Artist is driven up the wall at Dubai hospital

The Life: Terez Szilvia Huszar, a Hungarian freelance artist based in Dubai, talks about a day in her life.

Terez Szilvia Huszar puts the finishing touches on a mural in the paediatric ward of Al Zahra Hospital in Al Barsha. Razan Alzayani / The National

Terez Szilvia Huszar is a Dubai-based freelance artist from Hungary. The 31-year-old is currently working on a project at Dubai's Al Zahra Hospital, which is set to open in the first quarter of this year.

10am

I get up and have coffee, maybe one or two cups, trying to wake up, followed by reading news on my laptop. I do not have breakfast.

11am

I start working on the oil paintings. I work only in oil. For Al Zahra, I have to do 22 canvases. I still need to make nine at least. All the rest are ready or half ready because they are drying. The biggest canvas is 2 metres in length and there is one that is 30 centimetres small. I am also working on a mural for the paediatric ward spread over eight walls. The mural is like a magic forest: a mix of famous cartoon characters and fantasy animals, inspired from drawings by children who were invited to an event at Al Zahra Hospital in Sharjah in November. I already copied their fantasy animals to the walls, exactly the same how they did it on paper. So they will come to the hospital soon and sign their own cartoon drawings on the wall. They included patients, the children of patients, and children of people working at the 32-year-old Sharjah hospital.

3pm

I have lunch. I am trying to be healthy, so have mostly organic salads. Currently I am busy and cannot work on my paintings for exhibition. Hopefully I will finish the Al Zahra project by January 15. This is the biggest project so far for me. Last year I had projects in Princess Towers and Elite Towers, both residential buildings in Dubai Marina. I did five projects last year. It is much easier to find work here than in Europe because here they are still building the city, and new hotels and buildings are coming up. There are many possibilities to work as a painter here. I have a website (www.terezszilvia.com), and people find me through it. Work is also based on recommendations. The payment for the projects is decided before the work starts. It is for the overall work, not based on the number or size of the paintings. In early 2012, I did an exhibition in Budapest with 14 canvases. I am planning to do an exhibition in Dubai [this] year.

5pm

I go to the hospital to paint the walls. I go after everyone has left because otherwise it is annoying to paint with everyone walking around. For the walls I use washable silk paint. I paint for five to six hours at a stretch. If I get tired, I take coffee or Red Bull and an apple or a banana. And I am always listening to loud music when painting.

Midnight

I finish around this time. I do not have to cover the walls as silk paint dries up in a few minutes. Tired, I go home and check emails and news. I do not always have dinner and watch movies to distract myself. I get a shower and go to bed.