Balancing art and writing

Manama: Mona Al Saffar found passion in writing as a child and this has helped her become the published author that she is today.
The mother of three is an English Language and Literature graduate from the University of Bahrain. She has taken up several jobs during her career, with news reporting being her favourite one.
As a child, Al Saffar used to spend plentiful time reading at the huge library in her house. This eventually led her to publish three collections of poems in Arabic. She has also translated Jane Rees’ feminist novel “Good Morning Midnight” into Arabic.
Painting is another passion that the Bahraini writer has nurtured from a young age. She is part of a large group of self-taught and professional artists called “Cup of Art,” which is becoming a growing community within the art scene in the Kingdom.
Passion as a Writer and Artist
“Being a writer or an artist is not something you actually decide on, it is a part of the package you come within, part of one’s personality,” said Al Saffar.
“I am very passionate about arts in general, it is a part of being me… something I can’t ignore. Reading was an important influence on me, I think it helped me hone my abilities and led me to make the choice of being a writer.
“My poetry collections talk about life, love and Manama where I spent my childhood. It is related to human emotions and life experiences, two factors that touched me and left a mark on my life,” she added.
Speaking about the establishment of Cup of Art, she explained that the project began as a gathering of friends.
“After joining the group, I was inspired to revisit my childhood passion of painting. Interacting with big names in the art world gave me more experience in the field.
“Cup of Art believes that art is part of a human being even if one doesn’t consider oneself as an artist. I have seen people who had never painted before come up with really nice works of art,” she explained.
Al Saffar said as members of the art group, she and her colleagues have put their hearts into what they do.
“It doesn’t matter as the members of Cup of Art what line of work we end up exploring at any given time. We believe in teaching through example and we want to present art as an easy-going fun approach to self expression,” she added.
Al Saffar’s artworks are based on feministic themes.
“As for me, my artworks concentrate on women and it tries to convey a certain emotion or experience. I use multimedia on canvas and acrylic colours mostly… sometimes I use oil colours in combination with acrylic. I am still in the phase of learning and I really enjoy it,” she said.
Challenges
Despite being very tuned with her passion, Al Saffar admits that there are challenges that she faces as a mother of three and as a professional who seeks constructive criticism and improvement in the work she does.
“With the responsibilities as a working mother, I am trying my best to make time to follow my passion without affecting them,” she said.
Another thing Al Saffar is concerned about is the need of more professional critics in Bahrain.
“Both painting and writing are part of a process and to get them complete they must be put under the spotlight of being professionally criticised, so that it helps artists and writers improve their work. The receiver of the work is as important as the creator and the work can’t shine without being pushed to the right direction,” Al Saffar said.     
She is currently doing a collaborative work on producing an Arabic version of Emily Dickinson’s collection of poems with her Kuwaiti colleague Tahani Fajer. Al Saffar will review the texts translated by Fajer.
She is also working on the next Cup of Art event, in which children would draw something based on a story. The works would be exhibited at Mashq Art Space.