Chez Ambereena

Mindfulness underrated

2020-04-22T17:23:00.000-04:00

Being mindful is what we should be focusing on these days.

Mindful – to be aware, to live in the moment, not sharing it with another moment or experience. Experiencing it fully and immersing oneself in it.

In this age of technology, we are so caught up in our screens that we have almost forgotten to fully enjoy a moment. Everything needs to be instagrammed… snapped….boomeranged….and in doing so, we tend to focus only on filters and the number of likes or views. That special moment is then forgotten. It now only exists on your wall, to be reminded by the internet a year later, and we smile at how lovely the filter looks. It's now one of the myriad flotsam and jetsam floating away in the sea that is the internet.

My husband says to our kids… “use your eye cameras”. He’s right. It’s so important to have the ability to capture the moment in your mind and make it a memory that you will recall and smile at when you are alone someday without a screen to access your memories. This can come only with mindfulness.

I remember how I once experienced this without even knowing what being mindful meant. Standing on Montagne St. Victoire inhaling and exhaling. I didn’t click any pictures of that iconic mountain. But in my mind’s eye, it’s as clear as now. When I close my eyes, I can feel the warm, fragrant wind caressing my skin, and the sun’s heat pinching my cheeks, forehead, and chin. I remember my orange Doc. Martens- my comfortable companions helping me hike on this mountain whose colours changed from a light gold to a grey to an almost bleached white. I remember the company of my friends, our laughter, and lame French jokes echoing into the wind.

I was mindful.

I was immersed.

I was one with the environment.

‘I’ ceased to exist in that moment.

And now when I recall it time and again, I am able to reexperience it fully.

The memory came back to me as I was flipping through an old book on Impressionism and the same feeling hit me when I saw one of Paul Cezanne’s many renderings of this beauteous mountain. I could see where I stood on that mountain in his painting. In his mindfulness, he had captured the entire experience with his brushstrokes. He had so aptly captured the temperature, the light, the flora, and his mood. My heart raced as my own experience came back to me in vivid detail.

It reminded me that in order to fully appreciate someone or something or a feeling, one needs to be in that headspace of complete awareness of that moment. And because I had experienced the same environment as Cezanne, I understood his mood whilst he painted St. Victoire.

So now, guilty, busy typing away on my laptop while my little Jennah sits next to me telling me in her wittle baby voice “Mooooommmmyyyyy, I waaaaant tooooo huuuug yooooo” I have decided to stop, turn off the laptop and immerse myself in her huge brown eyes and let her laughter wash over me.

Time to make more memories.

40 Rotations after Ashura

2019-10-18T12:35:00.000-04:00

After 40 rotations of the earth,

40 million leave home and hearth,

Barefoot, running, yearning, chanting,

Labbayka ya Hussain.

The multiverse grieves,

Suns collapse, moons wane and disappear,

Nebulae shift, black holes appear,

Stars fall in deep dolor

Every Muharram, every Safar.

Yet mother Earth is still here,

In extraordinary pain,

In insurmountable shame,

Made to drink the blood of martyrs,

Made to witness, forced to bear,

The fruits of suffering in Karbala.

So now speaks the daughter of Abuturaab (1):

"In the Forty circumambulations I made,

Around Karbala's scorching sun,

Aal Mohammed's worth I saw,

Degraded, impaled, abused and wronged.

Under tents like forest fires, I burned,

Shrieks of wounded innocence, I heard,

Blood and tears, severed limbs,

Beauty everywhere.

I cradle Asghar in my bosom,

I hold together pieces of Qasim,

I nurture Akbar's mangled body,

I bear all this silently.....

while,

Weeping for Abbaas' helplessness,

Filling the Furat with my tears,

Mourning Hussain's loneliness,

Under the tread of zawwar, for years.

And then I bore the weight

of that journey,

From the terrain of distraught,

To the glimmering court of ignominy,

I moaned and lamented shamefully,

While my sister Zainab said,

"I see nothing but beauty".

And then I did echo in grief,

The cries in the dungeons inside of me,

"Baba, abi, ya waaladi,

It hurts everywhere,

Please, put me to sleep". (2)

Another tiny grave was dug,

Sakina’s bed for eternity,

Sajjad's tears soaked through me,

A brother's shattered heart, buried in me.

I'm still here, oh wretched mankind,

Cringing under your myriad sins,

Imprinting every misstep, deed unkind,

On the sands of time, on these lands of mine.

Your secrets, one day, I will reveal,

And shame you, as you have shamed me.

