Drawing and flying were both Claudia’s childhood dreams. She mapped out her career path when she was 15 years old, inspired by a newspaper article about a female pilot. She chose civil engineering as her major at HKUST, which included fluid mechanics, a discipline related to aviation. In her second year of university, Claudia joined the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps and received a scholarship from the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators to achieve her Private Pilot License in Australia. Upon graduation, Claudia was accepted to the Dragonair Cadet Pilot Program (later known as Cathay Dragon), becoming a cadet in 2008 and then pilot in 2010. With the closure of Cathay Dragon, Claudia, who had become a mother of two, was able to take a break after her 13-year career as a pilot and resume her childhood dream of being an artist. Focusing on drawing pets and animals, Claudia learnt about pastel drawing and oil painting by watching YouTube artist channels. She resumed flying recently but still hopes to continue her art career. The human and animal bond Pilot Claudia’s love of animals translates into a photo realist style, with harmony in composition and color, and vivid l ivel iness that recal l the Impressionist stylings of Pierre-Auguste Renoir or Paul Gaughan. Claudia has been interested in animals for a very long time, having owned pets, and had completed pet portraits before. Her current focus on pets came after she made a pet portrait of her friends’ dog, which was quickly shared across social media, garnering lots of attention. Looking at Claudia’s artwork, one is inspired by her life-like depictions that create a sense of beauty and intimacy. Yet one of the limitations of Claudia’s work is the time it takes to complete one portrait, taking anywhere from one to two weeks, meaning she can only draw a handful a month. We hope that she can continue to fly and paint at the same time! 畫畫與當機師同是 Claudia 的兒時夢想。十五歲那年，她受到一篇關於女機師 的報導所啟發，立志投身航空業，中學畢業後便報讀科大的土木工程學位，學 習與飛行息息相關的流體力學。大學第二年，Claudia 加入香港航空青年團， 並獲得英國皇家飛行員及導航員協會的獎學金，遠赴澳洲考取私人機師資格。 於科大畢業後，她加入了港龍航空（其後改名「國泰港龍」）的見習機師培訓 計劃，並於 2008 年成為見習機師，後於 2010 年正式成為機師。國泰港龍停 運之後，已為兩子之母的 Claudia 決定暫別十三年的飛行生涯，重拾兒時畫家 夢，靠觀看 YouTube頻道自學粉彩畫和油畫，畫出栩栩如生的寵物和動物肖像。 即使最近重返駕駛艙，她仍然不願放下畫筆，並希望這份藝術事業同樣可以展 翅翱翔。 人．動物．情 和諧的構圖、柔和的用色，以及逼真傳神的造型，都讓人聯想起雷諾瓦 (Pierre- Auguste Renoir) 和高更 (Paul Gaughan) 等印象派大師的畫風，而一幅幅維肖 維妙的肖像畫，其實是源自 Claudia 對動物的愛。Claudia 鍾愛動物良久，曾 飼養寵物，亦畫過寵物肖像，但後來成為畫家卻是一個偶然。她為一位朋友的 寵物狗繪畫肖像，畫作後來被分享到社交媒體，旋即吸引眾多網民的眼球，令 Claudia 成為網絡寵兒，並轉往寵物肖像畫家的跑道上。從一幅幅細膩而逼真 的作品之中，觀賞者不難感受到藝術之美，以及 Claudia 對動物的親密情感。 當然，每幅創作都是以心血和時間換取的，需要花一至兩星期才完成，因此每 個月只有數幅出品。到底這位重新起飛的機師將如何在藝術界畫出一片全新的 天空呢？就讓我們拭目以待。
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