Aloha & Flower Salutations to you!

Hi I’m Lucinda Law, a Singaporean botanical watercolour artist, writer/editor, educator and founding director of a nature-led creative studio called Within. You will see very quickly that everything I do revolves very much around my love of depicting and talking about the beauty of nature, helping others to develop a holistic creative lifestyle through my workshops and creative retreats, conceptualisng and creating botanical-led art and design projects and commissions from my clients and discovering nature-endowed travel destinations and properties to share with my audience. So in the below sections here, you’ll find more details about myself that I’m about share with you.

Time to Get Lucky

I consider myself lucky to be able to spend my days, and hence invariably, my life centered around my passion of art, design, nature, travel and wellness while channeling my last 15 years of previous working experiences as a writer/editor, lecturer, speaker and artist into a whole new creative expression and business at Within. You can scroll down to see the more details of my previous work experiences in a rather serious section called Curriculum Vitae.

Go Within

In the last 18 months, I have grown my start-up from 0 to 46 clients comprising of corporate companies and lifestyle brands and numerous private commissions from international clients. Within & Co is a nature-led creative studio started in 2016 where we do our work of art/design commissions and consultancy; educational programmes and creative retreats. I’m passionate about teaching and learning, so far I’ve innovated, written and conducted over 85 botanical art workshops, four botanical art courses, two overseas creative retreats in collaboration with Queen Sirikit Botanic Gardens. We had also exhibited an botanical art installation (one was attended by almost 2800 people in May 2017) and are in the midst of creating an immersive botanical art installation featuring live plants and my botanical paintings with Changi Airport Group in April 2018. 

All this means that my team and I spent 7,423 minutes teaching and talking about the well-being and appreciation of art and nature. And also certainly the immeasurable rest of the other thousands of minutes spent researching, designing and improving new botanical-art workshops, courses and retreats in 2018 and 2019. Above all, you may also have noticed the dedicated human hours that goes into creating the detailed botanical illustrations, art commissions and design projects. Our clients lists are growing which in turns expands of portfolio of art and design works. Our students (which I always refers to them as guests) have also been expanding beyond Singapore. 

Soon, the details of our creative retreats to the cool montane rainforest of Chiang Mai, Thailand in Nov 2018 and the garden island of Kauai, Hawaii in Feb 2019, will be released. We only have spaces for 14 guests for these retreats respectively, so I hope if it resonates with you, you’re welcomed to embark on this once-in-a lifetime immersive journey into the beauty of nature filled with creative rejuvenation, nourishment and wellness with me. 

My creative fitness and what drives me

What keeps me driven as a creative entrepreneur and in a peak state to live out a creative fulfilling vocation and lifestyle is my based on my core belief that the powerful combinative effects of nature and arts provide creative nourishment for us to deepen our connections with ourselves, people and the world. I love sharing, helping and connecting us to nature’s intrinsic ability to enhance our well-being, expand our creative potential and experience a deeper affinity with nature.

There have been numerous highlights and milestones since I embarked on my own self-discovery as an artist and an entrepreneur, both roles which I was not aware were waiting for me, until I was thrown into an unexpected (and I would often consider) serendipitous life path almost four years ago. Some of the highlights were moments where I began to volunteer for the Singapore’s Association of Women Lawyers (SAWL) involved in the strategic development of fundraiser events, and where I had also served as an ambassador for the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) for the Giving Week campaign. 

What I'm learning right now

I'm always a big fan of learning new languages (especially when ones get older). While I'm fluent in English, ok in my Mandarin and Chinese dialects of Hokkien and Cantonese.  I also understand a splattering of French, Italian and Malay. So recently, I've been paying more attention to binomial nomenclature, learning and pronouncing botanical latin from books and my friends who are botanists. At this point, some of my favourites names belong to my favourite plants: Johannesteijsmannia magnifica, Licuala spinosa, melicope elleryana, Zingiber spectabile. I swear they sound like magical incantations! 

Recent Events

Here's my recently completed projects and events Jan / Feb 2018 Press Release and we're in the midst of releasing the March/April press release with news of our latest class schedules and new attractive rates for our class packages of 2018. Yes, we're bringing back the flexible class programmes at our studio so that we can continue our holistic art practices together again. 

Clients

Click here to see our esteemed clients we have worked with.  

Milestones

2018

- Appointed as social media partner by Mulberry for the Spring Summer 2018 collection
- Appointed as an ambassador for DR.TWL Dermaceuticals
- Appointed as one of 30 Singaporean artists to design the façades of National Gallery Singapore and Victoria Theatre for the Light to Night Festival 2018. 

2017

- Volunteer with Singapore's Association of Women Lawyers (SAWL) as strategic developer for fundraiser events and membership
- Appointed as one of the ambassadors for the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) for their Giving Week campaign from 28 November to 5 December 2017. Find out how you can give here

- Commissioned by Changi Airport Group to conceptualise and design a botanicall installation filled with live plants and a series of botanical illustrations inspired by the theme of tropical plants and botanical subjects found at the airport.
- Commissioned by Mandai Park Holdings to create a large format botanical illustration of three critically endangered and vulnerable native trees to commemorate the partnership between Mandai Park Holdings and Banyan Tree Holdings.
- Commissioned by a top MNC company to conceptualise and paint the Tiger Orchid, Grammatophyllum speciosum for VIP guests.
- Commissioned by Ecosperity to paint the critically-endangered tree, Hopea Sangal and its paintings were given to VIPs and speakers of top MNC companies.
- Commissioned by GuocoLand developer to create a collection of botanical paintings based on plants found at the Martin Modern Condominium. The artworks can be viewed at the sales gallery of Martin Modern till 2020.
- Appointed as the first Arts & Graphic Ambassador for Faber-Castell Singapore.

