Where are you from and where is your Art practice based currently?

I’m from Leicester, U.K and am currently based there at Two Queens Studios.

Do you have a formal Art Education or are you Self Taught?

I studied Printed Textile Design at Manchester School of Art, which I loved, but had taken up abstract painting myself during lockdown due to loss of equipment. I have a strong passion for colour and mark making.

Where do you look for inspiration? What themes do you find more interesting?

I love to go backpacking so I’m increasingly inspired by personal experiences I have on my adventures and write them down in a journal which I then look back on in my studio. I’m also incredibly drawn to nature because of how it makes me feel. Nature has always been there to guide me out of low periods in my life. But I really do draw inspiration from everywhere!

Have any Great Women Abstract Artists influenced your work? Which current Artists do you admire?

There are so many women who I look up to. Not always necessarily for visual inspiration but from their personality too . Lee Krasner for example. Her passion, fire and uniqueness is so admirable. There are so many contemporary female artists that I love. Jade fadojutimi, Heather Day as well as many others it would be impossible to name them all!

Do you identify most with a specific Art Abstract genre?

I feel like my work at the moment is mostly identified as Abstract Expressionism. It’s very intuitive and emotive.

Can you tell us about your process?

My process starts by looking over personal writings kept in journals. Most recently from my travels in Asia. I start to feel the emotions I felt then and scribble illegibly and quickly onto canvas. The colours I use are then very intuitive and reactive to the events and emotions written on canvas. I’m painting a scene I’ve lived but no one else can decipher what it is.

Where can we see your work?

I’m very active on my Instagram @ameerahdawood.artist and my finished work is currently on my website www.ameerahdawood.com

How has being a Woman affected your Art career?

I feel as though being a woman, especially a British-Asian woman, has meant fighting off a lot of pressure. I feel as though the pressure to get married and become a mother looms but I have things I want to accomplish, creativity I need to explore and places I want to travel before even thinking about whether I even want those things. I also doubt myself alot too but I never let it take over.

What advice would you give to other Abstract Women Artists entering the Art World?

You may have other things going on in your life and other responsibilities but this doesn’t make you any less of an artist. You can also start at anytime in your life, it’s never too late to pick up a paintbrush. Be fiercely authentic and true to yourself.