Abuturaab- father of the earth
this verse is both Bibi Sakina (a.s) and mother Earth complaining to their respective fathers, Imam Hussain (a.s) and Imam Ali (a.s)

Paradise found

2018-02-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

It's no easy feat, finding that headspace again, the blissful one that we're in usually rarely. It won't come easy and when it does, we're lucky if it stays long enough. And the ungrateful humans that we are, we lose all sense of the importance of this bliss and take it for granted... until it's no longer there.

I had lost my blissful headspace, my paradise, had come crashing down some years ago. Those who know me know my story... only this time, it wasn't I who was ungrateful.

I searched hard and I searched long.

So, on the 10th of January, at 8:15 am, she lay in my arms umbilical cord still attached.

I have not felt this happy in a very, very long time.

I had lost my Paradise... and now it is found... My Jannah is here.

A lifetime of sajda to my Creator will not suffice for this gift He has given me.

Alhamdulillah.

Black Positively

2014-12-31T17:44:00.000-05:00

I dreamt last night while asleep restlessly,

Of a painting I had painted, apparently.

Blackness overpowered a layered background,

The kind a nyctophile would be around,

Like heavy rain on a dark, black night,

The calligraphic 'Allah' glowed in white,

And unseen symbols scattered around,

Of beige, off- white and lapis ground.

The emotions felt were of immense relief,

That Allah is present in the darkest grief,

That unknown beings are sent to guide,

Light forms, Dakini, positive minds.

Dark negatives and imagined scenes,

Are the 'Sharri waswaasi khannaas'* it seems,

Veils of lies cast upon

a vulnerable mind trying to hang on,

Not giving in, fighting on, climbing up and moving on.

Black it was before He said 'Be',

Black, the shroud of all mystery,

Black, the source of the colours of life,

In black He is, the source of light.

*the evil of the whisperings of the slinking (Shaitan).

(Qur'an, Surah An-Nas, Verse 4)

~Ambereena Razvi

For Ali Mahdi - 'Piece of Paradise'

2014-03-18T22:46:00.000-04:00

For Ali Mahdi - 'Piece of Paradise'
40 x 60 cms
Colouring pencils on white card

هيهات منا الذلة

2014-01-14T01:23:00.001-05:00

هيهات منا الذلة

I saw her scattered all over the sidewalk….

Hijab askew.

White before, now of a red hue.

‘Haithaath minna dhilla’, escaped her lips

Before she closed her eyes,

And slept in bliss.

I see a child crouched a little further….

Head buried in her hands,

Longing for her mother

Who died fighting for her honour

‘Haihaath minna dhilla’, she hears the chant and feels the power.

I see the old man,

His white beard soaked in blood,

Protecting his kin,

His clothes torn, his mind worn,

‘Haihaath minna dhilla’ - to himself he has sworn

I see the youth,

Some still fighting,

Retaliating an oppression,

Refusing to live in disgrace and depression,

They wake up every morning,

Shedding their blanket of dreams of freedom,

Stopping to take a breath - seldom,

‘Haihaath minna dhilla’running through their blood,

Never to give in,

Minds made up.

I see me

Painting their troubles,

Painting their pain,

Telling their tales,

‘Haihath minna dhilla’, running through my veins.

-Ambereena Razvi

For my Forefather

2013-11-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

I am a dust particle

the one that floats aimlessly.....

maybe guided

maybe oblivious

I am one of numerous

of your sons and daughters

one unworthy of your attention

yet one who seeks it

I am of you,

of your lineage,

a bit of the remaining dust...

dusted away by the Sculptor's hand

Floating away aimlessly...

maybe guided,

Oblivious.

(A monologue with Imam Ridha (a.s), from 'Monologues with my Forefathers - by Ambereena Razvi)

The Voluntary Sacrifice

2013-11-15T21:52:00.002-05:00

The Voluntary Sacrifice

This project started as a lesson plan on Ballad and Elegy writing for my grade 7 class. In two days, I ended up writing this twelve-page Elegy for the Martyrs of Karbala. I and my grade 7 students recited it on the 9th of Muharram in school. Hats off to my students for memorizing my elegy within a week and giving a stellar performance. Inshallah, I will post the video of our performance very soon. In the meantime, do watch my recitation by clicking on the link above.

Evolve!!

2013-11-01T17:05:00.001-04:00

It's time to move on to a higher level of consciousness,

Before stagnation sets in and we start to get restless

I can't help but think, how akin we are to trees- growing, shedding,

Sometimes standing strong, sometimes due to strong winds- bending, breaking...

