Oman’s only fused glass artist Sharifa reveals ambitions

Muscat: Glass has beautiful characteristics which add a different dimension to artwork, says Sharifa Marhuby, the only fused glass artist in Oman.
“My dream was to express my art in glass,” Marhuby told Times of Oman, in an exclusive interview.
According to Marhuby, her art is a unique way of expressing feelings from the conscious and subconscious mind.
“Art is my way of giving an intrinsic value to my imagination and preserving the existence of anything that adds beauty or excitement,” she said. Speaking about how she came into the field of art, Marhuby noted, “Art has always been in my blood.”
“When I was a young girl, I sat for hours watching my late brother, Said, and my brother Hamoud, creating caricatures, portraits and paintings, and they inspired me greatly,” she recalled.
“My best grade in primary school was always in art. I produced my first portrait at the age of 12,” Marhuby said. She also explained about the technique used to create fused glass art.
“I paint on a sheet of glass using high temperature paint, as opposed to ordinary glass, acrylic, water or oil paints,” Marhuby said.
“I then cap the glass sheet with another sheet of glass of equal size, thickness and type. Similar to other stained glass art, I fire the glass but, in my case, it is one sheet on top of another for up to 18 hours in a closed kiln at temperatures higher than an ordinary oven, but lower than those of a candle or blow torch,” she added.
“The two sheets merge and come out as one. Unlike stained glass art, painting on canvas, paper or wood, the painting is protected between two pieces of glass, rather than being on top.
Some of my pieces are made of only glass powder on a sheet of glass,” she noted.
Marhuby also organises workshops and seminars with the help of Muscart gallery to popularize this art among the younger generation in the Sultanate.
“Workshops are mostly for participants to get a feel of and appreciate fused glass art. Participants have the chance to create a few pieces of their own during the workshop,” she added.