Painter Nabila Andrawis puts the pro in prolific
CAIRO: Nabila Andrawis was making a comfortable living as an English teacher and translator when she made a rash decision.
She quit her job, threw away her lifelong career and began to pursue a childhood dream: painting.
I always had a burning desire to pursue my dream as a painter, the artist tells the Daily Star Egypt.
Since that fate full decision two years ago, Andrawis has been incredibly prolific, finishing paintings at an astonishing rate and amassing an impressive body of cohesive work.
In her own words, Andrawis says she paints non stop.
I ll wake up in the middle of the night and paint until the small hours of the morning, she says. [Then] people started to tell me I had enough work for a show…I never expected this.
This refers to the fantastic reception she s received among Cairo s art set, who ve been snapping up her works almost as quickly as she can paint them.
Indeed, it seems the gamble has paid off.
In only two short years, Andrawis has finished around 200 paintings. She s had five showings, and lately, she s been getting so many offers from prospective galleries that she s started turning them down.
I want to make up all the time…all the time I should have been painting, she says. And now I m doing it with a vengeance.
At a small, private gathering last Friday, invited guests had the chance to check out some of Andrawis latest works.
Dubbed The Egypt I Love, the show featured 28 of Andrawis impressionistic works of landscapes and scenes culled from the artist s travels in Upper Egypt.
I just paint for pleasure, says Andrawis, who adds that she agreed to the The Egypt I love show because it was an intimate, one-night affair.
It s easy to see why Andrawis has made such an impact in a short time. Her works feature broad, bold brushstrokes and bright colors that literally leap off leap the canvas.
One of the show s highlights was Afternoon by the Steps, a moving and mysterious work inspired by a scene Andrawis spotted during one of her travels.
I saw this, but it wasn t exactly the same. I cheated, she says, surveying her work. People always like steps and stairs…It tells a story.
Another piece entitled The Journey Home, uses a flurry of brush strokes to create a dense mass of grey that mixes sadness with confusion.
The show was put together by a local collector named Andy Dailey, who first met Andrawis during a charity auction where the artist had donated some of her work.
Dailey, who also teaches History classes at Cairo s American International School, said he was interested in putting on the show because of his love of impressionistic art.
You can relate to what you re seeing. Her pictures are just like photographs…she captures the light.
Dailey adds that putting on the show gives Cairo s large expat community a chance to sample and savor Cairo s rich artistic wealth in a non-clinical fashion.
When I think about Egypt in the 1920s and 1930s, there was a major art and literature scene here, he says, adding that Cairo s unique mix of politics, history and architecture means plenty of inspiration for newer artists.
Mme. Nabila captures that essence.
