Her Bullrun series was achieved with a palette knife and was her first set of paintings to feature this technique. Swee Lin laughs when she later remembers how Dawn had been torn between going out with her friends on that day and completing the pieces.

Dawn herself recalls, “When I was in Spain, I heard of bullfights but I didn’t really want to see one because I did research on the web and I know it’s quite violent, so I decided to paint the bulls instead of watching. But to get the figure correct is quite hard. It’s quite hard to get the proportions right, like sometimes the head is too big or the legs are too long.”

Like any young person, Dawn prefers doing what she knows will be successful. “I’m not good at painting realistic stuff. I don’t like to do things like that because I already know it’ll be ugly. Maybe when I’m older…”

But she is already tentatively venturing out of her comfort zone. Right now, if she could paint anything in the world, she would paint a dancer. “Recently, I’ve painted a lot of dancers and I found that they’re very fun and very easy to draw. The poses and stuff… But I still haven’t learnt facial expressions yet, so I never draw any on my dancers.”

Dawn further confesses that for her, the most difficult thing is painting the faces. “I’m not very good at detail. I like to use big strokes and a very free hand. The expression, the proportion… they’re all difficult.”

And her interest in drawing and painting dancers is how she came to paint a nude. “I was researching dancers on the Internet and this picture of a naked lady came up. I liked it, so I painted it. I did feel a bit shy when I was drawing the naked lady but it was very easy.” But this isn’t as eyebrow-raising as it sounds; Dawn’s naked lady is an evocative
piece, with lush flesh tones and richly coloured, almost abstract-looking outlines that suggest form and motion, leaving the rest to the
viewer’s imagination.

Is painting everything she does, then? Her mum reveals that the accomplished painter is also turning into an accomplished drummer, and Dawn herself is enthusiastic about her new creative outlet. “I took up drums this year. I felt other instruments were quite boring and not many people were learning drums… especially girls! I play in the worship team every Sunday at my church, St Andrew’s Cathedral, and it’s very fun. I love bible study. I want to worship God through my music… I love to listen to music, especially when I’m doing my homework.”

She ponders for a while, and adds, “I also do a lot of photography. My dad bought me a camera… and I take lots of pictures when I go on holiday. And I’m starting glass art sculptures this year.”