INSPIRED: Sam Bahia and Mayor Coun Maureen McGarvey admire his painting in the mayor's parlour
AN Iraq-born artist whose love of painting was inspired by the vibrant colours of East Lancashire has received the ultimate mayoral accolade.
Sam Bahia fled his home country after fearing the growing political instability following the 1968 coup in which Saddam Hussein played a key role.
And after living in a country where the hot summers take all the colours away, he fell in love with the green hills of East Lancashire.
Now one of his paintings has been chosen by Blackburn with Darwen Mayor Coun Maureen McGarvey for display in the mayor's parlour at Blackburn Town Hall.
Mr Bahia, 70, is the chairman of Blackburn Artists' Society and painted the view of Dean Clough reservoir last winter from the garden of his home on Yorke Road, near Langho.
He moved to the house in 2001 with his wife Sally, 69, whom he met while studying economics at Blackburn College in the early 1960s.
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It was as a student in Black-burn that Mr Bahia discovered his love and talent for art, using his one free day a week to practice. The head of art encouraged him to sit the end of year exams, which he passed.
Mr Bahia married Sally, a primary school teacher, in 1962 and the couple moved to Baghdad, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Art while his wife taught in a school run by the British Embassy.
But the couple left Iraq in 1969 and never returned. Mr Bahia continued his studies at Reading University before the couple moved again to Dubai in 1975, where Mr Bahia became a successful businessman. He maintained his interest in art, setting up the influential Dubai International Arts Society.
Keen to return to Blackburn, the couple bought their house on Yorke Road in 1991 and visited every summer until moving in permanently 10 years later. Mr Bahia joined the Blackburn Artists Society and became its chairman in 2003.
He said: "I've been very much influenced by the scenery around Blackburn. The colours are beautiful. Living in the Middle East, the hot summers take all the colours away, but the greens of the hills and the changing skies here inspiring.
"In the background of my painting is Pendle Hill, which is very dramatic, especially in winter when the clouds form beautifully. I can see the view from the back of my house, and it changes every hour.
"I painted the trees leaning in the picture to show the force of the weather here."
He donated his painting of the reservoir as a storm approaches to the Black-burn Museum and Art Gallery in 2007 after the success of his first solo exhibition in the gallery. They wanted to buy it, but Mr Bahia refused to accept payment.
"If people like my paintings they should enjoy them. If you are gifted, your gifts should be shared by everybody," said Mr Bahia.
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