Zahra, the queen of animes

With all her siblings exceling in each of their unique career paths, it was quite a challenge for little Zahra to follow her passion and win her place in the society. Nevertheless, Zahra Saleh found her place in the field of art and made her parents proud for their constant support.

Now, Zahra Saleh is an emerging Bahraini artist who is specialised in works inspired from Japanese animes or animated serieses.

Zahra Saleh is the daughter of Ahmed Zulaikh, who is a Bahraini musical composer while her mother is Egyptian. The couple has 8 children and, all of Zahra’s siblings managed to develop in to fields of Gaming, Fitness, Car Mechanics, Tourism, Fishing, Piano and Make Up Artistry. But Zahra ended up dwelling in the field of art where her passion lies with sketching and painting.

Zahra had participated in many local art galleries and events including Bahrain Noor Al Ain, AFK, Al Areesh Gallery, University of Bahrain’s National Day celebrations and most recently in IGN last week.

Zahra, as an artist

Speaking to DT News, Zahra Saleh said, “I am a person who loves to diversify, challenge myself and tries my best to put all the passion in what I do, because I believe that passion and dedication are the core elements to success and recognition of talented artists.”

Labelling herself as a perfectionist, she added, “When I joined an art class in my University, I found myself surrounded by people who share similar interests and skills like mine. From then on, I was encouraged to work harder and it initiated a non-ending spark inside.”

Her favorite piece of work so far is a dragon called ‘Shenro’ from an anime called Dragon ball Z. 

Her main source of inspiration involves Nature as she expressed, “God created such a beautiful world where the smallest things may have the deepest details like how a tiny leaf can have many veins and cells inside. It excites me to see simple things which hold deep meanings and expressions behinds it.”

In her message to the fellow artists, she said, quoting Bruce Lee, “Be formless, shapeless like water”.

“There will be times when you ask yourself what am I doing? And at those times you need to clear your head and think about what brings passion into what you do.”

Being a graduate student, Zahra is currently focusing on finishing the course along with pursuing her career as an artist, as well keeping them as a financial source.  “However, my future plan is to expand my artwork by putting all the attention and efforts in being a full time artist, hoping to win a career and recognition in the field.”