A GIFT FROM NATURE
A painting which inspired the meaning of life
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| Whatsapps +6011-39461480 Nurulsham to deal the price |
Never had I imagined,
the ups and downs in the journey of my life. My life had turned out to be so
different from what I imagined it would be when I was much younger. My dream
life, as sweet as it was, remains just a dream, from which I had to wake up
from.
Childhood is the most wonderful stage of
life. It was a time when I still have the love and care from my mother and my
father. There was never a need to worry or fear anything, because my parents
were always there to protect and guide me.
As a child, I had loved nature. The rich
greeneries had captivated me. The sounds of birds in the forest cheered me. I
was free to bask in the wonder of nature. Regretfully, my love for nature was
manifested in a misguided manner. As a naive young child lacking the
understanding on the preciousness of life, the free birds in the forest became
victims of my slingshot. How joyous the moments were, since I didn’t comprehend
the impact of my naughty adventures.
One day, my father took me to one
side and explained why I should stop using my slingshot to hit birds.
Eventually, I understood. Afterall, I was growing older as a teenager and
started to think more about life.
My love for nature was then
expressed in another manner, a more respectful one – through paintings. I
started by drawing the birds I observed in the forest. Then, I looked for other
resources like reference books that showed how to draw and paint. I wanted to
find an artist to be my role model and idol. And the only artist that I thought
fit the bill well was … Tuan Jaafar Taib. His detailed paintings depicting
nature and life were amazing.
Oh Allah, I was immensely pleased
and gratified with this gift You have bestowed upon me. I was content to live
my life as best as I can.
With the talents I possessed, I
strived to achieve my ambition to further my studies in architecture. But
the reality is, not all our desires can be fulfilled. Sometimes, even when the
will is strong enough, we still couldn’t achieve our dreams, if the environment
and other factors got in the way. I stumbled and halted, so I had to forget my
dream. I then learnt to accept God’s will, and moved on with my life, making do
with what I was given without much complaints.
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| This painting is open for sale. Please contact Nurulsham to deal the price. However the artist need sometime to perfect the painting |
I went to study biochemistry in
Indiana University, a field quite different from my original interest. But the
passion I had in arts and painting never dimmed, and I continued to draw in my
university years. It was then that I produced this painting of parakeets, back
in 1992. I named this painting ‘The Gift From Nature’.
It didn’t cross my mind at
all back then, that in the future, this very drawing will give me a life lesson
– which is to live meaningfully!
Life throws you challenges
without any warning. After years of comfortable living financially, I lost my
job in 2012. All of a sudden, life became gloomy. I had to look for other ways
to support my family. With the artistic talent I have, I tried my luck as a
freelance graphic designer. But I was feeling stressed and depressed.
Eventhough I was gifted as an artist, my commerce acuity was wanting. I found
it hard to demand a reasonable payment for my services, so I was finding hard
to make ends meet.
One day, I met an old friend.
X was a businessman who was always busy with work. When we met, he seemed quite
disconcerted. A partner abandoned the company and it was up to him to resolve
all issues. He had to work really hard, travelling from north to south, and
from west to east, to manage his business. At one point, X was so overwhelmed
that he decided to let go of his control.
In the next meeting, X
happened to view this painting of parakeets. The painting touched him in ways I
couldn’t decipher. Something spoke out to his emotions. I could feel his
spirits coming back through the sparkle in his eyes. “The rambai fruits look
tasty.” I was duly impressed. That was the first such comment I’ve ever
received when people saw this painting. No one had identified the rambai fruits
correctly before. He was the first person to recognize the fruit in the
painting of the four parakeets.
“How could you tell
that this is rambai?” I wanted to find out.
“There’s a lot of
rambai trees in my hometown, including my late father’s orchard.”
Who could have
guessed, after looking at this painting, X returned to his hometown, leaving
his networking business behind. He took his children back to explore his late
father’s orchard.
Not long after, I
received the following note: “Thank you, my good friend. I have long forgotten
the gift that’s right in front of my eyes. The happiness and joy watching my
children play in the little stream in this orchard is something that money cannot
buy. I can’t trade this life’s pleasure even with all the assets that I have. I
had left them too long, and I will regret that till my last day. What a fool I
was – spending too much time gathering materials which would never cared about
me."
“Please keep the
parakeets painting for me. I’d like to have it, if you haven’t intended it for
anyone else. The painting means a lot to me. I have forgotten that providence
from Allah is bountiful. For all His creatures, for mankind or for birds like
the parakeets in your painting. I was so constrained by my limited perception
about working hard to provide for myself and my family, that I’ve forgotten
that family and happiness are gifts from Allah too. And they’re right in from
of my eyes!”
I was stunned. I had never
imagined that this painting could create such a big impact to someone. That is
the interpretation that X had guided by the will of Allah. I then started
thinking long and hard – what about me? What does this painting mean to me? Not
unlike X, I began to realize that Allah’s providence is vast and unlimited, for
all His creatures.
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The colours in the original painting had
faded away. You can see marks of bug
bites on the right side of this painting.
It is actually an unfinished work, but
a family member had waxed the
painting. In 2016, the artist got the
idea of using oil paint to restore this
painting. By right, the quality of the
watercolour drawing will be
preserved. For this purpose, a
lot white colour will be used to
create shading effect similar to
the style of watercolour painting
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Now that I was struggling to
make ends meet, and the path was so strenuos, I sometimes forgot about that. I
understand now that I shouldn’t limit myself. I should look for opportunities
and create them, by overcoming the challenges that had been blocking me. I have
to go out of my comfort zone, to strive hard to reach my true potential.
Because I know that Allah is always by my side. And that He will help me and
guide if only I would beseech Him.
This precious painting, will
be given to my friend X. I know he will appreciate it and take good care of it
as well as I myself would. As for me, life goes on. Even though my steps are
still shaky, at least my spirit is revived. I will pray to Allah to seek his
guidance, and I hope that you will pray for me, too. I want to keep producing
arts for asbest as I can, for as long as I can, by the will of Allah.
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