At the age of five I was drawing on myself, and then by 12 I got confident to paint my cousins and, about 14 I started doing the neighbors and extended family. I graduated as textile designer and so creating patterns for anything and everything became part of my daily routine and thankfully still is!

2.Your henna patterns are so beautiful and intricate. What is your source of inspiration?
My love for nature and my family is the only inspiration I have. Love for life, Love for living, love for being a true person to myself, keeps me real and passionate about what I create and makes me want to never ever stop what I do.

3.We understand that you paint henna on an individual based on your “reading” of that soul. Explain this to us.
My patterns are stories of the souls, written in a language I understand and create. I don’t see the human form as a body, but I see the soul within them. I believe, humans are a form of energy (kind of light ), and over the years, due to so much materialism around us, that inner light has been put aside in many people and in some it’s almost died. When I draw the patterns, I see that light inside each soul, and try to bring it to the vision, and create a symbolic pattern that reflects that light. Hence, being able to create a new pattern every time I touch a soul.

4. You not only do henna painting on parts of the body but also on other surfaces. Tell us more.
Nothing is dead to me, as I am a worshiper of light and life. Every object that exists has a soul, and I like to draw on any visible surface to bring to reality, that true soul through my patterns. I work on human body, ceramics, silk, wood, wax, paper, glass, plastic basically EVERYTHING, because everything is nature and nature is everything and it’s all alive !

5. Do you sell your work anywhere?
I sell through my personal space Diya Studio, based in Norwood; Jam Factory and Urban Cow in the city; Red Poles in McLaren Vale; Purple Cockatoo in Magill; Handhorf Academy in Handhorf

6. What can your fans or henna lovers expect from Humna Mustafa in the near future?
You know I’ve never planned my life, as I like to move with the wind, having no direction in mind, go where my heart takes me. So to know what’s upcoming next, my fans will have to visit Diya Studio, on the 12th of Dec to see the new and upcoming range of my works as that’s when I launch the new collections for all to experience.

Beginning of a Beautiful Life – Photography Mustafa Zafar

Ibteda, in Urdu, (my language) means the beginning. Its the name given to my SALA 09 exhibition, by my husband, Mustafa Zafar. I am truly grateful to him because he’s the only reason, I shifted to Australia, and is responsible for our beautiful life here. We both recently became Australian citizens last month and so this exhibitions marks the beginning of our new journey in this scared land.

I still remember, I was working in my studio, late one night, back in Pakistan. He causally walked up to me, as I was concentrating on one of my pieces, and he said, ” I want to move to Australia!” and obviously I was so engrossed in my painting, I didn’t even make an eye contact, and said,” ummm ok?! but why Australia?!!!!” He replied,  “…because the Australians know how to laugh, and I want to be among them because they seem to be so happy!” – That was enough for me to say yes, lets do it!!!

Within six months we got the paper work done, and booked a flight to Adelaide. I have to say, I was so busy packing and saying good byes, I never asked him where we were going!! To me Australia was only Melbourne or Sydney and have never even heard of a place, Adelaide. After a very LONG, sick and terrible flight, we landed here, which then looked totally empty as it was after 5pm on a Saturday and everything was closed. On the way from the airport to our hostel, in the taxi, I asked Mustafa,” what’s this place called again?!”, took me a few days to remember the name, and pronounce it right!

After a few cultural shocks and some weird experiences, I was ready to go back home in six months. Then, by chance one day Mustafa on his way back from uni, got a flier that said, ‘looking for art work for a new shop, opening in the city’. I called the people, got myself the first interview ever, at the city Cibo. When I walked out, I wasn’t sure how it went, because I just really didn’t want to stay here and wanted to leave so badly, I just didn’t care. Mustafa just softly said in my ears, ” If they don’t take your work for their shop, trust me it’s their loss!!” That just changed everything in my life. I looked at him, and saw how much he believed in me and my work and that gave me the desire to believe in myself too.

The next day, I walked down Rundle mall making myself almost invisible, teary eyes and promised myself, ” The people of Adelaide, will LOVE ME, I will make them LOVE me!” It almost became an obsession (still is!) to be loved by people here, because I really wanted to stay for Mustafa and wanted to be Happy. Coming from a family, where I was extremely LOVED, made it harder for me, to know no one, and to also know the fact that no one really cares about me here.

While working at many different jobs, I kept teaching myself to grow and to become a better person. To learn about the people and to make an effort to reach out to make friends everywhere and anywhere I went. I worked during the day in the super market and came home and worked on my art at night…for four years tried not to charge for henna and just give, give and give all that I had to the people here, just to make them like me. Henna, the cultural thread I carry with me all the time, is my best friend and I started sharing her with everyone and anyone that came my way, in many different ways.

