Growing up I lived in a home divided by art and science. My mum who has a love for cooking and a talent for pastel portrait art. And my dad, the scientist specialising in environment and marine conservation. As a child I spent most of my younger years living in Bintulu in Malaysia. My dad, who is Malaysian Chinese, brought myself and my mum over when I was only 4 months old. Growing up we initially lived in an old traditional ethnic Malay stilt house surrounded by tropical trees, plants and animals. These houses were built to keep them safe from floods and heavy downpours which are a common occurrence during the monsoon season. The house itself was built from wood with single frame wood windows which had Mosquito Net inserts, a single fan in each room and typical traditional Malay furniture. Some of my favourite memories involve playing as a child in front of my house with my neighbours, climbing trees or catching lady bugs.
When I was 7 we moved back to the UK, specifically Harrow on the hill in North-West London. My environment had completely changed from living in traditional wood stilt house in warm green tropical climates, where you could hear crickets in the evening to living in a Edwardian terrace house in a place which felt cold, grey, busy and very noisy. It took some time for me to adapt to this new lifestyle, my curiosity of this new surrounding grew and grew. There was a lot of firsts for me, and as you can imagine a first for a 7-year-old can be very exciting indeed! First time I saw snow, first time going to a recreational playground, first time going on a London bus (my school bus in Bintulu was a van…. With no windows!). It was all very new and exciting, I was a sponge. During the last part of my childhood years my mum honed in on my artistic skills, finding that pastel wasn’t for me. We spent evenings experimenting with watercolours, graphite and even sculpting.
As I hit my teenage years we moved down to St Ives in Cornwall, yet again I found myself surrounded by an environment which was completely new to me. Here I was in a beautiful small town, with bright blue skies, crystal clear waters, cobbled streets and more people than cars…. I fell in love! Here in this small town is where I truly creatively bloomed.
Unsure where to head after school I initially pursued Beauty Therapy, followed by various A-Levels. I was still unsure where I was heading and never felt I was truly doing what I was meant to be doing. Until the day came whilst discussing with a friend on how best to redecorate her bedroom that she suggested I studied interior design. Up till this point I didn’t even realise this was an option. And so, my creative path towards the design world had begun!
After studying Interior Design and later Spatial Design I decided to take a break and go traveling. I spent just under two years traveling around Asia and Australia, becoming a Scuba Diving Instructor during my travels as well as taking up a new hobby in photography. I surrounded myself with the local cultures, feeding of local traditions. Absorbing both landscape and underwater wonderments. This was the best time of my life! I fell in love with all the colours, textures, movements, smells and lights, reflecting on how each of these different environments affected both my mood and the surrounding company.
Since my travels I have worked in various places from Cornwall to Kuala Lumpur and now settled in Bristol. This blog is about my continuation of my creative journey, and if you have gotten this far down you will realise that could lead absolutely anywhere!