Homa Eftekhar (Ghafar zadeh)
Born in 1949, Tehran, Iran

I chose watercolor as my painting medium. I love its versatility, transparency, spontaneity, cleanness and fastness. When I started as a novice watercolorist, I was told that the medium is an unforgiving one. Once it’s on the paper, it can’t be fixed. The statement was wrong. Through trial and error, I found out that there are many techniques to paint in watercolor, but there are a lot more techniques for fixing a painting.

I also was told that watercolor is not a versatile medium. But by hard work I realized that the medium is a versatile one, if only all its hidden potentials are discovered and tried. To make this medium more effective and versatile, all the subjects should not be painted in a single style. Furthermore, artists should be versatile so that they can shift from one regular style to another according to their subject’s needs.

I choose subjects suitable for proving the versatility of watercolor medium. I express ideas, moods, thoughts, and concepts in my paintings in a way that would challenge my art viewer’s imagination to emotionally, mentally, and intellectually participate in completing the paintings.

– Homa Eftekhar