BLOG ACTION DAY IS TODAY!

I've posted all the brilliant contributions at Maraya (still need to add a few hyperlinks and some text, please do not freak out if yours is missing, it will all get done before the 15th is technically over). I am too pooped to write anymore (it's past midnight my time) but I'll be back in the morning (or the afternoon).


I am so proud of this collective work - you guys are the coolest on the planet.

Here's my measly contribution - needs work, but it's food for thought at least.

Le New Look

Maraya Galleries

Still working on updating our website. It's taking forever, but once I finished designing the logo, I decided to go ahead and just upload a few pages at a time, instead of finishing the whole website. I'll be talking about the changes here and would love some feedback as we go along.

For now, I'm still waiting for participation in the Blog Action Day artwork project - So far, only Neda and Alfonso have submitted their collages (you can see them in the home page slides).

Que pasa, people? Saving the earth is not inspiring you to come up with something? or, gulp... not worth your time? Time is running out - hurry up, vamos, allez, yalla, andare, пойти

J'ai decidé de telecharger le "new look" de notre site, Maraya Galleries, sans avoir tout fini. Trop de travail à faire - je ferais tous les changements petit à petit. J'aimerais bien discuter des étapes à entreprendre pour en faire un site agréable à visiter, et donc, j'apprècierais énormément tous commentaires, idées et suggestions à propos du design et du contenu du site.

A propos du contenu, que se passe-t-il avec votre participation au Blog Action Day? Jusqu'à présent, je n'ai que les collages de Neda et Alfonso à mettre sur le site. Eh bien? Allez, allez, le temps file, il n'y a plus que quelques jours pour finir votre projet. Le monde attend!

Another Side of Wissam

(Sensations sur ma ville © W. Beydoun)

Wissam Beydoun is one of my favourite artists. Not only because we're family (par alliance) and I've known him, like, forever, and he's really cool and a sweetheart - but truly because of the dizzying, emotional, startling punch of his artwork.

A lot of his latest work screams about the raw, unbearable pain of being human. But some of it has the whimsy and fun of his youthful past as a cartoon artist and illustrator. To wit, this textured collage entitled "Sensations about my city". Can you see the urban jumble of an old neighbourhood?

There's a lot more that I'll be showing shortly on the gallery site as soon as I finish rehauling the whole dang lot of it. Which, by the way, is why I've been slacking off here - not enough hours in the day to take a break here and do the other stuff I need to do.

But Will It Go With My Couch?

Never fails. Every time I mention that I have an online gallery and that I sell "real" artwork from "real" artists, the dreaded question comes:
(Le monde du silence © I. Algranti)

"How do you know what to buy when you're buying art?" (a question I actually like better that the assertion that usually follows: "I'm looking for something that will have the same colours as my living room furniture").

How do you buy art? Do you buy something that stirs you? Something pretty? Something that might as well have the price sticker still on it? A "conversation piece"?

(Tête © W. Beydoun)

My sincere answer always is: "Buy what you like" - and I mean it. I believe that even if you "don't know what you're doing", or don't have a trained eye (or much... what's that word? oh, yeah, taste) - and whether you're aware of it or not - when you acquire something not intrinsically functional to display in your own personal space, you inescapably have an emotional investment in that object.

Something has drawn you to that particular sculpture/painting/monstrosity - it "spoke" to you, it made a connection with you... it "picked" you. Like a pet.
(Tattoo © M. Hallab)

So "buy" and cherish and display and be proud of what you like. And remember that whoever created the piece that you chose poured their heart and soul into it. Cherish that too.

(Morning Stretch © M. Stamper)

Working Hard For My Artists

I've been updating my Maraya Galleries website with new works by Fawzan and adding new pages, some of which are already up and running. Here's one of Fawzan's fave watercolours (mine too):

(Lemon Tea - F.Barrage©2006)

More On Ornamental Art

(Flower Power -Léon©2005)

Here's an update on a recent post about Léon, a young jewelry designer. He can be reached at the following international number: 961-3-311964. However, I'd like to point out that Léon's best spoken languages are French, Armenian and Arabic; if you'd like to communicate with him or place an order in English, you can contact him through Maraya Galleries at customerservice@marayagalleries.com.

(Southern Rose -Léon©2005)

We're Such A Punny Bunch

Well, three days into this migraine-induced haze, this is all I could come up with – a post explaining the name of this here blog. (Hmmm, still in the realm of “what does it all mean…”. Bizarre, bizarre, as Louis Jouvet would have said).

So, why MaraZine? Well, this blog does have pretensions to be an online magazine of sorts. But what about the Mara part? Oh, so glad you asked – MaraZine evolved from our online art gallery, Maraya Galleries, thus named by taking the first syllables of our collective brood’s names and coming up with this lovely, musical monicker that means “mirrors” in Arabic. I later found out that there is an actual calligraphic style called Maraya, or mirror writing – even more appealing.
Since I love a good play on words (which someone once dismissed as a lazy person’s facile humour – absolutely correct and I am the queen of laziness, witness this lame-o post), I couldn’t resist “MaraZine” – you see, not only is it a clever reminder of Maraya (aha!), but Mara also means “woman”, or more accurately “broad”, in very colloquial Lebanese. Deliciously silly.

Let’s hope the fog lifts up soon and some creative juices start flowing again…

Meanwhile At the Art Gallery (Art explorations with wee ones)

I love taking my children to various art venues – their favourites, of course, being any outdoor exhibition of the arts-and-crafts kind. They’re a lot less excited and a lot less well behaved when they’re subjected to formal settings like art galleries, where my hushed mantra is usually “no, you can’t touch this”.
A while ago, I took them to see the works of an interesting sculptor, Andrew Benyei, which were being shown at a tiny local gallery. It promised to be interesting, at least for me: an exhibition of contemporary sculpture that was described as an exploration of the human condition, through several tableaux from everyday life (or maybe just the everyday lives of working stiffs).
My children didn’t care much about the existentialist queries posed by these affecting, sometimes poignant compositions. But they were captivated by the seeming playfulness of the miniature people in “funny” situations – this was the first time they had seen such colourful sculptures in such a serious setting.
My two girls stood in awe in front of a large panel, where various figures, men and women, looking quite anxious in their business attire, were scattered among several ladders. “Look, mama”, my six-year said in wonder, “this is snakes and ladders with real people!” – and, not surprisingly, the piece was entitled “Snakes and Ladders”.
Another piece depicting the all-too familiar (c)rush of busy elevators prompted squeals of recognition from my youngest one, who had seen a picture of it on my computer when I was searching for information on the exhibit (“Look, mama, they’re still smooshed together!”).
The children loved exploring the rest of the gallery, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the “bootiful” paintings from the permanent collection.
It turned out to be quite enjoyable for an “educational” outing – the gallery was small, fairly empty on a weekday, and the tour took a relatively short time. A perfect activity for that lazy summer afternoon: Not too drawn out, so the children didn’t have time to complain, no waiting in line to get in and rich enough in new visual experiences that I felt it was worth the “are-we-there-yet” car trip.
So there you have it: if you choose the right destination, even preschoolers can enjoy a truly esthetic experience. Ice-cream cones for a treat afterwards help too.