The Burj al Arab.

As members of the Dubai International Art Centre, we were invited to attend the opening of Mounir Lakkis' exhibition of painting, photography and sculpture held at the Burj al Arab tonight.


Knowing that my aunt and uncle who are visiting Dubai at the moment, have been extremely keen to visit the famous 7-star hotel, I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to take them and catch some of the local art scene at the same time.

The Burj al Arab in the shape of a large sail looked awesome as we drove over the short causeway onto the man-made island. We were welcomed with rose water as we entered the lobby, before going up an escalator with a view of a beautiful aquarium of tropical fish. Water dominated as the main theme of the hotel, with gorgeous fountains, aquariums and of course the fact that the building is designed in the form of a sail, situated on an island.

As we proceeded towards the lifts, which offered a view of the open sea, we were struck by the sheer opulence of the gold plated pillars, the plush carpets and furniture around us. On arrival at the Assawan Lounge on the 18th floor, we were greeted with wine and juices. Lakkis' work on display were paintings, sculptures and prints. The works were fresh and modern.

We browsed at leisure before settling down around a coffee table to enjoy our glasses of wine. Waiters were always on hand to offer us another drink, and also some really scrumptious hors d'oeuvres! The service was impeccable and the atmosphere was certainly 7-star!

I found our experience at the hotel excellent. The exterior is certainly unique, and the interior is ultra-modern, opulent, and all class. I can't believe I finally got to go!

Camel & Mellow yellow.

Gypsy Boy and I had our last art class over the weekend. I felt a little sad to be finishing off our art classes as I've really enjoyed being under the instruction of our art teacher Kamen and meeting new people. On the other hand, I'm also happy to have our Saturday mornings back!

I'm not really the best morning person to start with, and this coupled with our usual late nights out on Friday evenings with friends, even getting up at 9 to make it to art class at 9.30 has proved a struggle for the last 10 weeks.

...Camel, by Gypsy Boy. Mellow Yellow, by Gypsy Girl...

Nonetheless, we're happy with the time and money we've invested into this and have a few paintings to show, plus we take with us skills and techniques taught by Kamen- our extremely talented and successful art teacher.

Full class

Our art class has been steadily growing. Even though we are half way through the term, we still have new students joining the course. We started with 5 students and as of next week there will be 8!

...A little street in Nice, by Gypsy Boy...

Gypsy Boy is still working on his piece, but there are continuing discussions between him and our art teacher Kamen on whether the work is complete. Gypsy Boy can't wait to start on a new painting, while Kamen feels the painting needs a bit more work.

...Geisha, by Gypsy Girl...

For the last couple of weeks, there has been similar differences in opinion between other students and teacher. After working on the same painting for a few weeks, it is natural to get bored. While art is subjective, I think students should try to be receptive to suggestions and recommendations of the tutor while under their instruction. Of course, students are always free to just leave the painting in question at home and bring in a fresh new canvas to start on at the next class!

In the paper!

A reporter from the Emirates Today publication visited the DIAC (Dubai International Art Centre) last week and if you got the paper on 31 October, you would have seen that the feature picture for this article is one of our art class!

Gypsy Boy and I are in this photo and our art teacher Kamen was interviewed for the article. You can read the full article online, however the photo of our class is only in the paper publication. Hee!

Art School: Week 3

Gypsy Boy and I made a little more progress this week at art class. We both added more detailing to our paintings and here are the results below.

...Pink, by Gypsy Girl...

...A little street in Nice, by Gypsy Boy...

I think I'm almost done with mine, I just need to do a little more work on the background and I also want to finish the sides. Gypsy Boy will probably work on his for another few more weeks...

Shae at church

Last week, our art teacher Kamen asked us to try and do some sketching at home this week if we got time. I love sketching, but I prefer to sketch from a photo or from real life as opposed to trying to picture an image or scene in my mind. This is one of the quick sketches I did a couple of days ago from a photo taken of our flower girl outside the church we got married in.


I think my sketch makes Shae look a little older than she was when the photo was taken and I've also not included much of the brick detailing. Oh well, I guess it's not my best sketch but it was done in one sitting without an eraser...

More on art.

As promised some time ago in a previous post, here are photos of the recent additions to my little private gallery - 3 paintings I brought back from our trip to Europe in August.

The first, is an oil painting of a café scene in St. Germain-des-pres in Paris. It is also the smallest of the 3, and was purchased in Paris. I really liked this district [where the Musée D'orsay is located], and just loved the details the artist has captured here of the ubiquitous Parisian street café scene including the menu set out on the black board, and also the ornate wrought iron balconies.


The second painting is also an oil, and also purchased in Paris. It is recognisably a copy of Le Pont sur le bassin aux nympheas [Bridge over a pond of water lilies] 1899 by Claude Monet.


The last painting we purchased is from Venice and pictures a narrow, quiet canal in Ferrovia. The artist and her sister paints from photos they take of the scenery around Venice and to a lesser extent, other parts of Italy. It was nice to be able to chat to the artist and purchase one of her beautiful works. I love the way she has captured the light and the reflection in this painting.


All 3 were stretched and framed in Dubai. [Click on each image for an enlarged view].

Art school: Week 2

I didn't feel I made as much progress this week at art school and the 3 hours this morning seemed to go by really slowly. It probably had to do with the air conditioning not working and the room getting quite hot and stuffy. It got so warm I really just wanted to have a drink of water, but of course it's Ramadan now.

