Born in Nineveh, Iraq, Nael served in the Iran-Iraq war before winning a scholarship from the Iraqi Education Ministry to study in England. He eventually studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and settled in Dundee where he developed a profound love of the east coast Scottish landscape. He won the John Kinross Scholarship that allowed him to study in Florence before returning to the Angus countryside where he lives and works today. He is a regular exhibiter at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Glasgow Institute.
