校友本色 第三集：城市畫家 趙綺婷
Alumni Originals Episode 3: City Artist Elaine Chiu
Oct 13 (Wed) | 6pm
Guest : Elaine Chiu 趙綺婷 (BA 2018)
Host : Anna Lam 林穎 (BA 2021)
Synopsis:
有人說做藝術家難以維生，但 Elaine 自小就想成為畫家，長大後終於夢想成真。以前擔任藝術學會幹事的她在一次的籌款活動，把自己的畫印作明信片售賣，結果反應良好，更有大學書店的職員建議她把明信片放到書店寄賣。至此之後，她察覺到藝術在香港有價有市，做藝術家也是一件可行的事。
Elaine 一共參加了兩次海外交流，第一次在劍橋大學暑期交流，她終於能夠彌補修讀畫畫的課程的心願。在愛丁堡大學更是修讀了港大沒有的科目，例如與建築相關的課程。在英國的時候，她亦乘機報名參加了在牛津舉辦的國際畫展，展覽裡有不少人給予她寶貴意見，讓她獲益良多。
當一個畫家其實很不穩定，幸好，Elaine 畢業後收到不同的商業委託，例如悉尼光影節 2018 和在中環繪畫宣傳 Victoria’s Secret 的壁畫。她亦有兼職舉辦室外的繪畫班，勉強能維持基本收入。但疫情蔓延後，商業邀請變少，亦要轉為網上授課。幸有畫廊與她簽約，讓她能做一個全職畫家。對於未來寄望，她希望往後能嘗試不同的媒介，或在作品加入不同人物，再讀書進修，提升畫技。
Some people say it is difficult to make a living as an artist, but opportunity knocked on Elaine’s door, leading her to pursue a career as a full-time artist. Elaine was helping her Fine Arts Society to raise fund by selling postcards of her drawings, the response was surprisingly good and she even got invited by a university bookstore staff to sell her postcards in the store. Since then, she realized there is a market demand for art in Hong Kong, and it is possible to become an artist.
Elaine participated in two overseas exchange programs – a summer exchange at Cambridge University and a semester exchange at the University of Edinburgh. She took a painting course, and other courses that HKU did not offer, such as those related to architecture and art. While in the UK, she also took the opportunity to attend an international Art Fair in Oxford, where she got many valuable advices that benefited her a lot.
An artist’s income would be unstable sometimes, but she enjoyed the process. After graduation, she received job invitations for various commercial commissions, such as “2018 Vivid Sydney” and “Victoria’s Secret” mural in Central. She also ran outdoor painting classes on a part-time basis to support her income. However, with the spread of the epidemic, there are fewer job invitations and she has to change outdoor classes to online. Luckily, a gallery signed her up as a full-time artist. As for the future, she hopes to try different media to draw or add different characters into her works, and to study further to improve her painting skills.