Oman art: Drawing a natural obsession for me, says Zarras

Muscat: For Nikos Zarras, painting is an exciting process which allows him to create something on an empty canvas using his vision and emotions.
“Drawing was already a natural obsession for me at a young age,” Zarras, who is Greek by origin, told Times of Oman in an exclusive interview.
Zarras, who was born in South Africa, is an expert in sand paintings, water colours, oil colours, palette knife techniques, sketching and also wall paintings.
He is organisng a solo exhibition at the Majilis Lobby Lounge at the City Season Hotel, which will begin Wednesday.
The Majilis Lobby Lounge is becoming one of the meeting points for art lovers and is transformed during the first Wednesday of every month into an Art Café.
“Mainly, my exhibition is on sand paintings and mixed techniques with sand and colour,” Zarras explained.
“As an artist, I explored various types of techniques and materials with my creativity. Using sand for arts and crafts, I eventually created actual paintings using pure sand without colour,” he added.
According to Zarras, the special attraction of the exhibition is the three portraits of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, done using only sand without any colour.
“Through this exhibition, I am planning to exhibit my skills in painting for art lovers in the Sultanate,” Zarras asserted.
Speaking about his stay in Oman, he says, “I work as a freelancer and teach arts and crafts to children.” He also confirmed that his next exhibition will focus on Oman’s landscape and its natural beauty. He prefers to portray the landscape and natural beauty of Oman and its culture.
“Oman’s beauty has captured my eye since I moved here five years ago, and some of the paintings in the exhibition will focus on Oman’s beauty,” Zarras said.
Speaking about his future plans, he said, “As an artist, I would like to explore the beauty of Oman and indulge myself by creating pieces of art.”
Before moving to the Middle East, he worked in Athens as a puppet designer, theatre set designer, creator of children’s festival sets, interior designer, theater and television animator of puppet shows and as a set designer.
“I have worked with Greece’s most famous puppet maker, Lakis Apostolidis, for more than a decade as a puppet maker and set designer,” he said.