The Man with the Left-Handed Brush

In a quiet space where patience meets pigment, Rashid bin Sulaiman al Amri paints with a hand that once felt unfamiliar and with a resolve that now feels unbreakable. Today, many know him by a name that carries both truth and triumph: the man with the left-handed brush.

Rashid’s relationship with art began early. As a child, his mother noticed his talent for drawing, a gentle spark that flickered but did not yet become a steady flame. Years later, in 2020, he returned to art with renewed intent. Then, in December of that same year, everything changed. A stroke altered his path, leaving him with partial paralysis on his right side and forcing him to confront a reality he had never imagined.

The beginning was profoundly difficult. For a time, Rashid believed his dreams had turned to ash. Yet belief has a way of reshaping itself. He chose to trust in a simple conviction: nothing is impossible. What first appeared as a limitation slowly transformed into a source of distinction.

His first painting with his left hand was not accidental. He chose to draw his right hand. “It was a message to myself, a quiet declaration that strength could return, and that determination could redraw the boundaries of the possible”. With that single work, Rashid reframed loss into purpose.

He began again from the basics, sketching simple subjects, relearning motion, patience and control. Over time, his style gravitated towards realism, a genre that mirrors his own journey with honesty and precision. He studies other realist artists, drawing inspiration from their growth, while remaining committed to finding his own voice, one canvas at a time.

What fuels him most is progress. Each new painting must be better than the last. This steady evolution is his engine, his reason to return to the easel day after day. For Rashid, art and challenge are inseparable, two forces folded into one.

Those around him see more than technique. They see courage, a personal challenge turned outward, proof that perseverance can become its own form of beauty. His story has resonated with many, not because it is extraordinary, but because it is honest.

Rashid dreams of taking his work beyond borders, participating in competitions and exhibitions inside Oman and abroad, representing his country through art shaped by resilience. His message is clear and generous: nothing is impossible. Try first. What we often call inability is, sometimes, simply the absence of an attempt.

Once, he believed he could not draw with his left hand. The truth, he discovered, was that he had never tried. When he did, he succeeded and in doing so, found his signature. Today, that signature is known across his canvases and in his name, Rashid bin Sulaiman al Amri, the man who turned a left hand into an indelible, lasting mark.