Hi I’m Chiei. I’m a mother of three young children. We moved from Tokyo in 2015 and since then my passion has been painting, which is slowly evolving along with being a Mom. I never thought motherhood would bring my creativity back. Rather the opposite. I thought I had to take a long break from building up my second career in arts in Singapore. I remembered what my Mother used to tell me: “When you are raising kids, fly low but keep flying. If you stop flying, you will need to use a lot more energy to fly back up.”

 

Prior to becoming a Mom, I worked as a curator in art museums. I studied Fine Art for many years in Japan, the US, and Australia. As soon as we moved to Singapore, I eagerly sought a new art-related job. I was optimistic. Then I found out that I was pregnant. When I got my first interview, I told the interviewer about it. I didn’t get the job.

 

After giving birth and holding my baby, I thought I wanted to do everything for her. I felt like I could use my creativity to show her my love in a unique way. As her one-­‐year birthday gift, my husband and I created a picture book together. He wrote the story and I drew pictures. The nicely printed book was entitled “Amandine and the Fireflies.” We were so proud.

 

Initially, producing art was my way to express my love for my children. Now I paint for myself, too. I paint beautiful tropical plants and I also love to explore the abstract. I appreciate these two realms to help balance my mind. Although it is still challenging to find enough time to paint and I know it is never enough, I keep trying. As I enjoy my journey as a Mother, I just keep flying a bit low for now until I can fly higher someday soon.

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Blogpage: https://chieiishida.wixsite.com/chieiishida