Eva Chu
By: Sadie Taleghani,
Ms. Chu is a STEM teacher and recent addition to the Collingwood family. Originally from Hong Kong, she spent a year living in Vancouver while studying at UBC and felt inspired to return one day. She moved to Vancouver in 2021. With a deep understanding of business and technology, she enjoys painting in her spare time and shares her creations with friends and colleagues.
She specializes in Chinese watercolor paintings, experimenting with depth and tone on single subjects. Her favorite subjects to paint are small creatures and plants, such as dragonflies, koi fish, bamboo and lotus flowers. She is the first in her family to explore art, and began painting 3 years ago when she came across a woman offering lessons on Facebook. She took 6 lessons in person before the pandemic. Since then she’s developed a ritual of her own, painting twice a week at night. The simplicity of her paintings speaks to the calm she feels as she paints.
The paper she uses comes specially from Hong Kong and is extremely absorbent. Too much water, or too much pigment could ruin a painting on the last stroke and detail. This style demands patience and precision. She explains her love of watercolors, saying she loves how fluid the paint is, going in different directions, often having unexpected results. But she paints without expectations, letting her paintbrush guide her mind. Painting has taken her away from the busy metropolis of Hong Kong, and now allows her to decompress after a day of teaching. Unlike many aspects of daily life, she doesn’t paint with pre- determined structures, letting her imagination lead. She describes the process of watercolor painting as “an adventure”.
We can learn from her the value of starting with an open mind and giving ourselves the freedom to express ourselves without expectations. For Ms. Chu, painting watercolors is an exercise in mindfulness and peace.
Photos of work bellow
By: Sadie Taleghani,
Ms. Chu is a STEM teacher and recent addition to the Collingwood family. Originally from Hong Kong, she spent a year living in Vancouver while studying at UBC and felt inspired to return one day. She moved to Vancouver in 2021. With a deep understanding of business and technology, she enjoys painting in her spare time and shares her creations with friends and colleagues.
She specializes in Chinese watercolor paintings, experimenting with depth and tone on single subjects. Her favorite subjects to paint are small creatures and plants, such as dragonflies, koi fish, bamboo and lotus flowers. She is the first in her family to explore art, and began painting 3 years ago when she came across a woman offering lessons on Facebook. She took 6 lessons in person before the pandemic. Since then she’s developed a ritual of her own, painting twice a week at night. The simplicity of her paintings speaks to the calm she feels as she paints.
The paper she uses comes specially from Hong Kong and is extremely absorbent. Too much water, or too much pigment could ruin a painting on the last stroke and detail. This style demands patience and precision. She explains her love of watercolors, saying she loves how fluid the paint is, going in different directions, often having unexpected results. But she paints without expectations, letting her paintbrush guide her mind. Painting has taken her away from the busy metropolis of Hong Kong, and now allows her to decompress after a day of teaching. Unlike many aspects of daily life, she doesn’t paint with pre- determined structures, letting her imagination lead. She describes the process of watercolor painting as “an adventure”.
We can learn from her the value of starting with an open mind and giving ourselves the freedom to express ourselves without expectations. For Ms. Chu, painting watercolors is an exercise in mindfulness and peace.
Photos of work bellow