Tag: art

growing within

Posted on by Ajmal
Growing Within – Original Fine Art from The Border of a Mind Studios

Life is designed to be lived. I’ve always felt the need to pursue the things that pique our interest. We must engage in activities that offer us delight, how hard the daily routine would push you. You must surround yourself with individuals who bring you back to yourself, who appreciate and embrace you in ways that make you feel worthy, accepted, and loved. I don’t take precious readers like you for granted who take their valuable time to glance at these writings. I feel previleged and I always strive to maintain the spirits of my readers thrive high. We must undertake the effort to heal ourself, even if it is painful, so that we do not continue to live our life inside the boundaries of what is heavy within us. We have to put yourself out there, and we can’t worry about what other people say; we can’t deny ourself experience, enjoyment, or inspiration because you’re afraid of how others may view you. We must be unapologetic in our presence here. We must think that our ideas, hopes, and soul deserve to be heard. We must believe that each of us have a mission & purpose in our finite existence here.

functional disintegration

Posted on by Ajmal

This has always been my approach to most of my professional work and analytics based personal projects. It’s a joy to read someone articulating and casting aspersions on how my functioning mind runs things.

“For any challenge, the first thing to do is optimize it. Break it down to its bare minimum, simplify it, and eliminate everything that’s not completely necessary. Once you’ve boiled the task down to its essentials, the goal is to break what’s left into bite-sized tasks that can be replicated and possibly delegated.”

― Ari Meisel , Less Doing, More Living: Make Everything in Life Easier

hopeful fortitude

Posted on by Ajmal

I often discuss with Netta on coping with uncertainity. We are meticulous planners by nature and often it requires robust emotional strength to cope up with the smallest uncertainity in life. In most contexts, uncertainty is often related with vulnerability. After all, we all want to feel in charge of our lives, whether it’s our employment, education, friendships, or relationships. The sensation of being “out of control” is unsettling, and we are all guilty of avoiding this vulnerable zone whenever possible. However, by doing so, we are eventually restricting our potential to improve in these areas of our life that need commitment. It is often in these moments of dread and uncertainty that we learn how strong we can be and how much inner strength we really possess. After all, personal progress flourishes where distress flows. That’s what I’ve learned with experiences throughtout my life. Often strong rooted faith and trust in the divine will of Almighty can be a good solace, often in times when we are going through tough times. You may not notice it today or tomorrow, but in a few years you will be completely mystified and astonished by how everything lined together to bring you somewhere beautiful – or where you’ve always wanted to be. You will be relieved that things did not turn out the way you had hoped. Never lose hope. Everything is manageable as long as you have hope. In reality, this inside fire of patience, trust, perseverance, faith and hope is alluded to as the real inner strength.

“Hopeful Fortitude” | Original Fine Art from The Border of a Mind studios.

Loose yourself

Posted on by Ajmal
Elegant art at Ilona Cafe, Muweilah, Sharjah

“Lose yourself in books, in art, in the haze of new horizons. Lose yourself in curiosity, in knowledge, in passion. Lose yourself in feeling it all… You are your own home—please don’t ever forget that.”

― Bianca Sparacino, The Strength In Our Scars

lofty spirits

Posted on by Ajmal

From an early age, society shapes us to fit in. To blend in, avoid doing anything out of the norm. That, by definition, involves neglecting chances and opportunities to try new things. However, advancement, fulfillment, and delight are byproducts of exploration. Ironically, the society that seeks to force us to conform needs us to walk as ourselves the most. To give in the only way we know how. Finding our voice and following our path, then shining a light for others along the way.

Beautiful wall art at Ilona Cafe, Muweilah, Sharjah

Know, O beloved, that man was not created in jest or at random, but marvellously made and for some great end. Although he is not form everlasting, yet he lives for ever; and though his body is mean and earthly, yet his spirit is lofty and divine.

– Al Ghazali (1058-1111)

delight within

Posted on by Ajmal
” Delight Within” – Original fine art from The Border of a Mind Studios
This is loosely inspired from the delightfully curious life of my son, Ehan

I just completed an art piece based on the idea of a pleasant admonition to be contented with oneself. Allowing yourself the freedom to be who you really are and discovering the richness in the life you’ve been given. There are many wonderful things in your life, and even if you don’t always see them, they are there to help you create magic with the talents, traits, and characteristics you were born with. Simply learning to explore the joy you already have inside yourself can enhance your outlook on life.

