Cherlyn Mark

Cherlyn is the founder of home-based art studio art@homesg in sunny Singapore. A self-taught artist, she grew up spending a lot of time exploring and working with various medium.

Watercolour is her favourite medium of expression. She is deeply attracted to how pigments interact and “dance” with water. Cherlyn is also a huge colour geek who draws inspiration from the galaxy and the ocean, creating original watercolour artwork and prints that exude a magical touch. Very often, her work looks like they have been sprinkled with fairy dust!

GalaxSea, a word play on ‘Galaxy’ and ‘Sea’, is a collective of sea creatures. Cherlyn hopes to raise awareness for vulnerable and endangered sea creatures though her paintings. Passionate about the issues of human activities destroying the ocean and forcefully putting these sea creatures in tanks, she is currently working on a project with MeshMinds to develop an education tool.

To catch a glimpse of Cherlyn’s imaginative mind, we asked her these questions:

1. On the first day of your ruling, what would you do?
I would hire some local ice cream uncles to give out free ice creams to everyone! Then I’ll take a trip to tour our galaxy (I’m imagining this to be way in the future).

2. If you could either be a sock or a stool, what would you be? Why?
This is a tough one, but I’ll go with a sock. It keeps your feet comfortable on long days and warm when the weather is cold. 

3. Which fictional character would be the most scary to meet in real life?
Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter. A truly evil person is nothing to be afraid of because their intentions are usually quite clear. But a greedy and cruel person hiding behind a fluffy pink girly facade, willing to do anything to get to their goal, is scary. They are also real and around us. 

4. What was your favourite cartoon when you were growing up?
Cat Dog! It’s hilarious!

5. When you daydream, what do you dream about?
I usually daydream about food and my bed.

6. What does imagination smell like?
Clean, white freshly laundered linens hanging outside in the sun to dry on a warm breezy day. 

7. What colour is creativity?
Creativity has no colours, and also all the colours. It’s like a magic wand, to a regular person, it is just a stick. But to a magic user, it is a tool of wonder.

8. If you have to use only 3 colours to paint your childhood, which 3 colours would you choose?
When I think of my childhood, my mama is the first person to come to mind. She made sure me and my siblings grew up with lots of laughter and gave us space to express ourselves. She is also an incredibly strong and calm person. Remembering these, I see Yellow, White and Dark Blue.