About the artist

My name is Adeline Wai-Kuen Yong. My family, friends and colleagues call me Ady.

I was born in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in 1968 and am the oldest of 3 siblings. I lived in Malaysia and was educated there until the age of 16. In December 1985, I arrived in the UK to continue my academic studies - first at Wellington School in Somerset and later on at Aston University in Birmingham. Whilst at Wellington I studied 'A' Level Art. This has been my only formal study in art. In 1993 I started working at Aston University where I am currently an Admissions Officer within the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

I've always loved drawing and painting from a young age. My mother fondly remembers giving me fat crayons and huge sheets of white 'mah-jong' table lining paper everytime I stood in the living room of the little bungalow we lived in when I was a young child, lamenting the fact that I had read ALL my books, played with ALL my toys and had absolutely and positively nothing else to do. These sheets were roughly 4 ft x 4 ft - to a 4 year old, that's a real BIG bit of paper! I have faint recollections of many happy hours spent sitting on the cool terrazzo floor of our house drawing and colouring on those huge sheets of white paper.

During the years I spent as both an undergraduate and a postgraduate student at Aston University, I had little time to paint. In later years after graduating and becoming a gainfully employed person, I dabbled very occasionally in oils and on very rare occasions in watercolour. I also pursued more craft-based art, taking up wood-carving and enjoying pyrography. In the latter part of 2005, I decided that I wanted to explore my art again and began painting earnestly in watercolours. I tend to paint subjects that I love or feel strongly drawn to, acquainting myself with them as much as possible as I paint. Mostly self-taught, watercolour is my medium of choice. I love its fluid and luminous qualities. I love the fact that it can be bold, rich and dramatic on the one hand, yet soft, loose and subtle on the other. I am constantly challenged by the element of surprise and unpredictability one gets with watercolour.