...Pink - unfinished by Gypsy Girl...

Gypsy Boy and I were fading at 1130 and we still had an hour to go till lunch time so we decided to take a break and browse through our art teacher, Kamen's portfolio and some photographs of his work that he'd brought in. We found an impressive range of work and read about his interesting background working as an artist in Europe and now in Dubai.

...Untitled and unfinished by Gypsy Boy...

I burst into a fit of giggles though towards the end of art class. Kamen was helping me with adding more light to my composition when I absent-mindedly wiped my hand on my pants. I was horrified when I looked down and saw pink oil paint smudges. Kamen suggested I needed to brush the paint off immediately with solvent. Of course I had to take this advice literally and actually grabbed a clean No.10 paintbrush dipped in artist spirits and proceeded to 'brush' the paint off my pants! When Kamen saw me doing this he laughed because he actually meant 'brush' as in clean the paint off like with some paper towels.

What was funnier still was when Gypsy Boy and I were just discussing how messy we were with all the paint we managed to get on our T-shirts and pants and Kamen then said in his thick Eastern European accent, "Don't worry I was the same when I was 5 years old and first started to paint. I got paint all over myself...". I guess the slight difference is we're not 5, hee hee!

Back to school

The new semester has started, and I've enrolled and had my first class at art school. The biggest surprise is that Gypsy Boy has decided to join me!


We have a 3 hour class in oil painting each Saturday this semester at the Dubai International Art Centre. Housed in a large villa, the Centre has a real community feel with a reception area, an art shop, its own cafe and of course, classrooms.

Our class is small with just five students - all with mixed abilities - and our teacher is from Bulgaria, but has lived and worked in France, Italy, Austria and now in Dubai. We had a choice of either painting from a still life our teacher put together or something of our own.

Gypsy Boy and I came prepared with our own photographs we had picked out earlier last week from our own collection. The photograph I picked is simply a close-up of some flowers while Gypsy Boy is quite a bit more ambitious painting from a shot we took of a street in Nice lined with colourful apartments, balconies and even a café scene with people outside!

Even though Gypsy Boy is doing the course just for a bit of fun, I was really impressed with what he has done so far! He definitely has more talent than he lets on. Anyway, the three hours really zoomed by and I am already looking forward to the next class. More updates as we progress!

DUCTAC

Last week, I was really excited to hear about the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre opening soon just down the road at the Mall of the Emirates. It only gets better, I just found out today that the centre will also be housing an [English language] book library. Bring it on!

Yipee!

In the weekend, we picked up my 3 paintings from the framers and put them up. I'm really pleased with the job the framers did! [Photos to follow...]

Cherry Blossoms

As promised, albeit a little late! Here is the finished result of my first bowl from our session at Cafe Ceramique [see previous post].

It did not quite turn out as I'd hoped, nevertheless it's perfectly operational and acceptable to use as a bowl for cereal, pasta, or noodles!


Joy and I had so much fun, we went back this afternoon for more! I did another cereal bowl and Joy picked some condiment bowls. Can't wait to see the finished result this time when we pick it up in 7 days after they've been fired... Will keep you posted.

A little bit of NZ

Browsing through art galleries is one of my favourite things to do, and while I've been here I've been to a few. Always on the lookout for something special, but usually just admiring art!

Since we moved into our apartment, I've been looking out for a large painting to go on the main wall in our lounge. I've seen many that I like, but nothing that was perfect. I then had the idea to use one of the many beautiful photos that we've taken from our travels, and started to look for a lab that could do what I wanted.

It couldn't have been easier! I found a place pretty close to where we live, that is a professional digital lab specialising in commercial printing. I simply took in the shots I had in mind on our memory card, and spoke to the very professional and helpful guys at the lab.

...Coronet Peak, Queenstown, New Zealand...

Alas, the photos taken with our Canon 4.0 megapixel digital camera looked pretty sharp on-screen, however when they are blown up to 1 by 1 metre printed on canvas they don't quite cut it. In any case, that narrowed it down to the largest pic - a landscape shot taken atop Coronet Peak in the South Island of New Zealand.

These guys turned it around so quick and did a fab job. The result is now hanging on the wall in our lounge and everytime we look at it, we think of the fine summer's day we stood looking out from this mountain top, in Aotearoa.

Cafe Ceramique

This is a wonderful place to eat and unleash the inner artist in you. After a scrumptious lunch at Cafe Ceramique with my lovely friend Joy, we browsed the shelves holding a variety of white ceramic pieces ranging from jewellery boxes to platters and ornaments.

We carefully decided and selected a piece that was to become our work of art and brought it back to our table while the friendly waiters set up our paints, brushes and palettes for us. The waiters are helpful with tips and generous encouragement to get us started and even offer stencils, stamps, and books for inspiration if needed.

It took me over 2 hours to complete my piece, and all I can say is that patience is definitely a virtue that Joy has! Our works of art are now at the cafe where they will be glazed and ready for pick up in 7 days. I can't wait to pick it up and will post a picture of the final result here!

Eyebags and all

After dinner with some friends last weekend, we decided to visit Global Village. Although we've been once before [see previous post], it's huge and we've still yet to cover all the 'countries'.

We came across a man from India who was doing portraits of people, and we were egging each other on to get a sketch of ourselves done. He was very quick and his work showed a true likeness to their subjects, so much so there was always a large crowd gathering to have a look!

...a crowd gathers...

So, what do you think? Leave a comment below!