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Orapin Seubtim

"I'm Orapin Seubtim. I just began my career as an artist in 2002. Previously I worked as a painting teacher for ten years.

"I was born in northern Thailand on March 21, 1969. My father is a carpenter and my mother is a homemaker; they have four children, and I'm the baby. When I was young, I preferred painting and everyone in my family encouraged me to do so – especially my brother who worked in a sales, because he also likes to paint. I didn't hesitate to choose art as my major and I graduated from a teacher's college.

"After I finished my studies, I worked as teacher and got married in 1995. My husband is two years older than I am. We would like to have children, but as yet have none. I have worked as a high school teacher for about ten years. Then I decided to quit this job because when I was promoted to an administrative position I had no time for my students anymore. There were just conferences and conferences everyday. Moreover, I had more responsibility in the school. It seemed that my life was dictated by my position, and I have to follow the rules. So I decided to leave this job and have my own studio at home. I'm enjoying this time of my life - it gives me the freedom to create my own works of art and to display my own ideas without adhering to rules.

"I love sarongs in the Thai style, so you can see that most of my paintings portray them. This type of cloth is close to me because I'm a Thai woman and I usually wear sarongs when there are celebrations or festivals. I always wear them when I go to the temple. Sarongs are specifically Thai but are also for women in Asia. They represent a cultural tradition from our past and I am very proud of it. We can see that the colors and styles differ from place to place - each style is unique. In addition, I think women are absolutely beautiful wearing sarongs. So I like to paint this concept, about the mixture of beauty between sarong and woman.

"In the future I don't think that I'll change my concept because I love what I'm doing. It would be great to display my paintings in exhibitions. And, like any artist, I would like people to understand the concepts in my paintings. I'll feel very happy if you like them and realize their value."