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TALENTED artist Nujood Al Mahmood has launched a new collection featuring her popular cartoon characters which caused a Gergaoun storm of interest just 12 months ago.
Around 10,000 of the terrific tins she created were snapped up in time for the holy month celebration, as highlighted in GulfWeekly, and demand is soaring for samples of her latest work
Nujood’s colourful cartoon characters of smiling children wearing traditional attire are back in new shapes and sizes. The 28-year-old graphic designer, from Muharraq, said: “This is the most beautiful traditional time of the year for my family and me and it remains such a special occasion for local children.
“Back in the day, we used to go to our neighbours and sing all the old traditional songs so that they could give us candy. Sometimes, we were lucky and received coins as well. As children, we’d gather at my grandmother’s house after iftar and exchange gifts. Then the boys in her neighbourhood would sing to us and call out our names as they beat the drums and had a horseman called Fraisah dancing around.
“It’s still a great time for us all and we are never too old to celebrate. I really enjoy creating new concepts that children can make use of during the occasion. The fact that they love them makes it even more special.”
This year, Nujood transformed her cute characters into snowman boxes that look like lunch boxes with space for sweets to be stored in the ‘belly’ centre.
Nujood, who graduated in 2011 from NYIT with a BA in Fine Arts, also designed two new characters for her mini-money banks. “I wanted to give them something useful and fun,” she explained.
The boxes are being snapped up for BD2 from her sister Nahla’s chocolate, flower, wedding and events planning boutique, LalaBella located in Moda Mall and in Qalali. Just a handful of the boxes are left and the money banks, which were BD1.800 each, were sold out as soon as they were launched on her social media Instagram account @angie_arts.
She says she gets ‘continuous support’ from her sister and her proud husband Mohammed Slaiman, other family members and friends, for her artistic entrepreneurial efforts.
As well as working on an educational magazine, the talented cartoonist also teaches children how to sketch animation once-a-week at the popular Artology studio in Saar. She said: “I’ve also been sketching portraits for people who want to mark their birthdays and anniversary celebrations with a smile and a cartoon. I’m also working on a bigger project for an animation story book. I would also like to wish everyone a happy Gergaoun during this blessed month.”
