Someone once went up to my sister and asked, “Are you Batool, the artist?”
She smiled and said, “No, I’m her sister.”
That small moment became a proud one at home. For Ammi. For Zahra. And quietly, for me too.
But here’s the truth most people don’t know Zahra was always the real artist. The kind who didn’t need to try. She would sit and sketch pigeons live. School days. Pigeons that don’t stay still for a second and she’d still get the proportions, the shading, the anatomy. Everything. Just right.
I used to sit beside her and copy what she did. Not because I thought I could be like her. Just because I followed her everywhere.
In school, I wasn’t really known as me. I was Zahra’s sister. My name wasn’t on shields. Not on certificates. Not on anything people remembered. And strangely? I was okay with that. I never felt jealous. Not once. I just felt proud.
She chose the direction. She chose what to explore. I just tagged along watching, absorbing, picking things up without even realizing it.
I never thought I was good at anything.
But slowly, quietly… things began to change.
Today I stand here as a Fine Artist, Art Educator, and Mentor with 15 years of teaching behind me, students across the world, paintings that have been exhibited internationally, and a body of work I’m genuinely proud of.
And when people ask me:
“Was this always your dream?”
“Were you a born artist?”
My answer is simple. No.
This was never my dream. It was hers.
She is the born artist. I am just the one who learned by following her, sitting beside her, absorbing without knowing I was absorbing.
And maybe that’s the most beautiful part.
Because sometimes you don’t become what you planned.
You become what life quietly teaches you to be.
I became an artist because my sister already was one.
And now? I teach others to become one too.
Fine Artist · Art Educator · Mentor
Watercolour · Oil · Digital
Exhibited Internationally · Commission Work Open
📩 DM or email for collaborations, commissions & tutorials
