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I first met Alice Yee in March of 2012 to interview her for the May Expat cover that year after her art classmate showed me some of her paintings. She really impressed me, as many of our cover artists have, as a person of very deep passions. I say person, not artist, because at that time, she still had inhibitions about the quality of her work; in other words, she did not have a great deal of confidence in what, to me were her obvious talents.

When I expressed my genuine amazement at her skill, she ventured into talking about why she loves to paint and her concerns if she had real talent. After speaking for a while, her enthusiasm became evident and as she showed me painting photo after photo, I was truly stunned. This was a professional artist who just needed a bit of a boost.

Her beautiful painting that we featured on the May cover was one of our most popular that year and that was all she needed to spur herself on. She joined group exhibitions and at times would be the only artist who sold any works.

Then she discovered that her newfound confidence could have a direct benefit on others less fortunate and she began donating pieces for auctions. Alice has since raised considerable sums for the needy and less fortunate people she is referred to and now she is confident of her true vocation in life… that of using her artistic talents in a professional capacity to help others.

Alice told me that fine art evolves from her love of detail through brush strokes ranging from close-up vantages to landscape scenes. She has eagerly pushed forward her talents and explored semi abstract painting and animal portraits. Acrylics and oils are still her favourite media with which to paint.

Her recent works focus on roses and sky series. She has put her roses paintings in various exhibitions. It gives me great pleasure to report that Alice is now preparing for her solo roses series and will be incorporating her rose and sky series together which you can see in some of the pieces on these two pages.

In her rose series, you can see that she has escalated to a new dimension in her painting style. She paints with bold brush strokes, applying vibrant colours moving forward to a semi-abstract style which brings her subjects to life. It is due to the influences of her childhood environment she has always drawn her basic inspiration from nature, human experiences and a variety of other facets of life we all face to some degree. She loves to paint realistic art that depicts the actuality of what her eyes can see and discern thus she is able to represent her subject matter truthfully.

Alice tells me,” The rose is a flower of beauty and love and has always been a favourite of poets.” She is attracted to the soft silky feel of a fresh rose petal as it evokes tenderness, the fragrant scent of a fresh rose brings one a refreshed feeling; the different shades of colour pigments remind us of the dazzling “beauty of all of God’s creations.”

Let Alice tell you in her own words her philosophy about roses.

“By nature, mankind is distinct with a multitude of colours, cultures, outlooks, and talents just like roses which are infinite in their sizes and colours; some are blooming while others are still in the bud. A combination of these varieties has created a beautiful world for all of us to see and live within. Likewise, we are able to live together in this world in perfect harmony despite all of these differences and try to make this world a better place to be.”

It is her desire to bring these feelings of wonderment to the owners of her paintings.

Her sunrise series, which carries the message she hopes will inspire, is “the sun rises over the horizon creating a beautiful atmospheric effect that demonstrates the divine love of God upon mankind. Sunrise signifies that a new day has begun and it gives a new beginning to enable us to strive to be better this new day, to touch the lives of others and live our lives to the fullest.”

Please contact me directly at [email protected] for more information on Alice’s next auctions, exhibitions, and functions. Also, if you wish to purchase any of the paintings on these pages or the cover work, you may call me on 017.654 4858017.654 4858.

Source: The Expat February 2014

Read more Malaysian artist profiles:

• Malaysian Artist Profile: Yap Kim Boon
• The Artist Profile of Jane Fletcher-International Artist
• The Artist Profile of Calvin Chua

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