Once when working at the Gallery of SA, I met up with Adelaide’s most beautiful Willcox Family. Fell in love with each one of them in the first encounter, and prayed to see them again soon. A few months after, we met them again at Womad, where I was given the opportunity to work and share my Henna. As it was so busy, the first day, I still remember Simon and Victoria Willcox came back the next day early, only to be touched by my Henna.  They were there even before I was there and so that small, yet very kind gesture stayed with me the whole event. I felt like I was on top of the world because they made me feel extra special. Soon after that, they invited me to do Henna at one of their party, and that’s when I realized, how scared these people have become for me, as they were not only becoming my friends, but they also were teaching me the beautiful culture they belong to, and by welcoming us into their homes were making us their family.

A happy moment with the Willcox family, Photography by Mandi Whitten*

It was just a few months ago, when Simon just shifted his surgery, in Unley – http://hartdentalsa.com.au/ and asked me to do SALA there.  I was speechless, at the offer, and said YES! It is an extremely special exhibition, because it’s my first one after becoming an Australia citizen, and also the first solo show in Adelaide. I was blessed to have had Simon, his wife Victoria and daughters Amelia and Adelaide, support and encourage me throughout the preparation of this show. They and loveliest Heather ( who works for Simon!) organized every single thing, and all I had to do was create the paintings and put them up!! I dont think words are enough to thank these kind people for gifting me a chance to share my work with all and also to make us feel at home here and to make our dreams come true.

Ibteda, is an exhibition, that will always stay very close to my heart, as it marks the beginning of my journey into my own soul. I was thrilled to see the number of people, who had come along to be part of this special night with me. I felt extremely loved and satisfied, and believed in the magic of love that surrounds me. Even as i am writing this, the feeling of looking at those people standing in the crowd, shakes me from within. I looked around in that room, on the opening night, and didnt find a single stranger there… all the people who came were people I knew and called them my friends…that to me was an achievement, more than anything on that night. I just wish I am giving back something to all these lovely people, and pray to be always there to support them when needed.

In my speech that night, I got so nervous I forgot to thank the most important people in my life like Mustafa, our parents, and Simon and his family. Without their support I couldn’t have reached this far and just wanted to acknowledge them here on my blog.

In the end, I just want to say, dont wait for that perfect moment you think is going to come, because there is no perfect time but now. I couldn’t keep waiting for magic to happen, I realized magic was not only around me, but also within me, and there is no day better than today! So begin the magic, by believing in yourself today and letting go of your past, look straight into your future and have your IBTEDA today !!

Time we have together is nothing we can keep

So let us not talk of share and winnings

Wait and see what happens when you venture deep

And share the joy of new beginnings !

By Simon Willcox for Ibteda

If you want to see more pictures of the night and also of the models that were painted for the opening night, please click on http://bit.ly/Ibteda

*http://weensyweb.com/

Henna at the OzAsia Launch and getting painted by artist Clifford Frith

The exciting program of Oz Asia 09 was launched last friday,and because i am part of the festival this year, I was invited to do Henna there to promote my Art. http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/ozasia/

I am part of Oz Asia, this year and have been working for a few months on the pieces that will be exhibited for this show. It’s an honor to be able to have my works the same exhibition as India Flint- http://indiaflint.com,  Noorjehan Bilgrami – http://koel.com.pk, Aranya artists of southern India, Ernabella textile artists of northwest South Australia and batik artists of Indonesia – Agus Ismoyo and Nia Fliam – who work in collaborations with Indigenous women from desert communities.

On the launch night, while painting a few people, a person standing in the crowd, said he would like me to do a Henna on him but in return he would like to paint something on me too. I have to admit, I was quite hesitant, because seriously  I had no clue who he was. There were so many people standing there, who heard his request, and I felt really bad saying no to him. So I told him he can draw but it has to be little and obviously he agreed to it. While I was painting him, the curator of the show, Susan Jenkins saw it happening and she rushed over to get the camera guy… I was quite surprised and when she came back I asked her who this person was. Obviously to my surprise, turns out this polite old man was a very well known South Australian artist, Clifford Frith. At first I didnt believe it, and asked a few people to confirm…I was showing what he drew on me to people, and one of the person there said, ” Humna, your hand has just become even more valuable, now that he’s drawn on it, you might want to frame it”

It felt so so SO cool…and at that point I could understand in a way, why and how people feel when they get painted by me…(not that I am comparing myself with him!! but having an artwork on me by another artist, just felt extremely exciting!!) I was on top of the world that night, being touched by an honorable artist from Australia. He took the invite to my solo show and promised to come, hope he can come along.

The pieces that will be exhibited for this exhibition, are probably the kind of art I would love to keep doing in future exhibitions, as they truly bring out the textile designer in me. Also, I am thrilled to be part of such a festival, that promotes the Asian cultures in Adelaide. I thank the whole team, organizing the Ozasia festival, they are so amazingly helpful and fun people to work for. I am excited the exhibition is coming closer, and very keen to hear comments about this work, as this is my first time exhibiting such large, hand painted silk panels. Hope you can come!

