Dreams and Desires

I was born and grew up in Cairo, Egypt and started drawing at a very young age, encouraged by my father who was an interior designer.

During my childhood, I was very influenced by American comic books. I started drawing characters inspired by those images. I won my first drawing prize when I was 12. I had drawn a classroom full of children at their desks doing everything except listening to the teacher. At school I doodled in all my books as I was bored with the class.

Then I emigrated to Montreal with my first husband at age 20 and my artistic career began. I started painting frantically. I painted in bright colors, sitting and looking at all that snow outside the window.

I have had several careers. I was a secretary to the Manager of Barclays Bank in Cairo. I was a fashion model in Montreal and followed that up by being a fashion designer in Boston, then in Manhattan where I worked with Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress designer.

In Montreal, I took part in a group exhibition where I was awarded an honorable mention for my first abstract painting. I had first submitted a nude, not at all graphic, but was told that would not do as there would be children in the exhibition hall. That was strange to me because in Egypt, a Muslim country, we could exhibit nudes.

My influences have been Modigliani and Picasso.

I left the hectic world of design after a couple of years and went to Switzerland where I worked with the United Nations in Geneva. That is where my artistic career took off in leaps and bounds. I was fascinated by the etching process and took a few classes, then exhibited all over Europe and even in Asia with Christie's Contemporary Art of London.

I first started painting in oil but then I discovered acrylics and continued with that medium because of their fast drying and lack of smell.

Art is a passion for me and I cannot live without it. I dream of art and practice it every day. I wish I did not have to do the marketing side of it. It takes a lot of time and I do not find it constructive or conducive to creating.

My obsession with couples with child or cat started early. I have always been in favour of marriage as the foundation of family life. It gives stability to one's existence. I had a great family life when I was a child and I wanted to duplicate it in my own life when older. Children create a deep bond in a couple and provide maturity and selflessness.

I have always been very close to cats. I understand their behavior and am in sync with them. I have had two cats in my life and I considered them as my children before I had my own children. In fact, one of my cats got me out of a deep depression when I was in Montreal and away from my family because of the war in Egypt. I did not need anti-anxiety medication. Now I foster kittens and am surrounded by so much affection.

The abstract paintings came later in my career. As I am of a turbulent nature, my atmospheric paintings of the deserts and the oceans give me peace. I like painting large expanses of one color either red/orange or blue—and "garnishing" them with a collage of a different color. Having one of my abstract calm paintings on a wall gives me a sense of tranquility and a vision of what is beyond.

When I was in Egypt, I was greatly influenced by the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea. I have been very close to earth and water. After relocating to the U.S. I made sure to live close to the ocean. In fact, I can see the ocean from my patio where I paint most of the time in the cool afternoon breeze. It transports me to an imaginary world of peace.

Reflecting on my lifelong career, I say the following: "It is better to regret what you have done than regret what you have not done."

Peggy Hinaekian is a European/American artist of Armenian origin, born in Cairo, Egypt. She lives and works in California and Florida.