For once, Nik Zainal Abidin strays from his usual repertoire of traditional wayang kulit puppet theatre, and its attendant tales from the Mahatbharata and the Hikayat Panji. The setting looks like a Javanese-Balinese keraton (palace), spacious and with batik tiles on the top panel facing viewer, with two entry points, one leading outside where one woman is seen unfurling a parasol. On the left is a large screen panel with carved panels on top, and right a short wooden ladder leading to a room. The focus is on the two ladies busy with their embroidery works. The colours used in his watercolours are consistent with the cream yellow matrix seen in several of his works in the 1980s. The composition is reminiscent of the repertoire of the great Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur. This work was done in 1988, the year he retired from Radio-Television Malaysia as a set designer. Nik Zainal Abidin was one of the staple members of the Wednesday Art Group. Known notably for his wayang kulit paintings, he designed the Kunci Ibu Kota, the cokmar (royal mace) and the royal throne for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 1960, and the mosaic glass mural done in 1962 for the West Wing of Muzium Negara. He showed promise when he won 1st Prize in the Joy of Living exhibition in 1964. In 1970, he held his first solo at the Samat Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, and was selected for a German cultural tour and took part in the World Expo in Osaka, Japan.