About Me

What do art, COVID-19 and faith have to do with each other? It seems like three random circles in a Venn diagram that through the mysterious turning of the universe, somehow intersected. For me, anyway.

A little about me: I'm Monica Lim and for a long time, writing was (still is) my thing. Afterall, I've been running my own copywriting agency since 2002. I also wrote a blog on kids and education for about 10 years, which earned a decent following among parents. Quite a few of the blogposts went viral and resulted in extensive media coverage. In 2013, I got a book deal and published my first book, The Good, the Bad and the PSLE, then went on to co-author another 14 children's books with my daughter. The books did pretty well locally, garnering several awards and several books in the Secrets of Singapore series were on the National Bestseller list for many weeks.

So how did this writer suddenly become an artist? Well, 2020 is a strange year, to say the least. I turned 50 in January, and then shortly after, COVID-19 hit. As I write this, in August 2020, it doesn't show any sign of slowing down. Thank God the impact on my business has been manageable, as we've built up a solid reputation in Singapore. I know many other small businesses have been badly hit.

Still, new jobs have been slow in coming in. As a result, I was left with a lot of free time - time to fret and angst and stare at the ceiling, wondering if things were going to get worse before they got better. Then my daughter suggested I took up art again. Back story: I don't have art training but I've loved art since I was a kid, and dabbled in it mostly during my undergraduate days. I tried coloured pencils, pastels, oils, pen and ink, basically anything that looked interesting. Since then, I barely touched it, only attempting a few pieces in the 1990s before abandoning it altogether.

St Peter's Cathedral in coloured pencil

Horse in watercolour pencils

Horse in coloured pencil

When my daughter suggested I return to art, I thought ok, why not. This was in May and I didn't think very much of it. I started with the Spain Project and totally didn't expect that in less than 3 months, I would have embarked on a whirlwind adventure in art that consumed me. I've progressed in ability, outlook and impact, to the point where I can actually sell my art, and I truly see God's fingerprints in this. Without going into detail, a series of personal encounters over the past 3 years have brought me closer to God, and I knew that His hand was on everything I did, or about to do.

I remember after deciding to close the chapter on book-writing in 2019 after 6 years, I asked God, "What next?" I wanted to do something that would impact people but I didn't know what. I'm not saying that art is definitely "what's next" but I'm just going with the flow and not worrying too much about the future. I'm taking this one day at a time and it's kinda nice knowing that I don't have to work out a 10-step long-term plan.

And that's how I came to this intersection of art, COVID-19 and faith. So many amazing things have happened in this short space of time that I thought it was perhaps good to journal my art journey. I never thought I would return to blogging, but I realise it might be useful to  capture my thoughts and discoveries in art (of which I've had many!), the challenges and triumphs of individual pieces of art, and how God works in this amazing adventure of co-creation. Also, it's a useful platform to sell my artworks for charity.

I don't know where this is headed but wherever God leads, I'm ready.

Afternote (10 September 2020): Here's an updated post on how God has been guiding my hand in my art abilities.