Portfolio

Stained Glass

Stained Glass itself as a medium came to me rather late in life. I was in my 30s, and during a visit to America, I contacted a stained glass studio and paid them a daily rate to observe and learn about the tools and the techniques.

I then had all the materials and tools I would need shipped back to my studio in the village, where I spent the next six months mastering the tools and the techniques.

It wasn’t long after that I started getting my first commissions, and I continue to work to this day creating intricate windows for churches and homes. My works can be found mainly in Lebanon, with others exported around the world.

Paintings

After art school in America, I returned to Lebanon to be with my ageing father. I set up my studio at my father’s house in the small Northern village of Kfarzeina where I come from.

If you have any notion about the history of the country, the early Eighties were not the best of times to move back to Lebanon. While no time is really a good time to move to Lebanon, that particular decade was especially turbulent.

Painting was my medium and I found myself experimenting with different paints (oils, acrylics, aerosols, or a combination thereof) on different supports (glass, formica, canvas board) to create.

Artwork

Ordinary things and materials inspire me in different ways. I can pick up any piece of material and transform it, elevating it into an artwork. Such as corrugated cardboard, and paper.

Photomontage

Collage is a medium I like to go to when I play.

Stained glass commissions are not always readily available and when my worktable is free, collage is a preferred medium for me.

I have always been interested in photography, and, with the technology at our disposal in this day and age, one really doesn’t need to be a professional photographer to be able to take decent photographs.

My camera, computer and printer, plus my trusted hot glue gun were the tools for creating this series (which is still ongoing, by the way).
The twist with my photomontage is that after deconstructing my images, I reassemble them in a three dimensional way. The artwork itself juts out of the frame towards the viewer.