N E L S O N.

It's March already (I know, I can't believe it myself, crazy how time flies) and I wanted to start a blog as a documentation for myself, a little reminder as to how I started and how my progression has increased. Also, I thought it'll be a great way to show close friends and family what i'm facing when it comes to the university life, art and i guess, my thoughts (which are pretty crazy). This is now my 16th post and I can't believe that I've kept it consistent (obviously there's tons more work to do), but I'm conquering it, one step at a time. I've always believed that the little tortoise always wins the race.

When I started in late August, I was in my mid-soul searching phase. I entered a competition that involved using a notable person in history and building on your craft to create something. I used painting. For some reason I chose Nelson Mandela. I think at the time he was ill and recovering, when I realised I only knew things about him because other people had told me about him. I never researched about him myself.

So over the next month, I immersed myself in different books, fan pages etc you name it, I read it all. I learnt so much from his ways and journey that he became a great inspiration for me. It no longer was about the competition, but about myself and how I can maximise my abilities,knowledge and become adaptable in the environment I am in. That's what Nelson taught me. I was trying to find ways of creating myself alone. Took me time to come into myself, but I'm now confident enough to show my first painting. Wolly woo!! Ha, it really shouldn't have taken this long, but oh well; better late than never, right?


So I'm now taking you back to last summer, the repulsive lazy duvet days, the mini heat wave that made England go into a frenzy and the beach days ( *coughs* I meant fake beach days. My friends and I decided to create the beach in our living room. I can tell your face has changed and you're probably like, she said what? But it's true the television was the sea, the couch was the sand and the food was you know, good food). Whilst doing all of this I was reading up on Nelson Mandela. My first few posts were about myself changing and opening up more and this linked back to the book and painting of Mandela. I was really supposed to expand on this last year but I never did. I hate to say this, but this girl behind the keypad was a little intimidated by the internet and even worse, timid and unsure of how to articulate it to her friends. It's not until now that I feel the need to post it as soon as possible, because I feel If I don't take this step I can't reach the next.

My motto is "Be like Nike, Just Do It". Sometimes I do it and sometimes I just stare at it, but this time I was prepared to take a leap. We forget about the leap sometimes, we forget about where we are and we forget to stand straight. I may not be standing straight right now, but I believe in my motto and also that I am capable.

After not painting for such along time, I decided to explore my depths that much deeper. At the time, I was so nervous, I didn't know If what I was doing was the my own good or just purely for my own enjoyment. I realised it was both. Both is good but I struggled with it. And I struggled hard. And I thought to myself this is really and truly the first time I’ve properly challenged myself. So I started taking risks. I added sky blues, deep blues, turquoise and those are just the blues. It ranged from tones of yellows, fushchia, lime green, browns, reds etc. You can already tell I love colour trust me, simply talk to me talk about hues, shades and tones and our friendship is already made golden. The first part of my painting was difficult I kept making mistakes with the head shape, the nose and the forehead. Not just that, but the fact I used two photos that looked completely different to one another wasn't the way forward. I learnt alot about my execution and how many parts of my imagination flows fluidly.

Can you say messy? Wish I took a photo of my shirt. Not so cute anymore!



So, this August I am planning to paint Nelson again, to see my progression and what I've learnt so far. I believe in "Be Like Nike, Just Do it", obviously with wisdom, but being fearful of what you want to do or what you're supposed to do is nothing!!! When you spend so much time thinking you sometimes stop yourself from doing what could make you prosperous.