Do you remember how it felt to paint something as a child? Although it was such a mess, the fun of getting the colours splashing around were rewarding. The process of painting then became less important than the end result. But why you cannot paint as an adult now?

Parames McNeill is a Malaysian artist who paints with intuition from her spiritual practice. She always uses art to facilitate her expression of emotions, just like the purest form of art by a kid. Because she believes that “Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness”.

What touches her soul

The artist Parames approaches her artworks with spirituality in mind. Unlike religion, spirituality allows us to realise what is our higher purpose in life. For the past 6 years since she started painting professionally, she has ventured into landscape paintings, figurative paintings, and more. However, what touches her soul deeply is the art of abstraction.

Indeed, abstract art uses shapes, colour and lines to represent reality without trying to depict it fully. It is to help one to harness the imagination, to trigger inventiveness and to discover creativity through her art. For instance, in the painting “The Kaaba”, Parames uses only shapes, colours and dots to illustrate the gigantic amount of crowd who are going to perform Hajj in Mecca.

If you love “The Kaaba”, you will definitely fall in love with this magnificent mosque painting “Masjid al-Aqsa”, the third holiest site in Islam.

Never Too Late

For whoever that said it is too late to pursue their passion, the artist Parames is here to tell you — “It’s not”.

Before embarking on the journey as an artist, Parames was a manager working in the administrative line. Eventually, she discovered her passion in art at the age of 48.  Seeing that limitless possibilities that lies in front of her, she decided to pursue her passion to become a full time artist. Change is never easy, but it is worth it knowing you’re living the life you’re meant for. Here is another example of an artist who began her art journey at the age of 58.

Influenced by a great artist

Parames was trained by Jeganathan Ramachandram before striking out on her own journey. Jeganathan Ramachandram is an established artist in Malaysia who has been an active participant in the local art scene for more than a decade. His intuitive ingenuity and free spirited nature is the very foundation that has allowed him to produce great artworks.

Similarly, Parames’ paintings are highly spiritual. She always seek to express the deep rooted impressions of the super conscious mind. Hence, every painting of hers has a story to tell. Because without spirituality, life is meaningless and dull.

She sees things with new eyes

Ever since she embarked on her journey in art, Parames sees things with new eyes. She felt that she has been given a new lease of life. Certainly, abstract art has its ability to inspire our curiosity about the reaches of our imagination. Not to mention the potential for us to create something completely unique in the world. Art and spirituality, both as a vehicle, has taken her deeper into her life.

Moreover, art has also been a tool for everyone to explore deeper emotions and expressions. For the simple reason that, Parames is able to understand herself better through art.

Journey Through The Seven Valleys

Moving forward, Parames is a firm believer of Bahá’í Faith. Bahá’ís believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the future of society and of the nature and purpose of life. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh.

Parames always wanted to illustrate a book, unfolding the wisdom of Bahá’í Faith. And at the same time, there is a similar mind who wrote a book with the same story line and is looking for an illustrator for it. Then, both of them met and everything falls into place perfectly. The highly vibrated spiritual energy is inexplicable, only those who has been through will know.

Subsequently, the book “Journey Through The 7 Valleys” with 28 paintings by Parames was born. It tells a mystical journey of a soul finding his way towards the divide through the Seven Valleys.  This story captures the ultimate journey of life, unlocking many secrets of the inner and outer world.

You can purchase this beautifully illustrated book from Amazon.

Work for a cause

In her free time, Parames helps out in several NGOs. Recently she is working with a NGO called Global Organisation for Life Development (GOLD). This NGO is dedicated to help underprivileged and down trodden of the society. For Parames, it is indeed an honour to help the youth by discovering their talents. So that they will have some income for their own.

She has participated in an Art Exhibition, namely “iNtuitive Stars” in January this year. The exhibition is curated to raise fund for the NGO, My Shining Stars Foundation. You can read more about the highlights of the exhibition here.

She Has One Mission In Life

As she painted all these years, Parames realises that she has a Mission in life. It is that to share Art with the world, to talk about the process and to assist people in finding their own unique way to paint. Therefore, she holds this Art n Exploration workshop, in order to allow participants to feel their own emotions without judgment.

In this workshop, you will learn the idea of self-exploration through art. Not only it is very important, but also a rewarding process in finding yourself. As you go through the creative expression with the professional guidance of the artist Parames, you may notice certain things about yourself that you would not have otherwise noticed. This workshop is suitable for teenagers and adults age 15 and above. And for you who are searching for the purpose of yourself. 

We just need to “be”

Parames is one of the humblest person I have ever met before. She is constantly learning about everything around her like she has never done before. She understands that the essence of life is to realise that we actually know very little and that we just need to “be”. Being that, we are able to connect with the divine within, bringing presence in our day-to-day living and to allow everything around to teach us.