walking through the forest
Posted on March 16, 2011 Leave a Comment
she reads between the trees
Forests both mesmerize and terrify me, depending on the time of day. Here, my girl takes a midnight stroll through a dense family of juniper trees.
Thuraya Al-Baqsami|Retrospective Exhibition 1970-2011
Posted on March 16, 2011 Leave a Comment
- sergei, 1977, pastels on paper: it is a common (and quite ignorant) misperception in this part of the world that artists who take any path other than the realist one, can’t draw. these are the laypeople. i don’t think they understand that shifting away from realism is a choice the artist makes and not just an easy way out. for these people, none of which will ever look at this blog, so this comment is totally futile: look, thuraya al-baqsami can indeed draw!
Way back in 1991, I borrowed a book from a friend. The title was roughly Contemporary Art in the Islamic World. I remember going through it and systematically writing down the names of the artists whose works I liked; one of the names I wrote down was Thuraya Al-Baqsami’s. I remember her painting in the book of Muscovite rooftops. I thought, how cool-as a Kuwaiti artist-that her work was in a book of such caliber, and wondered if it would ever be me (still working on it. Still working on it.) I never, ever thought that I’d see her work in real life, let alone meet her (and even travel with her! If you want to have a crazy fun time, you travel with Thuraya Al-Baqsami!).
Congratulations to you, Thuraya. I throw you kisses! Read More
five random words
Posted on March 15, 2011 1 Comment
I love words and I love dictionaries. I love association and I love drawing. Today, I mushed the four together to come up with this, a new series: five random words.
gallery hopping on a rainy sunday night/sunny monday morning
Posted on March 14, 2011 Leave a Comment
6:30 pm: fa gallery: body language|in the eyes of the iranian artists, in this picture acrylics and LED by mohamad mehdi tabatabaie
7:15:dar al funoon gallery, works by halim al karim
10:00 am: the sultan gallery: 'the children of gaza' featuring limited edition prints by dia azzawi
painting on a sad, rainy day
Posted on March 12, 2011 Leave a Comment
zainab's painting by ghadah
I don’t know if it’s the rain (I do cherish this kind of weather, but perhaps not for too long), or if I miss my children, or I have the misfortune of dealing daily with unprofessional, inconsiderate fuckers, but I’ve been pretty maudlin all day. I don’t think it’s the rain. And at the end of a pretty fruitless morning of driving around and getting nothing constructive done, it just felt natural and necessary to paint a picture. I wanted to do something that was so removed from myself so I started off with some haphazard drawings and somehow ended up channeling my ten-year-old daughter and her happy, innocent drawings.
Ghadah Alkandari|Stories of Eves
Posted on March 11, 2011 3 Comments
Ten days left. Or is it nine? I’m starting to feel a bit of the buzz I usually get a few weeks before any exhibition. The butterflies I usually reserve for opening day. That’s when I can’t sit still and it’s best to avoid me. Cross the bridge for a map to Gallery Tilal. Read More
a watercolor drawing becomes a doodle|what happens when you get a phone call while you work
Posted on March 10, 2011 Leave a Comment
sometimes it pays not to think
Homes|Ethel Cooper
Posted on March 9, 2011 Leave a Comment
ethel also owns a work by khaled al najdi
This is highly unconventional! But not surprising as it has been sent to me by my very eccentric friend Ethel Cooper, who bought my piece from the PrettyGreenBullet|The Exhibition show back in November. It took me a few seconds to figure out where it was. When I finally did, I realized that the framed watercolor and ink postcard is still in its parcel paper wrap. She said that since it was delivered, she has been saving opening it until the time is right. I’m actually glad she hasn’t opened it yet, it’s nice to know that my hard work wrapping it hasn’t been in vain. I do hope the time is right for you soon, though, dear Ethel.
If you want to see what is inside the wrapped parcel, click here. I once said that 8 times out of 10, the wrapping is more exciting than the gift inside… Read More
little red checkered book|vacant clueless
Posted on March 7, 2011 Leave a Comment
one's there and the other simply isn't
fraternal sextuplet sisters enter a beauty pageant
Posted on March 6, 2011 Leave a Comment
who will don the crown?
the teabag prophecies|almost halfway done
Posted on March 5, 2011 Leave a Comment
teabags cascading down the side of my table. am i the only one who finds this beautiful?
Although I love the environment and do what I can to avoid destroying it, the main reason I keep many things considered trash by others is that I simply love the way they look and truly believe that one day I will create something beautiful with them. One day. As you see, I’m still working on my Tea piece. It’s just started picking up again because my children have become huge-ass tea drinkers (which is a good thing for me, a little contested for them). If I’m not done with this thing-this obsession I’m working-on by the end of 2011, I’ll be taking up tea myself. Read More
Kuwait’s First Half Marathon
Posted on March 3, 2011 1 Comment
you and me. you run and i help
Seeing as I’m as fit as a loaf of bread, I won’t be running the half-marathon this month but will volunteer on Saturday, March 19th. Follow the jerboa and she’ll take you to the Kuwait Charity Run website. You go, girls!
Bazaar Magazine & Me
Posted on March 2, 2011 2 Comments
bazaar magazine, march 2011
This piece about my up-coming exhibition Stories of Eves was just published in the March issue of Bazaar Magazine. Click here for the complete article.
Thank you, SB, for the interview.
Homes|I Own Art Too!|Part I
Posted on March 2, 2011 2 Comments
maysaa al-mumin's fish. i love them!
I’m always waiting to receive photos of my works in their new homes (hint, hint to everyone who’s promised to send me a picture and hasn’t!). I do get so excited when I finally do. And then I thought: wait a minute, I’ve got my own little collection of paintings and photographs I’d like to share with the people whose works they are and everyone else who is interested in this sort of thing (and the people who promised to send me their pics and haven’t!).
There will shortly be a part II to this post because I’ve promised myself that I’d get some photographs framed and there’s a Sabhan Adam sketch that I absent-mindedly stored in one of my books while on the phone. Read More
Ruby & Her Three Yellow Roses
Posted on February 27, 2011 4 Comments
ruby & her three yellow roses, february 27, 2011, multi-media on canvas
Sunday morning is usually the day I like to play. I haven’t had this chance for a while because of preparations for my upcoming Stories of Eves exhibition at the Tilal Gallery. It felt great to work on a small canvas, without a deadline or the pressures that come with it. The name ‘Ruby’ just popped into my head as I started to type the title of this piece.
last page|keep me afloat
Posted on February 27, 2011 Leave a Comment
the only thing between you and me is an obstacle of flickering bulbs
prettygreenbullet 