* For Romanian expatriate Cristina Dinu, art is one of the easiest and most natural ways to express herself
It goes beyond saying that Doha has fast become a hub for artistic activities and cultural diversity. Many people tend to find time, motivation and opportunities to indulge in their latent creative abilities and brush up their talents.
Romanian expatriate Cristina Dinu is one such individual, who got into arts after she went through the experience of being a mother and continues transforming her emotions into art.
The self-taught artists recently spoke to Gulf Times on how she started and what keeps her going as a visual artist.
A trained contracts professional with experience in the construction and the oil and gas industry, Cristina has been living in Qatar for over a decade now.
“I started to paint as a hobby only a few years back and used to share my art with close friends. Following the great response for my art from close circles, I created my art brand for social media – BonTon BoutiQ – to showcase and sell my pieces to larger audiences.”
The Romanian calls her beginning as an artist very strange.
“My inspiration towards creative art came primarily as a consequence of maternity. I have always been a free spirit, a very active and independent person, and indulging in my own free choices. However, becoming a mother to two beautiful boys brought about a major change in my lifestyle both in terms of free time and priorities.
“I had a solid period of five years in my life where I did not allow myself to stray too far outside of my maternal role, like all parents. While that was being achieved as I intended, my creativity was building up latently inside of me too, to the point where it immediately materialised as my boys became old enough to attend nurseries and preschools. I then had my first alone-time in a long while. I started painting in my mornings with other friends who were mums like me.” Cristina’s motivation to continue painting all through these years has been fairly simple yet profound.
“When I paint, I feel like I can transform many of my emotions into my art, and the canvas becomes a mirror of my being. For me, art is one of the easiest and most natural ways to express myself, an organic outlet to what goes on inside of me. Of course, a great bonus is that it also gives me the great joy of creating unique, original paintings that can also serve as a source of aesthetic pleasure to others, so it’s a true win-win.”
The artist goes on to say that she thinks art is a part of everyone’s life in one way or another. “I always wanted to bring the ideas of creativity that I knew I had nurtured inside of me, out into life – I had things to show and things to say. I knew these ideas would surface one way or another, and it turns out, painting was the most natural outcome for me.”
Sharing her experiences and experiments with creative art, the expatriate said art is everyone’s own truth. “Art is a journey into your own mind and I think we all ought to give ourselves a chance to be creative at some point in life. It can be truly liberating and profoundly insightful at the same time.”
In terms of her artistic practices, Cristina said she chooses her subjects carefully. “I was told that I tend to punch above my weight sometimes but to be honest, if the subject does not satisfy me artistically, I would rather not paint it at all. I love to paint emotions, subjects related to life in the Middle East and subjects inspired by nature, including animals. I have recently attempted a more abstract approach in my paintings and I was quite happy with the results.”
About the mediums she uses, the artist said: “When I started painting I used watercolours more often than not, for its convenience and versatility. But most recently I have started transitioning into using oils as I have gained more confidence in my expression.”
Responding to a question if the pandemic has made her a better artist, the Romanian said: “I am sure the pandemic has affected artists differently, some people felt more inspired, other fell into creative hiatuses. I was at neither of these two extremes so I cannot say that the pandemic boosted my creativity. In fact, what I can say is that direct interaction with people and environment can be a huge source of creativity for me, and that was something that was definitely scarce in 2020.”
