The artist we knew from a few years ago was one of the workshops Noah attended. We kept in touch, and they always invited us to any events happening at the Temengong Artists-In-Residence.
In one recent event, we had a little time to talk to the founder, an approachable, humble gentleman named Henri Chen KeZhan.
Back then, we thought we needed to put Noah into drawing tuition. Encouraged by his art teacher at school, she said he needed to sharpen up his skills more. — He still keeps drawing at home (you can imagine so many A4 paper “wasted” for his drafts, mock-ups, etc.), anything he likes, but we still haven’t put him in any art class.
So when we met Henri, we told him that we hadn’t put him in any art class yet, as asked by his art teacher, expecting some kind of explanation. But it wasn’t an expected question. His first question was, “Is Noah still drawing?” We said, “Everyday, he will draw anything. He likes comic types of drawing (always a story that makes him laugh) instead of painting etc.
He nodded with agreement, he said, “Let him keep drawing and don’t put him in art class before 12.
“Let the child be a child, let their ideas and imagination run wild in his head as long as he keeps drawing. Don’t limit.”
Then he said, “When you ask them (Noah and Maude) to walk, will they walk straight like us? They tend to walk left-right (zig-zig), fast, slow, and so on. Don’t stop them from doing it.”
Let them be (let their imagination run wild as they want, not directed by anyone).
We were stunned by that realization, and we felt relieved.
Out of nowhere, we remembered the verse that says, “God has plans, and His timing is always right.”
Backstory: Noah was part of the team that designed the Singapore National Day Parade goodies bag. Few of his drawings were selected.
In the workshop, led by the Artist from Temanggong, they were divided into a few teams with a few themes (total defense, culture, future technology (AI) etc.) and given a color palette. It’s totally up to them to draw.
Chimi Kyo 