2016
- Commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to paint the orchid, Dendrobium Norodom Sihamoni, named after the King of Cambodia, His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni
- Appointed as Singapore's brand personalities for the launch of CHANEL No.5 L'eau to create an illustration of Chanel No. 5 and three videos on my art journey with Chanel.  
- First artist to illustrate on the cover of Harper's Bazaar Singapore for its Flora and Fauna issue in February 2016

Media

Since I taught in the field of design and fashion, this has influenced the  aesthetics on my work and my style. Thanks to Harper's Bazaar Singapore for selecting me as one of Harper's Bazaar Singapore's Most Stylish Women of the Year.  I've also been featured in media including Monocle Magazine, Time Out, The Straits Times, Business Times, The A-List, Buro 24/7, Lady Boss Asia, Style Magazine, Female, Catalog, Harper's Bazaar SG/ India, I-Weekly, Lianhe ZaoBao, PIN Prestige and Singapore Women's Weekly. Read some of the interviews here. 

Biography

Lucinda's creative spectrum of professional work and artistic practice originates from her versatility in bridging theoretical and practice-led expressions based on a range of contemporary cultural lifestyle issues and topics rooted in art, design, fashion, communication, travel, nature and creativity.

She began her career as a music journalist and lifestyle writer. She then went on to work as a deputy travel editor in Hong Kong for consumer and MICE travel. 

With more than 13 years of teaching experience, Lucinda has taught at arts and design institution such as Temasek Polytechnic, Lasalle School of Arts and Glasgow School of Arts. She has also lectured on topics such as Fashion Journalism, Communications in design and fashion, Cultural and Contextual studies, Image and Text, Extended-Essay, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Fashion and Research Methods in Design.

Her dedication to her field of interests is evidenced by her BA in English Language and Literature and MA in Fine Arts. She served as a senior lecturer at Lasalle College of the Arts where she oversaw the curriculum framework and strategic direction for cultural and contextual studies for the entire fashion programmes for six years. Additionally, she led lectures and research for the programmes for which she had also presented and published academic papers.

While working full time in Lasalle, she completed her Masters in Fine Arts in 2011 and exhibited her first show at 2012.  Her main study investigated the relationship between image, text and narratives. Drawing influences from her passion in literature, she uses text inspirations from visual poetry to her journals, transporting the two-dimensional aspects of text forms and interpreting them into three-dimensional "text-scape" installations to create an immersive experience of fictive discourse. Above all, she is passionately inspired by natural history and the time-based quality of nature and beauty. 

She has also previously worked as a lifestyle editor in Singapore and deputy travel editor in Hong Kong. She has edited and written numerous books and feature stories about arts, design, fashion, travel and lifestyle in over 15 publication titles. 

As an avid learner of new skills, she became a certified florist in 2008 to enhance her appreciation for nature and in October 2017, she received further training in botanical illustration at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK..  She is an advocate for literacy and her life-long companions are books. She moderated and curated a series of cultural and lifestyle talks, titled, "The Art of Living" for the National Library of Singapore in 2015 and 2016 with topics such as "Bringing Nature Indoors" and "Nature-inspired travel". 

As the Founding Director of Within, she not only manages the business, but also conceptualise and, with the help of her team, execute numerous botanical-led marketing and branding campaigns and creative project for clients. She designed and led nature-led botanical art workshops and creative retreats,  titled 'Art Of Nature Journeys" . Her recent creative retreats in 2017 were held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in collaboration with the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden. 

CURRICULUM VITAE

Education

2011         Masters in Fine Arts, Lasalle College of the Arts-Open University, Singapore

2004       B.A. in English Language & English Literature,  SIM­-Open University, Singapore  

Solo Exhibition

2012          One Perfect Complex, Trispace, ICA, Singapore.

Exhibitions

2018         National Gallery Singapore, Light to Night Festival, Art Skins on Monuments. 

2017          Botanical Atelier Room, Multiply (Keepers x Straits Clan), New Majestic Hotel, Singapore. 

2016          Keepers, Fullerton Hotel, East Garden Wing, Singapore. 

2016          Tropical Garden in a City, UNIQLO Orchard, Singapore. 

2016          Orchids Archival Collection of RISIS, Raffles Shopping Centre, Singapore. 

2014          Come Closer, ICA Gallery II, Singapore.

2013          100 Friends, TCC Gallery, Singapore.

2012          100 Friends, TCC Gallery, Singapore.

2011           100 Friends, TCC Gallery, Singapore.

2011           Metalstargazer, Zouk, Singapore.

2014          Out of 12, ICA Gallery II, Singapore. 

2010          Fantasia, Project Space, ICA, Singapore.

2010          Objects, Praxis Space, ICA, Singapore.