“As my artist’s statement explains, my work is utterly incomprehensible and is therefore full of deep significance”. "I want to touch people with my art".

"I want them to say she feels deeply, she feels tenderly.'”

I grew up in the busy, lively metropolis Beirut located in the center of Lebanon. From the capital to the snowy mountains in about 45 min, you can ski in the morning in the beautiful mountains and later in the day drive down to the beach and swim in the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. My fondest memories are of being on my father’s fishing boat watching the sunlight dance across the blue waters of the Mediterranean, the smell of the sea and the beauty and calm of the sky, rocks, and shoreline.

I wanted to create a body of work that captures that mood and feeling I’ve always came to love of the waters and sky. My first impression of seeing Laguna Beach was so relaxing and I wished I had my easel and paints with me to capture the beauty of what I was seeing. I knew I wanted to spend most of my time here, because it brought back my memories of home. The area around Laguna Beach has similar rock formations and land as the beaches of Lebanon, I was impressed seeing in one view the picturesque mountains, on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.

The colors of Laguna Beach are inviting, relaxing and calming, and I knew this is what I needed to paint.

My current body of work focuses on the various times of day, the change of atmosphere from the first morning’s rays, the blue time, to the hot midday to the golden time, the cool relaxing evening. By using a variety of brushstrokes, I can capture the movement of the water and implied texture of the rocks. Sometimes I’ve used medium to create actual texture. I’ve enjoyed focusing on the seascape, landscape and have incorporated people into my paintings as it brings life to my works. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Laguna Beach, and I’ve felt the excitement and joy just being in the environment. Due to the heat, I prefer painting in the early morning or the evening. Another thing I found out is there is a huge difference in painting Laguna Beach from a reference photograph of mine and painting plein air in the environment this is especially true trying to capturing the light reflections in the water during the night, the camera simply cannot capture what the eyes see in real time. That is the difficulty I am up against.

In the beginning I focused primarily on the sunlight and the landscape but now I have learned the importance of focusing on the contrast and the elements of what I am seeing and studying the waters movement. After visiting Laguna Beach and painting plein air I now see the importance of creating an interesting composition by selecting certain areas of the beach to paint that are intriguing. Currently I’m studying on how to add different elements to create a more interesting work. One of these is using a technique from an artist I admire Jessie Arms Botke. Jessie incorporates gold paint into her works where water would be. One of my goals I have for myself after completing this master’s degree is to paint Laguna Beach again but substitute gold paint for water in my works.