Calleja Anton

ANTON CALLEJA is an artists which requires no introduction at all, being a dominant figure in our islands' artistic scene. Having taught several renowned artists, Calleja is himself one of the leading figures when it comes to art in Malta, famous for his style, vivacity, and composition.

Heywood Don

DON HEYWOOD, a graduate of the Leicester College of Art and a lecturer at the London College of Printing, is a distinguished and widely exhibited British painter specializing in portraits and wildlife studies. His work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy, The Tryon Gallery and the DM Gallery in London. He was awarded a Mention Honorable by the Societe des Artistes Francais of 1977 after an exhibition in Le Grand Palais Champs-Elysees. Most of his recent work has been exhibited throughout the United States, culminating in an exhibition at Cartier 5th Avenue New York. 

His most significant achievement in portrait painting was a commission to paint a life size portrait of the H M Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace. This was completed in 1992. Other distinguished sitters have included Major General Lord Michael Fitzalan Howard, GCVO, CB, CBE, MC. Colonel of the life Guards and gold stick to H M The Queen. The Officers of the Life Guards, Household Cavalry ( Group portrait of forty Officers). 

Don Heywood lived in South Africa and a book of his portraits of indigenous tribal people THE VANISHING FACES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA was published in 1994. H M Queen Elizabeth graciously accepted copy number one. Since then Don Heywood has concentrated his talents on his first love Wildlife Portraits. Subsequently a book of his Wildlife work was published. WILDLIFE PORTRAITS of Southern Africa Copy Number one of this book was graciously accepted by H R H Prince Phillip. This book was chosen by Hatchards of Piccadilly as one of ten books (out of a choice of over 50,000) as their choice to commemorate their 200th Anniversary. 

Since the publication of this book Don Heywood has continued to concentrate on painting Wildlife, especially Endangered Wildlife and subsequently produced a portfolio called The Smithsonian Endangered Species Collection. To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of CRC a special portfolio was produced. This portfolio contained 12 prints of various Endangered Wildlife Species with which the CRC are most involved. These images were carefully selected by senior staff members of CRC. Selection based not only on the degree of Endangerment but also reflecting the range of CRC involvement and geographical distribution. 

Following the Smithsonian Project, Don Heywood was approached by; Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club to paint 3 Top Tennis Stars ( Pete Sampras, Martina Navratilova, Bjorn Borg). Following this Commission, he has continued painting Portraits and Wildlife ( See Latest Works). Don Heywood's superb imagery and his love for the natural world shines through all of his work. "Professionally and spiritually, the people and animals of the world's wilderness have made a profound impact on my life. Now they need our help and I am truly fortunate to be able to use my talents to do that in some small measure." He is a man who is truly committed to the conservation of the world's wildlife and indigenous cultures.

Debattista Jessica

JESSICA DEBATTISTA studied between 1958-1963 at St. Joseph’s High School, Blata l-Bajda. Between 1976 and 1985, she attended the Malta Government School of Arts, studying drawing under Joseph L. Mallia and painting under Harry Alden, followed by a foundation course in etching under Harry Alden. For two years, between 1983 and 1985: Followed foundation courses in ceramics under Neville Ferry and clay modelling under Anthony Calleya at the Malta School of Art.

In 1997, Jessica graduated B.A. (Hons) Degree in Art History, at the University of Malta, presenting a dissertation entitled “George Preca and the Birth of Modern Sensibility in Maltese Art”. In June 1999, she was appointed Editor of ‘ARTNEWS’ issued by The Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. Between 1999 and 2009, Muscat was a member on the Council of theMalta Society of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. In 1999 she was a ppointed Assistant Secretary on the Board of the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. She is a regular contributor of essays & articles, of an artistic nature, in ‘ARTNEWS’. 

In 2009, Jessica was appointed Vice President on the Board of the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce.

Represented in:
“Le Livre d’Or des Collectionneurs et Amateurs D’Art” 1992, Paris. L’histoire du Salon D’Automne, de 1903 à nos jours”.


Listed in:
“The International Who’s Who of Women” England. Who’s Who in International Art. “The Great and New Names in the Art World of Today” 93/94 Edition. Lausanne - Switzerland.


Nominated: 
“International Woman of the Year 2000 – 2001” by The International Biographical Centre of Cambridge England.

Caruana Dingli Debbie

Born in Malta in 1962, DEBBIE CARUANA DINGLI comes from a well known artistic family. Painting has always been an integral and natural side to her. Mostly self-taught,she has explored watercolour endlessly and carved out a niche for herself in watercolour portraits. Other paintings, often replete with colourful characters and the occasional animal, sometimes have a humourous note. Yet Debbie believes that watercolour is all about the play of water with the paint, a joy that should always be the protaganist of a watercolour.

