Day 08: Release grief through colour

If you missed the first few days, I’m doing a 100-day sketchbook painting challenge and showing up here daily. This challenge has two parts: filling a sketchbook and writing here every day, and along the way I’m noticing the little habits that support the process.

Oh but yes, you can paint in bright, happy pink and still be sad and grieving.

Before words could help me heal, colour always did. It’s the first thing I notice — long before I’m ready to talk, colour shows up for me.

Eight years ago today, I lost my beautiful dad. He was an incredibly skilled artist — one of those quietly brilliant Renaissance-type creatives who could do everything. And he is the one main reason I found my way back to painting after a ten-year hiatus.

Two years ago, I shared this story: Connecting grief with creativity.

Today, I knew I had to paint freestyle and start with pink as my anchor — my dad loved pink-fusion and bright, bold colours. I always loved that about him, and how he was so good at picking my mum’s colour–combination outfits. It would always be a fun game too. He would always let me choose colours for things around the house, or his even his work, all things, and gave me that trust that I knew what I was doing at such a young age.

I had to remind myself: paint from the gut, paint what you feel, stay loose, let the worries wash away. No time for getting stuck in details today. Look up. Look for the light that comes through the cracks of grey days. Look for the colours that bring you tears of joy.

My dad always encouraged me to go all in with colour — fearless and bold. I grew up believing colour was my language, my voice, maybe even my magic power. I’m not sure how true that is, but I still catch myself being so curious about how colours work together, how they show up everywhere, how they carry memories and create new experiences.

That gentle path, mixed with my fascination for fabrics and culture, keeps expanding my love for colour in new ways.

Colour has always been how I bring my worlds together. It’s my first expression in art. It’s usually how I start — especially on days like today when words don’t come easy but the colours do the talking for me.

So keeping it simple today felt both necessary and hard. I just wanted to fill the page and then enjoy the rest of the day.

Today’s reminder: Trust your gut more than you give it credit.
Grief and sadness come in many different notes, and your creativity will meet you in its own way. For some of us it’s colour and for others it’s something else entirely.
Whatever it is, it will find you when you’re ready.