A JOY SHARED IS A JOY MULTIPLIED With Guest, TAN LIM HENG - From pen to paint brush

SMITTEN BY FAITH Issue # 0008 11th September 2021

The beautiful title of this week’s article comes from my Special Guest, TAN LIM HENG. Recently retired from his busy corporate life as a top executive in the financial industry in Hong Kong, it is wonderful to see how completely Lim Heng has re-defined and transformed himself. For Tan Lim Heng, the change from a pen to the paint brush came as a thunderbolt out of the blue – as he will better describe below. I will only say here how astounded I was and still am – as you will be too – to see the remarkable paintings of Tan Lim Heng who had never trained as an artist and never had any inclination to be one. Yet, I truly believe that Tan Lim Heng belongs to the ranks of extraordinary artists. I said to Lim Heng who is also a very good friend, that his appearance today in ‘Smitten By Faith’ provides a lovely balance to our amazing Indonesian Millennial last week. Today, we have the ‘silver hair’ of age and I am honoured to share with you Lim Heng’s paintings which show his dedication to beauty and humanity; his artworks reflecting the intensity and genuineness of his feelings and the wisdom and compassion of his years.

Tan Lim Heng – in front of his painting of Tarquin, his beloved dog who is now on heavenly grounds since 14 December 2020.

When he retired in 2016, Lim Heng, with no artistic training or even a prior experience (as a pastime or otherwise) in painting, followed a ‘spiritual force’ within him which told him to paint! And, so he painted his first painting, a rabbit – in memory of his late brother Seng, who was born in the year of the rabbit. Lim Heng says that when he held the paint brush in his hand, the question of how to paint the rabbit seemed to be resolved – just like that! In his own words, he says: 

“ ….when I dipped my brush in black ink and applied it to the rice paper …,the image evolved looking like a rabbit. ….then I added in a pot of flowers with red dashes, the ground with blue markings and finally a carrot for the rabbit. I was sure my brother Seng would be laughing at my painting looking down from above, but also feel the love we have for him and know he will always be remembered.”

Rabbit © Tan Lim Heng 

Why do I mention this painting? As a first painting, I think the Rabbit by Tan Lim Heng is simply charming in the simple beauty of its composition and the aesthetics.  Aside from this, I am thrilled by the motivation behind why Lim Heng painted the rabbit. It was love - the love he had for his brother. Lim Heng then went on to paint more and more and more – with such energy, verve and passion – so that now, just 5 years after his retirement from corporate life, the prolific ‘accidental’ artist Tan Lim Heng has painted more than 750 pieces of wonderful artworks – ranging from abstracts to still-lives to landscapes and so on. Free, unrestrained, passionate and authentic. All his wonderful paintings speak to whoever is fortunate to view them. Lim Heng paints wherever his imagination leads him and since he does not need to paint for a living, when requested, he generously donates his artworks to be sold at charity auctions. His paintings which fetch tens of thousands per painting have already benefited so many charities in Hong Kong and Singapore so that through his artworks, Tan Lim Heng has certainly multiplied this joy. 

One last word about Lim Heng’s rabbit painting and why it moves me so much is also what the rabbit symbolizes for most of us. We all know the expression – ‘to multiply like rabbits’. This comes from the fact that rabbits need only 31 days to gestate whereas humans need 9 months and elephants need 22 months. I believe that this spontaneous multiplication and sharing of the power of love and faith amongst our community is indeed precious. This is what Tan Lim Heng, the compassionate artist achieves with his paintings; as you will see in Lim Heng’s commentaries below on each of his artworks : ‘A joy shared is a joy multiplied’.

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A JOY SHARED IS A JOY MULTIPLIED

By TAN LIM HENG; 11th September 2021 - Hong Kong & Singapore 

I will start off by thanking Joan Foo Mahony for inviting me and encouraging me to participate in her ‘Smitten By Faith’ Series. I was peripherally involved in her book ‘Millennials Meet Mary’ having contributed my painting ‘Cascade of Roses’ to be used as end papers for the book; and after that my painting, ‘Two Bees in a Honeycomb’, was used for the cover of her book, ‘Late, Have I Loved Thee’. Joan is Catholic – passionately so – and both books relate to her Catholic faith. I must confess that though I had attended missionary schools in Singapore— first at the Anglican St. Andrews Primary School and then high school at Methodist Anglo Chinese School, I am not a Christian nor am I religious. However, I do believe there is a God and there is good and evil.

