Al Seef Street, the venue for many colourful activities during Dubai Shopping Festival 2001, has added charm this year due to the presence of artists, painters and sculptors, who not only offer their works for sale but also provide demonstrations of their art and conduct workshops.

Besides conventional paintings, the street is dotted with wood sculptures, glass painting, sand painting and art on clay surfaces. Manoj, one of the artists, has 28 oil paintings for sale. "People have different choices, and my works cover all subjects. I have been getting a number of buyers. My paintings are priced between Dh400 and Dh1,600."

At another corner, Zuhair Yahya, a caricature artist, draws faces with a funny twist. "I have been participating in the festival every year to add fun to the street. I do a face in less than seven minutes.

Hundreds of people come every day to have their face portraits done. The charges are between Dh30 and Dh40." William Panipicha, a portrait artist, does pencil and water colour portraits of visitors. "It is nice atmosphere. My faces are easy to draw, others are tough. I can make a person look younger or slimmer depending on requests. The pencil portrait costs Dh40 and water colours Dh125."

Behnam Vaziri, who has a small exhibition of his paintings, says: "Visitors look for paintings on nature and famous personalities. I get a lot of buyers. My paintings are priced between Dh100 and Dh700." Ammar Quwaitani, a caricature artist, does paintings for Dh50. "People like funny paintings, either their own or of their friends. I enjoy doing this, because it brings laughter to so many people."

Ela Frowela, who paints on clay, says: "We find a lot of interested people. We either sell our own paintings or do special paintings on request. We also allow children to take part in the activities and learn about clay painting."

There are workshops on painting on clay in association with the Dubai International Art Centre, as well as a children's painting area where kids can draw and paint with colours and paper provided by the organisers, under the guidance of experts.