About

I’m Rehana Nathwani, a Sydney based watercolour artist, a former STEM nerd and a big fan of life’s quiet and beautiful moments. I was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, but my roots stretch back to East Africa and India.

For most of my life, painting was something I squeezed in around work and family – until cancer and becoming a full time carer not so gently pressed pause on everything. That’s when I picked up my brushes again and started really looking at the world around me.

These days, I paint what the kids bring me – fallen leaves, broken seed pods, half crushed gumnuts – all the little treasures that usually go unnoticed. I try to capture the way children see the world: full of wonder, curiosity and magic hiding in the everyday.

“My hope is that my art can also help you slow down and find joy in the ordinary.“

My Inspiration

My inspiration comes from small hands and curious minds – usually covered in dirt and asking – “Can you paint this?”

Having spent multiple hours at playgrounds and sitting outside a classroom, I watched kids picking up sticks, leaves, gumnuts and flowers and marvelling at some small detail on them that no one else noticed. To anyone else, these things might seem ordinary – even a bit boring – but to them, and now to me they’re full of story and wonder.

Currently, I’m fixated on Australian native plants and am fortunate enough to have so many around us. I want to highlight the items that people wouldn’t normally notice. Through that, I invite the viewer to pause, look closer and see the world a way a child might – with curiosity, awe and open hearted attention.