Afsheen NASIR is a landscape painter who finds inspiration in the shifting moods of nature. Working intuitively, she captures the emotion of light and movement, transforming simple landscapes into quiet, timeless reflections.

About Afsheen Nasir

Afsheen Nasir discovered her love of art as a child, filling pages with sketches and experiments in colour. Though life led her down a practical route, she never abandoned her passion, learning through observation, informal lessons, and continual experimentation. As a self-taught artist, she has always been inspired by landscape, honing her skills over the last several years. Her particular passions are composition and colour, used to capture her own unique interpretation of a scene.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Afsheen Nasir behind an easel in her studio. She is surrounded by framed landscape paintings on the wall.

AFshEen begins with colour and composition, allowing atmosphere to unfold naturally. each painting is guided by an instinct, a play of light and shadow, capturing fleeting moments from the world around her.

Stillness - oil on linen (99.06 x 60.96 cm)

A detailed black and white sketch of a city street during evening or night. In the foreground, a young child with glasses and a striped shirt is walking away from the viewer. Further along the street, a person is walking in the distance. On the left, trees with bare branches and a lamp post are visible. On the right, buildings with balconies and windows line the street. The moon is shining through cloudy skies, casting light over the scene.

Originally, Afsheen focused more on pen & ink work, inspired by the Pakistani artist Iqbal Mehdi, whose students tutored her for a short period in the early years in Karachi, Pakistan. Beyond formal lessons, she draws inspiration from observing masters of landscape and atmosphere, most notably the Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela, whose treatment of light, mood, and natural scenery resonates strongly with her own work.

Over the last few years, she has shifted her focus towards landscapes in oil painting, transferring the energy of her pen & ink style — the repetitive lines and precision — into her brushwork. This lends a unique urgency and freshness to her paintings. For Afsheen, the process of creation is as important as the finished work, with wet paint and spontaneous brushstrokes allowing for interesting accidents that add life and movement to each piece.

EARLY LESSONS AND INSPIRATION

Abstract black, gray, and white illustration featuring a chameleon, a spiral shell, leaves, geometric patterns, and swirling lines.

Drawing of a man sitting on a couch watching television in a living room with framed pictures on the walls and a ceiling fan.

Today, Afsheen’s work continues to explore the dialogue between colour, light, and emotion. Guided by instinct rather than formal constraints, she draws inspiration from walks in nature, shifting skies, rivers, and bridges — fleeting moments that reveal themselves only to careful observation. Her travels, from the tranquil lakes of Austria to the rolling English countryside, deepen this dialogue with nature and place. Her paintings have been recognised for their quality and impact, with selections for exhibition at the Lightbox Gallery in Woking through the Surrey Open Arts competition, and at the Mall Galleries, London via the BBC programme Show Me the Monet. Each painting is a journey: a study of how atmosphere, movement, and light can transform a scene into something personal and timeless.

Piazza Della Santissima Annunziata, Grand Duke Ferdinando