I have always thought that beauty has the ability to make us slow down. There's a remarkable quality in the things we usually ignore, such as the afternoon light lying on a leaf, the calm stare of an bird, or the feeling that a landscape leaves us long after we've left. Through painting I have learned to spend more time with such moments, to look a bit longer, and to find something new in the familiar. I was born in Washington, D.C. and brought up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in a family with both Saudi and Filipino heritage. Having grown up in two cultures gave me exposure to different kinds of landscapes, traditions, and ways of viewing and understand the world. The huge deserts of Saudi Arabia and the rich tropical forests of the Philippines still appear in my paintings, sometimes subtly, usually through memory and imagination. My career as an artist started while I was at college, when I discovered a passion for painting and became interested in the dreamlike jungles of Henri Rousseau. His paintings reminded me of my childhood trips to the Philippines and helped me realize that I didn't always have to paint things exactly as I saw them. I could paint them as I remembered them, shaped by my own feelings and imagination. At present I mainly work in oil on linen, creating paintings of birds, wildlife, portraits, and landscapes drawn from the natural world and the places I have known. Following my graduation from the Studio Art program at New York University, I started a new phase at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where I am earning my master's degree with a special focus on arts and learning. The experience I'm having at Harvard is altering the way I see my own artistic practice. What used to be a very personal means of expressing myself is now turning into a curiosity regarding how art can bring people together, encourage us to observe more carefully, and strengthen our connection with nature. As a result of my research and my experiences in providing spaces for others to create art, I am starting to realize that art is not only about what we produce but also about what we learn during the process. I have always believed that painting is an act of love, since truly paying attention to something is also the first step towards caring for it. I am still working out what it means to be both an artist and an educator, and maybe that is what inspires me the most. The more I paint, teach, and explore, the more I come to understand that there is still so much to see. Whether I am in the studio, walking through nature, or coming across a new place, I make an effort to take that same sense of curiosity with me. My wish is that my paintings will encourage you to stop for a moment, look a little longer, and find something significant in the world around you. Thank you for being here and for taking a little time to spend with my work.