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My earliest childhood memories of art are of watching my father draw.  He always told me, "The most important thing in a portrait is the spirit of the person.  You have to observe carefully.  There are different characteristics in every human being. The portrait has to capture his/her spirit of 'Shen'."  In Chinese characters, the symbol of Shen is interpreted as "Spirit" Shen indicates thinking, consciousness, insight and memory, and all five mental-spiritual aspects of being human, all of which depend on the heart." (Maciocia, 1994, p. 200).       At that time I was too young to understand what my father was saying.  But when I looked at his drawings, there is a magnetic attraction that drew me to search for Shen, the inner spirit of people.  With the search for Shen, it developed my understanding of art and psychology and became an art psychotherapist.

Sze-oi Lau

Artist, Educator & Psychotherapist

Dr. Art Training Center: Unit 3, 5991 Cooney Road, Richmond, BC V6X 4H2 Appointment & Information: Tel: 604-723-1998