Evolution is a constant, it cant be stopped,

for some it comes as an epiphany, while unfortunately,

some adopt

An ignorant stance in a world of oblivion,

and continue to live life like a chameleon,

changing their colours, changing their opinion,

No depth in their thinking - Ego's dominion,

Not progressing but regressing, insulting their intellect

and their existence by showing continuous disrespect,

to the self and other's for lack of thought,

the lack of love and the lack of not

willing to see another's point of view,

but instead, focusing on their skin's hue,

his turban, her hijab, his kippah, her cross,

his beard, her stance never to toss,

her veil, her right, her identity,

What do you want? Can't you see?

Do you actually think you will succeed?

Oppression has always seen an end, indeed.

The right to BE cannot be taken,

Please try to understand and awaken,

Let it be Love that lives in your heart,

Squash your Ego, make a new start.

~Ambereena Razvi

(I wrote this in response to some nasty comments a young Sikh kid was subject to regarding his identity on a public forum. I cannot stand people with such rotten mentalities. This was written to shut them up.... and shut up they did!)

NUMB

2013-09-19T20:51:00.003-04:00

We don't know where to look anymore

We keep turning away

and furthermore,

we have the audacity to say,

"Ignorance is bliss....."

C'est la vie! mon cheri,

No use pursuing this!"

Bliss in Ignorance.

adopt this indifference

We've frozen our emotions...

Nothing clawing at our conscience..

Cold

Fear

steer clear

of bad news,

images of orphans and reds of myriad hues,

Look away.....

WE have nothing to do with it!!!

Why feel another's pain....

There's nothing to freakin' gain!!!!

Ashamed.....

We sit in the dark....

rocking ourselves,

trying to soothe our heart,

our souls and our minds...

Disunion tears them apart..........

"I'm sorry sweetheart!!

It don't work that way no more....

Stop pretending

Face the dying roar"....

Jiminy Cricket* is here....

And he's gonna make you look -

- don't fear

He's gonna make you cry and scream

He'll chirp all night long,

until in your dream

the souls of the dead haunt you,

Screams come through

dear Lord! they cut through

your soul

until you awaken,

sobbing, broken

helpless.... to help the helpless,

confronting your worst nightmare

wringing your hands, grasping your hair

gasping for air

Helpless

Numb.

~Ambereena Razvi

*Jiminy Cricket: The liar's conscience (Pinocchio)

Underwater Mural

2013-03-29T01:41:00.000-04:00

The theme of the Science Fair this year at Wali ul Asr was 'Water'. I did a 20 x 12 foot (approx) mural of this under water scene in about 5 days (counting only the hours). Alhamdulillah, it was a huge hit. Initially all the attendees thought it was printed. It was humbling to hear their collective gasps when the school announced that it was hand painted.

Some of my students were eager to help...so I let them help me with the sea bed and a couple of other areas...Their excitement was contagious :)

I love painting murals.....Would love to do many more, inshallah.

Note to my son: Dear AM. You were on my mind throughout the process of this painting. I painted this for you... and for your Namesake. Love you always.

In the name of Nirbhaya......

2012-12-29T14:26:00.002-05:00

Nirbhaya/ Amaanat/ Damini/ India's Daughter/Brave-heart: All names given to a 23 year old Indian girl who was brutally gang raped /violated by 6 men. No point writing about the gruesome details here....If you Google her 'given' names, you'll find a plethora of detailed and articulate articles about her and the massive stir she has caused in the world, especially amongst the women.

I totally agree with the women in India...The 'woman' in Indian culture has been worshiped on one hand and looked down upon, violated and taken for granted on the other. The dominating, self -proclaimed, patriarchal, hypocrite society of India has let down every single woman by ignoring her violators time and again....

A thousand women have been raped before 'Nirbhaya'.....A woman is raped every 22 minutes ..... and it took a Nirbhaya to die a horrifying, gruesome death to evoke a cry of 'ENOUGH' .. like a wounded animal from the women of India.

I am thoroughly depressed....

There is only one thing though, that I do not agree with...and this has nothing to do with Nirbhaya...It's a different topic altogether...

It's about what most of the young girls have said after this incident. ' every time we go out, we feel like we are a piece of meat' ' It doesn't matter what I wear, men have no right to look at us'.

I'm sorry ladies!! If women walk about wearing indecent clothes and expect illiterate men of poor upbringing(who make up most of the population) to look away and not stare....or eve-tease....or touch or worse, rape, they are asking for too much....the responsibility lies upon a woman's shoulders to dress modestly in order to be respected by all classes of men....if you are really desperate to ape the West and show off your lovely bodies, and still expect to be respected by every class of man, then I'm sorry, these are men... not zombies....and this is the East....not the West. Here, we nurture a woman's beauty and not expose it for all sorts to lech at.

