Art of Taskin

And 2016 comes to an end!....so quick!....Time flies! The year was nothing less than exciting, eventful and full of many great memories and experiences... Lets welcome 2017 ...with hope, renewal, positivity and a fresh feeling to keep creating, living and doing what we love....& thank you to all my supporters, well wishers and art loving wonderful people out there who continuously send messages of love, appreciation and care! Without you, my journey would never be this exciting & fulfilling :)  Goodbye 2016.... Welcome 2017!.... 

Another Exhibition ...but this time @ ROYAL NAIROBI GOLF CLUB..... If you missed the first one earlier this year, here is your chance to see it ! This December there will be a range of diversely versatile Artists displaying at the Royal Golf Club on Mucai Road, off Ngong Road in Nairobi.  Make your way anytime from 17 December to 15 January to Royal Golf Club in Nairobi from 8 am to 6pm  for an Art Exhibition that will end your year in style! All art will be on sale!.... For a one on one or to know more about the art on display, contact Manager of the Golf Club on  +254 2 725768/9   Mobile: +254 718810810 E-mail: info@royalnairobigc.com /  captain@royalnairobigc.com

This weekend has been a unique one with the Art Buyers weekend at Lavington Mall in Nairobi showcasing art from various artists accross Kenya including some of my own work . The monthly art event started earlier this year and has gained momentum to become a premier art venue attracting art buyers from around Kenya.

An eventful exciting day out is just around the corner... 10th December welcomes all to Event Haven in Karen Nairobi where xmas shopping just got better ! Some home decor and gift items will be on sale courtesy of Taz Gift Shop as well as some paintings. Grab your early xmas gifts for the family and enjoy the sun while snacking outdoor in the lush and serene gardens of Event Haven . Make it a day to remember. .. at Event Haven next month....

Art Fest is back again.... Upcoming within less than a month is this exciting outdoor curated arts and crafts festival, the second of this year,  featuring art, music, food and designs...in the grounds of the Kenya Wildlife Service Headquarters. It is sure to be an unmissable event on 4 December in which some of my own paintings will be on display.... For any one who would like to know more about it contact me directly on taskin.butt@gmail.com. See you there :)

Two weeks ago I was asked by an artist friend  if I wanted to display some of my paintings at the Karen Country Club - a members golf club in Nairobi that welcomes many guests from various backgrounds. It was an opportunity I welcomed gladly. Yesterday we just finished installing the exhibition that includes works by 4 artists including myself and will run untill end of September. All members of the club will not only be able to enjoy sport but refresh themselves with some new art! that fills the walls and even take some home with them too all art will be for sale.

The Festival everyone in Kenya has been talking about is just a week away...the Art Fest...Art in the Wild will be happening on 14 August from 10 am to 6 pm at Kenya Wildlife Service Headquarters in Nairobi Kenya. There will be visual arts..interior design...photography. .fashion....music....literature and also a safari walk and game drive for the whole family. .. Some of my art will be at the event... Be there for this... it is going to be better than the last!

Fundii Centre for the Arts  First Access Art Exhibition opened on 7 July and will be on until 28 July at 172 Karura Avenue in Muthaiga Nairobi, Kenya. I felt honoured to be part of the 18 artists chosen to be part of the show.  33 pieces are on exhibition in a range of styles, designs and colour. Fundii Centre for the Arts  Exhibition features artists that are local  and international and were selected from 100 applicants for the show. The painting I created from the show called 6PM was sold during the exhibition to a customer and visitor of the exhibit.  Catch it before the end of the month :)

A hidden precious underwater world... mystery of unknown.........seas and oceans....threat to coral reefs turtle extinction, rare and endangered fish eg red fish, canary rock and orange roughy fish  and conservation efforts to save the seas and ocean life...this painting is inspired by all of the above.... 'Natural Treasure' was born when all the above ideas came together..                                       NATURAL TREASURE oil on canvas 120 cm x 100 cm

CoastWeek, a Kenyan Magazine in print and digital, covered 'Treasures of Nature' in this weeks edition and I am grateful to them for publishing my story..... available digitally at http://www.coastweek.com/3922-culture-01.htm

Thank you to Smart Choice Magazine for publishing a story on my Art Exhibition at Talisman Restaurant, in their May Edition. The Magazine is available in local supermarkets and malls across Nairobi,Kenya.

