My Mother and I

My Mother and I

Blog Post By: Leena Kewlani

Note to reader: These are the thoughts penned by one of our registered Artists.

Mothers are the anchor of families, the soul and body nourishers, the mind readers, the peacemakers, and then they say superheroes don't exist!! Well they do for me in the form of mothers!

They say no one knows you better than your mother. And this painting is my tribute to a woman who has stood by me, and understood my emotions even when I didn't utter a word.

Growing up, I was my father’s daughter. Even now, if you ask me, I would tell you that I am closer to my dad than to my mom. My dad and I just understand each other, we have similar characteristics and traits. He’s the first person I go to for anything and everything. What girls usually talk with their moms, I share everything with my dad. 

But in this father-daughter love-story stood a very strong woman, who supported the entire family unit. Without her, my dad wouldn’t be where he is today. Without her, I wouldn’t be an artist or even successful in my career. 

The one thing my father has never understood about me is my passion towards art. His logical mind couldn’t understand how someone can spend hours painting or getting dirty in a pottery studio. I would dabble in drawings and my mom would encourage me. She pushed me to join art classes and experiment with different art forms.

She would ensure no one comes near my room whilst I spent hours painting, but she would come pull me out to drink coffee and to have food. In the mornings, she would realize I stayed up the night painting, so she would get everyone in the house to stay quiet so that I caught up on sleep. She proudly turned the walls of our home to a gallery to display my work. She would find materials for me to work on, record TV programs on creative art forms, save reference clippings of articles and paintings from newspapers and magazines. To my mom, there was absolutely nothing I couldn’t achieve through my art.  But beyond this, my mom realized that I barely spoke about my emotions and feelings that lie deep within me - either to her or to my dad. I would bury anger and hurt within me, things people said to me or that was bothering me. Art gave me a safe and meditative way to process these emotions and stay joyful. And the more I indulged in my art, the more centered I became. And all of this would not have been possible without my mom.

They say and I believe "only your mom knows what beats within your heart and what resides within your soul. Thank you mama for everything you have done for me".