palette would like to wish the best of happiness to all the husbands and fathers who have been supporting and caring for their families.
Since April 2018 we have been building the Art Lover Mamas community to gather passionate mummy artists and art lovers; and we now have 9 mummies who have stepped out to showcase their wonderful artistic experience on our website, as well as 200+ members in our Facebook community!
Mama on Palette believes that every mother should be a true artist. This Father's Day, we have extended our passion for the arts to the hubbies! How do the men view arts? Do they practice arts in their life? How do arts benefit their husband/father life? Read the following interviews and find out more!
Jiarong and his happy family.
Jiarong, Founder of BYKidO
1. Tell us about yourself and your fatherhood. I will say that I am a rather hands-on Dad but it was not always the case. When I was in my previous role, I had to be overseas often and that made me miss much of my boy. So when my wife was pregnant with my girl, I decided to take time off to spend time with the kids.
It was also during this time that I founded BYKidO, where our mission is to help families create their family memories by helping them discover family-friendly events and activities. I guess, due to the nature of what I do now, I am able to mix family time with work which allows me to spend more time with the kids and to bring them to new events and activities. 2. Why do you like art? How does it benefit your life as a parent? I am not a drawing or painting person as I prefer the craft part of the arts. That allowed me to create things and have fun with my kids. For example, we will use the cupboards to create swords and shields or tunnels for cars. It just allows us to be silly and be in touch with our imagination and be part of a fantasy world with the kids. 3. Name one of your favorite artwork/artists. I don't have one. But if I had to, I will say Michelangelo's The Last Judgment at the Sistine Chapel. While I saw it about 10 yrs ago but I still recall the feeling of awe and just trying to understand each part of the painting. 4. How do you make art happen in your life? It's the craft that we create together as a family. And the time spent playing together! 5. Could you say some words to support the Art Lover Mamas? To create joy in the little ones' faces - be it coloring, painting, drawing, folding, mixing, or building. Help them imagine and use art to create their fantasy worlds!
Exploring the beauty of nature together.
Jim, Engineer, and Blogger
1. Tell us about yourself and your fatherhood. My name is Jim. I grew up in China and now reside in Singapore. I like reading and sports. To me, fatherhood is all about sharing and caring. I like sharing my feeling and thoughts with my child, such as how to play the piano, how to sing a song, how to draw a sun... so he can understand and decide what he wants to do in the future when he grows up.
2. Why do you like art? How does it benefit your life as a parent?
Because art is the way to express one’s feelings. It leads to different ways to show how I feel at different places and times. It also gives me the chance to share my impressions and feelings about different people and things, which may resonate with the audience.
Art benefits me the most as it helps get rid of boredom in a routined life. After a long day at work, I would like to sit in front of my piano and play some simple music; coloring my “Secret Garden” book (never finished!). Immediately, it will bring me relief and I am in another world.
3. Name one of your favorite artwork/artists. I like visual and auditory art. Both of them give me a pleasing smell. I like impressionism, especially Monet. Having visited his exhibition in the National Gallery. I was shocked by the colors and glaring on the canvas. Monet portraited a world where people lived at peace. He also drew his garden 100 times in order to capture everything in that golden pond. I just wish we could live the same way like it was 150 years ago.
4. How do you make art happen in your life? Art is easy. You can play some music on the keyboard, do some drawing using an iPad, or cook with your creativity!
5. Could you say some words to support the Art Lover Mamas? Art Lover Mamas is the first community to bring together inspirational mummy artists and make their life colorful and interesting. I wish every mama who likes Art Lover Mamas a simple, happy, artistic life.
Chalk art festival in Savannah, Georgia, United States. While I was pursuing my Master in Animation with Savannah College of Art and Design. We did the chalk art together.
Don Low, Freelance Artist
1. Tell us about yourself and your husband's life.
I was an engineer before I decided to convert to become an artist and illustrator. It wasn’t like changing religion or something. I have to start from square one again. I did not have a formal education in art though, so I have to learn everything by reading and asking friends. This happened after I got married in October 1998. My wife was encouraging me to take up the challenge and the change and that’s how I started to become a freelance illustrator and designer.
It took me about 6 months later to receive my first paycheque as a freelancer and that was like only a quarter of what I used to get when I was working as an engineer. However, all this while, my wife was very encouraging and she assured me that things would change for the better. Things did get better. My projects grew and soon or later, I was able to completely pay for my degree course in multimedia design within a year. After which I was employed to be an art director by a local web design company to produce animation content for the web.
I am very thankful for my wife to be so patient and understanding. That put me at ease to develop myself as an artist. Since we do not have any children, financially it wasn’t taxing for us, however, there was a time when I was pretty stressed when we were moving and had to renovate our newly acquired flat where we are still living.
2. Why do you like art? How does it benefit your life as a husband?
Art has been part of my life since when I was a kid. It comes naturally because I love to observe things and put what I saw on paper. At the same time, I loved looking at beautiful artworks by 2 local artists who are named, the late Mr. Chan Chang How, and watercolor painter, Ong Kim Seng. I was heavily influenced by them when I was studying in secondary school. I told myself I wanted to be like them.
My wife actually did not know the extent of my passion for art and drawing until many years later after we got married. One time when I created an illustration for my friend’s wedding card (pro bono), she asked me where I got the image from. She was surprised and delighted to find out that I actually created it, and not gotten it from stock image sites. Very slowly she began to appreciate what I can do and is capable of doing. It was a gradual process of appreciating and knowing each other as husband and wife.
Affordable Art Fair, Singapore, 2015. This was one of my watercolor painting exhibited together with the rest of the members of Singapore Watercolor Society.
3. Name one of your favorite artwork/artists.
My influences came from many genres. For comics, I was inspired by a local artist named Hou Soon Ming, who was an illustrator for a children’s newspaper back in 1982. Much later I discovered and loved Bill Sienkiewicz, an American comic artist whose works include Moby Dick and Electra. There are countless illustrators that I like, one of my favorites is James Jean. For Urban sketchers, I love Danny Gregory, Melanie Reim, and Veronica Lawlor.
4. How do you make art happen in your life?
Persistence and not giving up. There are always ups and downs in whatever we do. It is common to feel down and wanted to give up sometimes. I would usually take a break and let my thoughts be cleared and re-calibrate my expectations. Nothing happens naturally. I also learned that the struggle is a good way to learn, and if you need more practice to do better, just put in the pencil mileage and time you need. There is no shortcut to being successful. Take up jobs that sometimes you don’t like and see them as a challenge to better yourself. Don’t lose touch with people.
Being an artist is not an isolated thing. The learning process speeds up when you are with people. As an urban sketcher, the community has provided many opportunities to share about tools, personal experiences, and stuff. I found myself growing a lot faster as an artist because of the people around me.
Gathering with friends at Affordable Art Fair.
5. Could you say some words to support the Art Lover Mamas?
I still don’t quite know Art Lover Mamas yet, but I would like to say art is not only for professional artists. Art cultivates patience and most of the time, by focusing on doing something of your interest, your mind is taken off the grimes of life. Try not to have an end result in mind, but enjoy the process of learning something. I have seen business people and housewives in Urban sketchers who have become good artists in a matter of years, and art becomes a lifestyle for them eventually.
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