My new book & exhibition

For those of you don't know why I've had so much radio silence here lately: Exciting news, my new book is out!! You can buy it here at Amazon , OR at Chronicle Books, OR at any of these museums:
Institute of Contemporary Art Store, Massachusetts

J. Paul Getty Museum, California

Portland Museum of Art, Maine

The Museum Shop, Minnesota (Minneapolis Institute of Art)

Santa Barbara Museum, California

Portland Art Museum, Oregon

Pot-Pourri Art Gallery, California

San Jose, Museum of Art, California

AND I had a launch party & a solo show at a lovely gallery here in Barcelona called Galeria Cromo. It's still on until the end of this month if you happen to be coming by Barcelona! 

How Do You Do?

Exciting things are underway. My solo show in Barcelona is coming up May 19th at the beautiful Galeria Cromo, the event is also an official book launch for my new art book that is being released worldwide via San Francisco's Chronicle Books. You can see a link here to pre-order the book: https://www.amazon.com/New-Horizons-Wandering-Shirin-Sahba/dp/1452160457

As for my new painting: a chance meeting occurs in a beautiful cactus garden. The delicate succulent shades of aquamarine greenish blue melt gently into a glowing sky. Inspired by my favorite cactus gardens in both Barcelona & Arizona.

This painting measures at 31.5" in diameter on a handmade circular canvas stretcher. All inquires are welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

Le Jardin II

A gardener in green rides her bicycle with a plant in tow. This vibrant garden is another playful hommage to Henri Matisse & to the blue & beautiful gardens of Majorelle in Marrakech. 

This painting is done in acrylic paint on 80 x 80 cm handmade stretcher canvas & is available FOR SALE. All inquiries are welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

A Reverie in Pink

A gardener & her eager apprentice are busy tending to the cacti on a warm rose coloured day. Inspired yet again by Marrakech's Jardin Majorelle as well as Barcelona's Montjuïc Cactus Garden. 

This painting is 80 x 80 cm in size & is available for sale, all inquiries welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

You're Growing Up Too Fast

Sometimes life as a mama reminds us that things are moving ahead a little more quickly than we'd like...A painting inspired by the colours of Frida Kahlo's Mexico, & the embroidery of the Otomi people; an indigenous tribe inhabiting the central Mexican Plateau (Altiplano) region of Mexico. 

This painting 80 x 80 cm in size. All inquiries are welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

The Road to Cadaqués

First, a bit of news: I have a NEW website! Take a look at www.shirinsahba.com. There is a NEW limited edition print shop included as well!!

Also, here is my new painting:

Having spent a lot of summer & spring exploring the glittering coast here of Costa Brava, I have been exploring their white washed & multi-coloured scenes again & again. The winter here has been mostly blue skies & lovely weather, so I am already plotting my return...This painting is 31.5." in diameter, all inquiries are welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

The Gardener of Majorelle

This painting is directly inspired by the surreal & lovely Le Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech, a beautiful garden that belonged to Yves Saint Laurent until his passing. 

For years I have chased the ephemeral & virtually non-existent International Yves Klein blue paint which the deceased & famous artist Yves Klein invented using high concentrations of ultramarine pigment. Golden Acrylic Paints agreed to make me a custom batch of what they think is the closest match to the original Yves Klein blue.  I thought it should be befitting to use it for this particular painting since it is inspired by two Yves'. It was a challenge to photograph it accurately since it was so saturated & vivid in real life. This painting 31.5" in diameter & is SOLD.

A Spectrum of Daydreams

Unbeknown to each other, worlds are about to collide in a landscape of vibrant colours...The shapes in the ground have a gold leaf effect that changes luminosity & hues depending on time of day. 

This painting is 45 cm x 140 cm in size & is available FOR SALE. All inquiries are welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

Cactus Blues

This mysterious couple are hidden behind their pots of succulents. Inspired yet again by the magical cactus gardens of Montjuïc here in Barcelona, & my days spent as a teenager sketching hundreds of varieties of succulents in an eccentric horticulturists' green house.  

This painting is 31.5" in diameter (80 cm) & is SOLD.

Adoration & The Olive Trees

A mama & child are enjoying the fresh sweet air of the orchard as another child plays in the tree nearby; watching nature through binoculars. I have always been captivated by the magic of olive trees in all their beauty. There are corners of the Mediterranean where the orchards are seemingly untouched for centuries.

