Saudi artist Lamis Abdo Al-Natour stunned crowds that gathered at Rashid Mall in Dammam to see her art earlier this week. Her solo show of calligraphy showcased her artworks on various forms of media at the mal's Arabian Collections Gallery. “My style is unique because I fuse the traditional and the modern in mixed media creations that focus on texture and color, to bring out the inherent richness of Middle Eastern traditions and ideas,” she told art enthusiasts who came to see her works. Natour said her love of art began with a simple ceramic hand building class at the Dhahran Art Group in Saudi Aramco. She then started to experiment with stained and fused glass, water color, acrylic, oil and photography, and her own unique style evolved from these experiences. Now she incorporates calligraphy and mixed media in captivating depictions of the past and the present. Her deep fascination with color and texture led her to incorporate these elements to create pieces that infuse depth and movement, exploring the dynamics of human emotion, movement and life at its most natural. Her most recent works include building structures and images by fusing tiny beads of glass onto her paintings and embellishing the images with Arabic calligraphy. These were displayed at her solo presentation at Arabian Collections Gallery, which was “proud to have presented the work of this exciting artist as she enriches the cultural and artistic diversity of our community.” Through the years, Natour has developed a style of Arabic calligraphy, using her own calligraphic font based on an original typeface from the Al-Qundusi scripts. Among the pieces she displayed were four works she considers her favorites. One of them is called God's Most Beautiful Names, a piece that incorporates some of the most beautiful names of God in the Qur'an. Another piece demonstrates the endless mercies of the Creator. A third, called The Secret, is about asking for God's forgiveness. The fourth is a work of fused glass, copper shavings, handmade paper and poetic calligraphy. Schooled in Jordan, where she earned her degree in computer science and graphic design, Natour has two children whom she aptly gave mystic names: Talyah, 7, and Mysk, 2. She also writes poetry and studies traditional Arabic writings. __
