The harsh tactility with translucent sheen of Touch The Earth I has given way to a more composed and busy cartography of daubs when the second instalment took off in 1996. Inspired by Dato’ Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir’s visit to the ancient Petra ruins in southern Jordan in 1990, the initial skirmishes in 1992 were in exploring the textural nuances in her animated colours. In this from a trio offshoot called Hymns Of The Earth, Dato’ Sharifah reverts to a landscape veneer of expressionistic ruminations. The exhibitions, Touch The Earth I and II, were held at Galeri Seni Maybank and Galeri Citra, respectively, in Kuala Lumpur. Dato’ Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir is a pioneering abstract artist from the first batch of fine art students from the Mara Institute of Technology (now a university), graduating in 1971. She pursued her BFA at Reading University, England (1973-1976) and MFA at the Pratt Institute, New York (1976-1978), besides a museum management course in London in 1987. Her laurels include Minor Awards in the Malaysian Landscape (1972) and the Bakat Muda Sezaman (1981), the Major Award in Salon Malaysia (1979). In 2007, the Sultan of Kedah conferred her the Darjah Dato’ Setia DiRaja Kedah title, and in 2014 she was honoured with the Women of Excellence Award. Overseas, she won the 3rd Prize in the 2nd Biennial of Contemporary Painting of the Islamic World in Teheran, Iran, in 2003. Prices of her artworks have been soaring high recently in auction houses locally and abroad.