Elsa Chan, an eleven-year-old extremely talented artist as well as a budding guzheng player, told The Young Post in an interview at her English-language tutor’s home last week: “I enjoy drawing because it makes me happy”.
Chan started attending drawing classes when she was four years old with a friend. “When I was four my teacher told me my drawings were beautiful,” Chan said, but after a few months she changed her teacher. “I have had three previous teachers before the one I have now”, Chan said.
Chan has been learning with her current art teacher for about two years. The previous teachers always gave the class a title to work from but Chan said, “This teacher asked me what I want to draw and what I want to learn.” This teacher has encouraged Chan to enter competitions too. “I have entered seven competitions and won prizes in four of them,” said Chan.
One of Chan’s drawings is of the Earth split in half, one half being a healthy planet and the other half desolate. Chan did this to promote no smoking and no alcohol. One is of the Ruins of St Paul’s after the fire in 1835 and the other is how Chan imagines it looked before the fire. Another is of the 31st Macau International Fireworks Display Contest. Chan did these drawings as a 10-year-old, and they all won prizes.
Asked what she likes about drawing and what her favourite things to draw are, Chan said, “I enjoy drawing because it makes me happy. If I am not happy, I keep drawing. My favourite things to draw are animals, I draw my cats a lot. I have two adopted cats and really love to draw them.”
Not only is Chan a very talented artist but it turns out she is also a gifted guzheng player.
Chan said that she had been playing the guzheng for about a year, and before that the only instrument she played was the recorder.
“One of the older students in my drawing class plays the guzheng and I am learning from her,” Chan said. “I have been playing for about a year, and in November last year Chan’s teacher asked her to perform at a concert. “It was my first performance, I really enjoy playing the guzheng, ” Chan said.
31st Macao International Fireworks Display Contest
Macao Smoke-free Liquor Painting Competition
Macao Cultural Heritage Architectural Essay Competition
Macao Cultural Heritage Architectural Essay Competition prize
Guzheng performance in Clementina Leitao Ho
Guzheng performance for Cadenza Education Centre
Guzheng performance for Qingzhoufang
All photos provided by Elsa Chan’s mother Chan Kam Tam.