Steady one-man shows ever since 1985 show the different stages throughout her life, her inspiration always beings wherever her interest lies in at that moment in time, often what she feels very strongly about. Debbie seems to turn to cartoons when she is at her most serious, there is always a message lurking beneath the humour. Another side of Debbie's painting is oil portraiture. Debbie joins two good artist friends and they attempt to paint a different sitter each week in just 3 hours which keeps the work fresh and spontaneous.

Debbie will be holding a joint exhibition with artist Tonio Mallia at the Maltese Embassy in Paris in January 2012. She will be showing her latest cartoons entitled ' 2012 END OF THE WORLD ? '

Debbie lives in the quiet village of Siggiewi with her 3 sons, Steve, George and Bruce, 3 dogs and 3 cats.

Ciancio Dominique

DOMINIQUE CIANCIO was born in 1983 in Malta and grew up in the family’s home in Sliema. It was during this formative period that he became acquainted with the vivid dramatic canvases of the old masters. He recalls for instance, habitually scrutinizing Caravaggio's big screen painting hanging only minutes away from his home. Surely a sight for sore eyes, this and various other firsthand observations somewhat persuaded Ciancio into becoming a painter. Consequently he began studying painting and drawing from an early age, always compelled bya sense of curiosity and joie de vivre.

Ciancio has also been involved in backstage painting for theater and film, working for Universal Pictures in addition to productions with notable directors such as Stephen Spielberg. In 2004 he earned a degree in History of Art from the University of Malta as well as a four year Diploma in Fine Arts, from the School of Art in Valletta. After that he traveled extensively within Europe. Currently he has been presenting his paintings internationally, especially via Scandinavia, where his artwork has now reached private collections from America to Asia.

Never ceasing to learn, he buys and mixes his own quality pigments, stretches and prepares his canvases and uses acquaintances as models. He purposely uses these methods to give a certain crust to his paintings: a surface that transcends reality. "Each painting can be a tiny window into an open universe," he says. Accordingly, just as colors are laid down on a palette and then mixed, Ciancio brings forth all his diverse interests and blends them to craft a visual poetry about life's own experiences.

Lawrence C.S.

C.S. LAWRENCE was born in East Africa in 1957, and spent an idyllic childhood in Nairobi and Mombasa. Eleven years later her family moved to the Middle East and she was sent to boarding school in Surrey, England. On leaving school, she attended St. Martin's School of Art in London, fully intending to pursue a career in art. However she returned to Bahrain instead and it was not until almost twenty years later when her four children were growing up that she was able to start my career as a professional artist. 

Lawrence's first exhibition in Bahrain in 1992 was a great success and all subsequent shows in Bahrain and Dubai proved to be equally rewarding. The consensus of opinion among those who appreciate her work is that her images generate a satisfying sense of serenity, of contentment in seclusion, of reflection in stillness. Often viewers will remark that they feel a strong desire to be in the places she paints, to experience the painted scene three-dimentionally. This response from viewers has always been greatly rewarding on a deeply personal level for it gives the artist a sense of shared vision.

For Lawrence, self-expression through art is an all-consuming objective. She feels driven by this creative urge within her, a compulsion that all artists can relate to. The quality of her life is contingent upon being able to paint and to perfect her art.

Her childhood experience of East Africa was so profound that even three decades later, memories of it remain intensely vivid. Her recollections of the vibrant light and brilliant colours of that landscape invariably surface time and again in her paintings. She was to discover a very similar ambiance in the landscape of the Arabian Gulf. From my many years of living there she developed a great appreciation for the Islamic aesthetic which manifests itself in Islamic architecture and design. This influence is immediately obvious in her work of that period.

Since 2002, she settled in Malta and once again found myself immersed in a landscape full of brilliant colour. The Maltese landscape has stimulated Lawrence to produce mixed-media paintings of its magnificent vistas and a new series of paintings depicting the magical antiquity of the Three Cities.

In 2009 she has expanded her portfolio to include paintings of Brighton and London.

Busuttil Pauline

PAULINE BUSUTTIL (nee ATTWOOD)'s first venture with the Arts was Ballet, which she studied from a very early age and performed both in the U.K. and Europe. However, she soon discovered her talents with the palette and, as a self-taught artist has portrayed in an adroit style many a Maltese scene. Her preferred medium is oil on canvas with Malta being one of her favorite subjects together with portraits.  Participited in various exhibitions and has been a member of the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce since 1990.  

Pauline has been living in Malta for about 35 years. She  is included in "The International Dictionary of Artists who painted Malta"

Gurr Graham

British artist GRAHAM GURR’s career is a fraught story of hardships and perseverance whose multiple lessons, influences and experiences inform the minutely detailed, rich and shifting visual style of his oils, acrylics and drawings. Raised in Scotland and England, Gurr’s life was marked by his parents’ experiences of war and his own episodes overcoming victimhood. Trained in interior design and architecture, his works in pen and pencil also feature multiple framing devices, conveying a sense of interiority and shelter in two dimensions.

