There is nothing like the optimism of ordinary hardworking people making a living. Never mind money in short supply, never mind the vagaries of inclement weather. And who would have thought that a grey day could be so, so beautiful, and elegiac, as in Awang Damit Ahmad’s canvas, E.O.C no less. A glimmer of red in faint short lines and little daubs off centre does add a spot of brightness, but it gets subsumed by the panoply of dominant darker hues of green, blue and more earthy concerns. If it looks structured, it is man’s intervention with the land, not to change its character or course, but to enhance its bountiful potential in providing human sustenance. Nothing more satisfying than a day’s work done. Tomorrow is just another day… Awang Damit Ahmad is credited to have started one of the most compelling new abstracts related to land, region, purpose and people. A relative late starter in art at the age of 27, he first studied at the Mara Institute of Technology, where he was Best Student, before getting his Masters at the Catholic University in Washington DC (1989-1990). He catapulted into top-artist status when he not only won the 1st Prize but also the Consolation Prize in the hugely coveted Salon Malaysia III at the National Art Gallery. It was for his Nyanyian Petani Gunung (now in the Petronas collection). He also won 2nd Prize in the Malaysian Bank Association art competition in 1988. His international exhibitions include the Contemporary Paintings of Malaysia at the Asia-Pacific Museum in Pasadena, Los Angeles, in 1988. He also excelled as lecturer at Universiti ITM until May 2011, when he retired to go fulltime into Art. Prices of his artworks often soar high in auction houses locally and abroad.