PrettyGreenBullet

September 20, 2021 Continue reading

storybook eves & patterns

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new painting } a miserable visit

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to downsize or not to downsize

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I’m working on this particular puzzle because I miss England so much. littleI’m currently working on this little painting.

don’t forget, but forget about

October 17, 2020, part one

October 17, 2020, part two(more…)

Thursday, October 15, 2020 (more…)

in triplicate } the creation of unoriginal artwork #93

Dotty } The original.

Dotty } In duplicate.

Dotty } In triplicate.

En Route to Beirut.

Sometime in between.

Heading back to Kuwait

Walking to the printer’s with Laura. I love Beirut’s old buildings.

Pikachu.

No standing, no.

March 6 I meet Sylvette at Papercup and we visit the cemetery in Mar Mikhael.

Above Plan Bey is BeyT.

I can just imagine myself entertaining friends here. But of course I would have to have a substantial number of those.

I’m always attracted to mirrors.

Me and Sylvette.

Bosom buddies.

Later on I meet Laura for lunch.

March 8 I visit Tarek Moukaddem at his loft/studio.

Me in two mirrors, four arms.

March 8. This is where I live in my dream world. Laura’s place is next door. I borrow sugar and eggs from her all the time, the sugar brown and the eggs free-range.

March 9, I’m already a little tired of Beirut and need to reconnect with who I am, so I paint rainbow squiggles on my right leg.

March 9, party time! We begin our night at Mirzam, then Metro El Madina…

…and cap it off with kanafeh sandwiches. I regret not even tasting the thing.

March 10, breakfast of kings, best remedy for a you-know-what.

March 10, later on dinner at Abed Alkadiri’s studio. He cooked, we ate.

Back to my roots on March 11.

I paint Laura’s back on March 12.

Outside is Beirut.

March 14 I fly home to a monochromatic Kuwait. But I miss it when I leave and it’s always good to be back.

Thursday, February 22: Ayesha and me after recording a special ‘Loving Kuwait’ episode for the February 25/26 National Day celebrations.

Click here for Ayesha’s Loving Kuwait podcast.

Later that day our way to the desert; it looked like Desert Storm.

My grandma Mama Fatma and me, cozy in a desert gazebo.

This is my sister Yasmine, mom, dad and me. I think they were pleasantly surprised to see their daughters at the campsite.

My grandma’s in there somewhere.

Getting the fire stoked for a late night barbecue. We left before dinner was served (at midnight!).

Friday morning, feeling peaceful and content. For some reason I had a surge of optimism that led to nothing.

This morning I took Khaldoun and Tareq, Jamie and her daughters Safyre and Sabel to the beach.

I love the color of moss. I looked at these and pretended they were giant cliffs forming parts of the coast of England.

Sometimes I wish i could shrink a little.

Green ❤

Jamie watches peacefully over the kids.

Is the park trying to tell me something?

Building an ‘airplane’.

On our way to the Serengeti.

Nap time. First one to pass out was me.

I’ve come to the conclusion that most disappointing days land on a Wednesday, even though today has been a pretty OK day.

The Hardness (and Softness) of Sex, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 110 x 100 cm

I created The Hardness (and Softness) of Sex a few weeks ago in an attempt to deconstruct (and possibly destruct) Eve. I wanted to experiment with unfamiliar shapes while further exploring my curiosity about colors and their relationship with each other. But also, it was a reaction to a book I had just finished: Resistance: My Life for Lebanon by Soha Bechara. I read the book in a day (short read but also gripping). I was both mortified and comforted by her resilience and strength to survive the harshest and cruelest of conditions. One particular scene that got to me was her placement in solitary confinement and the exercises she did to help herself cope with the loneliness, boredom and claustrophobia of her situation. How would I deal if I were in such a predicament? These thoughts and feelings were transferred to my painting, through the act of scratching. Because that’s what I’d do if someone put me in a box. I’d try to claw myself out-physically, emotionally, spiritually. Scratch, scratch, scratch.

‘Hardness’ with a chair, snake plant, candle and lavender-filled fish. And a rug.

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Silence of Noise, 2019, acrylic and oil pastels on canvas, 100 x 120 cm

I felt that Hardness was a painting that needed a companion so I created Silence of Noise for that reason. Plus I missed painting faces (after just two abstract pieces, one of which I have yet to post here!).

I started the black and white face weeks before adding the colored one. I had something else in mind, but things rarely go as planned with me.

I called it ‘Silence of Noise’, but in reality it felt more like Silence VS Noise. I was avoiding checking my messages because of one I knew would come but which I didn’t want to deal with. So the night I painted this I asked myself the question: do I want silence tonight or noise? I opted for the former so decided to hold off checking my messages.

In my room with a couple of cushions by Zeri Crafts.

With Eve and me.

The two go together I think. But they also stand strongly apart.

We are psychedelic.

it’s you, not me, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 70 cm

Sometimes men hurt me.

No. Many times men hurt me. But most of all I hurt myself. And it’s now time to fix this broken Ghadah, seriously. I’m seeing a therapist and I’m approaching my healing process (the one I should’ve started six or so years ago) with the gusto of someone about to assemble a new piece of IKEA furniture. It will be systematic, deliberate, pragmatic and full of note-taking. I’m getting an A+ on this, you’ll see.

It always starts with color-blocking. I’ve felt this blah and uninspired about creating. But sometimes life sends a catalyst your way.

Still not inspired. I need to travel soon.

Finally something. But to be honest, I need something new.

Something sort of like this. My son Khaled and I have been playing around with my drawings/paintings and his programing app Unity Engine.

And done. I decided that Eve will grow old with me. And also, how about this streak in my hair? I usually part my hair right to left, so was surprised at how cool the other side looked! I decided to give her a similar stripe.

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hurricane pm | my life from october to october | exhibition opening

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