Diary by MARIS ZAMMIT: From one activity she loves to another, so what’s next?

Sunday, 30 January 2022, 08:14 Last update: about 3 years ago

MARIS ZAMMIT is a Slimiza, the youngest of five sisters, followed by a brother. At 18 after 6th form, she joined Barclays Bank and worked in various branches for nine years. Her marriage produced a son, Mike, who is now married and has three daughters. In the ‘80's she started participating in various motorsport events which she enjoyed for 18 years and was Hillclimb class champion twice. She was also PR/Secretary of the Island Car Club, won first place in the Ferrari Rally in Malta, as navigator, test-drove cars in Tenerife, Austria and Portugal, representing the Sunday Times Motoring supplement. She published her own magazines Topcar and Bike, and met Niki Lauda and interviewed Nelson Piquet. In 2000 she put away her helmet, sold her car, and took up art. At present she is busy with her job of administrator at Remax Blue Harbour. So, what’s next? Her reply which is typical of Maris ...’Tomorrow? One never knows.’

“It’s been twenty-two years since I ceased to participate in an 18 year span in a sport that was close to my heart – Motorsport! Twenty two years since I embarked on a new journey into the Wonderful World of Art and especially Watercolours.

It happened quite by chance. I was holidaying in Gozo with time on my hands and was given a box of watercolours. I decided to copy a boat and the picture surprisingly turned out rather well, considering this was my very first experience with the medium.

I was encouraged to further experiment so I bought a few art books and started painting. This also spurred me on to go round Malta and Gozo, sketching and taking photos of landscapes, seascapes, chapels and anything which captured my fancy. What a lot of beautiful scenery our islands have to offer. After my experience with a paint brush our Sunday outings took on a different meaning,

Initially, I was influenced by the Caruana Dinglis, especially Debbie’s wonderful watercolours. Apart from most of my art colleagues, there are also others whose art I admire such as John Martin Borg, Anton Calleja, Andrew Micallef, Winston Hassell, to mention a handful.

A rural scene in Gozo – Sara Valley in Ghasri

I must admit that I also had a love of sketching portraits when I was at school, and even painted a portrait in oils during my 6th form studies.

I decided to get some tuition and enrolled with the late Harry Alden where I spent the next couple of years learning some skills in oils which I thoroughly enjoyed. Harry was very helpful and had a great sense of wit and humour.

Having gained some experience, I decided to debut my art skills in two exhibitions, one at Bay Street, during its inauguration, and another at the Mgarr Hotel in Gozo. Both exhibitions went down well and were quite successful.

I was also encouraged to attend lessons at Anton Calleja in Bahrija, where for the next seven years, I further increased my skills, this time in anatomy in various mediums. The lessons were great fun and I made many new artist colleagues.

Anton decided to call it a day but our group continued meeting every Wednesday, first at Patrick Dalli’s place, then at Anna Galea’s studio, both in Marsascala. After a few years we were on the move again... this time at the Veduta in Saqqajja as owner, Randolph Camilleri, who forms part of the group, offered the use of the top floor, where we still meet till this day. So we naturally call ourselves The Wednesday Art Group and have even been going over to Gozo every Summer for some en-plein-air painting, …that is...until COVID surfaced it’s ugly head two years ago.

Palazzo Manresa, the Archbishop’s Curia

Covid changed EVERYTHING! We stopped meeting for a time, then resumed, then stopped again. We are now meeting once again. We are always very careful and keep our distances, masks on most of the time. However we haven’t been to Gozo yet, as a group but it’s again on our bucket list.

Meanwhile, I’ve been showcasing my word on various media - Facebook, Instagram.

My mood changes from one painting to the next. I never paint the same picture twice, well, very rarely, and I always change the subject matter, from Boats to Landscapes, from Portraits to Seascapes, and so on.

My paintings are very detailed, which is my style, and it takes me considerable time to finish a painting.

I must mention Jean-Paul Borg, (Kappa Vision), whose amazing photos have been a great source of inspiration.

For the past twenty odd years, I’ve taken part in numerous collective exhibitions in Malta and Gozo, mostly with the Wednesday Art Group. I am also a member of the Malta Society of Arts and won two prizes, one for a Watercolour, and another for an Oil Painting, a still life, which hangs proudly at home. I’ve also exhibited at Palazzo Spinola for the Notte Bianca.

I’ve participated in other exhibtions, this time in the U.K., once at the Maltese High Commission. I visited a couple of museums but the highlight was when I spent a day at the Louvre in Paris.

Lately I took part in an ONLINE International Exhibition in the UK – the International Watercolour Masters, in which around 3725 participants were vying with each other. It boiled down to the last 300 – and I was one of them. I was so happy I felt like I had already won even before the result was announced. We waited with bated breath….then finally, the results were out. I didn’t see my name anywhere, and was feeling somewhat disappointed, when, after some time, I got a message from the organiser with a certificate – I was one of the top 200 who obtained a Merit Award.

So, there you have it. I’m still painting away in my free time, and from the many positive and encouraging remarks, glad that my paintings evoke happy feelings amidst this dark Covid cloud which has enveloped us all. Inspite of it I’m feeling optimistic..,in fact, I’m hoping to have an exhibition in the not so distant future.

So watch out …

This series is conceived and edited by Marie Benoît who contributes her own Diary occasionally. [email protected]