Gentle washes in water colour

Paintings by Saeeda Kamal

Saeeda says that she concentrates on nature as it works like a refuge when we are caught up in suffering, restlessness and frustration. "If you turn to nature you're bound to find peace," she says. She goes to sights like the riverside, the paddy fields and gardens to get her inspiration. In water colour landscape and nature delineation, it is best to paint what you see, she feels. With this she combines her memories and imagination. "I wait a while to absorb nature around me and only then do I paint," she says. She prefers water colour as it offers a definite challenge. "In oil you can always do and undo, changing what you don't like at first go. Also water colour has its texture and transparency which fascinates me no end,"

At times Saeeda does the sketch of the scene that has inspired her and then sits in the studio and completes the painting. Saeeda also teaches painting at a school and says she enjoys both her creative work and teaching. Coming from a culture oriented family which includes her mother, poet Sufia Kamal, she was not questioned when she wanted to study fine arts. She had teachers like Rafiqun Nabi, who inspired her greatly. Other artists whose works led her to take up painting were Zainul Abedin, Qamrul Hassan, Safiuddin Ahmed and Mohammed Kibria. The next generation of artists like A Basset also had an impact on her work. European master painters like Vermeer, Rembrandt and Van Gogh inspired her.

After studying at the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, she went to University of Boston and did a residency course at Vermont, US. She also did a course on design at Shantiniketan and took part in workshops overseas. This is her fifth solo exhibition. Apart from theses she has participated in numerous group exhibitions. She has been working professionally for three decades.

In Offerings we see a lush forest. In another painting we see madhobi lata in a gray jar. She has made a collage of a dry plant next to a water colour depiction of a spray of flowers.

Apart from her preoccupation with floral depictions, she has done many moving nature-inspired scenes.