INSPIRED BY BUDAIYA COAST 2006

Editor: So, this is Rashid Al Khalifa’s "Inspired by Budaiya Coast," a plein-air painting from 2006, done in acrylics. I find the blend of light and shadow quite captivating, almost dreamlike. What story do you think this landscape is trying to tell? Curator: Oh, I love how you sensed the dreamlike quality! For me, it’s all about a fleeting moment—that liminal space where day transitions into night, or vice versa. Notice how the artist uses color, almost like a memory fading. He's not just showing us a place, but the feeling of being in that place. Ever experienced a sunset so vivid it almost feels unreal? Editor: Absolutely! The colors do have this fading feeling. I am used to landscape paintings being all sharp lines and distinct areas, and the soft focus here feels like the artist just kept working on the painting on site until it disappeared with the fading light of sunset. Curator: Exactly! It is almost as if it captured the essence of a quickly passing moment in the landscape. Look at the texture – the brushstrokes practically vibrate. It makes me wonder, what did Al Khalifa hear, smell, feel when he painted this? What would happen if we were sitting in that boat? Editor: That's such a wonderful image to hold - what *would* it be like? Curator: It would be magical, don't you think? And, ultimately, isn't that what art should do – transport us, even if just for a moment? I now appreciate Al Khalifa's mastery in conveying a transient feeling through brushstrokes. I had never truly understood plein-air until today, but that is only way to catch this feeling so honestly. Thank you! Editor: My pleasure! It has helped me focus on the story more instead of technical execution; thank you for illuminating those sensations.