Tag: narrative

The Untold Edition — BTS

This project has consumed the last few months of my creative energy. So much work has gone into conceptualizing and executing it that it is difficult for me to even pen it down. I am literally answering emails and in meetings at all hours trying to set things up with collaborators and coordinate with team members and participants, approving and creating graphics, getting stuff printed and god knows what else. It has literally been so much work that last week I reached the point where I asked myself the question we often ask in the middle of a painting that …

The Untold Edition — Phases of planning part 1

I’ve always known that community work is important to me. I think growing up with a dad like mine cultivated that in me. He’s an eye surgeon and his hobby is to host eye camps in the rural areas of Pakistan where people suffer from curable diseases like cataract and spend their whole lives blind. I watched him perform 200 cataract operations a day for nothing and then spend the weekend sleeping on the roofs of clay houses. He enjoyed every moment of it. I saw the looks on those faces when their bandages were unwrapped and they blinked in …

Artisans of Love

Artisans of Love

During my first ever tutorial, when art in Jeddah felt like a haze I was unable to penetrate, I talked to Jonathan about an art cafe I had discovered called Arbab al Heraf. It inspired a wonderful, artsy, curious discussion with wonderful, artsy, curious people and, you could say, it was the springboard for me exploring and understanding art in Jeddah. One of the things that emerged from that discussion was the idea that I could set up interviews with celebrated local artists. The stories that emerged would be a piece of narrative art in and of itself. Finally that …

Artist case study 4: Karina Llergo

Form, form, form. I know I have been going on and on about it, but I feel it is an integral part of my exploration of myself as an artist. It’s just something that seems important to me. I seek out the shapes and forms in my own paintings as I paint. It is a discovery I make about what the painting is trying to say. It is also about the challenge. An acrylic pour is so formless and flowing that it feels like a worthy challenge to try to create a fleeting shape as the paint falls. Also, the …

Artist Case Study 3: Jackie Peach

In my quest to find form within the abstract art of acrylic pouring, I stumbled onto artist Jackie Peach. I loved how her paintings were created through pouring paint and yet held a distinct image. Just like me, Jackie Peach began art after being propelled into business school because people need “sensible” careers. And then, just like me, life caught up really fast and she had to put her dreams on hold. Anyway, she got back on track and I can relate to that and find that really inspirational. Another thing that is really interesting is where she gets her …