I am often inspired by poetry. Words. Beautiful words that touch me with its aching beauty and truth. A lot of the time when I come across such a poem, I feel like I’m gonna burst. Overfull with stirring emotions that I don’t know what to do with. So I have since been pouring it all on my sketchbook in the hope of sharing what it all means to me. How it makes me feel. And then, pass the gift to you in the form of painted imagery.

I call this painting ‘Chasing Stars’ from a line that inspired it (see below).

The use of fish to emphasize the great distance between one’s current state and one’s hopes and aspirations was obvious to me here. In truth, there’s no way that a fish can ever reach the sky. The same way it sometimes feels when we are bogged down by crippling self-doubt, faltering faith that its impossible to make our dreams happen.

My initial concept was that of a fish that has caught a star. But I decided against it because I realized that I much rather wanted to make it about the journey than the destination. The journey that can be very perilous, not many have the stomach for it. But if you have a dream that makes you feel alive, isn’t it enough for you to keep trying?

I wanna say to you, let’s stand hand in hand, fin to fin, as brave souls in this meaningful quest. Let’s not be fools. x