In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I begin with praising His name for I am nothing without His Grace and Mercy. With my buah hati and jantung by my side, my parents, Pn Normal & En Tajalli, I will never dare to dream nor walk this path of the unknown, finding light and love from nature & craft. Not forgetting all the duas and well wishes from family-friends who support me in both times of ease and difficulty.
My heart is full and humbled by people I have encountered and acquainted with yesterday. What a blessed event and I bare witness the greatest gift in the excitement and enjoyment of my participants. Alhamdulillah. Old and young, wise and innocent, participants of all backgrounds come together to learn cyanotype, an old art of photographic printing. Coupled with nature grounding experience, how NOT to be awed and eager to spend quality time outdoors with those who share similar interests. Shout out to my mom, Pn Normal (in calling her first name, I’m acknowledging she is or was my teacher in school and this life,second to being my mother of course) for allowing all of us to forage her precious florals and herb garden to our heart’s content.
I have never seen a scene like this before, (maybe I had but have forgotten) but the childlike wonders are pronounced in the eyes of my participants as they climb, crawl and thread their steps through the garden and also literally near the slope of Gunung Raya, hunting for their potential subjects to feature in their cyanotype masterpiece. Despite meeting each other for the first time, the bond I felt among them as they shared their masterpiece and process exploration with each other, reminded me of my own experience with my classmates in art and nature class. I had amazing teachers who shaped our love for the environment. Alhamdulillah for being able to recreate that experience for my participants too.
The sweetness and barakah from yesterday’s events are also from the culmination and support of others; namely Balai Seni Negara Langkawi,our co-host of the workshop, family, friends and not to forget our neighbours too. Without going through sets of challenges and lessons that life has thrown to us, we would not improve or grow as we are today. But one thing stays true and guides us well as a family-runned space; we do what we can for sheer love of sharing our craft, our know-how and the joy of experiencing the calming sight and sound of Dikaki, in hope it too can benefits others. I am not a trained educator like my parents but I am still grateful for the opportunity to teach informally in an unconventional classroom here. Alhamdulillah.
My mom made a good introspection post - workshop today: art unites people, nomatter of their age, race, nationalities or belief. We really had a myriad of people amidst us and (my favourite word of the day), grateful for their warmth and their enthusiasm. The youngest participants, only 14 years young, inspired me with their independence and confidence. Such a brave and passionate group of friends to join a non-school workshop and communicate with people years senior than them!
I could go on and on so and wax poetries on this (which I did!) so please enjoy the poetry essay in Malay language above. You may find the written puisi (poetry) in here and here. Thank you so much if you have made it here! xoxo