Water Aid is one of the main charities I support. I was asked to do Henna there on the gala dinner, held recently. I was happy and surprised how many people stood in line to be painted. All dressed up in their beautiful gowns, looking extremely graceful and classy and wanting a Henna on them. While painting these people, I kept thinking, how grateful I was at that moment, because people have started seeing Henna as an elegant Art form rather than always thinking of it in a hippy way. It’s always such an amazing experience to be part of Water Aid dinners, because you know that, they are raising funds for such an important cause.

Water is one of the main necessities of life as we all would agree to, and we all take it for granted. Water aid, delivers simple technologies and advice to communities in 17 African, Asian and Pacific nations focusing on low cost, sustainable project. You can read more about them on http://www.wateraid.org/australia/

I had a great night with my friends, who helped me on the night, to raise some funds for the charity and had a great time having fun and meeting new people. If you would like to see more picture, please click http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=292041&id=72694525502&saved

This fringe, I am exhibiting with two other local artists, Marie Littlewood and Meghan O’Rourke, in Adelaide’s most loved gift shop, right in the city center, Urban Cow – www.urbancow.com.au

I created Silk Panels and Wax Lanterns painted with Henna Pigment, in Ancient Patterns from around the world. Marie Littlewood, exhibited her elegant ceramics pieces, inspired by the Henna patterns of her own Hennaed hands, by me. Meghan O’Rourke, filled the walls with beautiful and exotic colored jewellery pieces, with intricate patterns inspired by her trip to India recently.

It’s on till the 5th April, you still have time to check it out after the craziness of fringe !!

I was chosen recently to work on a life size Panda, for the Adelaide Zoo. The people sponsoring me were Scouts Sa - www.sa.scouts.com.au and was such a pleasure working with them. I walked in thinking I would go nuts painting the panda, in my style but was taken by a surprise when I met the head of the organization.

They were extremely clear as to what and how they wanted the Panda, Baden to look, hence making it extremely easy for me to do. As I didn’t really need to use any of my creative cells, it was extremely different from what I usually do, still a brilliant challenge to work on. Only for about half an hour, I was a bit confused as to how and where should I get started but as soon as I sat with the Panda on my own, I just knew it was going to all work out.

I wanted to keep the Panda looking like a Panda and not change the look or the original black portions. Thankfully they wanted the same !! After doing the black portions, I had to sit back and look at the badges the Scouts get as an achievement for doing different tasks. They were going to be stuck on the Banden’s back. Steve Hastwell and Katherine Noll, helped me understand the way Scouts work around the world and the importance of the badges I was going to use on Baden. I think it’s such an amazing group of people, who bond over time, doing so many different activities and adventures together.  It was their idea, that the members of the Scouts, when they will look at the badges, they will make a connection straight away with Baden and feel he’s one of them !!

Les Penley, a wonderful person, who is refered to as the Father of the Panda, invited me to the Launch at the zoo, which was such a beautiful night. There were about 12 Pandas, with their sponsors and Artists invited. I got to unveil my Panda on the night in front of everyone, which was extremely exciting for me!!

I felt extremely connected to the two Pandas coming to Australia, later this year, because they too are coming from a different culture, and will be living here to become one with the Australian people, like me and Mustafa, (although they are ONLY coming for ten years and we are here for ever !). In China, they’re regarded as a national treasure, but Giant Pandas are also amongst the world’s most endangered animals. And now two of them, one year-old Funi and two year-old Wangwang, will soon be on their way to the Adelaide Zoo for a ten year stay. http://www.zoossa.com.au/adelaide-zoo/animals-exhibits/exhibits/panda-exhibit

You can see more Pictures of the making of the Panda and of the launch night on : http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=220771&id=649730112

As always, we were very lucky to have so many people walk through to buy special gifts, for Christmas. I always like to launch my new products and services on my open day to see the response first hand from my clients and hear their comments about my work. Their suggestions and guidance helps me to polish my work and to keep creating to keep them happy. This year I started my line of  Terracotta Bowl and my first batch of Black and whites, along with the new Diya Studio Gift Cards and Post Cards. It was a great night with some lovely people around me, supporting and helping me organise everything, there is no way i could have managed to do it all on my own.

Mustafa, worked endlessly on doing the layout and set for the products, you can see the pictures of the night on : http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=195288&id=649730112 I had the help of my two beautiful Henna Girls, Caitlin and Adele … and so many people in the kitchen to serve so yummy delights, (My favprite was the *Duffys Chocolate fudge slice, if you haven’t tried that, please do, it’s JUST Divine ! )  Ana and Sarah were at the check out, packing the gifts and dealing with the checkout, and Leane running around taking and giving messages between us all.Thank you to all who helped and gifted us with your special time, truly appreciated !!

