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They say to find out what you really want, go back to when you were a child.

When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a painter, but I was never great at it. I was discouraged, because in art classes my paintings were never the most beautiful. In the third grade, we were given a project to create a portrait. I used the skills and tips we were all taught in class. After we were done, we presented our portraits. We stood in front of the class and explained our technique. I remember looking at other portraits thinking, “We were given the same skills, why do theirs look so professional and mine looks so amateur?”

But I still really enjoyed painting because it’s a forgiving art. If I don’t like what I’ve put on paper, I can paint over it. I can mix colors and make new ones. Also, I can release some creative juices, use what has inspired me and allow that to pour out of me in a way I may not have imagined.

But because I have always wanted to paint beautiful pictures, I just decided to change what beauty looked like. I changed what beauty meant to me.

Throughout school, they taught us about Picasso, Van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci who were always painting whatever was in front of them and around them. But that’s not what I saw around me.

Then I learned about Basquiat, who inspired me to paint abstract pictures. I paint when I’m moved, and I am often moved by what’s natural: emotions, nature, and other forms of art. I am also very moved by pain. When there is pain in the world or in my heart, it can be unbearable. I had a conversation with an activist in St. Louis named Spook, and I explained to her this feeling and she told me, “Pain is energy. You have to learn how to channel that energy into something productive.” So sometimes I channel that pain into art, into a painting.

Even if the picture doesn’t turn out aesthetically (美学地) pleasing by society’s standards, it’s still beautiful that I was able to create something. My paintings may not be a Basquiat, but they’re mine, so I love them anyway.

8 . In spring, chickens start laying again, bringing a welcome source of protein at winter’s end. So it’s no surprise that cultures around the world celebrate spring by honoring the egg.

Some traditions are simple, like the red eggs that get baked into Greek Easter breads. Others promote the egg into a fancy art, like the heavily jewel-covered “eggs” that were favored by the Russians starting in the 19th century.

One ancient form of egg art comes to us from Ukraine. For centuries, Ukrainians have been drawing complicated patterns on eggs. Contemporary artists have followed this tradition to create eggs that speak to the anxieties of our age: Life is precious, and delicate. Eggs are, too.

“There’s something about their delicate nature that appeals to me,” says New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. Several years ago, she became interested in eggs and learned the traditional Ukrainian technique to draw her very modern characters. “I’ve broken eggs at every stage of the process—from the very beginning to the very, very end.”

But there’s an appeal in that weakness. “There’s part of this sickening horror of knowing you’re walking on the edge with this, that I kind of like, knowing that it could all fall apart at any second.” Chast’s designs, such as a worried man alone in a tiny rowboat, reflect that delicateness.

Traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs also spoke to those fears. The complex patterns were believed to offer protection against evil.

“There’s an ancient legend that as long as these eggs are made, evil will not take over in the world,” says Joan Brander, a Canadian egg-painter who has been painting eggs for over 60 years, having learned the art from her Ukrainian relatives.

Although the tradition dates back to 300 B. C., the old symbols on the eggs still reflect their good wishes. A decorated egg with a bird on it, given to a young married couple, is a wish for children. A decorated egg thrown into the field would be a wish for a good harvest.