Elias turned hobby, passion into a profession

By SAMANTHA KATI
NEW Ireland’s Elma Elias, 25, has turned her hobby and passion for drawing into a profitable profession.
“I was inspired by one of the world’s greatest artist, Vincent Van Goh.
“His painting for starry night caught my eyes when I was still very small.
“I loved the structure and techniques he used on his painting which caught my attention for me to try it out myself,” she said. Elias said the second thing that inspired her to go into drawing was aboriginal paintings.
“I was doing Grade 3 and 4 in Lihir International School when I learnt about aboriginal paintings.
“That was when I started drawing little things, made sketches and created designs as a hobby,” she said.
She officially started teaching herself and putting her drawings into painting in 2017 and created her first ever painting of Mt Tavurvur in 2019.
Elias said painting was first her hobby and an escape from reality.
“It was a comfort space for me to throw my feelings onto a canvas and it still is.
“At first I held back all my paintings.
“I wasn’t comfortable putting them out.
“Encouragements from my family and friends helped me to come out slowly.
“And finally I started displaying it and selling it through social media and in person on some big events,” she said.