This painting is painted on a 31.5" (80 cm) in diameter handmade stretcher canvas made by artisans here in Barcelona, & is available FOR SALE. All inquires are welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

Stargazer

This budding astronaut is letting her imagination soar as she explores new worlds...A tribute to the child girl, a subject that has been on my mind in following the news all over the world; from child marriages, to genocide, to real life accounts of daily harassment & struggle, I look forward to the day when we can let her just be a child...Also an hommage to Joan Miró, one of my favorite artists since childhood.. 

This painting is 31.5" in diameter & is available FOR SALE. All inquiries welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

Within You Without You

Another birthday of yours has arrived mama. I can't help think of what it would have been to have a mama around to help with all the things that only you could help with. I find myself drowning in questions hanging about the air of life without you around to impart your wisdom. Miró always asks about you as if keenly aware that you have just left & wasn't there to see you go...But one beautiful gift this has given me is to seek you out in all the amazing women there are in this colourful world. I have so many interesting new friends because of you, each one cares in different ways, each one loves your grandson in their own way, & together this sea of beautiful women can maybe just maybe fill the magnificent gigantic vacant hole of your physical singular presence.
*A photo of you pregnant with your beloved firstborn. I've always loved this photo of you. 

Colours of Menorca

She looks out from her rooftop with her loyal friend by her side atop a typical Menorcan house, basking in the pastels that are aglow in the sunset. Inspired by summer days spent in this jewel of an island & it's incredible skies.

This painting is 31.5" in diameter on a handmade stretcher canvas & is available FOR SALE. ll inquiries are most welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com!

Lost in The Olive Grove

Meandering through the fragrant olive groves of the Mediterranean was one of my favorite pass times as a child. When olive season would come around I would watch with curiosity as the older folks came batting the olives off the trees with sticks & gathering them in baskets. This painting is an homage to André Derain & the Fauvists with all their marvelous use of blues & reds.

This painting is acrylic on a 30" x 30" handmade stretcher canvas & is available SOLD.

Conversations with a Peacock

​Some subjects are better left to the discretion of a fine winged companion...A direct nod to the Mughal Empire miniatures with their delicate finery & royal portraits. Beneath the opalescent sky, you will find hidden some jewel-like tropical parrots peeking out from between intricately detailed banana leaves. This painting is a 31.5" circular painting on a handmade stretcher canvas & is available FOR SALE. Please inquire at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

Head in The Clouds

His feet are planted firmly on the ground, but oblivious to this earthly life with his head in the clouds...The ground is abloom with pink cacti!  I have been crossing over into a more surreal approach after spending some time in Dalí's home in Cadaqués this summer, inspired by the incredible beauty & stark shadows of a very sunny Costa Brava. 

This painting is on a 31.5" in diameter circular shaped stretcher canvas & is available FOR SALE. All inquiries welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com.

Levitating as Usual

There are some rare people I've come across who are never quite of this earthly plane to begin with, defying gravity...Always with one eye to the heavens! This painting has a luminous quality to it, with a opalesque-coloured sky that changes hues depending on the light of day.  

This painting is on a 31.5" in diameter circular shaped canvas & is available FOR SALE. All inquiries welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com. 

On Her Shoulders

There are moments in childhood that we can never forget, feeling like we can conquer the world & seeing everything on the shoulders of giants... The shapes in the ground have a gold-leaf quality & change colour in different times of day depending on how they catch the light.

This painting is 31.5" in diameter & is available FOR SALE. All inquiries welcome at shirinsahba @gmail.com. 

Aerial Bliss

From my series of paintings celebrating parenthood with all it's pure expressions of joy & love. Inspired yet again to capture raw emotions & moods in the same tradition as the masters of colorfield painting who inspired me so in childhood; such as Berkowitz & Rothko to name a few. The shapes in the ground have a gold-leaf quality & change colour in different times of day depending on how they catch the light.

This painting is 31.5" in diameter, & is available for sale SOLD.

Beyond The Hibiscus

Respect for ancestors & spiritual tradition is an inescapable part of daily life in Thailand. Even in the most remote of villages you can see the little post box size "spirit houses" they place outside of each home in brightly painted colours & gold where people lay fresh offerings daily for their relatives. I tried to capture the tropical fragrance & natural beauty that I saw in that sacred land. Temples are glittering in the distance & the locals are often dressed so beautifully even for the day to day business as usual. 

This painting is 31.5" inches in diameter, & is available for sale SOLD.