Spiritual Force and Faith

When Joan asked me to write with reference to my artworks, it perplexed me how my participation could be relevant to ‘Smitten By Faith’. Joan is, as always, persuasive. So, I did not decline. The request somehow prodded me to re-examine how and why I started painting at such a late stage of my life - at the age of 68 - without any prior painting experience, formal training or even having a teacher to guide me.

From the beginning, I believe that this urge and ability to paint must have been driven by a ‘spiritual force’ deep within me or else how could I have created all these many paintings without ever having held a paint brush in my hand before?  I am unable to explain what this spiritual force is and how it comes about. I am comfortable to take it in good faith that spiritual forces do exist, just as there is an extra element of sixth sense beyond our five senses. But I would not mix up spiritual force and sixth sense – two quite different phenomena. From young, I have felt the sensation of sixth sense and it has remained with me - in fact, it surfaced in one of my paintings which I have included below. ( See Group One paintings : Yellow Body System ). Spiritual force and faith on the other hand are my recent experiences. I sense that the good Lord is kind to me to bless me with this ability to paint albeit in my weird, untutored, random, quirky way. I believe if I have faith and try hard, His invisible hand will always be there to guide me. I feel blessed and am grateful to Him. I will continue my private prayers and conversations with Him.

Art and Nature

I have always been interested in beauty in art and nature. It is interesting to note Dante’s quote, “Nature is the art of God”. Art comes from man’s observation of nature. Realism paintings replicate what is visually seen in real life. Abstract painting derives its form from not just what is seen by the eyes but what is perceived in the mind or imagined. My paintings fall mainly into the latter category i.e. not realism.

Sharing my paintings

Within the first month of starting to paint in early 2016, I decided to share my work through my email list of friends and relatives. It drew attention immediately and stimulated interesting online conversations on my nondescript paintings and its interpretation and meaning. Many who are leading busy working lives are distracted to look, see and feel beautiful nature and colours of life around them which erstwhile were ‘invisible’ to them. Then came a heartwarming development. Friends who were active in charity organizations convinced me to donate my paintings for charity auctions to raise funds for deserving causes. This I did willingly eight times up to now raising over HK$200,000/- for various charity organizations. Three of which are highlighted below. The thought that my paintings could be monetized for charity had never previously occurred to me. I already felt blessed the day my hand quite unexpectedly started painting. I gave my silent thanks to the Lord as I now understand that it is twice as blessed to give than to receive. It dawned upon me that perhaps, after all, there is a purpose for my painting — a way to help the poor, needy and distressed.

Since I started painting over five years ago, I have to date created over 750 artworks, all from my heart and mind. In February 2018, I published a personal art book compiling some of my pieces — ‘Art - Life Memories and Experiences’ to mark and celebrate my 70th birthday. I dedicated the book to my wife and family. Some may refer to my paintings as eclectic art but irrespective of what it is called, it gives me much satisfaction and joy. It connects me to old friends and relatives, and also leads me to new friends. Many enjoy and are cheered by my paintings. When joy is shared, it is multiplied. For my newfound avocation in painting, I was heartened to receive from my learned Hindu friend this note – “God bless you in your new avatar and give you even more peace and satisfaction going forward.”.

I am pleased to share with you here 21 paintings I have selected from my portfolio for your viewing with some commentary. I hope you will find them interesting and meaningful. Thank you.

Tan Lim Heng 11 September 2021 Hong Kong.

Email: lhtanconnect@yahoo.com 

( Editor’s Note : The paintings have been placed by the Editor in GROUPS to facilitate viewing. ) 

GROUP ONE 

LEFT :    Yellow Blossoms in Spring ( December 2015

Auction at Viva China Children’s Cancer Foundation Charity Dinner March 2017. The funds raised were for a good cause to “change the fate of children in China diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia”. This painting represents the regeneration of cells, the regeneration of life, pushing away the cold dark winter of illness and despair to emerge anew bright and wholesome in these Spring yellow flowers.