I'm not judging Nirbhaya here....nor any other decent girl who was unfortunately raped....I'm only talking of the class of uneducated men who have been brought up in slum clusters, who are used to seeing their womenfolk work like dogs and come home to be beaten up by their fathers/husbands/brothers, their money blown away on cheap alcohol......Educated girls cannot expect any kind of sensitivity or respect from these slum bred men. It's too late..and impossible to 'sensitize' them or educate them about women and their rights.

Respect for a woman is taught from a young age, and these people are deprived of everything...an education, a proper upbringing, employment, health....They are a people drowned in different types of complexes who know they don't have power over anything. The only thing they think they can control are their women...They are a dangerous people.... with a dangerous mentality.

Therefore, a request to my fellow sisters, don't throw the responsibility of 'lowering the gaze' only on such men...We as women are already beautiful creatures....God has created us this way - BEAUTIFUL, ATTRACTIVE fully clothed, so what are you all trying to achieve by exposing your bodies or masking your natural beauty with make up?....it only attracts wrong attention and degrading remarks from such men ((sometimes)....if it happens to be at the wrong time/ wrong place).

It's just unfortunate that we have such disgusting, pathetic excuses for men within the government making comments like ' women are 'dented/painted'. It's shocking to hear such words from an educated man like Abhijeet Mukherjee. But that's my point....Most men from the East think like this....they can't help it.

May God protect all of us from men who have no control over themselves and their egos and hats off to those who stand by today's women in India and support them and fight for their rights.

Prophet Mohammed (s.a) said: " Nobody respects women but those who are dignified and generous and nobody insults them but those who are mean and contemptible".

Interfaith Hussain Day - Wali ul Asr

2012-12-15T13:40:00.000-05:00

Wali ul Asr school - The first Shia High school in Canada held the Interfaith Hussain (s.a) Day on the 9th of December. It was an excellent evening with a great turn out. Art work by numerous talented artists and students was on display and was appreciated by all. There was a theatrical play based on the theme 'Halmin Nasirin Yansurna' - 'Is there anyone to help'. The message of the play was loud and clear and made everyone present feel proud of being part of Wali ul Asr.

Below is a painting (not one of my best works, as it was done in 4 hours) that I submitted for the Art exhibition - The painting depicts me and my son on the land of Karbala - The message being that I have only my son to give to my Imam...and that is where I'm pointing - to the battlefield....and to be in His service will be my only advise to my boy. The 'alam' in the paintings reads 'Labbaik ya Hussain' - 'We are here, Oh Hussain'

Labbaik ya Hussain

Here is the link for the play. DO watch it with your family.
https://picasaweb.google.com/waliulasrschool/InferfaithHusainASDayVideo?feat=email#5832569561617782066

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

I whirl

2012-05-30T19:42:00.003-04:00

In a world of chaos,

I whirl.

finding peace inside

connecting, strengthening...

Amongst egos

I whirl

escaping...

I raise my hands...one begging Him for mercy and love,

the other towards the earth...spreading this mercy and love.

I whirl.

Come whirl with me.

Feel the ecstasy

Shed the thick, stinking garb of your ego,
You have worn it too long....

Come and join me.

Let us reconnect again...

Become one as we were..

As we were meant to be.

~ Ambereena Razvi

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

[Image]

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

South Asian Heritage Exhibition

2012-05-26T02:15:00.001-04:00

So... this is my first group exhibition in Toronto. I'm looking forward to it...Also looking forward to meeting new folks and art aficionados.
To those living in Toronto, please do come. I would be so, so happy to see you there. To those out of Toronto, I will miss you and hope you can attend my next exhibition.

Update: The Exhibition went really great... Beautiful attendance, lovely people. Even my High School English teacher came!! My friends made it even better with their presence and loads of help. A Special Thank you to Mr. Fahim Hamid Ali for organising the exhibition and Salim Khan for helping me to transport and display my works alongside his.

'Come whirl with me'

with my besties... 'coz we're just way too cool. :p

with Samir Dossal - Art aficionado

C'est la vie!!

2012-05-07T00:15:00.002-04:00

The time from August 1st 2011 until now has been very, very trying for me. I have seen pretty steep ups and downs, experienced emotional trauma, have gone through short stagnant phases that seem as long as eternity...I have withstood all this chaos and feel stronger........ because Allah has always enveloped me with love, has consoled me at night when I lie down with a broken heart, by putting me to sleep before I shed a tear and given me comforting dreams. He has loved me in my worst state and through it, has brought out my best state...

