off to venice

gondola . 2009

venetian buildings . 2009

st. maria della salute church . 2009

along the canals . 2009

at st. marco square . 2009

at st. marco square (detail) . 2009

i'm off to venice tomorrow for a week and am super excited. this will be my second time going to attend the beinnale. i always knew i'd go back to venice in the near future, but never did i imagine that it would be so soon. besides the biennale, venice is one of the most beautiful places i've been to. it feels like you've walked into a painting. i remember getting lost with it's beauty, trying to sketch every corner of the city. i fell in love with venice the first time and i'm sure it's still as charming as ever. it is romantic, haunting, and beautiful. can't wait to be back...

floral investigations

calotropis procera . 2011

lawsonia inermis, ophioglossum polyphyllum & cistanche spp. . 2011

for a new project i'm working on, i've decided to start researching the vast plant world that's found in the arabian peninsula. even though i live in a desert, i've found out that there are more than just palm trees that grow here, adapting to a desert environment. it's been really interesting reading about the plant world. i've decided to sketch out some of the plants i found interesting, in it's simplest, geometric form. hopefully these sketches will develop into something quite interesting i have in mind. more updates to follow as the project progresses...

the kylie post

at kylie's 'aphrodite les folies' concert . london 2011

'fierce and mighty aphrodite' sketch . 2011

'fierce and mighty aphrodite' final . 2011

'fierce and mighty aphrodite' tee . 2011

this post was bound to happen eventually! as many of you know, i am probably the biggest fan of kylie minogue in dubai! i think it all started when my sisters used to constantly listen to her music while i was growing up. this probably nurtured the fan i have grown to become today. i've been to her shows, have all her cd's and follow her career religiously. as a designer, i also love the visuals behind the kylie brand. the talents of william baker (her creative director), tony hung of adjective noun (responsible for all the graphic design) and the rest of 'team kylie' are just inspiring. most importantly, her music is great, uplifting and pure pop. 

now here's a competition that was destined for me! after coming back from her amazing show in london, i was informed of a t-shirt design competition for a collaborative project between ms. minogue and the awesome fashion designers, dolce & gabbana. there was no doubt that i would submit a design for the contest! and what you see above is what i came up with. the theme of the contest is simply the current 'aphrodite les folies' tour, which i have already experienced. my illustration is a personal interpretation of the show, and the visuals i found most memorable at the concert. i've got my fingers crossed and i hope to win. and if kylie minogue ever sees this, i hope she likes what she sees...

if you want to help me win the contest and make a dream come true, you can vote by heading to the link here - http://t.co/6YpBjco. 

krossbreed tees...so far...

windtowers tee . 2010

khalid says relax tee . 2011

kashkha tee . 2010

so i finally took some decent pictures of my tees which i can disseminate if needed. thanks to my dear friend and fashion expert zahra (from www.lylalovesfashion.com), who is apparantly an amazing photographer, i now have a series of photographs that represent my t-shirt line on a positive note (modeled by yours truly!). looking at the designs i have so far, even though they are of a small quantity, i am so proud of what i have achieved so far in less than a year, and can't wait to take it to the next level and create new designs, and continue to let krossbreed grow...

10 years since st. marys

an ode to high school . 2010

its been 10 years since i graduated from st. mary's catholic high school. and i must admit, catholic school really did live up to every stereotype in existence! at the time it did feel pretty miserable being there for 13 very long years of my early life! but looking back, i do miss being there (partially!). what i really miss the most is how simple life was when i was younger.

to all my friends that i still know and to those that i have lost touch with, to all the nuns and teachers who made sure our lives were miserable with good intentions, to my sisters who went through what i did before me, i dedicate this post to you all, and most importantly, to st. mary's high! thank you for looking after me when i hated you the most, and for always being a part of who i am today.

as wise as an owl...

wisdom . 2011

here's an illustration i made that communicates how with age, comes wisdom. we tend to look at our elders as wise people who've experieced so much more then we have. with the phrase 'as wise as an owl' as my starting point, i wanted to make a visual connection between the elderly and owls. sometimes i feel the traditional headress the female emirati elders wear (called the burqaa) can visually resemble a beak. so i couldn't help but illustrate how our elders are our real 'wise owls'! even though sometimes owls are symbols of bad luck in middle eastern cultures, i wanted to look at the positive, and give a sense of anticipating my wisdom as i age over the years...