Shazia

Growing up among a family full of girls in Yorkshire, Shazia was often a subdued and quiet child and favoured watching her mother sew and make dresses, listening to the stories she told in order to keep her children quiet whilst she worked. It was these stories that carried Shazia through into a magical world and she knew from a young age that she had the skills and talent to draw.The stories that were told to her numerous times enabled the artist to draw from memory and create the works in which she favours today.

Studying for a foundation course in art and design then led to the artist following up her work with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design at Leeds Metropolitan University. The help of her tutors throughout her art schooling enabled Shazia to become inspired and was sure enough given a steady push in the right direction in order to explore her true artistic talents.

Taking time to travel and see the wonders that Latin America and Africa had to offer her, Shazia learnt a lot about her creative self throughout this period and sure enough this seeped into her artistic talents allowing new ideas to conjure and different avenues to explore. After experimenting throughout her Degree, the artist went back to simple drawing using pen and paper as this was where the rawness of her passion lay.

When Shazia came back to the UK her occupation now because a studio designer, where she saw from firsthand experience how hectic and fast moving everything was around her and this was certainly farfetched in comparison to the carefree days she spent travelling. In order to create the balance between both worlds, Shazia decided to no longer be part of the studio and worked on freelance pieces which saw her in later years take her first steps to becoming a full time artist.

Now married with her two boys and living in the Keighley, Yorkshire, Shazia seeks inspiration and ideas from as little or a lot as possible. This can be seen from her travelling days and her diaries, from word of mouth or simply from observing people, Shazia is never stuck for an idea. Creating characters from jotting down newspaper cuttings or articles plays a huge part in the artist's process to perfecting her figures.

Beginning to paint a faint outline usually of her character's head allows the artist the freedom to refer back to past sketches or to create a completely new and exciting character and this is where her work really comes to life. Oil paint and the fluidity you are able to create is something in which the artist favours and creating undertones to build up a layer of tone within skin depictions is a big part of her practice. Each character she paints offers love and vulnerability and this is what makes her characters so adored by many.