And then I heard this:

Asafalta gheray tujhe, marg ho avirudh,
(When failure surrounds you, and your way with obstacles is strewn )
Paas na ho dhan teray aur karya ho apaar,
(When you have no wealth, and your goals seem unattainable)
Bhaag mat! kar prayaas, kar prayaas! bhaag mat
(Don't run!, keep trying, Keep trying! Don't run.)

Chaahe tu hasna, kintu aankhay ho numm,
(You want to smile, but your eyes fill with tears)
Bhaag mat! kar prayaas, kar prayaas, bhaag mat
(Don't run! Keep trying, Keep trying! dont run)

Peeda hi sukh hai...Sukh hi hai peeda...
(Pain is happiness, Happiness is pain)
Haar mein hi jeet hai, jeet mein hi haar,
(In failure is sucess and sucess in failure)
kar prayaas bhaag mat,
(Keep trying, dont run!
bhaag mat kar prayaas.
(Don't run, keep trying)

Amazing how God speaks to us in different ways, thru different people...

I met a very old Sardaarji on my way back to downtown from Brampton...I had my veil on. He sat next to me and said 'Asalaam alaikum बेटा (my child)'.. We started a conversation and he started telling me of his struggles in life....eventually to be left alone in the end.. He said ' बेटा , I have property and money but my children have left me'...Then he said....'No matter what बेटा , रब को याद करते रहो....उसे भूलो मत '(Always think of God.... Don't ever forget him). I knew that one was for me...a subtle reminder that Allah wants me to think of him constantly.

Allah, My beloved.......my true beloved....and my only beloved...You have put me in a realm of uncertainty, chaos and hurt. I mount the roller coaster everyday and come home tired on every level. But I still love you...Because I can feel you molding me....sculpting away the dirt....polishing away the impurities....In pain is happiness and in happiness is pain...I understand now.

Solitary promenades - a trail of intermittent thoughts

2011-12-23T03:11:00.002-05:00

Seul.....solo... solitary,
my soul's soliloquy,
A never ending ebullition,
sometimes an expostulation,
No suave speech here...
Just a flurry of brazen words, feelings, thoughts...
A sudden outburst
like Hokusai's great wave,
in my world of deafening silence....
Peace... or silent noise....
a confounding cacophony......

I just had a moment there,
with my soul...
bonding....
detaching...
where lies the connection..
between the mind and the soul?
Is it the heart?
or is it?.......

Another moment gone.
whisked away by the winds of change
fading footprints in the sands of my memoires..
shall I backtrack?
Is it worth it?
or shall I create a new trail
set off for another promenade...
an unending new beginning...

I want it to stop.
Ou est la fin?

Stop!

How many more metamorphosis must I go through?
Why?
I feel like Kafka's Gregor.
a temporary, recurrent phase, I know...
Can't wait to move on.
Barriers built of moods
a diversity of negatives
a myriad facettes
lost....
(oh!) To find,
Meta....physical beauty,

in shards.

It's time to put the shards together again,
bind them with the grout of hope
and ignore the pain.
and re-create a mosaic
knowing well that those shards will break - again,
into smaller pieces....
and the cycle goes on.
The soliloquy continues.

Behold!...a dream...
like Joseph's eleven stars and the moon paying obeicense in Van Gogh's starry vision,
I try to interpret my nightly visions
and visitations
of memories
of pain

interpretations....
a form of hope.
interpretations...

untrustworthy interpretations..

and the soliloquy goes on....
a never ending interpretation
of a a dreamworld we cannot avoid...
a dreamworld we call life.

The run

2011-10-09T10:09:00.043-04:00

I just got back from my 7am run. I ran past a tree on my way and the thought process began....

"Look how only a certain section of leaves on this tree have changed their colour from a monotonous green to beautiful shades of Autumn.... like they've been kissed by sun rays and have blushed.... like they are now 'falling' in love...only to be reborn again later.... a never ending process....We too are touched by many things in our lives...the sun rays that touch us are sometimes soft, sometimes harsh...sometimes it hurts, sometimes is lifts us up.. either way, we are touched... and we evolve. it is up to us to evolve into something more beautiful, so as to inspire others... like this tree inspired me....."

Autumn touched
( I painted this after I came home from
my run)

this morning's inspiration

I ran past a blue salvia bush....growing on the outside of a fence, almost in the pedestrians/joggers path...My thought process continued....

"Many people might get annoyed when something like this bush gets in their way...it might break their speed... their oblivious stance in life...There is a reason for that beautiful plant to grow there...It's speaking to you. ...'Stop!..look around you....I am beauty....I am you...we are all connected... we are one..'. Tomorrow, someone might uproot that bush....."

inspiration in my way......

