Melaka-born artist Nancy Lau is an example of someone who succeeded early on in life in realising her dream, and turning her passion into a lifelong career. As a child, colours, drawings, and paintings were her main activities. Over the years, she continued her passion in art, picking up several design skills, and attending art courses which equipped her with the proper techniques and knowledge to get her foot into the industry.

However, it was only in 2008 when she had the chance to properly acquire acrylic and oil paintings, upon her meeting with Yeo Eng Peng, a talented artist. During lessons with Yeo, Nancy began to fully indulge her creativity and hone her talent in art. She learned how to release stress and focus her mental energy, leading her to discover the therapeutic nature of making art.

This October, Nancy will be exhibiting her new series, ‘Fascinating Creations’, which she says is aimed at showcasing the beautiful creations of God through nature and life forms. It follows the similar themes of her previous art exhibitions, entitled ‘Homeland Beyond Time I and II’ in 2012, where she expressed her love for her homeland Malaysia through her artworks.

The Expat has featured Nancy a few times over the years, and on her latest artworks, Nancy says, “Nature is indeed very beautiful. It helps me to see how great the love of God is for us human beings, offering beautiful combinations of colours and life into the world we live in. Malaysia is a beautiful country filled with rich resources and unique culture and tradition. The uniqueness of our homeland has attracted many tourists to our country, helping in the development and growth of our country.”

She says that while she is happy to see the country grow, she feels sad to witness the destruction of nature to make way for commercial developments. “That is why I decided to focus my exhibition on nature in Malaysia, featuring highlands, mountains, villages, paddy fields, farms, valleys, streets from the olden days, beaches and ports, hoping to remind Malaysians that we have a lot to preserve for the next generations”

“I’m grateful that as a child, I experienced village life and activities such as running freely around the village, playing hide and seek, climbing onto trees for fruits and insects hunting, catching fishes with my bare hands in the river, or netting prawns and crabs. These memories are precious to those who were born in the ’60s and ’70s. I’m most grateful for these priceless moments of my childhood which has inspired and added strokes of colours into my life.”

Apart from sharing her love of her homeland with her fans and collectors, Nancy also contributes to bring smiles to the community. During her previous exhibitions, she contributed part of the proceeds to Charis Church, to help the senior citizens in the community. This time around, Nancy will contribute part of the proceeds to Nu Skin Southeast Asia Children’s Heart Fund to fund surgery for children patients born with congenital heart disease, giving them a second chance to live and smile again, aligning with the theme of her art exhibition – Fascinating Creations.

“Nu Skin Southeast Asia Children’s Heart Fund works with Institut Jantung Negara (National Heart Institute) Foundation to fund children born with congenital heart disease to receive corrective open heart surgery, giving them another chance to live and enjoy the world. I’m very honoured to be part of the Southeast Asia Children’s Heart Fund’s team, and be able to contribute to help these children every month, no matter how little it may be. It is very touching to see these children smile and live with hope again,” shared Nancy.

For more information about the artist and her paintings, please contact [email protected].

This article was originally published in The Expat magazine (October 2016) which is available online or in print via a free subscription.