Raphael Scott Ahbeng is one of the most established artists from Sarawak. The lyrical and expressive brushstrokes of Raphael depict a landscape of trees pulsating with life comprised of lush and dense foliage. The artist’s fascination with the subject of Nature is translated through a vast array of different strokes and rich surface textures. With the mastery of light effects, the artist succeeds in creating a poetic scene that captures the splendour of Nature. It is hugely remarkable that Raphael Scott Ahbeng still keeps painting at his secluded studio in Bau after all these years, at the age of 80 and with a host of ailments. It is as if painting is a great therapy although it is his passion that keeps the white canvas filled. Form, composition and colours – the tripod structure behind his art, whatever the subject or medium. He has been practically painting since the age of 9, and professionally from 1990. It’s standard to peg his art career from 1964, when he took up an Art and Photography course at the Bath Academy of Fine Art in Britain, until 1967. But in 1954, he already had his first solo. Raphael is truly a legend, who is adept in painting in oil, acrylic and watercolours, besides drawings and doing cartoons for newspapers, which show up his humorous side. He had also been a teacher and radio producer, from a Sarawak Government grant to do a Drama course in London in 1973. In 1959, he won 1st Prize in the Shell Open art competition and was 3rd in the Natural Malaysia competition in Kuala Lumpur in 1991.