Meet award-winning artist and wildlife conservationist Nafisa

The award-winning artist has lived in Bowral since the middle of 2022, and uses any opportunity to "celebrate nature".

This could be done through selling art for her conservation charity Animal Works, which has raised more than $500,000 to support not-for-profit organisations in protecting wildlife worldwide.

Explorations of the natural world can also be found on her doorstep - living near bushland and seeing many birds on her property, and having several studios at home.

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"I absolutely love being here," she said.

Born in Mumbai to Dutch and Indian parents, Nafisa then lived in Hong Kong before moving to Australia.

Although she had a studio and gallery in Sydney prior to the regional move, she had a long-time love for the Highlands.

Nafisa has memories of visiting the region for Tulip Time due to her mother's heritage, and visited the Highlands and Blue Mountains before she became an artist, and was studying another profession.

A desire to help others drove her to study science and medicine once she finished school, which she said helped her understand anatomy when it came to painting portraits.

She has combined these passions together to raise funds and awareness for medical research and causes, which has led to her painting many famous faces.

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One of those faces is rock historian and travel writer Glenn A Baker, who she painted for the Archibald Prize, which was awarded the Packing Prize; which goes to the best entry voted by staff at the Art Gallery of NSW.

The pair met through Jeans 4 Genes, where the renowned historian has enticed famous names to donate their jeans to be auctioned off.

Nafisa has painted the jeans of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Keith Urban, and portraits of others such as Hugh Jackman and Mick Jagger.

Another beloved figure she painted was of the late Dr Peter Spitzer from Bowral, who was Australia's first Clown Doctor, who cofounded The Humour Foundation - a charity that aims to make people smile when they are in hospitals, health and aged care facilities.

"When there's an interest of benefit to a medical charity, I'll do it," she said.

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Beloved scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki is another subject Nafisa has painted, which made her a finalist in the Cromwell Art Prize in 2004.

Other art accolades include winning the Black Prize for Portraiture, the Blackfriars Drawing Acquisitive Prize, being recognised at the Blackheath Arts Festival and taking out the gold medal at the Florence Biennale in 2007.

She has also been a finalist in prestigious prizes such as the Portia Geach Memorial Award, Kedumba Drawing Award and the Dobell Prize for Drawing.

Nafisa has exhibited across Australia, as well as in Seoul, London and in Italy, where she has trained as an artist and has a studio and divides her time during the year.

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She recently replicated drawings and paintings from her diary from Italian travels, particularly in Florence, in the book Tuscan Temptations.

Although she has not been in the region for long, the creator has plans to exhibit in the Highlands, and was involved in the Pop-Up Arts Trail in 2022, and is keen to be involved this year.

Another goal is to get involved with other artists and showcase local talents.

"As an artist here and working in the Bowral community, we love the support of people coming in and others stepping up and helping artists to survive," she said.

The artist and wildlife conservationist encouraged others to think about purchasing things made by people in the region, with many still recovering from the repercussions of the pandemic.

Learn more about Nafisa by visiting her site nafisa.com.au, or on Facebook.

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