CENTRE:  Tree of Life No. 2 (August 2016)

Silent Auction at the International Social Services (ISS) charity dinner in November 2016 – The Tree of Life, traditional bearer of the good fruits of creation, fertility, longevity, wealth and happiness, is symbolic also of the survival and growing up of children in need of protection arising from political turmoil, economic deprivation and social upheaval – work undertaken by ISS.

RIGHT : Yellow Body System (April 2016)

On a dark night in April 2016, I extemporaneously painted this weird network looking like the internal human body system with yellow patches all over. Its significance was revealed to me early next morning when I received a call from Singapore informing me that my cousin, Ah Lang, who was recovering from cancer treatment, had passed away rather suddenly from jaundice- a ‘yellow’ complication about the same time when I completed my Yellow Body System painting – my sixth sense at work again!

GROUP TWO 

FAR LEFT: Slaying of the Evil Beast (July 2017)

Portrayal of Good over Evil.

CENTRE LEFT: Baby Turtles – New Life (September 2017)

I saw this scene along the coastline near Galle, Sri Lanka – newly hatched baby turtles instinctively by nature crawling to the sea to begin their new life.

CENTRE RIGHT: Homecoming Embrace (July 2018)

International inter-religious prayers answered for the safe rescue and return of the school- children trapped perilously in a water-logged Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand, 23 June – 10 July 2018 – the rescued boy in the grateful embrace of his parents.

FAR RIGHT: Mother and Child (October 2018)

My modernized interpretation of Blessed Mary and infant Jesus.

GROUP  THREE

LEFT : Cascade of Roses (January 2019)

Serendipitous moment – this painting caught the eyes of Joan Foo Mahony, author of ‘Millennials Meet Mary’. I had just finished the painting and when I showed Joan, she saw it literally as the miraculous cascade of roses that spilt out from the cloak of the simple peasant, Juan Diego, to prove the credibility of his vision of the Virgin Mary at Guadalupe, Mexico in 1531. She used this painting as the End Paper for the inside front and inside back covers of her book, ‘Millennials Meet Mary.’ The Asian Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museum (APAVM) has asked if I would donate this painting for their silent auction to raise funds to complete the restoration of the Bramante Courtyard and of course, I readily agreed. Please visit their website: https://apavm.com

CENTRE: Crowding around the Red Rose (August 2021)

The Red Rose - the symbol of love and passion - attracting all creatures to its goodness.

RIGHT: Riots in the Streets in Hong Kong (August 2019)

A dark period of discontent and violence post-1997 – Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

GROUP  FOUR  - SELECTED ABSTRACTS

LEFT:  Abstract 1 (April 2017) - Kois Feeding Frenzy.

CENTRE:  Abstract 2 (January 2020) - Oasis of Life.

RIGHT: Abstract 3 (January 2020) - Urbanisation.

GROUP  FIVE  - SELECTED ABSTRACTS

LEFT : Abstract 4 (January 2020) - Angels at Play.

CENTRE:  Abstract 5 (March 2020) - Greening for the Future.

RIGHT:  Abstract 6 (April 2020) - Fishes in the Sea.

GROUP  SIX  ABSTRACTS

LEFT : Abstract 7 (April 2020) - Rats; Creatures less appreciated. 

CENTRE:  Abstract 8 (April 2020) - War and Bloodshed.

RIGHT:  Abstract 9 (July 2020) - Serenity in the Countryside.

GROUP  SEVEN  

LEFT : Abstract 10 (January 2021)- Flowers Swaying in the Wind.

RIGHT : Abstract 11 (January 2021)- Brightening of Hope.

The pandemic darkness of 2020 receding, the iridescent greenish blue of hope emerging, not uniformly but nonetheless coming our way with vaccines on the horizon.

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Editor’s Note :

Dear Reader, thank you for reading this weekly edition of SMITTEN BY FAITH. 

ALL articles in every issue are FREE.

For those of you who upgraded to be a PAID Subscribers for US$ 60.00 a year, thank you so much ! All proceeds go to the Regina Apostolorum Foundation to promote Catholic higher education. 

PAID Subscribers will also have additional access to the COMMENTS BOX, the Q & A and the Discussions. You will also receive the digital copy of the recent book by Joan Foo Mahony, ‘LATE HAVE I LOVED THEE’ and at the end of 2021, VOLUME ONE 2021 of Smitten By Faith, a yearly digital compilation of each year’s articles. Paid Subscribers will also receive additional exclusive material from time to time.