Where the hills are green......

Salaams all

I recently painted a piece for my father which I thought would share with you here...its the Quantock Hills in Somerset. It doesnt have an Islamic theme on it but you can imagine this scene as such a beautiful place that Allah s.w.t has blessed us with:

Its a new year so new artwork coming soon!!

Peace.

Luscious Lillies

Salaams all

I have been away for some time so firstly I must apologise! Lots going on, not least of all work and of course a certain someone taking up a lot of time...

But I'm back now alhamdulillah and busy painting and having new ideas every day :)

Here is my first new piece. I love lillies, their scent and the beautiful curling shapes. This piece is for sale - if you are interested let me know!

More soon I promise.....

Ramadan Mubarek! from me and my furry friend

Assalaamu alaikum all,

First things first - Ramadan Mubarek to everyone!! This blessed month is with us again and that means lockdown on your kitchen cupboards and fridge from sunrise to sunset!!

The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down as guidance for mankind, with Clear Signs containing guidance and discrimination. Any of you who are resident for the month should fast it. But any of you who are ill or on a journey should fast a number of other days. Allah desires ease for you; He does not desire difficulty for you. You should complete the number of days and proclaim Allah's greatness for the guidance He has given you so that hopefully you will be thankful. (Qur'an 2:185)

Fasting is more about staying away from food and drink though - its about self-control and ensuring that your desires do not control you. Fasting is commanded to us from the Qur'an. Fasting is a spiritual thing as well as physical - it means abstaining from food, drink, 'other desires' ;) and also and crucially, lies, swearing, bad language, backbiting, suspicion and bad deeds. It means making the most of this time to reap rewards and to gain forgiveness and blessing, with the grace of Allah s.w.t, FOR Allah s.w.t.

Abu Huraira (RA) related that the Prophet(SAW) said: "If a person does not avoid false talk and false conduct during Siyam (fasting), then Allah does not care if he abstains from food and drink " (Bukhari, Muslim).

During this month the Holy Qur'an was revealed and so it is a precious time for all believing Muslims - and its NOT about just doing what-on-earth-you-want for the other 11 months and then thinking you can rein it all back at this time and morph into the perfect Muslim for 30 days ....tsk tsk no.....whilst good actions during this time are excellent masha'allah you shouldn't just be coming out of the woodwork during this time - Allah s.w.t. is watching us all year round!! So if you make any intention and plan this year and I am intending this too insha'allah , make it this one: to continue to do all that you do during this month, all year round and ahead insha'allah.

Now that I've got that bee out of my bonnet.....on to painting. I'm painting 2 comissions at the moment in time for Eid insha'allah so busy busy busy........but a new addition to my household in the form of a tiny furry friend has hampered my normal painting routine some what!! Something small, cute, naughty and nosy is taking up a lot of my time and rather a lot of interest in my painting!! Hence if you order something from me now and it has a small paw print embedded in the paint then I apologise in advance!!

As you can see he loves to hide amongst in my paint box and get in on the action!!


But!! alhamdulillah, even he is getting into the spirit of this month:

Take care all,
Peace.

A rose by any other name......

Here's my latest, a wedding gift created for a special couple. The journey to creating this can be seen in the post below. I'm happy to create paintings as gifts for special occasions, dates or even just because you love someone.....so if you are stuck for a present for someone, don't forget about me!!

Can you guess what it is yet?

Salaams all,

Been away from here for a while I know. I kind of lost the feeling for my art - lost my mojo! But the painting powers are back -alhamdulillah!
I thought I'd create a series of posts of work in progress as and when available. This way you can see what I am up to and be sure I am busy working away! I'm currently working on an order, a comissioned piece as a wedding gift. Current waiting time for comissions is just over a month - this varies from time to time...so please get your orders in in plenty of time!

Here are some pics of the piece as it comes along.....can you guess what it is yet?? I expect you can....lol....More pics coming as I paint.....

Everything belongs to Allah

Salaams everyone,

Its been a couple of weeks or so since my last post - sorry to have not been busier! The truth is the lovely sunny weather meant I was out a lot enjoying it and didnt make time to paint....but now the rain is back ( what a surprise!!) and I have been busy whilst I took shelter.

I really wanted to do a piece surrounding the Earth as a whole.....and now I am pleased to say this is complete! I think I will make this the first in the a series surrounding Creation from the Islamic perspective.

I hope you like it! This piece is for sale but its already had some interest so if you want it - and don't forget there is only one - let me know ASAP. Price enquiry to deendesigns@yahoo.co.uk

Back soon!

peace.

The day after the event before......

Assalaamu alaikum and peace to all,
Yesterday was the Charity Event in Leyton, the Football Match ( Asianos vs Bengali League - Asianos won! ) and the women's Bazaar. It was a great day out with a good turn out despite the rain and the bazaar was full of people having a good browse round - munching on the sumptious cakes, sipping tea and buying hijabs, jilbaabs while the kiddies had their faces painted. I had a stall in the middle, sharing space with dear friend/family member and fellow artist Uzma Malik and it was lovely to see so many people! If you were there and picked up my flyer to this blog, thanks for looking in!! :)

Photos from the event below - some of these pieces have now sold and more are on their way!

Uzma Malik showing off the goods.....

More photos of the football match can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31119325@N07/sets/72157617630590987/

'Til next time...
Peace.