List five things you do for fun.
Nobody ever talks about the importance of fun, but I can’t paint enough of it. Don’t underestimate the importance of Fun. It helps you learn, it makes things enjoyable, and it helps all of us to get along. I grew up under strict conditions, fun was not to be had on the schedule. So much of fun is being able to express yourself, dabble in the activities you enjoy, and sharing that joy with others! It is the golden ticket to a good life. If you are having fun, you are winning at life. Everybody knows I paint for fun but did you know these 5 additional hidden hobbies of mine as outlined by the 5 Ugly Animals In Cute Outfits paintings below:
Dancing: I love dancing! I remember prancing around as a kid giggling my face off and being told to REIGN IT IN all the time. My parents enrolled me in ballet, most likely to correct my posture and put some structure and discipline into it, 2 very not fun things. I dropped out soon after and didn’t dance for along time until I discovered hip hop and breakdancing in my teens. Most people don’t know but I was an avid breaker in my middle school to high school years, and even got into raver culture a bit, had the PHAT pants and everything!
Consuming Content: Which in my day was reading books and watching movies. Now it’s phone scrolling. These days it’s mostly how to parent toddlers, trying to not re-create my husband and I’s crappy childhoods, which maybe is not a true source of fun, but definitely heading into a better direction! but when I have a good chunk of time, I love a good TV binge. At the moment I am getting into Squid Game and watching Parenthood. Timeless classics for me are Wes Anderson films, most notably, The Budapest Hotel, a movie around a painting: Boy With Apple, as cleverly depicted here:
Music/Being Naked: Well that goes hand in hand with dancing. I listen to a lot of music painting, at work and driving around for work too. I dabbled in a little piano and guitar as a kid, but these days I mostly just build 100 song playlists on my Spotify under the username Furry Lisa. OK I don’t spend THAT much time being naked, but fun fact: I once did a performance art piece in the nude, back in my art school days. It was probably nerve wrecking and not super fun and yet at the same time, the experience brought me a level a confidence and compassion I never thought I had & that’s just one of the things you can learn whilst having fun in art school.
Swimming: The only exercise I don’t hate. I grew up swimming laps everyday and I still like to if i have the opportunity. I like how I never feel sweaty swimming, and my body feels sore in just the right places. I like to catch my laps first thing in the morning when I can just ride that wave of endorphins the rest of the day.
Playing: As adults I think we forget to play. All our recreational hobbies and interests generally revolve around mastering a skill or interest, which is fine, but it neglects the opportunity, almost expectations for failure like play does. Play means things don’t have to be perfect and so long as you are having fun, you’re doing great! It means you are approaching something new, exploring and discovering. There’s nothing more boring, or un-fun about doing the same thing a million times over when you are already good at it, I think. These days you’ll find me playing with my kids, building awkward snowmen in the backyard, baking ugly cookies and lopsided pizzas, fiddling with crayons, stickers, sticky goo and my favourite, googly eyes, Pom poms, and glitter. #fun #play
LISA NG ART 