In the 1970s, Bahrain, thanks to dramatically increased oil revenues, was in a position for the first time in its history to translate the dreams of a generation into scholarships to study abroad. Abbas Al-Mosawi, like most of today's leading artists, took full advantage of this opportunity. He spent four years in Cairo studying interior design. However, during his time in Cairo the urge to sketch and paint affirmed itself. The desire to excel was probably inherited from his father, an established writer, poet and preacher in the gulf. He certainly inherited his father's capacity for long hours of work. This formula paid its first dividend while still a student in 1978, when he won the Dilmon Prize for art in Bahrain. The painting now hangs in the National Museum in Bahrain. "Wedding preparations" shows the measure of his ambition, given that the pointillism is technically very demanding. It also speaks loudly of his desire for discipline and a sense of control in his creative moments.

Hamad Nada, the Egyptian painter and teacher urged the young artist to look for inspiration in 'the rag and bone shop' of his own country, which Abbas did but it was in the tradition of Monet as practiced by Sabry Ragheb. Before turning professional he spent seven years teaching drawing, arts and crafts -government service being a condition of the scholarship.

His 2mX3m painting to commemorate the bicentennial of the Al Khalifa presence in Bahrain (1783-1983) made him a household name. The Bahrain Arts Society, founded in 1983, proved to be an additional platform and stimulus for his creative development. Since turning professional he has exhibited in the UK, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Egypt, the Gulf countries, Mauritius and also in far away Taiwan.

Al-Mosawi explains his prolific journey through art as a happy combination of his schooling in Bahrain, his training in Cairo and, most important of all, the unconditional support he draws from his family.