A son of the Golan, Ahmad Ibrahim, is a talented, professional artist who has proved himself in the artistic arena over three decades.

His longstanding career producing beautiful, enchanting paintings was recently recognised by the conferral of an academic award by the San Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts in appreciation of his art which has become an artistic way of life. 

This son of the Golan, as he is known, still harbours strong memories of the small village where he spent his childhood before the occupation by Israel in 1967. This fondness for the lyrical beauty of the natural world of the Golan continues to inspire him to produce large, medium and small canvases as a glorious hymn to his homeland.

The artist celebrates nature, intensifying and condensing the scene in order to enhance and change it both in terms of colour and composition. He also fills his canvas with natural elements such as trees, flowers, stones, birds, grass and clouds to produce perfect paintings. While the general atmosphere of his works always reflects his personal state of mind and his emotions, they are all different, running the gamut from glowing, emerald paintings to grey, cloudy spaces, from celebration and enjoyment to loneliness and isolation.

The rich palette and the magical realistic technique play a vital role in creating places only described in myths and legends. These mythical places capture the viewer's soul leading him/her through the painting's forms to seek the power of the source. They also release the spectator from the burdens and worries of everyday life, sublimating his/her feelings and emotions enabling him/her to attain feelings of beauty, ecstasy and grandeur.

"In our country the natural scene catches the viewer's eye because it is closer to his/her culture and emotions than abstract art. Therefore, as artists, we should choose the themes closest to people in order to teach them a sense of visual culture such as colour relationships, composition and line," as the artist put it."Apart from the scenery of the Golan, Ahmad has also painted old Damascus city and, in his early days, a few portraits. He may also add his figure or his wife's to complete the theme of a canvas, but mostly he has avoided painting humans. "Nowadays humans have turned into monsters wearing a mask on their faces. Life presents the horrible aspect of humans through massacres, wars, bloody revolutions and poverty, and I don't believe in the humanity of Man any more nor the world of hypocrisy and cheating. I don't paint what I don't believe in," he clarified. And why nature? "It creates enjoyment just as reading a poem or listening to music does," he added.

Ahmad is forked for art. Married to Alka, who is also an artist, they both teach art at the Russian Cultural Centre.  

" We adore your paintings and your creative touch which is like the magic wand of ancient legends. Combining your creativity with the magic wand turns ordinary things into glowing artistic masterpieces," said the president of the Russian Cultural Centre in Damascus, Mr. Demetry Zafgharodni.

·        Born in Ghassanieh – Qunaitra in 1950

·        Graduated from Saint Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts in 1979

·        He has frequent individual exhibitions and also takes part in collective exhibitions.