But unlike fellow members such as Choo Keng Kwang and Lim Tze Peng, who pursued art with single-minded determination, she had to fit it into work and raising a family.

Still, she never stopped painting and now, at age 81, she is having a retrospective exhibition of her life's work.

Titled Odyssey - Oil Works By Chen Cheng Mei, the exhibition opens at the National Library on Thursday.

The show, which was put together by her family, features 70 oils on canvas works she painted between 1961 and last year.

The paintings depict the culture and physical beauty of the places she visited during the course of her travels.

Her work has gone on show in France, Mexico, Monte Carlo, Malaysia and Australia.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times Life!