Author: Maurice Lee
From
HongKong Art Scene
Never Good At Drawing? Let Ray Chow Break Your Padlock: Why Should You Paint?
Movie star Karena Lam(林嘉欣)once said, “I love art. I can see a lot of fascinating possibilities from a drawing.”
Drawing is the art of representing, perhaps interpreting, an object, a scene or even a dream; or outlining a figure, plan or sketch by means of lines, colours and rendering of light and shadow. Does it sound full of twists and turns?
For drawing, painting or art jamming, whatever it may mean exactly, professional excellence is one slice and fun is the other. How do you put yourself in-between the slices is all up to you. Being critical of art is a way of showing respect to art. Being critical of you while your drawing is just for fun shows your friend’s ignorance. Do not be shy and try to draw out your true power. You, however, shall not torture your friends with your not-up-to-standard paintings by any exhibition which is intended as a show-off!
Ray Chow came from the Chinese Mainland to Hong Kong at the age of 3. Boys were ruled by toys. His parents could not afford buying him toys. Ray drew toys including cars and hero figures to satisfy his fantasy. Probably as a result, he excelled at painting and art became his best school subject. After obtaining an art degree from Shanghai University in 2013, he earned a living by doing odd jobs such as design freelancer and installation worker. Ray said, “We are young. We should put life first and build enough life experience to choose a career later that we really want.” Finally, he wanted to be an art teacher for adults. His workshop is in Queen’s Road East.
I asked, “Why do adults want to learn painting?” Ray replied, “There are 2 answers: interest and feeding the soul. Painting lessons are a very positive activity because they give pleasure. The fascination and ebullience from lines, colours and shapes on a canvas are great fun, wonderfully relaxing and can help reduce your stress levels.”
I queried, “How about soul?” Ray said, “Drawing is a very focused spiritual process for 3 to 4 hours. It makes your emotions flow from your soul to the painting. You suddenly feel peace, happiness and self-assurance within the topsy-turvy world.”
I wondered, “Why are most of your pupils female?” Ray retaliated with a joke, “Perhaps I look Korean, the popular kind of handsomeness nowadays. Ha, the truth is that ladies are ready to find a way to express themselves emotionally, either to communicate to herself or others in a very personalized visual language.” I laughed, “Men are shy, almost like an autistic child—no matter how extrovert he may look.”
We are machines in a modern society. Art makes us more human. Robots based on artificial intelligence will provide the future with more machines, able and shrewd. We do not need more human machines.
Ray sipped an iced latte, “Another benefit is therapy. Painting is a therapeutic process, especially when we can have a painting group outing away from workshops. It is a mental rest that helps out dump anxiety and fear.” I agreed, “Arts therapy becomes the alternative way to tackle mental disorders such as Asperger’s syndrome.”
Ray said, “Hong Kong is a materialistic financial centre and money-making is the sole goal in life for many. People do not go to museums or art galleries. I hope art museums here can oragnise more attractive programs and activities for us particularly the kids. Encouraging people to paint in a museum is surely a great idea. For adults, we look at a work of art and imagine if we were the artist, what would we have done differently in order to give our own interpretation of the artwork. For kids, they can be allowed to sit on the floor and use colour pencils to draw. They can pick and draw an object from a museum exhibit creatively. It promotes a child’s concentration ability and visual acuity of mind. Storytelling will be the additional spiritual fun.”
No matter what money throws your way and no matter how busy you may seem, please refuse to be just an eating, playing and money-making animal. Be a winner of work-life balance. Walk through whatever life throws your way with the possibility of art. If your life is without art, look for a class. Paint now!
MLee
