Engineering a work of art

Bahraini artist and teacher Samia Abdulrazzak Engineer hopes to inspire young women into believing in themselves and appreciating their role as the 'source of life' with a display of her latest creations.

Art lovers have been flocking to see her recent solo art exhibition at The Courtyard Gallery in Hamala which featured a collection entitled 'Invisible Messages' which highlighted her thoughts about womanhood.

She said: "When people come and see my work in an exhibition, I don't want them to just look at it and go; I want them to carry my messages along.

"I hope to have an influence, however small, on their daily routines. I hope people will then stop a minute and think 'yes, this relates to the painting I saw the other day'."

Although a teacher of art for 40 years and a respected artist in her own right, Samia, 59, from Riffa, only staged her first solo exhibition at the Bahrain Art Society in Budaiya in 2006.

Her love and interest into art was first ignited by a childhood incident when she was living at her grandfather's large, spacious home in the heart of Manama.

She said: "I grew up in an environment that reflected a lot of beauty. We lived as a big family and one day, when I was nine or 10, my uncle, an architect by profession, suddenly brought out an easel, paint and a china plate as a palette. He asked one of my cousins to hold a big watermelon and began to paint ... just out of the blue. I think that incidence inspired me the most in wanting to take up art.

"I always search for a 'spot' of beauty in anything that catches my eye! Several things including attitudes, colour, nature, human relationships trigger me into creating something."

In 1970, Samia studied for a diploma in art education at the University of Bahrain before taking up a teaching post in a school in Manama. Shortly afterwards, she won a scholarship to attend a ceramic and textile painting course in Bristol, England, before teaching in a high school and at a teachers' training centre.

In 1981, she returned to Bristol to pursue her master's degree and returned home in 1984 to teach at the Bahrain University. In 1988, due to her outstanding work, she was offered the opportunity by the government to continue her studies and to take up a PhD in the US where she lived until 1992. She returned to the kingdom and resumed her university post. She said: "Dealing with my students keeps me alert - especially with the young, current generation."

Married to Mohammed Saleh, the couple have a daughter, Fatima, an architectural design student.

Samia also enjoys writing poetry and hopes to publish a collection of her work.