My story
It didn’t start at the top
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Every painting on this site began with a first, uncertain brushstroke. This is how a boy who drew on any paper he could find became an Emirati artist, one small step at a time.
Ahmed AlSaadi · Abu Dhabi
Why I paint
To keep the heritage of the Emirates alive
What began as a love for this land became a purpose: to honour the stories, traditions and symbols that shaped the Emirates long before my time.
I work slowly, by hand, with natural textures and colours drawn from the land itself: sand, sea, sky and stone. I want every painting to feel like a memory, familiar, warm and lasting.
Childhood
Chapter one
Any paper that came to hand
Drawing was the joy of my life from childhood. I sketched on any paper that came under my hand. There was no studio and no teacher yet, just the wish to draw.
2012
Chapter two
The first class
In 2012 I joined Al Marsam Al Hur in Abu Dhabi and began to learn properly. I studied painting under the Egyptian painter Adel Al Amen, and from 2014 Arabic calligraphy under the Emirati master calligrapher Mohamed Mandi.
My first paintings were simple landscapes, made while I was still learning to see. I kept them, because they show where I began.
Early studies from my learning years
2013
Chapter three
The first prize
A year after my first class, I showed my work for the first time at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition and won second prize for heritage painting. Two years later, in 2015, I returned and won first prize.
Style
Chapter four
Finding my own voice
With practice I began painting on my own, exploring the style that is mine: the heritage, objects and landscapes of the UAE. Put the first painting next to a recent one, and the distance is the whole story.
Then
My first oil painting
Now
Pearl Seeker
Today
Chapter five
Still learning
I never stopped studying: with the Chinese artist Jack Lee in 2019, the Emirati artist Mohamed Al Astad in 2021, and a Fine Art certificate from Manipal University Dubai in 2022. Since then my work has hung at World Art Dubai and across the UAE, and I paint live at festivals and national celebrations.
To the next generation
“You do not have to start at the top. Start where you are, with whatever paper is in front of you. Every artist you admire once made a first, unsure painting. Keep yours. One day it will show you how far you have come.”
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Record
Exhibitions and awards
Exhibitions
2022
Abu Dhabi Youth Hub
2022
Al Ain University Mother’s Day Exhibition
2020
World Art Dubai
2020
Change Exhibition, Akaas Visual Art
2020
Rose Color, online exhibition, Gul Rengi
2020
Together Against Corona, online exhibition, Arab Artist Union
2015
Martyrs of Nation, Umm Suqeim Park
2015
National Day Group Exhibition, National Theater
2015
Deerfield Annual Art Exhibition
2014
Horizon, Art Plus Gallery, Dubai
2014
Abu Dhabi Men’s College Exhibition
Competitions
2022
Liwa Date Festival and Auction
2021
Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition competition
2021
Al Burda Award
2015
Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition: 1st prize, culture painting
2013
Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition: 2nd prize, culture painting
Live painting
2026
Al Wathba Exhibition, Dates Festivals
2020
Four days of live painting at Mirdif City Centre for National Day, with Akaas Visual Art
Many of these paintings now live with collectors.