I never count the people who come in and so never know how many came, but all I know that who ever came, made a huge difference to me. This event has always been a special day for me as I get to meet the people who enjoy my work and also opening my studio doors, makes them feel invited into my very sacred Space. Hope I can continue to spread the light of Happiness to people around me, through my passion, always !

* Duffy’s Bakery is in Norwood – http://www.theparadenorwood.com/bp664/duffys-bakery/

My first solo exhibition in Melbourne—a moment I have been dreaming of for years. In this exhibition I used Henna as the storyteller, weaving narratives and human connections amidst cultural diversity, in a shared journey of the human spirit. Ancient symbols, mandalas and patterns are presented through photography ( By Mandi Whitten ) and on silk dyed and painted with Henna.

I stayed with one of the most talented people I have ever met, Kim Simon. She is an inspiration for me and I totally admire her for the strong woman she is. I cant stop thinking about how generous she was to allow me and my very special three friends to stay at her lovely house. You can see her work on – http://www.fibrered.com.au/

It was an extremely smooth exhibition and everything worked out beautifully. I recommend the gallery to anyone and everyone – http://bsgart.com.au/ Mark Jamieson, who runs the space is an extremely lovely person, who guided us at every step.  The gallery is divided into different spaces for many exhibitions to happen at one time, and my favorite part of the opening was to have other exhibitions openings on the same night as mine. This not only helps artists like us to connect together and share our work, but also build on new friendships and share experiences of the art world.

I was thrilled to meet so many lovely people during and after this exhibition and was very touched by the comments from everyone.  Tim Quirk, was one of the artists exhibiting on the same floor as mine and so we got to introduce ourselves. He’s a very talented photographer, check out his amazing work on – http://www.myspace.com/timquirk , I personally love the colors in his work and the beautiful raw textures are just stunning!!

Over all I had such a good time in Melbourne,  I hope to visit more often as I feel so connected to the people there.  Thank you to all the people in Adelaide who helped me make one of my dream come true … and to the people in Melbourne for such a welcoming experience!!

Please read the review of the exhibition on : http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news.asp?sId=175875&ref=

Fire Within III, a piece from my recent exhibition, A Thread. A web. A World – www.athreadawebaworld.com, a collaborative project with Mandi Whitten won 2008 World Art Competition and Exhibition Award, held at the Fullarton Park Centre. It’s been an extreme honor to have been part of this event, and be able to share my work with everyone. One of the judges, Kristian Mumford wrote about the work -  ‘ This strong and deelpy spiritual work, for a moment, seems alive and bursting forward with trinity and creativity. But when one looks closer, one can see it’s internal coals. It burns ever so slowly like our sun, fueling it’s love and passion to be, and withstand the test along the way. So be it.‘

When painting these hands all I wanted people to see the true look of my Henna, the rawness in its texture and the life hidden behind in the bright orange color that shines through on the body, making the soul glow with inner light. This piece beautifully describes not only my intense Passion for Henna, but also captures me evolving into a new culture and time, opening my hands to welcome the beginning of a wonderful journey. A click by Mandi Whitten, the story of my Henna and moment of me captured forever !

Thank You to the people of Australia for helping me make my home in this sacred land, filled with so much sunshine !!

Please do check out Mandi’s new upcoming exhibition, ‘ Breathing Space ‘, during the Feast Festival 11th – 30th Nov, At Laboheme.  Also you can see more of her wonderful work on : http://www.weensyweb.com

Thanks to Adelaide Matters for the wonderful coverage of our exhibition and also for the mention in their recent issue of Nov 5 2008.

Special Thanks to Model – Danielle Zerk and Adorable Inarie !!!

Rendezvous, an exhibition of ceramic works celebrates, a meeting of cultures and an exchange of ideas, techniques and knowledge by the me and Philip Hart.  He is an amazing local potter, working in Ceramics for as long as he can remember. I met him three years ago when he helped me develop my Henna Bowls, and guided me at every step and it was his idea to do this exhibition together.

When he asked me to do an exhibition with him, it was an honor for me because he’s one of the best in Adelaide and I was just blown away when he trusted my work so much so that he was happy for me to paint his precious bowls. Working on the exhibition together was a challenge for both of us, because we live really far away from each other and so had to work at very intense speed !!

Based around a series of ‘rendezvous’ at mine and his house/studio, pots in this exhibition were thrown and trimmed on a traditional potters wheel, slip was trailed into rich and elaborate designs, patterns were discussed, kilns loaded and fired and the hard won knowledge of traditional crafting methods exchanged and shared. The finished works in this exhibition carry a tangled and interwoven range of mixed surface designs and imagery.

We both hope you enjoy the aesthetic and cultural considerations that, meet, come together or Rendezvous on the surfaces and in the forms and soul of each object created.