🇱🇧/🇺🇸

designer in the making

[aitani]

[aitani]

[aitani]

فرحة وطن

[aitani]

[nevver]

Levels, Thierry Bornier

[shegavemeroses]

the mood we’re bringing into 2021

[aitani]

angel energy

[fruitsaladchewits-deactivated20]

Palestinian lady collects gas bombs fired by Israeli army. She grows flowers in these bombs.

[aitani]

If this isn’t the saddest yet most hopeful thing you’ve seen today, i don’t know what is

[aitani]

[dunlapel]

Sugar Baby

The short story Sugar Babies really inspired me to make a painting based on it. The imagery of the sugar baby was so interesting and appealing to me that I wanted to paint the baby being held by Sierra, the young girl from the story. I will admit that the lighting in the room where this was photographed made the painting a lot darker than it is in real life but I tried my best to edit it enough to look like it’s true tone. My concept behind this was to have the sugar baby front and center with the style being flat while the girl holding has fluid motion in the care free use of paint. I think my favorite part of this painting is the quilted pillowcase around the baby because it came out a lot better than I thought it would.

[aitani]

I love love love this😍😍😍😍😍

I can clearly see the inspiration from “Sugar Babies” and I have to say this is exactly how I imagined Miranda to look like.

Great work👏🏼

[hustleinatrap]

Just let that sink in.

[memeticwarfare]

thats why the vietnam war was the last war ever televised

[lord-armitage]

Chelsea Manning went to jail trying to show people the extend of the atrocities American commits overseas. I watched some of the leaked footage. I think some of the worst of it was a drone bombing of a wedding in Yemen, then a day later America bombed the funeral of those killed at the wedding. Ambulances and first response units (which are protected under international law), were being bombed. People trying to take shelter were being bombed. 

And that’s just drones, which is to say nothing for the numerous illegal black sites America operates around the world. Or the effects of using white phosphorus, which will continue to burn as long as oxygen is present and melts human tissues. That was used in Fallujah, which was a blood-bath from start to finish. 

Which is why I have zero trust in the military, both American and British, because this is just some of the stuff we know about. 

[aitani]

Let. that. sink. in.

Remember the Middle East? You should.

[mayaquinnscloud]

“I kept thinking about that story,” she said. “The one about the devil at the dance. Remember?”

My grandmother told the story often. A beautiful girl disobeys her family by sneaking into a midnight dance. She’s only there for a short time when a good-looking man slinks toward her out of the crowd. She discovers he can dance well, and not just for an Anglo. He twirls her for hours until the girl notices the faces around her, wide-eyed and gape-mouthed. Her arms suddenly burn, then her lower back, and eventually her lips to throat—all the places where the man touched her. She screams as she notices that his feet, like the devil’s, are hooved.

[aitani]

I love this!!

[jwoodarts]

Doña Sebastiana

Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine shares any new viewer what its like from her eyes and others. During the first chapter titled “Sugar Babies” I was quickly drawn in when the young boys accidently dug up some bones near their town. Further long within the chapter, it was Robbie and his visions that drew in my inspiration for this final work. When Robbie was explaining how he wasn’t scared when he discovered the bones but more so scared of the skeleton lady that was at the foot of hid bed one night. His grandmother explained that he might have seen Doña Sebastiana. In other words, lady reaper. I went and did some more research about this lady reaper and found out that  … “She is more a symbol of mortality and penance, a bleak reminder of our fragile and sinful state. The Aztec figure known as the “Lady of the Dead,” presided over such celebrations…”* This lady reaper is known for protection and watches over those who need it. With this notion I wanted to create what I would think Doña Sebastiana would look like. I also wanted to incorporate some natural Colorado elements.

If I were to take more time on this piece, I would mess around some more with watercolor. It is a hard element and I feel like I could have done better for the boarder and her head piece/hair. I also wish my photos would have picked up on the gold highlights more then presenting them in a pale yellow tone. Over all I am pleased with this outcome and Happy to finish strong.

It was an interesting semester, but I am happy to be apart of this class and still be able to see everyone’s work. I hope everyone enjoys their break and stays safe. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

For the artwork I did a mix-media. I used watercolor, ink wash, acrylic paint, and pen ink.

