Emerging Artists | Durre Waseem

Durre Waseem, An Afternoon in Capitola, oil, 12 x 16.

Durre Waseem, An Afternoon in Capitola, oil, 12 x 16.

This story was featured in the January 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art January 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

Durre Waseem has a lot of paint. And not just in one medium. The Southern California plein-air artist keeps a box of pastels on hand for life drawing, and her portable set of watercolors always goes with her on trips to Europe. As for oil paints, well, Waseem owns two sets: one she can whisk away with her on local paint-outs, and another that’s always waiting for her when she visits her native Pakistan. And don’t get the artist started on colors. “I do like to use every blue,” she admits. “It has its own character, so I have to have all the blues with me, and also yellows.”

Durre Waseem, San Clemente Pier, oil, 16 x 20.

Durre Waseem, San Clemente Pier, oil, 16 x 20.

Growing up in the historic city of Lahore, young Durre (pronounced Dur-ray) and her sisters were heartily encouraged to draw and paint. “That’s how I remember my childhood,” says the artist, who earned her master’s degree in fine art from Punjab University. After graduating, she taught college-level art courses in Pakistan for 10 years before moving to California in 2001, where she taught humanities and art history at the Art Institute of California. All the while, says Waseem, “I was painting. I even painted my three children.”

Now a full-time painter, Waseem has been enjoying the challenge of portraying the western coastline. “The more I paint it, the more I enjoy it,” she says. “I love painting people anywhere, so that helps me with the beach scenes.” Last year the artist garnered second place in the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association’s prestigious Best of Plein Air show for her bright, painterly depiction of Crystal Cove Beach. “I loved painting there,” says Waseem. “The buildings reminded me of growing up in Pakistan. They show age and maturity.”

Find the artist’s work at www.durrewaseem.com.

This story was featured in the January 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art January 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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