His influences range from realism in his still lives, through cubism and expressionism in his human figures, to abstraction and surrealism in his dynamic framing compositions. His striking, practically psychedelic palette of colors evokes the sun-drenched early expressionism of Cézanne and Van Gogh. Elsewhere, weathered forms drained of color allude to his island home of Malta. Dividing his works into multiple frames, planes and spaces that flow playfully between one another, Gurr creates symbolic connections between his manifold influences.

Martins Raquel

RAQUEL MARTINS was born in the southern part of Africa in 1961. Fleeing her country in 1974, just after the collapse of the colonial empire, she arrived in Johannesburg and resided there until 1982. In 1982, Raquel moved to Portugal where she works and resides. 

For the next ten years she worked as a portraitist and it was not until 2001 when she began exploring painting as a form of expression as a full-time painter, and as a professional artist. For the past years her work has centred around figurative paintings ranging from a nearly abstract suggestion of form to a stylized graphic treatment.

Eisa Ayman

Born in Gaza in 1974, AYMAN EISA studied Fine Arts at An Najah University in Nablus (1999). Ayman contributed to the 1999 Biennial for young artists in Rome, ‘We Shall Be’ in the Red Crescent Society in Gaza, 2001 and the traveling exhibition in France of 10 young artists from Gaza 2004- 2005. 


He held his first solo exhibition at the A M Qattan Foundation, Ramallah in 2005.


Lives and works in Gaza.

Rauf Ajouri Abdel

Born in Gaza City in 1977, ABDEL RAUF AJOURI began his career as an artist in 1993. Since then he has taken part in a multitude of art exhibitions and events. His artistic practice suggests influences of expressionism, and has explored the realms of contemporary sculpture.


In 2003 he exhibited his sculptures in a solo exhibition, A Silent Dialogue, at the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre in Ramallah. His artworks have been part of numerous group exhibitions in Switzerland, France, UK, Jordan, UAE, and Egypt.


In 2002 Ajouri, along with a group of other Gaza artists, co-founded Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art. He is also a co-founder of Eltiqa Artistís House Gallery in Gaza where he currently works.  

Jawabreh Monther

Born in 1976 in Al Aroub, West Bank. MONTHER JAWABREH graduated from Al Najah University in Nablus with a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts. He participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions locally and internationally including Germany, UK, Norway, Japan, Syria and others.

He has participated in ‘’Cite International des Arts’’ in Paris France 2010, and is a founder member of a new artist-run gallery space, ‘’Al Mahatta’’, in Ramallah. He currently resides and works in Ramallah.

With an impeccable artistic talent and a solid command of techniques, Jawabreh’s paintings are highly captivating human expressions. His fabulous color coordination and sophisticated compositions require deep attention and careful examination, upon which shapes, stories and messages begin to emerge that are nuanced yet full of soulful impact.  Jawabreh is by all means one of the emerging West Bank artists who is destined from greatness. 

Alhroub Bashar

BASHAR ALHROUB was born in Jerusalem in 1978. He grew up in the West Bank in the village Kharas near Hebron. He has a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from An-Najah National University in Nablus, which he completed in 2001. In 2009, he was awarded a fellowship from the FORD Foundation to pursue an MFA,  2010 he got his MFA from Winchester School of Art- University of Southampton. Since then he has been living in Ramallah.

His work uses a variety of media including painting, drawing, photography, installation, video and graffiti all within a conceptual frame that utilizes the Universal notions of place, humans attachment and relationship to one’s environment. He is grasping at the space between poetic and political.

Solo Exhibitions include “Reflective Consciousness”at Mosaic Room gallery in London 2010, "Horizon" at the A.M.Qattan Foundation in Ramallah in 2003, "Shrqiat" which was shown at the Alhlaj Gallery in Ramallah and the Peace Center in Bethlehem in 2005 and "Monologue" at the Almahatta Gallery in Ramallah which then traveled to Jerusalem, Nablus and Nazareth in 2009.

Alhroub participated in several group exhibitions, projects and festivals throughout Palestine and abroad including the UAE, Lebanon, Morocco, France, Oman, Algeria, Syria, Japan, France, Scotland, Norway, USA, and the UK. He took part in several Triangle Arts International Artists workshops, Shatana, Jordan with Makan Artist Space, Braziers Workshop in the UK, and was a founder and participant of the first ever International workshop in Palestine hosted by Almahatta Gallery.

He was the organizer and exhibition coordinator for the Abu Jehad Museum, which focuses on the Prisoners movement Affairs in Palestine.  He is a founding member of Almahatta Gallery in Ramallah whose main goal is to reach a wider public audience for contemporary art in the area.