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LITTLE Liliana Williamson has been commissioned to paint a series of artworks after her stunning painting of an orange-eared mutt melted the hearts of judges of a national competition.
The 10-year-old British expat, who lives with her family in Saar, won her age category in the recent Sovereign Art Foundation Schools Prize 2016 contest and picked up a BD500 prize, a trophy, plus a specially-made sovereign ring at a glitzy hotel awards ceremony.
Her talent has been rewarded further with art-lovers on the island requesting three paintings at BD65 a time. “It’s amazing,” she said. “I’m so happy people like my work.”
Better known to her friends as Lily, the St Christopher’s School pupil was born in the English county of Buckinghamshire and has two brothers, Luke, 13, and seven-year-old Leonardo. Her dad Martin is a sales and marketing professional and now aspiring-to-be high-value art dealer and mum, Ellissa, has also recently made the headlines in GulfWeekly for her creative personalised handcrafted silver jewellery, 3D hand and foot sculptures and pet portraits.
Martin said: “Since winning the award, her brothers have been trying to convince Lily to buy a gaming computer, but it has been put safely away!
“Lily has been painting since a very early age but only started using oils on canvas when she started classes at the Artology studio in Saar a few years ago. Founder Reem Najeeb has been very influential in Lily’s work.
“Lily loves animals, especially dogs and the idea was to create something colourful and beautiful. The ears were painted orange to give some energy and warmth she tells me.”
The winning creation took Lily seven hours to complete and the immediate reaction to the painting was extremely positive. “Everyone loves its uniqueness,” said Ellissa. “The judges commented that it was a wonderful piece of work, it was very different and that’s what made it stand out above the rest.
“I’m thrilled for Lily, it has been an exciting few weeks!”
The Sovereign Art Foundation raised more than a quarter of a million dinars for the Royal Charity Organisation’s (RCO) work helping orphans by auctioning off the winning competition paintings and other art work.
Held at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, the recent gala dinner was attended by RCO secretary general Dr Mustafa Al Sayed on behalf of RCO chairman and His Majesty King Hamad’s personal representative for charity work and youth affairs, Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
More than 16,000 students took part in the art competition. Other winners were, for grades one to three, Alhanouf Aljalal from Shaikha Hessa Girls School, grades six to eight, Yasser Ahmed from Al Raja School and in the final category, consisting of grades nine to 12, Hisham Abdulraheem from Muharraq High School for Gifted Students took the top spot.
The four winning paintings were auctioned publicly, while other paintings were sold during a silent auction. Lily’s took a stunning BD2,600 to support the good cause which goes to help cover education expenses and medical bills for local orphans.
Lily, whose other passions include horse riding, piano and netball, would like to be a vet when she grows up because she loves animals so much but, for the time being, her spare time is being taken up creating more art work.
Martin added: “Lily was very surprised that she won this award. Winning it has certainly motivated her to paint more and develop her skills further.
“I now spend my weekends drilling holes to accommodate Lily’s new pictures. Before very long, we will need a bigger house with more wall space!
“She loves art because it helps her to express herself and Lily has also been commissioned for three more paintings, one featuring a horse.
“She invested seven hours of her time and helped raise a staggering amount for charity. That’s an amazing achievement for a 10-year-old girl, anywhere in the world!”
