Tag: exploration

The Batsford prize submission

Hello reader. The blog admittedly has been quite forlorn of late, and there are many reasons for that, but the most relevant and important reason is that I have been possessed. Yes, possessed with an urge to finally create the Iridescent Alloy I have been dreaming of this whole time. Do you know the feeling, when you know exactly what you want to make, and your fingers are itching to make it so much that you can barely wait for each layer to dry let alone sit and write a coherent thought on the blog? I aimed to create what …

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 …

Experiment #4: Mosaics with acrylics on canvas?

Making a pure mosaic was… exhausting. Was it because it was so time consuming? Was it because it was my first time ever and the fear of failure was gnawing away at me even as I worked? Was it because work isn’t work when you are doing what you love, and what I love is painting? All these questions rose restlessly in my head when I worked on the piece “I capture the desert”. At the end of that artwork I did feel a sense of triumph. I had trudged my way to completion and even though the piece was …

Exploring the Saudi Center for Fine Arts

Exploring the Saudi Center for Fine Arts

Day two of our art gallery tour series found us on the doorstep of The Saudi Center for Fine Arts. Where Arbab al Heraf had been an amorphous concept, leaving us with little knowledge what to expect and then surprising us with hospitality, inclusiveness and an indiscriminate love for the artistic, SCFA was quite a bit more disciplined and exclusive. There, I made it sound horrible didn’t I? Well what can I say, it was a tad bit disappointing in a few ways. The art gallery section of it was glorious. Glass walls, two floors, literally papered with gorgeous abstracts …