Hi, I’m Zeinab.

I’m a visual artist based in Kelowna, British Columbia. Originally from Iran, I later lived in New Zealand before settling in Canada. Inspired by the landscapes and history of the places I’ve lived in and travelled to, I hope to evoke a feeling that goes beyond a particular view or location in my work. Although my paintings often begin with real places, I’m equally interested in abstraction – not as a departure from nature, but as another way of seeing it.

I paint plein air as much as I can. Shifting light, moving air, sounds, scents, and passing wildlife all become part of the landscape. Patterns and flows present themselves at every turn. The branches of a tree echo the shape of a braided river. Clouds, shorelines, roots, rock formations, and mountain ranges share the same underlying rhythms. The more I look, the more connections I find. Get too close or too far from familiar scenes, and everything eventually melds into an abstract formation.

I’m drawn to light and the way it constantly transforms the world around us. Light can reveal, simplify, soften, or completely change what we see. Shadows are just as telling. They aren’t simply the absence of light; they imply other objects, other planes, that might be just out of sight. Reflections gather sky, land, water, and movement into a single connected image, revealing relationships that might otherwise go unnoticed. They bring different parts of a landscape into conversation with one another.

Watercolour feels naturally suited to the subjects I love. It moves, spreads, blends, and separates, while creating connections and dissolving boundaries. Rather than forcing it toward a specific outcome, I enjoy working with its character and embracing those interactions become part of the painting.

One thing I love about painting is that it can gather an entire experience into a single image. A landscape unfolds gradually. We move through it, watch the light shift, notice small details, and feel it becoming a part of us. A painting can hold all those impressions and memories at once.

Thank you for visiting and spending time with my work.

— Zeinab