Strong, powerful paintings that stir emotions and appeal to the passions are Varaporn Ponrit's trademark. "When I paint," says the artist, known to everyone as "Map", "I try to touch people with what I do. I want to arouse their hopes, fears and passions. I want to make people feel their emotions".

Judging from reactions to her work at a recent exhibition entitled "Rough Passion" at Mom Tri's Boathouse Art Gallery, Kata Beach, she is beginning to achieve her goal. Numerous comments were overheard regarding the power and sensuality of her paintings. The response to a later exhibit entitled "Raw Obsession", at Soul of Asia gallery, 39 Rasada Road in Phuket Town, proved a rousing success.

The 35-year-old painter is a native of southern Thailand and currently lives on Phuket with her Canadian husband, Kenneth Abday and three-year-old daughter Karina. Although she started painting at an early age, her family never really encouraged her to be an artist. They had visions of her working in one of the higher paying professions rather than subsisting as "a starving artist". But Map was determined, finally reaching a compromise with her family by majoring in Interior Design at the Po Chang Art Institute, in Bangkok. "My mother really didn't discourage me from painting," she says, "but it wasn't something she felt I should do for a living. She didn't think I would ever make any money at it."

After finishing school, she worked as an interior designer in Europe, spending time in Spain, France and Italy. Her real passion, however, remained painting, even though she lacked the confidence to try it full-time. She credits her husband with getting her to believe in her abilities as a painter: "I really started painting seriously because of encouragement from my husband Ken. He's been very supportive, and has really helped me market my paintings. Without his help and support, it really would have been difficult. I don't think I ever would have gotten started. Unlike most artists, I am fortunate to have someone who takes care of the business side of painting."

Map's approach to her craft, as it is with the paintings she creates, is emotional. Before beginning work, she sees something that stimulates her feelings, causing her to visualize a painting. She then strives to put the visualization on canvas. She will often touch up what she has done later — sometimes after working on another painting — but she does most of the work in a single go. In fact, many of what she considers to be her best paintings were completed in a single session.

She becomes emotionally involved in her art, often locking herself in her studio for long periods of time with music blaring in her ears through the headphones she habitually wears while working. According to her husband, it's a good idea to leave her alone when she's in her studio. "Interruptions irritate her and make her angry," he says, smiling. "Karina and I have learned to stay away from her when she is working. When she finally emerges from her studio, she's usually exhausted and covered with paint".

Her own state of mind has a bearing on how Khun Map's paintings turn out. "If I'm happy, I often use bright, soft colours and paint things like flowers. When I am feeling dark, the subject matter changes and I use dark lots of black and dark red in my paintings".

Anyone who spends time looking at Map's work feels its sensuality, and quickly realizes her favourite subject is the female nude. "There's something about the female body that makes me passionate and eager to paint. I might go to the beach and see someone in a bikini and suddenly get a vision for a painting." Husband Ken puts it less subtly. "Her favourite subject is titties," he says with a laugh. "She's always painting them, and they have been the subject in some of her best and most popular work".

Her single favourite painting, however, is not of a nude woman. It is of some daisies she saw while touring western Canada with her husband. "The daisies were so beautiful I couldn't get them out of my mind. Even though it was some time before I could paint them, the vision remained with me until I had a chance to put it on canvas." Another painting she likes is of Bangkok's skyline. "It was raining and dark outside, making me feel dark and depressed. It inspired me, and I put what I saw and felt on canvas, using lots of red and black".

Although she just gave birth to her second child, Map is continuing to work. She has an exhibit planned in Canada later in the year, and her husband Ken is busy arranging exhibits for 2004 in Hong Kong and New York City. Map's big dream, like that of many artists, is to have an exhibition in Paris.