Mohd Foad Hassan has done something revolutionary – at least by his own standards.

He is finally holding his first exhibition ever, after having worked in the creative industry for the last 20 years.

“I’ve never even done a group exhibition before, this is the first,” said the 43-year-old Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Fine Art lecturer.

Held at The Lookiss Gallery, the exhibition – themed Kemensah Symphony is a realisation of a lifelong dream.

“I've wanted to be an artist since I was a young boy, but I never knew how to go about it,” he said.

A first-time exhibition may not seem like a big deal, but in Foad’s case, it is a first of sorts.

Kemensah Symphony also marks Foad’s first-time attempt at dabbling in a subject unfamiliar to him – landscape – via a method that he discovered through experimentation of media and drawing/painting techniques.

“My forte is in figurative art; landscape has never been part of my creative vocabulary,” confessed the Johor-born, whose artistic portfolio includes designing several album covers for singer-actor M. Nasir (his design for Nasir’s Phoenix Bangkit won Best Album Cover in the Anugerah Industri Muzik 2002 award). “Naturally, my friends were quite surprised, especially after they found out about the subject I had chosen for my latest project.”

Nonetheless, Foad rose to the challenge, producing some 30 landscape pieces which pay tribute to the spirit of nature.

The inspiration for Kemensah Symphony was naturally the Kemensah Forest in Ulu Kelang.

“It was during one of my soul-searching trips to Kemensah last December when I was struck with the inspiration,” explained Foad, who had by then been toying with the idea of doing his own show for some time.

So inspired was he that his entire sketchbook was filled with ink caricatures and acrylic studies within the two days he was at the forest.

Kemensah Symphony showcases how easily Foad articulates the forest's lush foliage, the sound of rushing waters and chirping crickets and the charming play of light on nature in rich, vibrant and sombre hues of acrylic.

And while the effort is laudable particularly when one considers Foad's background in figurative and graphic art, it is how the works are executed that lends each piece that extra uniqueness.

Instead of a brush, Foad uses a sponge to apply acrylic onto canvas, displaying, in the process, the dexterity of his wrist and precision of each stroke.

“I press, drag and dab the sponge. Of course there is the initial uneven distribution of paint, but then I learnt how to control the sponge eventually. It's all about how you use your hand,” he said.

What is more amazing is how speedily he finished the paintings without compromising on detail and composition; the larger 6ftx4ft piece, for instance, took him only two days to complete.

“For me, art is all about experimenting and improvising. This sponge technique is one that I experimented and improvised on over time,” he said.

And, it looks like technique is not the only thing that he has experimented with; Foad's bold step in starting out with a solo exhibition may be deemed by some as a rather ambitious endeavour for a “new” artist, but he is all set.

“My life is like water. I go where the flow takes me. Hopefully, the exhibition would be a starting point for me in making a name for myself as an artist,” he said.

Kemensah Symphony is on till May 6 at The Lookiss Gallery at 6, Lorong Enau, Jalan Ampang, KL.

For details, call 03-4257 7366.