Like I mentioned
previously, the sister and I were volunteering ourselves to paint a mural on the wall for the Parent's Corner at the
Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home.
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| Blank wall at Parent's Corner |
Our job was to incorporate the kid's drawing into one picture and then paint that picture on the wall. The organiser LP said we have to allow the children to help paint so that they will feel included. Sounds like a massive project to me. We felt we really needed some backup so we roped in my sister's bf to help out.
First we started out by drawing a sketch on the wall.
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| If you look closely, you'll see the sketch on the wall... |
Then we mixed the different paints donated by a sponsor and got on with the actual painting. This was the toughest part of the job because of the children's involvement. We had to make sure they will not get themselves dirty or paint haphazardly. Most of them took on the painting without complaint and were very cooperative but others were less enthusiastic. There were 2 boys in particular who started to get unhappy when people started to paint over the
small minute details that they had drawn. I tried to reason with them but they didn't understand that drawing/painting on a piece of paper is very different from painting on the wall. Small details don't go on a wall till after we have finished painting the background. But they wouldn't listen to me and one even showed us the attitude and insisted he will not participate anymore since it's not
his design. Like whatever. I have a baby dude. I have become very good at tuning out tantrums. The sister, not so much. She was super frustrated.
So anyway, when they couldn't listen to reason, we (or actually more like me) were very strict with them. I told them they couldn't help out if they refused to listen to us. And they didn't help out anymore after that. Which was actually a real blessing for us 'cos we could finish it quicker.
Thankfully, there were also many helpful teenagers who were really good and helped us paint the bulk of the background. Sort of balanced the bad experience with a good one.
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| Putting on the finishing touches... |
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| I did the words on the wall freehand - nope, no stencil =) |
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| My favourite part of the wall was this waterfall |
During our painting, I started to get a spur of inspiration and went all artistic on the rocks. I have ever painted a waterfall before so this was easy for me. One of the girls wanted to help me and I taught her how to paint so that the waterfall looked more realistic. She was ecstatic when she saw how nice it looked. Was so happy with the way it turned out =).
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| JM doing final touch ups |
We also decided to leave a part of us in the painting.
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| Do you see where it is? |
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| Look closer... |
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| There it is! M cube, for the Ms in our names/surname |
This experience has taught us a lot of patience. Throughout the whole thing although at some point we were unhappy or frustrated, we learnt how to just let it slide and move on. And we really worked well together as a team!
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| Group photo with the final creation |
I'm glad we managed to finish the whole wall in one day. We started at 8am in the morning and completed it at 5pm. Amazing right? God is good =)
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| With sister at the main gate and a present we received from the home as a token of appreciation. |
I was very proud of us, especially my sister, for doing this as she has zero talent in the children or painting department. Yet she was still willing to help out. Shows a lot of dedication! It was exhausting but we were glad that we did it.
Not bad for a nursing mum eh =)
