Zahra’a Zied, a Yemeni female painter and photographer, born in Yemen but living in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, due to her father’s business, discovered the importance of art in her life during her first year in high school. Even though painting was one of her main hobbies during her childhood, her real activity was when she was in her high school and sold her paintings to a Saudi Architecture company. In the same time, she was enrolled by her family in the Saudi Center for Arts, to take courses in painting and photography which greatly enhanced her talent.
She participated in a number of exhibitions after doing some exhibitions individually. “At the beginning all my activities were alone. I used to exhibit my paintings and photos to companies. Later on, exhibitions-planners called me to invite me to participate in their exhibitions. I welcomed their invitations and participated with my paintings and photos. So far, I exhibited my art works in a number of exhibitions in Jeddah, Makkah and Malaysia. I also had workshops with some of the great Saudi painters,” said Zahra’a.In her last participation in “Jeddah al-Amrani” exhibition, his hience, Prince Khalid al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the governor of Makkah Province, launched the exhibition, presenting a great importance to arts from young artists.”
“Painting and photography mean the whole world to me. They both reflect how artists see the world. Essentially, that’s what I do with painting and photography; they are my means to reflect on the world,” explained Zahra’a, talking about her love for painting and photography. “I really aspire to be internationally known and prove to the world that a woman could be so talented in this area and have her own place and respect.
The continuous support and encouragement she receives from her family is the source of her determination to continue in this path. “My family has always believed in me and helped me to do my best and never stop. However, I believe that a human being has to always have achievements in which he gets to be successful in whatever he does.”
Love for arts run in the family. Zahra’a’s mother loves arts so much since she is an interior designer herself. In addition, a distinguished phase in Zahra’a’s life was when she participated as a speaker in the Springboard Program in Bahrain, where she presented a success story of her own. She talked about how she invested the profits she made, selling her art works with 10 thousands Saudi riyal, equals $2,500 into doing more art works and not waste the money in other stuff. Zahra’a Zaid, presents a promising future for art in Yemen, combing painting and photography in one young female artist. When she was asked if she loves painting more than photography, she replied, “I love them both. I can’t choose. In fact, I divide my time equally on both of them.”
*You can follow Zahra’a Zeid at her blog;
“Life through my eyes” www. zahraa-art.blogspot.com