I went past squirrels,..... so many of them.... Reminded me of us...only our basest of instincts are now the most important of all...Survival and reproduction.....not in that order.

We work endlessly, get in each others way, annoy each other, attack each other...and this is the disgusting truth....lesson learnt....

Our run in life is too fast...It is now all about competition...keeping up with the Joneses...Let's slow down....and enjoy what life has to offer each of us...instead of snatching from each other.

But the mot beautiful lesson was from the tree that stood naked ..no leaves protecting it... it had weathered all the storms, lived through many seasons, some harsh, some kinder. Its bark bearing the marks of the many challenges it faced....its bent, twisted limbs proof that life shaped it as per the Will of the Creator, and yet, it didn't lose its stance. Its arms still reached towards the heavens, always in prayer.

That humbled me.

Nature is most definitely the best teacher.

Enjoy your day my friends.... and keep an open heart.

Much love.

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

To my son - with love

2011-10-07T14:36:00.002-04:00

Dear Son.

As tears stream down my face, I write these words for you. I love you so much.... and I miss you even more. Circumstances are such that you are not sitting in my lap with your little arms around me. Every second I spend away from you is like a stab in my already broken heart. You are the light of my life...and this seperation has dimmed my world.
I know that the sacrifices we, your parents, are making will pay off eventually... as the sacrifices my parents have made are paying off.
This seperation probably will not even be in your 2 year old memory... but is eating away my peace of mind.
IF you ever read this when you're older and hopefully, I will be by your side when you do, I will tell you all about our struggles and prepare you... and guide you, to guide your progeny....Your name isn't Ali Mahdi* for no reason, my love.... Inshallah, may you always be rightly guided.

Portrait of my baby boy
Graphite pencils

*Meaning of Mahdi - The rightly guided one.

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Bollywood - Black and White

2011-10-07T01:50:00.002-04:00

So I'm back to practicing portraiture now. It's been quite some time and I'm really enjoying it. I figured that it would be best to draw well known faces. They are always around and tend to stay in ones mind.I, personally, find people from the black and white era of Bollywood to be extremely beautiful with highly expressive visages.
I'd picked up cheap graphite shading pencils from Sears, from the 'back to school' section and a thick sketch pad as well... I got down to it and couldn't stop.. I finished a portrait in about three hours. It's been fun. Can't wait to try out the dry brush technique though... Soon... :)

Meena Kumari
This tragedy queen had the softest, most sensitive face of all. She'd convey her feelings in silence, with downcast eyes and a philosophical frown.

Dilip Kumar
Dashing, debonair Dilip....One could easily sense the hopeless romantic under the egoistic facade.

Nargis
She'd put Narcissus to shame...Her face was labelled the most symmetrical face of that age.I love her classic, Greco-roman features.

Madhubala
No words for this one...She had one of those faces people couldn't stop staring at. Perfect features and an endearing personality.

More coming up here...Watch this space..

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Spiritual Reflections - My Debut Exhibition. (part i)

2011-08-11T13:04:00.014-04:00

Venue

Invitation Card

Inaugurated by Her Highness Sheikha Omniya Al-Sabah

R to L: Fahim Hamid Ali, Ambereena Razvi, Princess Omniya Al-Sabah, Shebina Amlani (organiser), Rashmi Khanna Sahani

With Sheikha Awrad Al- Sabah

To view more works by Mr.Fahim, check out his website: http://www.fahimhamidali.com/sitepages/gallery.html

Fahim Hamid Ali stood at the table with his hands jammed into his pocket, his hair carelessly falling over his forehead, attitude - nonchalant... allowing us to wander around the gallery and view his art works..Shades of the earth, mineral and metal....reminding us of verses from Iqbal and Ghalib's poetry....A lone moon here and a lonely peacock there... A mysterious arch here and a hint of calligraphy there... His works are very soothing... almost minimalist, yet speak volumes.
After my parents and I introduced ourselves, we sat at a table in the corner of the gallery and discussed Art and poetry...He saw a couple of my works on my iPhone and I suppose his 'trained eye' found them appealing....He asked me if I was ready for my debut exhibition... I was a little startled..." When do you want to plan it for?" , I asked. He said that May would be a good time for him...And that was it...
I thought the guy was bluffing...A few days later, I get an email from him....asking me if 30 of my works are ready to be displayed. I was seriously shocked.. This guy was really talking business now...I jumped up and ran to where my paintings were stored... I pulled out everything I had........ Wow...
My paintings were just lying in my huge portfolio case...Old calligraphies, still lives, landscapes, textured backgrounds...There were some incomplete works and some needed touching up.

