Jordanian visual artist Dana Waleed Al-Abdullat leans, in her artistic practice, toward oil painting and an impressionist style, making color, light, and emotional mood central elements in building her work. Through her paintings, she seeks to move beyond directly reproducing a scene, toward expressing her own sense of place and moment.
اضافة اعلان
Al-Abdullat told Al-Ghad: "Art, to me, is a space for expressing the human being, their feelings, and their experience, not just a reproduction of an image or its details," noting that every artist has their own signature that takes shape through continued practice, experience, and learning.
She explained that her focus centers on nature, Jordanian landscapes, and human scenes, particularly heritage sites and sunset and light scenes, noting that light is a fundamental element in building the mood within a painting, while shadows help bring out detail and give the scene depth and balance between lit and shaded areas.
She notes that color in her work isn't just an aesthetic element, but a means of expressing mood and feeling, pointing out that the relationship between color, light, and shadow gives a painting the ability to convey the sense of a scene, rather than simply recording it visually.
One work that reflects this focus is her painting "Company at Sunset," which depicts a shepherd with a group of goats at the moment of sunset, bringing together humanity, nature, and light in a single scene. Al-Abdullat said: "This painting expresses my interest in the human scene tied to place, and my attempt to use light and color to build a visual mood that carries the feeling of the moment."
Her artistic journey has developed alongside formal learning and training. She earned a bachelor's degree in Financial and Banking Sciences from Petra University in 2003, and during her studies had ties to coursework and training at the university's College of Architecture and Design.
She later developed her artistic skills through courses and training in acrylic painting, mandala art, portrait drawing, and visual arts at the Van Gogh Institute of Arts, alongside a Training of Trainers (TOT) course in 2024.
Alongside painting, Al-Abdullat is invested in the educational side of art, offering lessons, workshops, and art lectures for beginners and talented young artists, helping them develop their skills and express themselves through art.
She led an art workshop at Tlaa Al-Ali School, which included a lecture titled "The Relationship Between Art and Life," addressing the importance of art as a means of expression, communication, and understanding oneself and life.
Al-Abdullat has taken part in a number of local and international exhibitions and art events, including the "November Exhibition" in Amman's Weibdeh neighborhood in 2024, part of the Van Gogh Institute of Arts' activities; "The Global Brush" exhibition in Morocco in 2025; and the "Art, Culture, and the History of Peoples" exhibition, organized by Jordan's Ministry of Culture.
This year, she also took part in the "Lady of the Earth" exhibition, organized by the Jordanian Artists Association, and the "Homeland" exhibition at the Martyr's Memorial, in addition to participating in the fourth Balqa Cultural Festival as a member of the Balqa Arts Society, where she presented her painting "Company at Sunset."
Al-Abdullat belongs to the Jordanian Association of Visual Artists and is also a member of the Balqa Arts Society, and through her participation in these events, she continues to develop her practice and get closer to her own personal visual language.
Al-Abdullat closes by saying: "My artistic journey remains open to learning and experimentation, and in my work I seek to develop my tools and reach a more personal visual language," affirming that, to her, a painting isn't simply a reproduction of reality, but a space for expressing her vision and feeling, and that color, light, and shadow remain among the most essential elements that give a work of art its spirit and presence.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting by: Ahmad Al-Shawabkeh
