Kawthar Al-Sherif was born in 1948 in the city of Asuit in Upper Egypt,and spent her formative years growing up in Cairo. Al-Sherif studied Sociology and Education at Ain Shams University in Cairo, was graduated to become a teacher and later an administrator in the Ministry of Education. Al-Sherif has lived over 20 years outside Egypt with her husband, Mohamed Noman Galal, an Egyptian diplomat and intellectual.

Al-Sherif 's choice of subjects reflects her background in sociology and interest in rural anthropology. In her quest to uncover the human dimension of life she resurrects traditional parables and brings emotion to seemingly mundane aspects of human activity.

Al-Sherif's artistic style is largely self taught and incorporated a blend of formal and informal elements. Her paintings span a broad spectrum of themes and technical styles; however,they are united by a desire to represent universal human messages and to reflect the human spirit in proud and positive form even in adverse conditions.

Her willingness to explore new subjects and revisit old one with a new lens accounts for a tremendous diversity in her works as well as in her style, which is bold and creative.

Inspirations represent a selection around sixty-four works by the artist Kawthar Al-Sharif completed between 1990 and 2000. A number of these works have been exhibited in international venues including the China Revolutionary Museum in Beijing, and in Shanghai at Xin Tiandi Hall, as well as at the National Gallery in Islamabad and Lahare in Pakistan.

The paintings in the collection are divided into four distinct thematic groupings, entitled: Egypt Mythology, Nile Pearls, Human Dimension, and China Inspiration. Egypt Mythology explores novel portraitures of Ancient Egyptian mythology. Nile Pearls is dedicated to the subject of working women, particularly in rural Egypt. Human Dimension highlights contemporary social-political issues with an emphasis on human rights and human sufferings.

Finally, China Inspiration is an eclectic collection reflecting the changing nature of life and the common features between Chinese and Egyptian civilizations. Despite the wide variation in the themes, the subject matter is united by a human message that allows views universally to relate to her paintings.

It is worth noted that the culture backgrounds provide the artist with abundance of portraits and images of civilization of myths, legends and realities. Such a wonderful melange is limitless source of inspiration for someone who is deeply under their spell such as our artist.

The current life with its fast momentum represents another source of inspiration where contradiction leads to the existence of happiness, wealth and beauty along with agony, sufferings and misery.

The painter with its hypersensitive feelings depicts all these scenarios with subtlety, sublimity and meticulous attention to details of its objects. The paintings are truly a result of labor of affection and love for civilization, and the human being.

The areas dream of the painter, through focusing on the sufferings in human life and environment, is to raise the awareness about such malign situation, thus paving the way towards redressing it and building a better future.

The painter used her brush liberally with no restraint of reservation but her own feelings and sense of beauty more inclined to give priority to the ideas, which are deeply and passionately influencing her, more than to establish types of painting, traditional or even modern. The driving force is the instinct of the painter and her love for perfection.