The studio

A small room, a lot of paper, very few keepers

Reem works from a fourth-floor room in Cairo with north light and no radio. Everything sold here was made in it, by hand, in one sitting.

Working sketchbook open on the studio table

The process

Five things that never change

None of this is precious. It is the shortest route the studio has found to work that still looks alive a year later.

The paper decides

Handmade cotton rag, sized so it resists rather than drinks. Paper that fights back is the only kind that holds a dry-brush edge — the fibres tear the stroke where a smooth sheet would flood it.

Ink first, colour second

The structure goes down in sumi before anything is decided about colour. If a piece does not stand up as black on white, no amount of gold will rescue it.

One pass

A loaded brush, one direction, no going back over it. Most mornings produce nothing worth keeping. The ones that do are finished in under a minute.

Gold, sparingly

Leaf is laid last, by hand, on size — never printed. It is there to catch the light as you walk past the piece, not to be stared at straight on.

Signed, then it leaves

Each piece is signed on the front and titled, dated and numbered on the reverse, then packed flat between archival board.

Want something made for one particular wall?

Commissions open a few times a year. Tell the studio about the room, the light and the size, and you will get an honest answer about whether it suits the work.

Start a commission See what is available