Meet Zaeed Kala | Artist, Instructor and Founder of Z Art Studio

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zaeed Kala and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zaeed, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have always loved passing down my artistic knowledge to younger generations, but felt incredibly hindered by the public school system after teaching for 6 years. The students were great but the bureaucratic side of the system with the fake corporate smiles, void of any humor or actual human connection, along with the limited resources quickly became a huge hindering factor in realizing this dream.

My goal was to give the students the information I wish I had growing up. Having lost my father at 13 and traveling from a country 1.5 oceans away, I believe that one’s personal circumstances shall not dictate their access to knowledge. So I wanted to create a space where students can get a solid foundation in Concept Art.. Usually those classes are accessible in private colleges costing an arm and a leg. My vision is to make it accessible at an earlier point in life and at a more affordable rate. Basically give the students something I didn’t have.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Having a Master’s degree in Fine Arts, my work has evolved from allegorical depictions of friends in mythological settings in undergraduate school, to daily portraiture and political images including resin paintings in grad school. Now I am focusing more on digital artwork and production illustrations that focus on world building.

It has not been easy. Being an artist is not taken too seriously in my home country. I was lucky I had supportive parents and siblings, and I was also very stubborn in chasing my own dreams. Even after I traveled to the US for College, it was rough. My very first juried art show was a rejection…I just kept going and the second one resulted in me winning first place. It is all part of the process.

Now that I am older, I want to make this dream easier for the younger generation. I want them to skip the obstacles I had to overcome to get to where I am. I want to make all that accessible to them at a fraction of the cost, while eliminating all the mental anguish.

What sets me apart as an artist is the fact that I have training from classical drawing/painting all the way to digital illustration giving me a broad range of teachable topics. Fine artists usually look down on commercial artists, but I don’t see why people can’t do both.
What also sets our studio apart from other places in town is that we give serious art lessons that are not one time/ one session only. They are paced, span over several months which helps us build a personal connection with each student and help them grow individually. We are also one of the few studios that teach both fine and concept art at such an early stage, and as a studio that values connection, we also give 1 free make-up classes for student members who miss a session per month.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The first thing I make sure to do is to have any visitor try multiple restaurants including Thai, Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian and Nigerian. French pastry places are a go-to as well since they’re my personal guilty pleasure.

I always make sure to stop by Hermann Park, the Japanese garden, the Holocaust Museum, Natural science Museum, MFAH, CAMH, the Menil and if they like shopping, the galleria mall and Waterwall park for sure.
If they’re comic or anime lovers, conventions can also be a great spot. And any cultural festival happening at the time.

I will shamefully admit that I still have not visited the NASA Space center despite having been in the city for 9 years. So maybe that’s a spot I’ll add to the bucket list.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Nobody is really self-made. It’s all about the connections we make along the way. I know this may sound super cliché but my parents first for supporting my artistic endeavors in a country where it’s not really seen as career-worthy.
A lot of people have been very supportive. I don’t even know where to start.
From the art instructors and art peers I had, to my former students and their parents, to other art people in the community such as Heidi Vaughan, to the jeweler around the corner , to the homeschool organizations, to the former coworkers who became lifelong friends, to the people I met in the dance community, my first studio client who went above and beyond to help me, my Japanese teacher who ended up becoming a mother figure and of course all the people I keep in my close circle. I am genuinely grateful for all the positive energy they brought me.

Website: www.artstudio-z.com

Instagram: @z_artschool

Other: www.zaeedkala.com (personal website) @zaeedart (personal Instagram)