What a pastoral scene filled with nostalgia, of farmers in the paddy field flanked by trees, and with a mountain in the backdrop. Mohd Zain Idris, or better known as M. Zain, is known for his rural landscapes. He is a buddy of Khalil Ibrahim and is a fine artist, but by some quirk fate, does not reach the prominence in art he so richly deserves. M. Zain is best known as the rare ‘State artist’ appointed by the Terengganu Menteri Besar and given his own studio cum residence in Kuala Terengganu, complete with a stipend. He had gone fulltime after being discovered by art-critic cum gallerist Frank Sullivan, then Press Secretary to Malaysia’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Dubbed the Fisherman Artist, he had his first solo at Sullivan’s Samat Art Gallery. He had a joint exhibition with Kasim Abas at the Equatorial Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, in 1984, and at the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, in 1987.