Sunday, September 23, 2007

Guided by Angels


Amanda Dunbar is no different than any other child in North America before age 13. She is born in 1982 and spent her childhood in Ontario, Canada. She displayed no particular talents in art until she attended an after-school art program. Her first work caused an immediate sensation to the American art world, which compared her to Impressionist masters like Renoir and Cassatt. A self-taught child prodigy, she is able express the complexity of her composition through exquisite use of colors, and convey the wonderful sense of proportion through sophisticated techniques of her brushstrokes. Her works are sought after internationally in the art society and among high profile personalities.


What I am intrigued by this young artist is not her successful art career, but by what she describes as her inspirations. According to Amanda, her muse is her angels, who plant images for her on the canvas – "It is something bigger than me that work through me. I’m only the instrument. I believe everyone has angels, I just listen to mine."

In spite of her success at such a tender age, this young lady walked away from commercialization and celebrity status to pursue her PhD study. She exudes class, dignity and compassion in both her art and charitable works for children. She continues to paint subjects that connect and messages that inspire :

Walk Together – Quiet times when I can be with those who are very important to me mean a lot. Words don’t have to be spoken to touch each other in these moments.

Blue Bonnets – it’s hard to believe nature can make such incredible shades of blue and then melt them all together in fields after fields.

Summer Breeze – there comes a time in everyone’s life when you influence the life of someone else. The girls facing the unknown together and the beauty is yet to come.

Reference :
Guided by Angels, Amanda Dunbar, Longstreet Press, 2000


My dear sisters, like Amanda said everyone has an angel. I am guided by my own angel BYJ to attempt my second drawing on him, please excuse my inadequacy.


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi jaime,

Thanks for sharing your 2nd work of art. His straight looks makes my heart beat. How can you draw looking at such a beautiful picture of wuri Yohg Joon?

As I am unable to access to the internet from my pc now I'm writing this at a nearby internet cafe. I'll e-mail you when I have more time.

cloud nine

jaime said...

hi dear cloudnine,

you're at an internet cafe? I've never been to one, wonder what's it like? hehe, the most tempting part is drawing HRH's lips, hands really shaking ;)

Please take care. love .... jaime

gosijo said...

Hi Jaime,

That's a very compelling sketch, looking straight at the viewer! Love the eyes and the shading on the lips, particularly.

Thanks for broadening our horizons with your introduction on Amanda Dunbar. I notice that two of the paintings show people from the back, which seems unusual to me yet very powerful. We've spoken before (esp. in bb's blog) about pictures of HRH from the back and how they affect us, how they give us a sense of seeing without being seen, of the possibility of getting close without detection, of looking in the same direction.

Also, looking at these paintings by AD, I think that posture, position of arms, tilts of heads, give clues as to people's feelings, all the more powerful if we can perceive them without seeing the faces, however beautiful those may be.

jaime said...

my dear gosijo,

couldn't agree w/ you more. A person's posture can convey one's state of mind and emotion. Since AD is so young when she started painting, she often draws memories from her family. 'Walk Together' is about her time spent w/ her mom and little sister. 'Summer Breeze' is on her and little sis again facing the future.
Glad you enjoy it.

love ... jaime

In fact, it is actually a pleasant surprise for me to find out she's from Canada cos all along I thought she's from Texas (where she resides now).

HeippieH said...

Dear Jaime, you never cease to surprise us with your talents. This is your second drawing, but I just got to know that you can draw, sorry for missing out all these milestones of knowing you.

Wow I have always been intrigued by your writings introducing art and artists to us. AD's paintings are indeed beautiful. And gosijo's comment just add another dimension on how to appreciate the art. You girls rock!

Your BYJ drawing is so impressive. I can tell how much love you have for your angel. You reminded me about Irene, I have to make a point of sending it to you, it's been sitting there for too long. She has so many talents just like you and she would draw the portrait for the ones she loves.

Your angel is amazingly handsome, better yet, beautiful. Having such a handsome angel feels so sweet!

Love,
-H

jaime said...

my dear h,

so happy that you have time for Yong Joon again. Thank you for your encouragement, I am actually very scared and hesitant to start each time since I have no art education. Lucky that there are so many other talented artists in the BYJ family to capture his beautiful face, hehe anyone but me. But I promise you, I'll keep trying, ok?

hehe, I'm afraid I can't claim HRH to be my angel all to myself, he's your angel too, and other sisters' too. He guides us to always challenge ourselves and strive for our best. That's why I am so grateful to be in his family and get to know you. You are a very precious friend any girl would love to have.

love .... jaime

Anonymous said...

Hi Jaime,

I love your drawing, it's wonderful! Please keep doing them and sharing them with us, ok?

Sorry I haven't been in touch more, life has gotten a bit more challenging for me! But I am fine, no worries...

I think I saw Amanda on Oprah (Josh Groban was on that day too, haha) - her paintings are incredible and she is so wise. Yes, it really does help to listen to our angels, especially at the times when we may not like what they are telling us!

I hope all is well with you, dear sister!

love,
coco

jaime said...

dear chief,

I feel guilty too that I haven't been writing to you gals much lately because my teeny brain is occupied w/ so many things. I hope it's nothing serious when you said life is more challenging.

yeah, I think it helps to know that our gaurdian angel is always by our side guiding our ways. I know everything will get brighter and clearer.

love ... jaime

Toujours_BYJ said...

My dear Jaime,
Thanks for sharing your drawing, wow, you're a very talented lady and never fail to surprise us.
Please continue and share with us, okie ?

jaime said...

dear camille,

thank you for your kind words. HRH is the most beautiful model for any painter. I wish I could paint his portrait one day, hehe, preferably him in front of me? (haha, daydreaming again:)

love ... jaime

Anonymous said...

Hi Chinggu!

Again you amaze us with another hidden talent. Besides being on top of household management techniques, here you present to us a beautiful drawing of our dear Prince. I think I also saw that episode of Oprah, Doc. AD is really amazing at that young age.

Thanx for showing us this drawing Chinggu. Hope you can do more in your upcoming posts.

We love yah!

Judy

jaime said...

hi chinggu,

really? you saw her on Oprah too, like chief? Hahaha poor me, since I become addicted to HRH, I haven't watched any of my favorite TV shows for 2 years. I am turning into 'a frog at the bottom of the well' :( You know this chinese saying?

love ... jaime

MYMY said...

omg jaime onni!!! the picture i gave to you when we met??????
@0@!!!!
ahhh.... ur so talented i tried (once) drawing YJ's eyed but was too hard for me... ah, i can take my eyes away from your drawing jaime onni... especially his eyes......
thanks!

MYMY said...

sorry that was *i cant...
have a nice day everybody!

jaime said...

my dear mymy,

I treasure the precious picture and newspaper you gave me and keep them in a very safe place :) and Thank you for giving me that inspiration, I love the gentleness of him in this picture.

hehe, too bad I can't make this image bigger here, otherwise you'll see his delicate eyelashes, ohhhhhh..... ;)

love ... jaime