Nada Suleimani, fine artist

Nada is passionate about painting, capturing landscapes, depicting seascapes and communicating her skills through teaching. In a room full of canvases on easels, paint brushes and palettes of iridescent colors, she teaches a group of people how to paint a typical KAUST landscape from a painting she did as a model. Nada promises that the paintings her students will take back home after the six-hour class will be worth hanging on a wall. And she’s right—they all look fabulous, just like the original work.

However, Nada was not always a painter. When she joined KAUST in 2009, she worked in the Finance Department, as her background lies in accountancy. She occasionally picked up the palette, painting in her spare time. But her hobby soon took bigger proportions. After taking a certificated course with artist Mona Al Gassabi at the Saudi Center for Fine Arts in Jeddah, she realized the path she wanted to take. Amazed by the creativity and talent present in Jeddah, Nada decided to enroll in online courses to become an art teacher—alongside working as an accountant. It didn’t take long before art took over her day job, and since 2016, she has fully dedicated herself to painting.

Nada gets her inspiration through wandering in nature; catching an interesting architectural detail; browsing in traditional city centers like Al-Balad; being mesmerized by the beauty and strength of Arabian horses; or looking at the calm Red Sea in Thuwal. She describes her paintings as an impressionist storybook. To view Nada’s works in person, visit Baitak Bazaar at the Harbor Walk, where she has some paintings for sale, or go the gallery on her website.

She is mainly influenced by famous Saudi artists such as Aziz Dia and Saleh Al-Shehri and landscape painter Michael James Smith from the U.K. She has great admiration for Dia and mentions that “he masters his art of depicting Hijazi life in such a way it creates a story. You see old men playing spin top, and it’s like you were there. His paintings are real, even if the action took place decades ago.”

Since Nada began to concentrate more on painting, she has presented her artwork in several exhibitions in Jeddah. She exhibits with other female artists, as this empowers Saudi women and helps make connections. Don’t be surprised if you see Nada’s work during your next trip to Dubai, Egypt or Lebanon. She’s a lady with talent and she wants to share it with you. Why don’t you enroll in her next class? You’ll have a fine piece of art to hang on your living room wall!