eve

eve . 2014

eve original sketch . 2014

eve at 'what do you hear?' for sikka . 2014

for dubai's 2014 art season (also known as march madness!), i kept my contribution to a minimum because of the extreme workload in the office at tashkeel. but any contribution is good i think!

for this year, i was invited to participate in reiner erlings first curated exhibition titled 'what do you hear?'. a short music piece was created by the reiner erlings team which was then shared with the contributing artists. each artist had to visually interpret the music and create an art piece which would be showcased at the sikka art fair.

my submission is the illustration you see above. titled 'eve', my piece is based on a female figure conceived from listening and interpreting characteristics from the music piece; a woman that is mysterious, mythical and magical. eve is tragic, sensual and seductive. a woman controlled, but in control.

for the presentation of my piece, i tried a different way of framing then usual. I presented eve as if in a space with depth, creating a box frame, where you peer inside to catch a glimpse of eve inside a dark space.

with a short timeframe to work with, i think i did quite a good job with the illustration. i absolutely loved the presentation of the framing and will definitely look into framing in a similar way on future pieces if relevant.

thank you to the reiner erlings family for inviting me to be a part of the project. looking forward to seeing it grow and hopefully will be a part of it in the near future.

72 by hues

72 by hues hotel minarets prints . 2013 

minarets prints at 72 by hues hotel (photograph by nikolas margaritis) 

i was approached by the girls from capsule arts to create artworks for a new boutique hotel recently opened in sharjah; 72 by hues. 72 by hues is a contemporary, stylish hotel which uses colour and vibrancy as a theme throughout its spaces. along with other commissioned artists, i was asked to contribute works that follow a similar criteria and submit pieces that relate to the culture of sharjah and hotel theme. 

working closely with capsule arts on the client's brief, i submitted revamped versions of an artwork i did years ago as an evite for ramadan (read post here). the final artworks worked well for the hotel as it relates to the culture of sharjah, using minarets as a main element in the artworks (sharjah being well known as a conservative, religious city) but presenting it in a abstract, contemporary way and using vibrant, pop colours.

the prints are currently up and on display at the hotel. if anyone does drop by, do make sure to check them out. i will definitely have to make a visit myself very soon.

thank you capsule arts for the opportunity. glad to have my artworks on display in a cool hotel.

diy zine workshop by me

diy zine workshop with khalid mezaina . 2014

it's the beginning of a new year, which means new projects ahead.

first in line for 2014 is a workshop i'm running at the magazine shop titled 'diy zine workshop' on wednesday, 15 january. due to positive feedback, & amazing results, from last month's workshop at the magazine fair, the team behind the magazine shop & i are bringing the workshop back for a second time, hopefully making this a bi-monthly event.

if you're interested in learning how to create your own low brow zine, then this is the workshop for you. all you need to bring with you is aed 20, & a mind full of creative ideas! to register, just send me an email.

for more information on the workshop, click here. looking forward to seeing you on the 15th.

i leave you with a quick inspirational gif of a result from the last workshop; a beautiful, abstract zine designed by sama. i absolutely love this & hope you do too. 

zine by sama . 2013

happy holidays from krossbreed

merry xmas . 2013

a quick post wishing all the krossbreed lovers a merry christmas with family & loved ones.

looking back, 2013 was a whirlwind of a year. looking forward to what the new year has to offer & hoping we have a great 2014 together.

happy holidays everyone. god bless...

krossbreed at the magazine fair

krossbreed at the magazine fair . 2013

if you have nowhere to be this coming saturday 7 december 2013, then head to the archive at safa park for the magazine fair, organized by the team behind the magazine shop.

the magazine fair is a fun outdoor one day event showcasing publications from the middle east who will be running their own stalls featuring their publications along with other scheduled activities. other participants include independent organizations & creatives who will be running their own activities on their very own stalls. also at the fair will be live music, & a bbq station to make it an enjoyable afternoon out.

i will be at the magazine fair with my own stall selling krossbreed products, including tees, notebooks, prints & more. i will also be running a diy zine workshop between 1-3pm where participants will learn & have fun creating a limited run of copies of their very own low brow, handheld fanzines.

for more information on the magazine fair, head to the link here.

& for more information on my participation at the fair & how to be a part of the workshop, head here.

looking forward to seeing you all at the magazine fair...

zeinab

zeinab . 2013

zeinab stamp + print . 2013

over the weekend, capsule arts set up a pop up shop inviting seven of their featured artists to work live in their space, interact with visitors & sell a limited selection of art & design objects. the pop up shop was to coincide with quoz happens, a one day art festival in dubai's industrial area which is home to the city's largest selection of art galleries & institutions.

i was one of the participants at the capsule arts pop up shop, showcasing my prints (which are available for sale here), along with a selection of krossbreed tees, notebooks, & a live stamp print station of a new illustration created just for the event.

i created an illustration inspired by one of my favorite illustrators, patrick nagel. i then created a stamp out of the illustration, which i used to make live prints for visitors interested in having one. i personally loved the print quality, giving a unique finish to each.

i titled the piece 'zienab' as a dedication to my close friend zeinab, who i think shares a resemblance to the girl in the drawing!

edison marries nefertiti

edison marries nefertiti logo gif . 2013

edison marries nefertiti gif . 2013

edison marries nefertiti screen printing process . 2013

edison marries nefertiti . 2013

edison marries nefertiti pack . 2013

november is here which means uae's art season has started. and first in line is the capital's abu dhabi art fair.

once again, fate has led me to this year's edition & i am contributing to the fair in a small but impactful way (i hope!).

this year's fair programming includes a section called the design souq, focusing on local designers, artisans & crafts.

one of the many participants in the design souq is one of uae's imaginative & friendliest creatives in town, nasir nasrallah. his lighthearted, brilliant project, the story machine, is back (previously showcased at this year's art dubai), showcasing limited edition 15 x 15 cm prints from seven uae based graphic designers. 

i am fortunate to be one of the seven designers participating in this project. nasir created & provided a list of arabic stories to choose from. i chose the simple story 'edison marries nefertiti'! the technique used to create my run of thirty limited edition prints was screen printing. i created a simple illustration of both thomas edison & queen nefertiti, & also created an iconic graphic to represent this 'marriage' (a light bulb, representing edison, & the sun god aten, representing nefertiti)! the portrait illustrations were screen printed first, then the logo & arabic typography were screen printed over. i also decided to include the logo on the outside of the envelope, to create a visual teaser of what's inside the envelope. also included in the pack are badges, which have the logomark.

if you want to get a hold of your very own pack, make sure to head to abu dhabi art, and look for nasir nasrallah's story machine located in the design souq. each print is on sale for a reasonable aed 200, hand signed & numbered. the fair runs until 23 november.