Colors Of Cambodia

For a few months now, I have been talking to the children and listening to their imaginative stories during painting classes. Their wide-eyed intrigued look took my thoughts back to those rundown school buildings. I really miss the children there with their innocent smiles. In fact, I am really grateful to be able to work in an environment surrounded by children, to be able to watch them learn with their hearts and happily grow. It is also where I found a niche to call my own. When I first started backpacking through the mysterious and culturally rich countries of Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia etc., my purpose was to broaden my perspective, to gain new experiences, and to understand the local customs, their artistic styles and creations. I had earlier encountered a bottleneck where I felt my knowledge had become insufficient for my teaching. If an exciting palette is desired, one can mix endless hues through practice and learning. However, to develop better ideas in teaching, one needs to constantly explore further, to experience the contrasts resulting from differences in environment, education, encounters, and also to be in touch with various unique artistic styles. Yet, after having gone through the journey, I realized that what I have collected was more than the additional knowledge I needed. It has not only created ripples in my previously mundane life, it actually deeply touched my heart.

The busy life in the city constantly pushes my pace faster; sometimes I can hardly catch a breather. All I could do was to control my own pace as much as I can, occasionally take some time off in another country to reframe my mind and to relax. Only then my mind could gain more flexibility. Otherwise life is too much of a routine, with activities like leaving the house, coming back, having meals and going to bed at fixed times. If not that, I would be rushing here and there, constantly being busy and occupied …….. How did things get so hectic? Until the extent that I overlooked many things, forgetting to care for the people around me. All this comes back to me whenever I am wandering in the streets with my backpack on, looking at people young and old of different races, trying to understand how they face their daily life. All those faraway memories reappear naturally, like bubbles gushing out of a freshly popped Champaign bottle, making waves in my emotions. Once again, my memories turn into scenes in paintings.

I fell in love with Siem Reap on my first trip there in Jan 2007 . Through numerous glimmering rays of sunshine that penetrated the dense green woods, I saw the roots of giant trees that entwined on the ancient buildings of Angkor. These were trees with the most charisma. I have painted many trees over the years and I never saw two trees with the exact same form. Every time I see a huge old tree, my heart could not help but shout: “A tree!” as if I have discovered something new. To me, trees enliven the land and also my childhood. The swaying of millions of leaves and the dance of the shade they create filled me up with the joy of life. It is also here in this ancient artistic city that I ran into the kind and loving founder of “Colors of Cambodia”, an art gallery that provides help to children. I was deeply moved by what William D. Gentry had done there.

Bill graduated from Indiana University majoring in fine art, he participated in numerous art exhibitions. In 1998, he received the Predigious Painting Of The Year Award from the Polo Alto Art League of California. His collectors include Kenny Rogers, Larry Hagman and Babara Mardrell! I exchanged thoughts with him several times over the past year, and I found him to be an “art dealer” full of passion and kindness. Based in Singapore, his company, Positronic Asia Ltd., has factories all over the world, but he is not a CEO with only profit in mind. Even though he needs to fly everywhere for business very often, he will still take some of his precious time to visit Siem Reap every ten weeks to check on how the children are doing with their painting. He also donates funds and art supplies to children in schools. For the past six years, he returned to the schools continuously to give children the opportunity to paint with color pencils, children who once mistaken crayons for candies! Bill discovered a few talented children in school and gave them special training. At the same time, he helped to sell the paintings and formed an education fund for the children. This is the most meaningful thing I have seen in the many years I have worked in the field of art. Art is not only the expression of inner feelings, the mixing of colors, or the form of objects, it lets the local children have a dream for the future. On Mother's Day, William even organized a charity exhibition in Singapore for the children. He has not only given his time and effort, but also this love for the children!