I would like to share with you my journey of art.
I took my first brush in very early age, I don't remember exactly how my painting started. I think it was an organic growth, so gradual that I didn't realise, but I believe inside my heart I knew my calling. Interest in art, textures, patterns, colours, and technique grew, therefore I kept on creating.
But the real art, honest, true art didn't start till I had my own family. Years ago I met my husband, we stood in front of huge white canvas and started painting our masterpiece. Marriage - stroke ONE, children - stroke TWO, building the home - stroke THREE...and so on... We keep on painting our story till now in Scandinavian environment.
Scandinavian life philosophies inspired me. Quote of Benjamin Franklin perfectly defines a Scandinavian approach to life “Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom.”
I love this attitude, it encouraged me to implement art in my life, whether it was crafting with my kids, creating a gift, painting for family members, renovating, redesigning the house, arranging gallery wall or painting on canvas. I tried to create aesthetics around a sacred space - my home. Breakfast toast decorated like emoji, or pancakes from scratch with chocolate humus and berries, table setup for a dinner party, new painting or framed inspirational quote to brighten the day :)
Art is everywhere...
There is nothing more beautiful than witnessing children growing up, being grateful, appreciating beautiful souls that decided to come through me to this world. My children are my best teachers. As I learned patience I started hearing the whisper in my mind. For a long time it was silenced by the rush of life and motherhood but I kept on listening, and trying to calm the noise of the outer world. I got interested in spiritual teachings, philosophies, seeking balance in life.
As more I turned inwards more questions occurred. Am I on a right path? Can I totally give into art ? Am I ready? I had tons of questions. I believe we all have "The Calling", we just need to discover it. Mine was art, I knew that, I felt deep in my core, but somehow I never truly went for it due to other responsibilities.
While I was listening to inner voice and trying to make sense of my life, I read a quote of Anna Quindlen "…you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life...” And it hit me! I knew the answer and took my first step - Decided to paint full time.
The feeling of freedom was incredible. While exploring new colours, textures, techniques, I started the journey of finding my true art. I fell in love with raw texture, the way sand grains settled on the surface, dried out creating unique patterns was fascinating.
I stumbled across Wabi -Sabi philosophy, got really interested and kept on reading about it. “Wabi” is said to be defined as “rustic simplicity” or “understated elegance” with a focus on a less-is-more mentality. “Sabi” is translated to “taking pleasure in the imperfect.” The concept of wabi-sabi, is wide, it can easily be applied simply to moments of everyday life. The Japanese philosophy encourages us to focus on the blessings hiding in our daily lives, and celebrating the way things are rather than how they should be.
I found a lot of similarity with Scandinavian philosophies, that`s why my interest grew even more.
As Wabi Sabi highlights beauty of imperfection, I was impressed by kintsugi – a method of repairing broken pottery using gold or lacquer. This unique method emphasizes cracks and breaks instead of hiding or disguising them. In fact, Kintsugi often makes the repaired piece even more beautiful than the original, revitalizing it with a new look and giving it a second life.
My abstracts are composed with raw textures, earthy, soft palettes of predominantly neutral tones contrasting with rusty, deep colour patterns. I balance between rawness and exactness of intricate details. In each painting I leave a piece of myself, a paragraph of my story.
My portraits are much more detailed and preplanned they are an expression of the essence of a woman. I carefully cut out cotton and linen, creating a precise design accompanied with meticulous details.
I love challenging myself and painting in diverse ways. Embracing compassion towards myself and others, I grow as a mother, wife and artist. I couldn't help but wonder, do we ever stop evolving? Changing? Growing? It looks like this is ever lasting journey and I am looking forward to new creative ideas, styles, patterns, techniques to explore.
That said, I wish you all creativity in the world, as you are an artist of your life!
With Love
Aliya
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