|
I am a self-taught artist who loves and appreciates art and photography. Both capture moments of life with great meaning and beauty.
A photo or a piece of art can set off all kinds of emotions. I believe that looking at paintings and images can promote healing too, a form of colour therapy. Anyway, I hope my vision of my time on this planet can give you all some form of joy. |
|
Well folks it’s been a long time since my last blog, what can I say life happens. But hey, what a crazy year it has been for this planet! Covid-19 has stolen 2020 from us. It has been hard for everyone and I can’t help but feel a close connection to everybody because we all have something in common, now. There have been many positives and negatives with this predicament, but I am going to skip the negatives as we hear enough of that on the news. During the lock down, one of the wonderful things I noticed was families spending quality time together because they were forced to slow down and offered the opportunity to live in the present. Some who hardly left their house now discovered the great outdoors through shear boredom and spent a lot of time in nature contemplating their lives. Even the environment had time to heal from human activity as people noticed more animals appearing and less air pollution.  Anyway, as lock down began to ease around August we managed to take a road trip to Scotland, one of my favourite places in the UK. This time we explored more of the west coast. Well what can I say we started our trip with a bang on a zip wire at Laggan outdoor activity centre. The jeep ride that took us to the top of the hill was the cherry on top. Basically, I have never ever experienced such a rough ride in my life. What a blast, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world despite having acrophobia (just google it 😉). Zipping over fields with my legs wide open and trying hard not to behead the cows below me was a once in a lifetime experience.   We stayed at Glasgow then travelled up north to Inveraray Castle where we encountered one of the most majestic places I have ever visited. A sublime place, so serene, where you can easily lose yourself. Our next destination was Fort William where we had a little light lunch. From there we went across to the Isle of Skye hoping to see some fairies, but no luck. We took the ferry to a beautiful fishing village called Mallaig. We watched the glorious sunset from a restaurant next to the sea. The following day we travelled to the famous Glenfinnan viaduct, or for you and me the famous Harry Potter Bridge.  What can I say, the midges mistook us for food and attacked us so fiercely that we could not stay there for more than a few minutes. Our next destination was Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, a quaint city, but unfortunately Nessy did not want to make an appearance. From there we decided to go to John O’ Groats, just to say we had been there. Finally, we finished our road trip in Edinburgh. This is where I celebrated my birthday in style at Dishoom an Indian restaurant, with my family. A perfect ending to a perfect holiday.
So, all in all this trip made my year. I suppose this year has had its ups too, Covid gave us some respite during its takeover of our lives. On the bright side, I have spent a lot of time outside, in the garden, enjoying the beautiful warm weather playing scrabble so much that I was dreaming up words in my sleep. Take care and stay safe. Much love… Samira 😊
0 Comments
Madhubani Art-PeacockMadhubani Inspired-Peacock In my last blog, back in April, I wrote and posted about Madhubani/Mithila Art. Well running with the same theme, here is another painting which I have completed some time ago now, but never got round to posting a blog about it because life happens. Hope you like it. By the way, the Madhubani-Fish painting is displayed in Manchester at Healthy Spirit. If you wish to find out more about this kind of style then you can click on the link here- https://www.arimasarts.com/blog/madhubanimithila-art Much love Samira 😊  Madhubani Inspired-Fish Madhubani or Mithila art is an ancient folk art found in Bihar in the Mithila region of India. Its roots are found in the Ramayana (ancient Indian texts) where King Janak ordered many artists to decorate the whole village with paintings of Rama and Sita’s wedding. Originally these paintings adorned the walls and floors of houses and were formed mostly by women during religious ceremonies or weddings. The practise of Madhubani art has been passed down from person to person and is now widely recognised throughout the world. You can see images painted on paper cloth and canvas. Traditionally the paintings are constructed using mainly matchsticks, fingers, nib-pens, twigs and brushes, however, now more modern tools are used to create these beautifully elaborate paintings. Natural pigments are derived from plant material to create two dimensional paintings that contain geometric designs depicting scenes from ancient mythology, as well as folklore and nature. I found Madhubani art very exciting and colourful. Its intricate designs remind me of henna art commonly painted on hands and feet during holy festivals and weddings. For me painting in a two dimensional format felt very refreshing a huge change from what I usually paint. I love how this art form illustrates everyday life in a simple yet unique way, capturing the hearts and minds of both adults and children. I will be doing a series of these paintings loosely based on this form of art. For the first in this series I have made a painting based on the natural aspects of Madhubani art. It shows a fish. Madhubani has some associations with Feng Shui philosophy. The fish represents prosperity and fertility. I’m heading more towards the prosperity side of it though lol. The sun is very important in Madhubani design as it signifies life giving energy. Although this art form uses natural pigments and colours, I have opted for a more colourful approach and used acrylics for a very vibrant, eye catching painting. If you love bright colours then this painting is for you. I have named it ‘Prosperity’. The Luminous AngelNo day is left unheard, no voice falls silent. Where shadows beset your eyes and ghosts snatch hope, there will the angels’ wings fall, to douse the discord. Unconditional and selfless. A poem by my son, Hasan.  Wow it’s already 2019. These years seem to be flying by… 2018 felt like a couple of months ago. Isn't it funny how days seemed to go on forever as a child? I think it’s because children know how to live in the moment and absorb all the details around them. As adults we are more preoccupied with worrying about the future, never fully occupying the present. I love this quote from Bil Keane ( an American cartoonist); “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” I think we can all learn a lot from children and Bil Kean. From now on I will try to live my life savouring each minute, focusing on the brilliance that exists within each moment and be grateful for the time that has been given to me. Enough reflecting on time, let’s move on to a painting I did in the summer last year from a photograph I took in Cornwall, a few years back. My husband and I were taking a walk along the Cornish coast, during a warm but breezy morning. The sea was a beautiful turquoise colour with waves making a thunderous noise as they crashed onto the rocks. We came across a narrow path which led down into a small ravine with boulders covered in moss and flowers and a bubbling stream. It was quite magical. The sound of the waves disappeared as we descended further down into the hollow. We found a narrow path and decided to follow it. After a few minutes it led us into a type of tunnel that was made of rambling plants, it was striking and mysterious. Of course childlike curiosity got the better of us, we were captivated by what we might see at the end of this dark tube. Upon entering the tunnel the ceiling was quite low and specks of light peered through the gaps in the leaves leaving a mottled effect on the floor. As we walked along the path the anticipation of what we might see was in the front of our minds. At last the light was visible so we rushed to get to the end and were greeted by a stunning cottage surrounded by a luscious garden and a breath-taking view. I immediately took a picture of it as I knew I would want to paint it one day. So folks, here it is ‘A quiet corner of Cornwall’, I hope you like it. I will end this blog by saying I really hope that this year is a special year for all of us, bringing us health, wealth and wisdom and where we are given the opportunity to live in the moment, gathering many joyful memories of 2019. Much love Samira :)  |
RSS Feed