[gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="12182,12183,12178,12181,12180,12179"] Nisma Rafiq Saudi Gazette Eminent artist Van Gough once said, "I Dream my painting, and then I paint my dream". It can be considered as the foundation of a true artist who dares to make his dream- a reality. Many people first witnessed a young enthusiastic girl at Jeddah's Youthistha forum at Dar Al Hekma University where she stunned everyone by narrating her personal ride from a nerd to a curious teenager with developing passion in arts, to a calligrapher. Saudi Gazette spoke to a young Pakistani artist - Maliha Aftab about her dream journey. She is a self-taught artist who aspires to inspire the people in her life. "I've always been a messy student who loved colors since eternity! Initially I started with abstract art. Since the summer of 2009, when extreme boredom threatened to take me to the land of no return. At first, I began with oil pastels and gradually moved towards painting. It wasn't until 2011 that I started painting calligraphy." Aftab didn't have a proper art education, but learnt from experimenting and watching YouTube videos. "I did plan on attending Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture in Karachi, however, due to some personal reasons, I was unable to. It was later that I realized that I was destined for much greater things. She is interested in calligraphy, and has won several online competitions. Her inspiration is deep; "besides the great Ismail Guljee, my inspiration since beginning, was my inner self. I wanted to prove myself. I had this ferocious fire of self-exploration and evolution burning within me that helps me paint any and everything I can. I did not want to be a wall flower, rather someone who would contribute to the growth of the industry, and who can actively participate in something she obsessively loved." She is a risk taker and loves to experiment. "Experimenting and figuring out where my expertise lay is what took me from sketching to calligraphy. Calligraphy is just one of the different forms I've worked on; I figured out I'm better at it than the rest. But that's not it. I still sketch and I aim to discover other mediums including mix media, oils, and digital painting. Currently, I'm working on illustrations in the light of Qur'anic verses, to inspire those around me." She believes it is essential to believe in ourselves and is the power to ignite passion. Talking about her future goals she said: "Visions and aims, hopes and dreams; everyone has them. I have a long way to go. The road ahead, is full of curves, and I intend to continue my journey. I see myself owning my own art gallery. (She laughed) But no, really. I am an ambitious individual who will strive hard to be mentioned amongst the best. I'll be dabbling in different mediums. I aim to be innovative and to discover a niche that allows me to converge diverse mediums- photography and painting being my favorite, to produce fantastic enigmatic art. I aspire to be a better teacher, artist, photographer, and a much better human being overall" Her artwork can be accessed on Facebook at ‘Artistry by Maliha Aftab', and she has recently opened a platform for calligraphy orders and customize requests.
