Raya Moeen Qudisat

Raya Mo'in Qudasat is 21 years old and is currently in her third year studying economics and Islamic banking at Yarmouk University. She lives in the village of Sum in the Kingdom’s northern province of Irbid, where she grew up interested in drawing and art. She first began engaging with art as a young girl, drawing inspiration from her father, a teacher at the time. What started as a simple hobby developed into a profession that has earned her an income since 2015. She has faced many challenges in running her business, the biggest of which involves balancing school while trying to meet the demands of her customers.

What distinguishes Raya’s art is the variety of her techniques, including oil, watercolor, lead, and more. Couple this with the simplicity of their themes and the basic, clean color schemes that bring to life her beautiful subjects, it is easy to see why her art is so popular. Her style allows her to respond to any specific requests for a particular subject to be depicted with sufficient time to deliver it without delay. Additionally, her work grants her customers the freedom to choose their own frames, which creates a unique symbolic significance for each piece.

"This small project helped me build my social identity and also helped me to rely on myself and take responsibility more day by day. Luckily, I do not see it as a tedious career as much as I find it a pleasure and a passion," says Raya on the impact of her small project. "My family members are always proud of me for my hard work and self-reliance at such a young age, but the most beautiful thing is the attitude I receive from society and friends that view me as strong, self-reliant, and independent. All of this makes me proud, and I forget the fatigue I went through to get to where I am today."