I was not an artist by habit. In fact, I would shy away from calling myself one in front of people.

But I always had a deep appreciation for art.

I would come across an image, a face, a flower, a landscape, a feeling—something so beautiful that I couldn't quite look away.

And sometimes, something would move me so strongly that I would want to somehow bring a little of that magic into my own world.

So I chose to try.

With no one watchingNo expectations.No announcement.No one to impress.

Just me, the reference, the canvas, and hours of figuring it out.

I would spend hours looking at every little detail. And somewhere along the way, the painting would become more than just an image I was trying to recreate. It became a way of immersing myself in something that had moved me.

And there was always that little suspense:Will I actually be able to make this?

And then, somewhere along the way, it would begin to come together. And the best part wasn't how much it looked like what had inspired me.

It was looking at it and thinking—

I created my own version of THIS.

That feeling became addictive.So I kept coming back.

The world isn't short of beauty and there is always something beautiful waiting to speak to us—in the softest of ways, in the smallest of details—if only we pause long enough to notice. And sometimes, when we do,we find a little more of ourselves there too.