Chang Fee Ming is a Malaysian artist who works in watercolour, painting idyllic rural scenes. Chang is one of the most successful and highly regarded contemporary watercolourist in Southeast Asia. A self-taught artist, he began his career in the early 1980s. He started his international travels in the early 1980s — to Nepal, India, Indochina — spending about two months on a trip. While his travelling and painting seemed intertwined, for him, travelling is not only for painting's sake. He said: "Throughout the journey, the things you see, the people you meet, even the air you smell can give you so much enjoyment. I don't count how many paintings I can do every trip — this way, the travel is full of potential and surprises." In the 1990s, he used to spend four months a year in Bali, as he found that the island gave him good "chi" to paint. However, his favourite place to visit is the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, from Eastern Johor all the way to the end of Kelantan, where he is most happy as he knows the region well, and feels strongly connected to its people and culture, making it easy for him to paint the subjects related to the area. Asked about his choice of watercolour as his medium for painting, he said: "It all began as a practical choice as it is non-cumbersome and easy to pack and use, and also odourless and easy to clean. But artistically, I was moved by the works of Malaysian East Coast watercolour painters such as the late Mat Zain and the great Khalil Ibrahim. Their watercolour paintings seem to capture the tones and moods of the region so well, convincing me that it was the medium to use for these subjects." Despite his many travels to Indonesia for the past 30 years, it remains a favourite travel destination. His dream is to complete a thematic body of work for an exhibition called "Taman Mini Indonesia", to show his sketches and drawings on envelops as a documentary of this beautiful multi-cultural country. He is currently in Singapore to hold an exhibition called "A Traveller's Diary".