I had to decide what theme to work around... The current scene of the world - political, emotional and spiritual is really something that needs to be reflected upon. So I pulled out my calligraphies. I'd done these while I was going through my noir (black) phase... Pierre Soulage and Hassan Massoudy were a huge inspiration. Most of these works were experiments, but now looked like complete masterpieces to me...

I decided to touch 'em up a bit. I had a series of 7 ( 70x100) calligraphic works in black and now my mind was bustling with ideas...I heard whispers in my head.. I could almost hear them telling me what to do...The injustice in this world is something I have always felt very passionately about....I cannot stand it. I find that I get depressed when I watch any sort of injustice happening... even more so when I find I can't do anything about it. So I decided that my painting would be a medium through which I could become a warrior of sorts... A silent warrior whose weapons were brushes, paints, sarcasm, paradoxes and wit. My armor would be my spirituality, my faith and my love for humanity. Armed now, I began painting fervently

On an almost black background,I started a collage of very negative words that have become a part of daily reading....Suicide, rape, terrorism, murder, political injustice, sectarian violence, etc. After the collage, I wrote 'Salaam' meaning 'Peace' in Arabic calligraphy over it, completely breaking the norms of elegance and fluidity... This was' noir' Art...black art...in every sense of the word...but through this blackness, through this negativity, I wanted to give a positive message. I feel that this world has forgotten the language of love. I figured, let's talk to the world in the current language of hate, negativity and aggression. This was my oxymoron...A positive message through an aggressive voice.
Would they get it?


'Salaam' - 'Peace' - A cry for peace mixed media

In a world of Darkness, we have forgotten light, hope, peace and love. We have forgotten that Allah/God/Dieu/Ishwar/Jehovah call him what you may - exists!...Darkness is always associated with evil...We have forgotten that HE is Omnipresent...and that when we are up to no good...hurting someone, thinking and feeling negative, and ignoring injustice- HE is watching, and giving us another chance... to undo the bad, to reflect and to refrain and to do good. Why then do we not listen to our inner voice?, which is essentially good! These paintings depict that very feeling.

اللهِ Allah
Acrylic and dried pastels
Sold

الله هو
Allah hu - 'God is here!'
Acrylic and dried pastels


نُوۡرٌ عَلٰى نُوۡرٍ‌ ؕ Noorun 'ala noor - Light upon light Acrylic and resin

الٓمّٓۚ
Acrylic and oils

فَبِاَىِّ اٰلَاۤءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبٰنِ‏. هَلۡ جَزَآءُ الْاِحۡسَانِ اِلَّا الۡاِحۡسَانُ‌ۚ‏

Which of the favours of your Lord, that ye deny?. Is the reward of goodness aught save goodness?

اَللّٰهُ نُوۡرُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth
sold

The word of God.
Kun, Fa yakun.
Be - And it is.
sold

We are all of the same soul...Created by the same creator....just cast in different molds and roles.

Life... withered


Union of souls - We are ONE

I did this painting of whirling dervishes in the impressionist style while in a trance myself. I felt happy, submerged in love and content while doing this painting. The message here is that despite our many differences, we are the same from within... All of us fight the same battles within, and come out triumphant in some way or the other...We need to learn to find triumph in failure too.. Every soul must go through these tests to come out worthy of uniting with the Beloved.


Entranced

The Arabesque for me represents everything beautiful. It symbolizes, beauty, love, spirituality.. It's flowing form, timid tendrils and sensual curves represent for me the process of being encompassed by love, positivity and beauty.
The arabesques in the painting above (Entranced) signify the feeling of being engulfed by intense passion and immense serenity (during a 'sema') all at the same time. The colour purple represents spirituality and white represents purity, positivity and the soul. The hat stands for the tombstone....it goes on to tell us that once entranced, we go beyond death and become immortal....one with the Almighty.


In search for the Beloved

'In the orchard and rose garden

I long to see your face,

In the taste of Sweetness,

I long to kiss your lips,

In the shadows of passion,

I long for your love.

Oh! Supreme Lover!

Let me leave aside my worries,

The flowers are blooming

with the exultation of your Spirit.'

~ Rumi

This poem of Rumi really touched my heart.... and 'In search for the beloved' was born on canvas.

In a world where love and compassion comes rarely, I have realized that we need to first find it within ourselves, in order to share it with the rest of the world.

The battlefield within

I did this one in an hour, my mind torn into two extremes....it was done fast...in a frenzy.....I could never put them together aligned...proportionate....I find it proportionate, unproportionate...
There's a battle we fight within us every day.....keep fighting...there will be peace someday.

