The story of Mazen Said Ali al Quraini began with a horse. It was the first picture he ever drew. He was not sure how it would look, but when he showed it to his family, their faces lit up. They praised his work and in that moment, he felt the joy of creating. That memory was the start of his journey in art.
From the very beginning, Mazen was never alone. His wife supported him in every step, helping him choose colours and materials. A close friend gave him tools with kindness. And his family always encouraged him. Their words made him stronger and gave him the courage to continue.
Mazen’s art is special because he does not use a brush. Instead, he uses wood, nails and thread. In his workshop, the sound of the hammer hitting the nails is soft and steady, like music. The smell of fresh wood fills the air. With patience, he takes long pieces of thread and winds them around the nails. Slowly, an image appears. A face. A story. A memory.
He calls his art three things: “joy, craft, hobby”. But it is more than that. His favourite colour is black and he often uses it as the base of his work. Over the years, he has learned to use bigger wooden boards, stronger nails and shiny fabrics. Sometimes he even makes the pictures look three-dimensional, as if they are coming out of the wood.
Some of his works are very close to his heart. One of them shows the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos with Shaikh Zayed of the UAE and Shaikh Sabah al Ahmad of Kuwait. The picture symbolised the long friendship between the Gulf countries. Another type of work he loves is making portraits of family members for people — fathers, brothers, or grandfathers. When clients see these pieces, many cry with emotion. For Mazen, this is proof that art can touch hearts.
Even though his art is growing outside Oman, he always shows his Omani identity. On Snapchat, he shares his art process step by step while wearing the Omani traditional dress. “I wanted to stand out as an Omani artist, not just as a name”, he says. When he made a work for someone in Qatar, he added a falcon with desert-coloured fabric to reflect their culture.
For Mazen, art is not only decoration. “When people see my work and say ‘Masha’Allah,’ I know it touched them”, he explains. His studio is simple and quiet. A cup of coffee sits beside him, filling the room with its smell. His little child sometimes runs in, laughing, curious to touch the threads. These moments give him happiness and inspiration.
This is the world of Al Quraini: nails, wood, thread and love. Every piece he makes is more than art — it is a story stitched with patience, culture and family.
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