Featured Artist: Shireen
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
As-salaamu'alaykum wa Rahmatu Llahi wa Barakatuhu,
Between the flu (twice) and work.. I'm behind on blogging, sorry. But I do have this months featured artist: Shireen!
What medium do you use to express your creativity? And why did you choose this medium?
I like to express myself through poetry, it so happens that it's a "creative medium". It's an unintentional situation to be honest, consequently when there's a lot on my mind it comes out in a rhyme. Having said that, I don't consider myself a "poet", rather just rhyme my emotions. The beauty of poetry/rhyme for me is that it has various different meanings depending on who is reading it. For me I'll know exactly what and why I wrote what I wrote. For others they won't really know this, and I like it that way :)
What do you hope people gain from reading your work?
Not everyone is able to express how they feel, especially through words. Often words aren't a 'solution' it's just an avenue to vent or release whatever might be weighing on the mind. For those that read what I write, I hope they can be inspired in thought or at the very least feel a sense of understanding by someone; even if it's just an unknown 'rhymer'.
What influences your work?
Nothing in particular, I seem to have a hamster turning a wheel in my mind. Putting thought into things, life, occurrences; this is my natural disposition. Thus, whatever keeps going over and over in my mind, seems to be what comes out on paper. Maybe deep down inside I'm a rapper..lol. Often I write about situations I have no control over, what I cannot change in the physical. I suppose I try to influence it's change through the mere thought of it.
Do you have a favorite piece? And why this particular piece?
I honestly can't say I do. Everything I write has it's time and place - or more so it's emotion behind it. As I keep changing so does how I feel about it. Often I'm regurgitating similar thoughts in a different way. My thoughts stem from my values and understanding. They don't change dramatically but they have a different element or situation in mind.
AFRICA - The continent not the country
Does spirituality and culture play a role in your creativity?
Spirituality and culture are a default in thoughts. It's not a conscious effort I put towards tapping into, but you will definitely my religious views take precedence in all that I write. To separate the two would be like separating myself. So yes it definitely has it's place in what comes out, but only as a means of defining who I am.
What other creative interests do you have?
I can't say I have other creative interests as such. I don't even consider writing a 'creative interest', it's simply what I do. I never purposely meant to write in rhyme, just happens that way every single time; whether it makes it to paper or not,that's how thoughts turn in my mind.
What would you do if there was a polar bear in your closet?
Hmm, if it's a real polar bear - I'd run! ...lol, if it's the friendly cute kind that doesn't breath, eat or walk - then I'll give it to my kids.
Where can we find more of your work?
My mind? :) ... I have a blog which I post my thoughts. You can find it at The Stolen Light
Between the flu (twice) and work.. I'm behind on blogging, sorry. But I do have this months featured artist: Shireen!
What medium do you use to express your creativity? And why did you choose this medium?
I like to express myself through poetry, it so happens that it's a "creative medium". It's an unintentional situation to be honest, consequently when there's a lot on my mind it comes out in a rhyme. Having said that, I don't consider myself a "poet", rather just rhyme my emotions. The beauty of poetry/rhyme for me is that it has various different meanings depending on who is reading it. For me I'll know exactly what and why I wrote what I wrote. For others they won't really know this, and I like it that way :)
What do you hope people gain from reading your work?
Not everyone is able to express how they feel, especially through words. Often words aren't a 'solution' it's just an avenue to vent or release whatever might be weighing on the mind. For those that read what I write, I hope they can be inspired in thought or at the very least feel a sense of understanding by someone; even if it's just an unknown 'rhymer'.
What influences your work?
Nothing in particular, I seem to have a hamster turning a wheel in my mind. Putting thought into things, life, occurrences; this is my natural disposition. Thus, whatever keeps going over and over in my mind, seems to be what comes out on paper. Maybe deep down inside I'm a rapper..lol. Often I write about situations I have no control over, what I cannot change in the physical. I suppose I try to influence it's change through the mere thought of it.
Do you have a favorite piece? And why this particular piece?
I honestly can't say I do. Everything I write has it's time and place - or more so it's emotion behind it. As I keep changing so does how I feel about it. Often I'm regurgitating similar thoughts in a different way. My thoughts stem from my values and understanding. They don't change dramatically but they have a different element or situation in mind.
AFRICA - The continent not the country
Everyone speaks of it like it's all the same glory
So let me set the record straight..
It's not!
Dessert and dry lands mask the North
Arabic spoken; vivid through its roots
South is ocean and grass - the red earth of the 'mother land'
Center point you have the best of nature
Then there's the West, where knowledge rose to it's best
Take it East and you'll know how to feast
Except now its warn, stricken and in drought
Higher up flourishes the art of 'stealing from the assumed rich and still staying poor'
In the midst is AIDS plaguing the villages
Raids and tribal wars - you know , divide and conquer
Education a commodity of the affluent
To find crime and bribery a normal day-to-day occurrence
This is AFRICA a land that became infested by uninvited savages
Who enslaved, divided and tore apart only for their own advantages
This is why today, an entire land mass is unappreciated, as it's known only as "Africa" ...
Where the lions roam among mud and brick homes?
Yet its a land that has every precious stone and all of natures own
Once the best of beauties, now tainted and ruined
Left as the beast, brainwashed upon release
Downsized to one word, though it consists of 57 unions
'Africa' they say - a land stolen in the night and forgotten in the day
Does spirituality and culture play a role in your creativity?
Spirituality and culture are a default in thoughts. It's not a conscious effort I put towards tapping into, but you will definitely my religious views take precedence in all that I write. To separate the two would be like separating myself. So yes it definitely has it's place in what comes out, but only as a means of defining who I am.
What other creative interests do you have?
I can't say I have other creative interests as such. I don't even consider writing a 'creative interest', it's simply what I do. I never purposely meant to write in rhyme, just happens that way every single time; whether it makes it to paper or not,that's how thoughts turn in my mind.
What would you do if there was a polar bear in your closet?
Hmm, if it's a real polar bear - I'd run! ...lol, if it's the friendly cute kind that doesn't breath, eat or walk - then I'll give it to my kids.
Where can we find more of your work?
My mind? :) ... I have a blog which I post my thoughts. You can find it at The Stolen Light
Thank you Shireen!
Labels: Artist
Mashallah, very nice! I would say that writing is definitely a creative venue to express yourself.