Painting my way to 54
After 54 years of existence, one may eventually run out of ways to mark a birthday. When June hits, my brain usually starts working overtime, trying to figure out what I would like to do when July 31 comes around. I’ve done extravagant dinners, a Jollibee party, weekends away, and everything in between.
I love throwing parties. Not necessarily because I like being the center of attention, although it is my birthday, but because they give people an excuse to stop. Friends and family become so busy with life that we sometimes forget how wonderful it is to simply sit down, eat, laugh, talk, and simply be in the presence of people we love.
In our family, I am usually the one calling for a reunion. With friends, I have my different little circles, but somehow I am also the organizer who likes bringing those circles together to make one big one. Coordinating busy people can be quite tiring. Finding a date alone deserves its own project manager. But at the end of the day, when everyone is finally together, it is always worth it.
And this year was going to be a little different.
Party but make it artsy
I made a last-minute decision to fly to London to meet up with my daughter Jody, which meant I wouldn’t be home for my actual birthday. So before leaving Manila, I decided I still wanted to do something with my friends.
But this time I wanted it to be something I had never done before. I decided to throw a pARTy. Yes, allow me that one.
Instead of gathering everyone around a long table for another lunch or dinner, I gathered a group of my friends and family and asked them to spend three hours of their late afternoon with me in an art class at Kit101.
Located at the Menarco Tower in BGC, Kit101 is an art education studio for people of all ages and skill levels. Its philosophy is centered on bringing back the pursuit of refined craft to art-making. Students learn art fundamentals and good studio habits under the guidance of artist-teachers, using both traditional and mixed media approaches.
What I particularly liked about the idea was that nobody had to be an artist. You didn’t have to know how to paint. You didn’t have to understand perspective, color theory, or composition. You didn’t even have to know the difference between acrylic and watercolor. You simply had to show up, sit down, and be willing to try.
Relearning the idea of learning
Before we began, Kit101 owner Joy Sua Go gave us an inspirational talk about creativity and how being artistic exists in all of us. Sometimes, we simply don’t give ourselves the opportunity to discover it. Her message was that creativity is something we can realize, hone, and develop through perseverance.
You may not think of yourself as artistic, but that doesn’t mean the creative side isn’t there. Like most things in life, sometimes it just needs a little coaxing.
I loved that thought. As adults, we become very good at doing the things we already know how to do. We work. We run businesses. We take care of families. We travel. We organize schedules. We answer messages. We attend meetings, lunches, dinners, and events.
But somewhere along the way, however, we stop being beginners.
There is an artist somewhere inside each of us
Children will happily pick up a paintbrush and paint the sky purple without worrying whether anybody thinks it is good. Adults stare at a blank canvas and immediately start panicking: “What if mine is ugly?”
That afternoon, nobody was allowed to care. We put on our aprons, picked up our brushes and became students again. There was laughter, concentration, a little bit of comparison, and perhaps some quiet competition because, after all, these were my friends. Suddenly everyone was very serious about her masterpiece.
And that was exactly what made the afternoon so much fun.
For three hours, we weren’t thinking about work, checking our phones every five minutes, or rushing from one appointment to another. We were sitting together, creating something with our hands, laughing at our mistakes, and discovering that perhaps Go was right. There really is an artist somewhere inside each of us.
Some artists are simply buried a little deeper than others.
Finding new ways to celebrate
I have spent my birthdays in many different ways over the years, but this one reminded me that getting older doesn’t mean running out of things to do. Perhaps it means finding new ones. At 54, there are still things I have never tried, places I have never seen, skills I have never learned, and sides of myself I have yet to discover. There is something comforting and exciting about that.
And maybe that is the real art of getting older. You stop counting the birthdays that have passed and start thinking about all the experiences you can still squeeze into the years ahead.
I flew to London afterward and spent my actual birthday there with Jody. But before I left Manila, I had already received one of the nicest birthday gifts I could have asked for: three hours with friends and family, a blank canvas, some paint, plenty of laughter and the reminder that we are never too old to try something new.
After 54 years, apparently I haven’t run out of birthday ideas yet. And judging from our newfound artistic careers, perhaps next year’s party should involve an exhibition.
But for now, allow me to show you the artworks of my dearest friends and family. Who knows? You might be looking at the work of the next great Filipino artist. Or, at the very least, a group of people who had a wonderful afternoon trying.
P.S. If this inspires you to discover your own inner artist, Kit101 is located at 9/F Menarco Tower, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Metro Manila 1634
