My Father, The Artist!

Today’s Father’s Day! I had a gap of not celebrating it in between my father’s passing in late 2006 till after I met my boyfriend in 2008.  Today we’ll be heading over to bring some baked goods (which I need to do after I get this written and posted up). I’ve been thinking about it all week as to how to write about my father.  I’ve already written a very deep post about how the passing of my father has impacted me in December last year (you can read that HERE if you’d like).  As much as I’m still learning to let go, there isn’t a day I don’t think about my father.  Today I’d like to share a little about him because I was always so proud of him.

My fave Valentine’s card to him and a picture of my dad and baby me 🙂

My dad was amazing (as are most fathers, when we think about it).  He was smart and devoted to his very complicated work as an actuary for 30 years.  He was an amazing scholar but gave up finishing his PhD because he was bored.  He was hardworking and mega committed.

Even when he was very busy, he would find time to hone his artistic talents.  I remember him taking me to his  Chinese painting classes.  My dad may not be a worldwide famous artist but he was in my heart.  A lot of the art hanging on our walls was his work.  He focused mostly on Chinese Painting and Chinese Calligraphy.  I can still remember the days when he patiently sat down with me and taught me how to do Chinese Calligraphy.  All the the energy to teach me the tricks in mastering the stroke.

My dad’s painting

My favorite is that painting of  bird. He always did amazing with flowers.  The best one he did is now with my Aunt in Hong Kong but we have one thats very pretty also!

My dad wasn’t only crafty with Chinese painting but he love all art.  I remember going to the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal every year on museum day.  There were times that we’d talk about how he feels and what not.  I may not be able to draw past stick people but I always was up to learning more about my dad’s interests.  At home, he would take newspaper clippings of animals and sketch them right on the spot. Just like this one…

Or he would love to sketch our Siamese Cat and later came back to liven up the picture with the hunt of a mouse.  Isn’t it adorable?

My dad’s art didn’t end there. He sang Cantonese Opera and even if I wasn’t a huge fan of it, I was at every single performance he did.  After so many days, months, years of listening to him practice and practice and perfect his skills, he was one of my favorite Cantonese opera singers and he always lit up the stage when he performed.  Even when I would tell him to let me sleep when he was practicing at midnight because I had an exam the next day, I still loved hearing him.

My dad’s performance in 2003

He was one of the reasons that I stopped putting time into the Hollywood movies.  For a few years, there was no time but seeing movies was my time with my dad. We watched lots of movies together.  If he was alive, I’d have put together a movie marathon and sat through the Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, The English Patient, Moonstruck, and probably wrapped it up with the Blu-ray version of Phantom of the Opera live performance (because thats his favorite and I’d have saved up to bring him to see it live one day). I’d have baked him some chocolate eclairs and Mille-feuilles desserts because those are his favorites.  I don’t have the chance to do that anymore but every once in a while, when I do/see something that reminds of my dad or that he’d like, I will still have him in my thoughts.

My dad taught me a lot of things with his actions.  I was happy to hear his passion and feel his hard-work and it motivated me.  Whatever it was, my dad may not have been perfect but to me, I will always be proud of who he was, the things he’s accomplished and miss him every single day.

Happy Father’s Day to you all! I know many of you are fathers and fathers to be! Have a great day with the family!