(PS: An award winning blog in Kuwait did a post about the exhibition. here's an excerpt:

I had written about the art exhibition 'Spiritual Reflections' by Ambereena Ali Razvi and Fahim Hamid Ali . My husband and I visited the exhibition yesterday at Dar Al Cid and we had quite an uplifting experience. A vibrant, charming and beautiful young Indian lady, Ambereena who was raised in Kuwait, studied Fine Arts in Paris, currently working as an Art Teacher in Gulf English School, expresses contemplation, positivity, peace and an artistic representation of wisdom gained through spiritual reflections in her paintings. She had also exhibited works that involved textile designs. Some of her work also involved current social issues and peaceful solution depicted through art.

I personally enjoyed all of Ambereena's work, as each had a special message or a hidden spiritual significance like one of the paintings depicted a subtle reminder to us, 'And how many of Lord's bounties will you deny?' Isn't it true that sometimes we have to remind ourselves of the numerous divine blessings in our life. A mystery verse, "Noor un Al Noor' - Light of Light, is another painting Ambereena would prefer visitors and viewers to decipher...What is darkness? what is light? What according to you is Light of light? Ambereena's paintings are beyond all human differences, in her words, we humans are all one...of the one and the same spirit. She is definitely a very talented and gifted artist.

http://kuweight64.blogspot.com/2011/05/art-exhibition-spiritual-reflections-at.html )

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

My interview - Arab Times, Kuwait

2011-07-03T12:28:00.001-04:00

I am....

2011-03-24T18:14:00.004-04:00

reflection/contemplation

oil on canvas

Self Portrait - The choice of Gold and blue arabesques in the background symbolize my thoughts...blue, representing calmness, purity and positivity and gold, representing divinity, spirituality and mysticism...

Closed eyes represent many things....an escape.....a quick nap while daydreaming (:P)....but on a serious note, closed eyes represent a much deeper meaning...I'll leave it for you to decipher.

`One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings`. ~Franklin Thomas

Celebration of the human form

2011-02-26T09:35:00.032-05:00

I sat on my chair with my easel in front of me, the nude model standing in the middle of the class... The card on my easel blocked out the model partially... or purposely...

I was in a situation where I didn't know where to look. Too ashamed to look at a completely nude woman (my culture and upbringing being very conservative), I was embarrassed...

My aunt, who is a fashion designer and professor at NIFT in India, had taught me how to draw a basic figure of a mannequin when I was little.... and not looking at the model standing in front of me, that is what I was drawing... a tall, slim figure of a mannequin, not the beauty in front of me.

"Amber! Regarde la modele devant toi... regarde sa forme! qu'est qu'elle est belle!!" said Francoise, my professor/director of my school. She was asking me to 'look' at the model, appreciate her form, and find beauty in nudity, something that was the complete opposite of what I was taught in my culture, where the beauty of a woman is protected, cherished and nurtured, not displayed for all to see.

But this was a change I had to accept. I was in Art school. This was a subject I had to take. And eventually, I did start to appreciate the beauty of the human form.... And now I can say with surety - We truly are Allah's most beautiful creations. Whether fat or thin, dark or fair, freckled or smooth alabaster, I have seen and learned to find and appreciate physical beauty in spite of all its flaws and learned to praise our Creator even more.

(Paintings have been removed)

Painting in black and white acrylic on brown paper was interesting and painting in monochrome has always been my favorite style. To be able to deliver the effect of smooth skin in monochrome is challenging, but the results are very good.

Toulouse Lautrec, a French painter from the early 1900's was known for painting crowds and scenes of exciting Parisian night life. The 'Can- can' dancers from the Moulin Rouge were his favorite ladies and our model that day was dressed like one - a long white 'jupon', a black corset, fishnet stockings, gloves, aa feather boa and flaming red hair! She was an absolute pleasure to paint!

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Ya Ali

2011-02-17T17:31:00.004-05:00

"Oh, I desire a cup of wine from the Beloved's own hands.

In whom can I confide this secret?

Where am I to take my grief?

I have yearned a lifetime to see the Beloved's face;

I am a frenzied moth circling a flame,

A wild rue seed pod roasting in the fire.

See my stained cloak and this prayer-rug of hypocrisy;

Can I , one day, tear them to shreds at the tavern door? "

- Imam Khomeini

Ya Ali

Ya Ali (detail)

I painted this 3 years ago, my mind saturated with words and sayings of Imam Ali from the Nahjul Balagha...My heart fluttered..... like a happy bird that flutters its little wings after a much awaited rain shower.

This painting can be viewed in portrait or landscape...Viewed in portrait, you will read 'Ya Ali'. Viewed horizontally, you will read 'Allah'.

This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.