Delve into my other art works.

gradualist gains

Posted on by Ajmal

I’ve always experienced and perceived that organic and holistic growth is always incremental and gradual instead of a sporadic leap. Incremental, constant progress over a long time frame is the recipe for the mastery of a craft, purposeful, fulfilling education, powerful aquisition of skill sets, learning something totally new (like learning a language, for example), etc. Small successes aggregate to produce massive change over time. Although the outcomes may not be spectacular right away, they will be long-lasting. And the accumulation of multiple modest gains is sometimes as potent, if not more powerful, than efforts to make large jumps. The same is true for personal change. People who make a difference always begin slowly, one person at a time. It is not completed entirely at once. It’s done gradually.

“And I’ve noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: They hold the unshakable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that every life matters. They get excited over one smile. They are willing to feed one stomach, educate one mind, and treat one wound. They aren’t determined to revolutionize the world all at once; they’re satisfied with small changes. Over time, though, the small changes add up. Sometimes they even transform cities and nations, and yes, the world. “

– Beth Clark

home is a story of who we are

Posted on by Ajmal
video: theborderofamind.com

Attempted some modest newfangled indoor space arrangement with a bamboo ladder added to the mix and some hanging plant installations. Right time with the right vibe enables the visual poet in me to prose. I’ve been contemplating some hanging set ups for a long time. There’s something very beautiful about plants hanging. They bring in coziness and warmth to smaller spaces and help them to be perceived as different. Petrichor is the smell of rain. The word comes from the Greek words ‘petra’, meaning stone, and ‘ichor’, which in Greek mythology refers to the golden fluid that flows in the veins of the immortals. Green areas with crawling plants and hanging pots brings the petrichor of a personal space and home. They say, home is a story of who we are.

“She awaits the rain like a writer embraces metaphors,

A drizzle isn’t for the child who dances in the storm.

Of rain that washes away the petrichor it brings,

A downpour of a hail of bullets, and she calls it spring.”

― Sanhita Baruah, The Farewell and other poems

momentous imprints

Posted on by Ajmal
momentous Imprints | Video

This is a humble effort to chronicle an endeavor to freeze a part of the time, a moment to reflect later. The hands and feet of my son cast at a time when he does not think of the future and is in a carefree state of mind. This is a work of art to remind of this time when this innocence leaves him to be free to enjoy himself as few adults can and to remind about this beautiful time which existed before being caught up in the fret of future when most adults leave their childhood behind. As a father, I gaze awestruck at how curious he is and this memory in my mind of him picking toys and little things by his tiny hand and tinkering with it and exploring them is so deeply engraved in my memory that I desired some sort of material realization of this time which will pass soon in a blink of an eye as he grows up so fast. This work of art graciously reminds us of the transitory nature of phases of the life of this world. Of course, photographs, old toys and dresses would bring back memories, but there’s something special with the aspects and details in a cast. Thanks to Imprintz by Srushti for crafting it to perfection with lot of care and love put into it with a stellar attention to detail.

“Writing, music, sculpting, painting, and prayer! These are the five things that are most closely related! Writers, musicians, sculptors, painters, and the faithful are the ones who make things out of nothing. Everybody else, they make things out of something, they have materials! But a written work can be done with nothing, it can begin in the soul! A musical piece begins with a harmony in the soul, a sculpture begins with a formless, useless piece of rock chiseled and formed and molded into the thing that was first conceived in the sculptor's heart! A painting can be carried inside the mind for a lifetime, before ever being put onto paper or canvass! And a prayer! A prayer is a thought, a remembrance, a whisper, a communion, that is from the soul going to what cannot be seen, yet it can move mountains! And so I believe that these five things are interrelated, these five kinds of people are kin.”
― C. JoyBell C.

gleam

Posted on by Ajmal

This is an art installation that I have recently worked on. I’m calling it gleam.

“Gleam” – Original Artwork from The Border Of a Mind

..“Don’t dissolve, but gleam
with the beauty of what’s in your heart.”

― Rafy Rohaan