The Candra sisters.

Sisylia, Fransisca, Grace and Nathania are four amazing sisters from Indonesia. Together, they have received 1,153 awards in local, national, regional and international art competitions!

The sisters have been drawing since they were very young (2-4 years old!) and say that their art teachers inspired them through stories, rather than showing samples of artwork to copy. For example, if one of them wanted to draw a beach, the teacher would ask her what she saw when she went to the beach. He would then tell her to draw imaginatively, using her personal experiences at the beach. They had the freedom to develop their own style.

Let's find out what Sisylia, Fransisca, Grace and Nathania have to say about art. You can see some of their work on these pages!

ChildArt: What are your favorite subjects to draw?

Sisylia: I like to draw anything from daily life, scenery, activities of human, but not portraits. I like to use my imagination when I am drawing because it makes me enjoy.

Fransisca: Human activities.

Grace: People.

Nathania: Anything I like.

ChildArt: Where is your favorite place to draw?

Sisylia: In my room.

Fransisca: Any room where I can be alone for hours.

Grace: In my own room.

Nathania: In my mother's room.

ChildArt: Do you ever look at the works of other artists?

Sisylia, Grace and Nathania: Occasionally we look at other artists' work, but not very often as we rarely have the time.

Fransisca: Rarely, not much.

ChildArt: Other child artists?

Sisylia, Grace, Nathania and Fransisca: Rarely, as there are very few exhibitions featuring child artists.

ChildArt: What makes drawing fun for you? What makes you want to draw certain things? Why are you creative?

Sisylia: I think through drawing, I can play with my imagination. In drawing, I use my imagination and being creative makes it fun. Sometimes, when I feel sad, I express my emotion into my drawings and it makes me feel better. I want to be creative because I want to make my drawings more lively so my drawings won't be boring. When I decide what I want to draw, I follow my heart/feelings. If I want to draw a flower, I will draw a flower. So I think, it depends on my mood.

Fransisca: In my drawings, I am free to pour out all my ideas. No worries if it is wrong. What makes me want to draw certain things? No particular reason, I draw what I like. Creative? Because I like drawing whatever I like, so I pour all of my imagination into it.

Grace: I enjoy painting as it allows me to express my feelings, both when I am happy and when I am sad. I just draw whatever is on my mind. I love to be a creative girl and I like to make a new thing so people will not get bored.

Nathania: I just enjoy drawing, my parents never force me to do that. If I want to draw scenery, I just draw it, even though my teacher asks me to draw another thing. I want to be the most creative person, as God has given [creativity] to all four of us.

ChildArt: What is your goal in life? Do you plan to continue drawing? Do you plan on keeping art in your life?

Sislia: I want to be an actress and a professional painter. Yes, I will draw forever because I believe art is my life and cannot live without it. Moreover, I will be a professional painter too.

Fransisca: For my career, I'd like to be involved in computer designing. I always dream to be a professional computer graphic designer. Sure, I plan on drawing and keeping it in my life. It is my world.

Grace: Although I enjoy painting. I would like to run my own business one day. Yes, this has always been my hobby so I will always keep drawing. I will certainly continue to draw whenever I have time.

Nathania: I would love to be a famous artist and great art teacher. I try always to improve my drawing. No, I will never leave drawing.

ChildArt: What do you think of ICAF and ChildArt Magazine?

Sisylia, Grace, Nathania and Fransisca: Wow. ... really very great, we feel proud of ICAF, because by organizing a drawing competition, children can meet each other from different countries and we can learn different languages and cultures too.

ChildArt Magazine is a fantastic magazine. It is very useful for us, by looking at it we have learnt some things; we have new inspirations and new ideas. There are a lot of creative artworks, which we have never learnt before.