As Salaamu ‘alaykum and peace to all,
Behind the Scene Story of a Creative Soul - A Motivational Story in Pursuing Our Passion and Talent
That day I was reading the newspaper and saw this announcement of an exciting Arts Exhibition by an International delegation held in one of the shopping malls. Although I could still only draw beautiful looking (huh?) straw a.k.a stickman (and woman) until today, I truly appreciate and love artistic works of others.
So naturally, I decided to attend and noted the date in my planner.
And when the day came, I took my fully charged camera and drove to the mall, all excited. You know, kinda like the little girl who is curious of what is it that is in that beautifully wrapped square box her daddy got her for her birthday!
Yup, I think you can imagine how that feels like, right?
And as expected, the exhibition featured truly wonderful work of artists representing different types of arts, mashaAllaah.
This made me think. If human beings, whom are all created by The One, could produced such magnificent pieces of art, why haven’t I take the time to observe the ‘artwork’ of the real Master, right?
I remembered His words in the Holy Quran that says,
He Who created the seven heavens in layers. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again-do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your sight will return to you dazzled and exhausted! (Surat al-Mulk: 3-4)
SubhanAllaah! This is so true. Every single time when I looked again and again, I became more and more dazzled of His creations- flawless, perfect and just right.
SubhanAllaah! SubhanAllaah! SubhanAllaah!
As I moved around the exhibition hall, I discovered a new and upcoming company called Aazan own by Brother Peter Gould. And mashaAllaah, his work has reminded me more of Him, the Al Mighty.
Brother Peter Gould has successfully blended his artistic instinct and talent to produce artwork that would remind us of the reason why we are here, artworks that reminds of who we really are and who our real Master is.
And months down the road, as I was doing some planning for Ramadhan Greeting cards, I decided to ask Brother Peter for some pointers for the designs. After a good discussion, I asked if Brother Peter would share with us all how he got his creative juices flowing.
And he had graciously agreed to share with us some of his most current work related to gift wraps which themed is no other than our Holy month of Ramadhan and Eid Celebrations.
Here is what Brother Peter Gould wrote to me.
Asalaamu Alaikum. It was a pleasure to meet up with you in KL and chat about our shared interests in spirituality and creativity.
Since returning to Sydney it’s been busy as ever with some great projects. I thought we could share one of them with your readers, which involved designing some Eid & Ramadan inspired gift wraps for a client based in Qatar (for their US-based Silver Envelope brand). Their brief to me was to develop a new contemporary range for both kids & adults, drawing from some classical Islamic motifs.
I always keep a book with me to record sketches & thoughts, and starting a project like this means searching for the right concept or idea. I feel sometimes that inspiration is a gift to you, so perhaps I can’t claim any real credit for the designs!
Once I have a few ideas in mind I bring them into the studio and start exploring them in the digital environment. This is where the fun really begins and the designs take shape. Referencing some of my artwork, the client requested the adults gift wraps use some traditional Arabic in a scripted style, and more formal creative elements.
The kids wraps (below) were to be totally casual and feature bold colours. They were a lot of fun to develop since I love working in vibrant colours and using loud graphic typography.
The client loved my concepts and we only needed a couple of revisions to finalise the artwork for production. I feel we ended up with a diverse and exciting range of gift wraps which I’m sure will accompany some great Ramadan treats later this year.
At the end of the day it’s a blessing to run my own studio and be involved with so many great projects like this, alhumdulillah.
Peter’s design & art studio can be found at www.azaan.com.au. The finished gift wraps will be available for purchase soon at www.silverenvelope.com.
SubhanAllaah! I have never thought that one day I am able to purchase gift warps that have such beautiful Islamic themes. I just simply can’t wait to get my hands on those gift wraps, inshaAllaah! JazakAllaah khayran brother Peter for sharing with us some of our beautiful artworkk, mashaAllaah!
Reading Brother Peter Gould’s words, I knew deep in my heart that he is very much passionate about his work. He actually reminded me of what Vincent Van Gogh once said,
The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting.
Well, Van Gogh made me think- if the only time he felt that he is alive was when he was painting, aren’t we lucky that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has given us so many other ways to allow us to be excited about being alive?
Think about it!
(Peter’s design & art studio can be found at www.azaan.com.au. The finished gift wraps will be available for purchase soon at www.silverenvelope.com)
Sis Zabrina also known as Zabrina A. Bakar, is a Life Storyteller, motivational and inspirational writer and speaker; and author and creator of Islamic motivational book Life Open Secret book series http://wwww.LifeOpenSecret.com. She maintains an active blog at http://www.WisdomThruWords.blogspot.com. and social networking platform a Web 2.0 at http://www.LifeStoryteller.ning.com
Copyright © Sis Zabrina 2008
Sis Zabrina
Life Storyteller
Author of Life is an Open Secret Islamic Motivational Book Series:
Life is an Open Secret- Think about It
Life is an Open Secret- You, Me and We
Hidup Bukan Rahsia http://www.lifeopensecret.com
-18 Inspirational Stories from Ordinary life experiences-
Now blogging at http://www.wisdomthruwords.blogspot.com
~ Life Storyteller Blog: Your Source for Islamic Motivational and Inspirational Stories~
Tags : motivational stories, islamic stories, inspirational stories, spiritual stories, storyteller, muslim, islam, life is an open secret, motivational book, motivational quotes, short stories
Sis Zabrina, also known as Zabrina A. Bakar, is a Life Storyteller, motivational and inspirational writer and speaker; and author of Islamic motivational book series Life is an Open Secret http://www.lifeopensecret.com She maintains an active blog at http://www.wisdomthruwords.blogspot.com
and her personal Social Networking Platform http://www.LifeStoryteller.ning.com
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