So grateful to be part of the World Citizen Artists Group... a real catalyst for change, promoter for peace and vehicle for creatives to express themselves and share their  work! Enjoy the video ! For more on World Citizen Artists visit : www.worldcitizenartists .org/

Treasure of Nature -an art exhibition in the Heart of Nairobis Dari Restaurant - a tranquil get away that welcomes visitors with a close 'encounter with nature'... begun on 19th May with some paintings of mine. As peacocks and deer roam in the lawns of Dari....the walls are filled with some of my landscape paintings...a thrilling exciting and humbling experience. .. .I am thankful to the Dari Team for being so kind to put up my work in their location .... I will never forget this memorable time which has already started bringing me closer to old friends, colleagues who have visited as well as opening new roads to new relationships and buyers. I feel grateful to have the support of my loving family, close friends, supporters .... Since last week I have been getting calls from people who came across my website and Facebook page that mentioned the new exhibition and want to visit. ...a personal call always makes my day !... .And have been getting messages of support encour...

During the course of the last few weeks I have been thinking about creating a painting from imagination, however inspired by the evening / sun down:                                                      6PM - oil on canvas 100 cm x 80 cm

The Nairobi Skyline was an adventure painting ........ With  a mixture of nostalgic moments remembering my childhood and also admiring with amazement the developments of the landscape and the new buildings that have come up since, recollecting the memories from boating in the lake, I created my version of the skyline without copying or replicating from photographs I have taken but applying my own imagination and memories of the place. It was a very thrilling experience creating Nairobi Skyline and was really altogether enjoyable and exciting .......... here is a snapshot of my journey through Nairobi Skyline:

... It was both exhilarating and exciting but exhausting too...meeting people is always fun... Over three weeks Talisman had 22 of my paintings displayed it felt humbling, gratifying, fulfilling and somehow overwhelming too....A dream to exhibit my  art came true. Much of my work was appreciated, people left comments. I have a lot to learn from it and take with me in my journey forward. During the three weeks the curator of the National Museum, local architects, business men  and women, hotel managers and general public had a chance to see the exhibition.  The press including The Star Magazine, Asian Weekly and Smart Choice Magazine. It was an opportunity to expand my network, make new contacts, establish new relationships and also gain better insight into how people perceive my work and  what they like most about my art. These are some of the photos from the show :   copyright of Brush & Strokes  Art on...

So I could not stop myself from painting a second one of Reconnections..... Maybe nature was just calling me!....to reconnect with it.... This was the outcome of Reconnections of Nature II: Reconnections with Nature oil on canvas 120 cm x 100 cm Watch for another post on detailed analysis of a step by step illustration of it.

Art Lovers and Art Collectors...... As the new year has begun I have been busy preparing for my upcoming solo exhibition in Nairobi.  For a chance to see my paintings live! ..... ''LANDSCAPES OF DREAMS'', will be taking place at Talisman Restaurant,Ngong Road, Karen in Nairobi Kenya in 3 weeks, from 16 March to 3 April 2016, Tuesday to Sunday 8 am - 12 am. Through this exhibition you will be taken on a visual journey that explores different angles of viewing ‘dreams’, in the context of the self and the natural world. The aim of this exhibition is to express the combination of visions I see through dreams, my imagination and memories, but also highlight the need to reconnect and protect the natural world.  Be sure to join me for this new exhibition that is very different from any I have done before.  I use real life examples of the natural world to emphasize the need to preserve and protect nature while simultaneously examining the notions of sel...

Happy New Year!... Thank you to every one of you who has been part of my 2015...I look forward to more memories, adventures and art with all of you!... It was really a super year and hoping the next is even better!..thanks to all my supporters, friends, readers and art enthusiasts who made 2015 a fulfilling year!... The year could not have ended on a better note.... I was asked to conduct an art workshop for a local Childrens Home in the suburban area of Nairobi  on 27 December. It really was something I had always wanted to do. It was really a pleasure to conduct it, engage with the children and involve them hands on. Many of them had already studied some art in school which made it easier. The children varied from age 7 to 18. I was absolutely thrilled to see their enthusiasm to participate. I divided them into groups based on age and asked them to paint based on a particular subject matter eg. sea world, landscape, environment and nature, health and fitness. I had an a...