Tuesday, January 8, 2008

the illuminati



No, I'm not referring to some treacherous underground secret society, rather my newly discovered obsession with illuminated calligraphy & miniatures. This piece is titled "The Flower Sellers of Kashmir." It is a small reflection of my childhood visits to Kashmir. You may notice the "water" in the painting is done in the Kashmiri tradition of decorative flowers outlined in gold to add a surreal note. I couldn't quite capture the highly reflective quality of the gold, it has a mysterious glow in the early morning light.



These are some childhood photographs of my brother, my mother & I in Kashmir.

11 comments:

  1. I really love your new direction! Beautiful choice of color & texture. Very marigold and kashmiri.

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  2. absolutely stunning! Wow - i love the flowers with the gold and your inspiration is so sweet!

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  3. Oh amazing!! I love the lake of flowers, it's so vibrant! And I love the photos, especially the last one with what looks like a mountain of flowers in the background.

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  4. oh thanks everyone! i get that warm fuzzy feeling with all this encouragement. it was a difficult technique, so i'm happy it's being appreciated!

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  5. If my eyes were a mouth, and your paintings were food: I would be full. Not just any kind of full, but the really satisfying kind of full where i'd have to lie on my back during my post-meal nap in the sunshine because my stomach is so full.

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  6. sana, i love you.
    shirin, where are you?

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  7. sana shows his poetic side. very nice sana!

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  8. this is sooooo beautiful shirin! i love it. i keep coming back to look at it :)
    love, yas

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  9. thanks so much dear Yas! there will be more works to come soon in this Kashmiri series...

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  10. Hi Shirin! I just found your blog and website off of Katurah's blog and have been mesmorized looking at all of your paintings. This one with the flowers if by far my favorite. The colors and detail are just outstanding.

    I also saw that you live on Vancouver Island and I live in Vancouver, so maybe one day we'll meet! If you ever have a show in Vancouver, please let me know! erikahastings@gmail.com.

    Regards,
    Erika

    http://mudspice.wordpress.com

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  11. Beautiful, Shirin! Magical and wondrous. yet another reminder that i should wander up to Nanimo sometime to see some of these in person! Right now we are weathering the storm of my husbands last few months of grad school, but maybe when that's finished...

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