*https://delgadoarts.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/dona-sebastiana-lady-sebastian/#:~:text=She%20is%20an%20unusual%20figure,our%20fragile%20and%20sinful%20state.&text=The%20Aztec%20figure%20known%20as,%2C%E2%80%9D%20presided%20over%20such%20celebrations.

[aitani]

[witch-in-the-wild]

Arabic dark academia

Having tea first thing in the morning, the afternoon, evening, night and whenever you have nothing to do and whenever you have everything to do

Practicing calligraphy, hoarding calligraphy pens and quills like a dragon hoards its jewels

Youre now a calligragon btw

Pretentious hand written letters

Fragments of poetry and prose on the wall

In Egypt you can buy a vintage gramophone (as far as I remember)

Wrinkling your nose at orientalists who have clearly never been anywhere near the culture they're trying to portray.

Appreciating the orientalists who have in fact been there and paint like it. (Sorry to disappoint but there were never sexy slave babes roaming the streets)

Mourning for the scholars of Al Andaluas and times when Arabic was the language of science

Arguing over e'arab (the value of a word with regard to others in the sentence) and balagha (it translates to "eloquence" but is more like a complex version of figures of speech) of words

Arabic being such a complex language you get carried away sometimes

Passing the allotted wordcount so you start going over your paper and compressing a whole sentence, consisting of a conjunction, a subject, a verb and two objects into a word in desperation

Words like فأسقيناكموه (faa'skainakumooh) meaning "and so we have let you drink it" being an example.

Tea over burning coal. Over logs (hatab) tea over bokhour/oud hits different and you know it.

Brewing coffee over low heat and humming to Layali Al Ouns

"No offense but I like real coffee" when someone mentions starbucks

Um Kulthoum and Asmahan are superior you cant change my mind.

NO I DID NOT FORGET ABDUL HALIM HAFEZ I WANTED HIM A BULLET OF HIS OWN.

Fareed al atrash concerts at 3 am.

Nothing you ever cook will be under seasoned.

Reciting poetry to yourself in the mirror

Big chunks of jewelry (usually gold) engraved or woven through with intricate patterns and swirls. Wearing four bracelets in one hand is absolutely fine and under dressing is a myth

Owning swords is not out of fashion (ancient arabs were well known for their swordsmanship) but using them is, unfortunately <3

Wondering how they won wars with these swords. I couldn't even lift it enough to stab myself if I wanted

Extra names. People called شهد honey (shahd), جمال beauty (jamal), زهرة flower (zahra), ليلى night (laila), سماء sky (samaa), مهند/سيف sword (mohanad/saif) and صفاء purity (safaa) like it's the most normal thing in the world (which it should be, along with names of ancient gods)

Poetry from the abbasid era describing palaces and fountains and music so eloquently your heart skips several beats and you wonder how it is still beating at all and if, after all, you have been born in the wrong era.

Classic poetry from the school of Apollo brimming with romance and yearning you have never seen matched.

Poems that tear at your heart and stitch it whole with every bayt (verse? The equivalent for it) and you keep coming back for more.

Stories so well told that you swear you can see the princes and charmers and musicians and dancers all flicker to life in the flames before you

Historical masjids and churches.

Going to the palaces and shrines and towers from the ancient days of yore

Not exclusively (as neither is anything on this list) arabic but BRAIDS and braid jewellery that clinks when you shake your head

The unwavering belief that poetry is meant to be sung.

Singing poetry because it is meant to be sung

Thick eyebrows

Lining already lash lined eyes with kohl.

Beautiful brown eyes. Honey eyes. Chocolate eyes. Freshly turned earth eyes. Eyes that hold all the ethereal beauty of the world.

Hair styled in dark, thick curls or braids

Savouring the way the words move around from your throat to your chest to the tip of your tongue, like liquid gold,

The sweet music from the strings of a qitharah (string instrument)

Scented candles are cute, but have you ever heard of oud (perfume infused wood)? Anyhow one of my Sudanese friends make it AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

Wanting to study with the scholars of baghdad and azhar so bad

Recognizing that for all your culture, some of it is inspired by others and that's okay.

Please add what you can to this list. It is far from complete.

[ladyy-lazaruss]

This is gorgeous

[aitani]

This. is. why. I’m. a. proud. Arabic.

[aitani]

Project 5: Sugar Babies

[driflloon]

wisdom lee for rebel magazine oct. 2020