I am Rafia and I'm an artist living and working in London. As an up-to-date artist, I want to give you the opportunity to stay in touch with me and my work. My main area of work is Islamic Calligraphy and Hand made crafts.
Art for me, from a very young age was a means to escape. To lose myself into a world of colour. Painting is very therapeutic and sends you into a state of mind of calm. It was the only subject I truly enjoyed at school .. it did help that I had a talent for drawing , which was proven at every art exam from primary school right through to University. It soon became apparent that my parent's dream of me becoming a doctor was disappearing fast into the horizon. They couldn't see why I wanted to be an artist. After all no one else in the family was an artist and how could I even consider this as a "proper job" . I guess when you look at it like that its probably not that financially stable, but it does have satisfaction and thats the drive for a long term career. I always saw jobs in terms of what I enjoyed doing and not what paid well.
But for years after University I left behind my dream of becoming a Fashion Designer or Graphic Designer and plunged into Fashion Retail. Not quite the same thing but Hey ! it was living. I tried so hard not to lose that artist in me and convinced myself that I would return to University and further my studies in Art. But that never happenned. Before leaving the Retail world I started to paint again. for myself to begin with. It was then I fell in love with Arabic and Islamic Calligraphy. The curves, the flow, the weight of the words. It was mesmerising. Historical and futuristic all at once. Since then its been my main inspiration of my work.
Being the rebel I am, I wanted to preserve the traditionalism in the composition but use modern backgrounds and colours. Break the norm so to speak. I have done this best with Digital Art. Futuristic, abstract forms that incorporated the beauty of Allah's words. Then once I started selling my work , I understood that I was not the only one , there were people out there who wanted the same thing. Its been 3 years now since co forming MAHEL and its doing well. We have always had really good responses from people where ever we attended and its nice to see that people enjoy the work we do and what we create. People are not afraid to ask for different things.
If you are not familiar with me or my work and your first contact with me is online: I would be pleased to hear from you! Please let me know what your opinions and questions are, I will be more than happy to help.
In brief, you should know the following about me: I co formed MAHEL in 2003 and have been providing Islamic Arts and Crafts products since. Our specialty is in the area of Contemporary Islamic Art , Handmade Crafts. My regular customers particularly value a personalised service in creating a special piece of artwork just for them . I am also a member of the IMAN (International Muslimah Artists Network) network based in the US. So inshallah please visit their site too and support the sisters ! you'll find the link here
Anyway enjoy the site . I hope to update it as regularly as possible. So watch this space !
Art for me, from a very young age was a means to escape. To lose myself into a world of colour. Painting is very therapeutic and sends you into a state of mind of calm. It was the only subject I truly enjoyed at school .. it did help that I had a talent for drawing , which was proven at every art exam from primary school right through to University. It soon became apparent that my parent's dream of me becoming a doctor was disappearing fast into the horizon. They couldn't see why I wanted to be an artist. After all no one else in the family was an artist and how could I even consider this as a "proper job" . I guess when you look at it like that its probably not that financially stable, but it does have satisfaction and thats the drive for a long term career. I always saw jobs in terms of what I enjoyed doing and not what paid well. 
Being the rebel I am, I wanted to preserve the traditionalism in the composition but use modern backgrounds and colours. Break the norm so to speak. I have done this best with Digital Art. Futuristic, abstract forms that incorporated the beauty of Allah's words. Then once I started selling my work , I understood that I was not the only one , there were people out there who wanted the same thing. Its been 3 years now since co forming MAHEL and its doing well. We have always had really good responses from people where ever we attended and its nice to see that people enjoy the work we do and what we create. People are not afraid to ask for different things.