BIOGRAPHY

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Education

 

2000 - Bachelor of Fine Arts from University of fine arts, Damascus, Syria

2001 – Special courses in black and white photography

2005 - Continued art education, specialty pastel effects, Paint Creek for arts, Detroit, Michigan

 

SUMMARY

 

Creative and multi-talented Graphic Designer and marketing manager with more than 15 years in Product Publishing and Print Design. Enthusiastic and creative visual designer with exceptional flexibility and resourcefulness. Managed heavy workloads while focusing on designing creative, visually-appealing graphics.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

• Art Consultant

• Corporate design; Design strategy, Brochure formatting, Logo and business card, Template creation

• Stationery and letterhead, Conceptual thinking                          

• Photography, painting

• Self-motivated professional

• Quick learner

• Real Estate

 

 

Professional Career

 

2010 - Present

 

– Creative director, and founder of DAMASK for art and design,

specialized in graphic design, photography, and a special line of personalized invitation cards.

-- Art Advisor, Commercial and residential.

 

• Gallery Media manager of ROBERT KIDD gallery, Birmingham-Michigan

• Investor relations manager at BOKANI RREAL ESTATE GROUP

 

 

• 2008-2010            

Freelance - Self employed

 

• Designed and implemented a special art projects for multiple corporate clients and individual costumers. Most of the companies were based off shore

• Worked on print materials, including advertisements, brochures and logo designs.

• Prepared layouts and drawings in compliance with established templates and design standards.

 

 

• 2004-2005

Eview 360 – Novi Graphic Designer

 

- Designed website pages using Photoshop

- Designed brochures, business cards, company logos, and invitation cards

- Coordinated the office graphics library and maintained the digital records on the intranet

 

• 2000-2002

Blue Touch Advertising - Graphic Design Specialist

 

• Managed a team of five designers; Responsible for team productivity and output

• Met with the clients to tailor the designs to their ideas and requirements

• Coordinated the printing production to ensure quality.  Work included writing printing and reproduction specifications, inspected the work for accuracy

• Prepared and presented proposals to clients’ top management

• Designed the concepts for the British Embassy Fashion Show in 2001 including the runway design colors and lighting, the fashion show street advertising banners, and the guest invitation cards

• Designed a portfolio of marketing products for “Mad Price” retail clothier at the national fashion exhibition.  The design included the exhibition booth conceptual design, calendars, brochures, invitation cards, coasters, and business cards.

 

 

• SKILLS

- Intermediate fluent in French, Arabic, and English

- ASACA President for 2022- 2025 (American Syrian Arab Cultural Association) for Humanitarian Services.

 

INTERESTS ·  

• Advanced experience in Adobe Photoshop

• Illustrator

• Microsoft office suite including word, excel, and PowerPoint

• Expert in constant contact, MOVAVI movie editor

• Work on Art System, Keeping Track of the Inventory and Entering sales and new art pieces to the System 

• Paint and poetry.​

• Buildium Portal 

 

 

Solo Exhibitions

 

2023 - Art exhibition at the Hide out Al Barari - Dubai

2023 - Show for Art and Fashion at DOLCE MODA in Birmingham - Michigan

2021 - Auctioned one of my Paintings in The American Arab Museum in Michigan- Detroit 

2021 - Auctioned one of my Paintings to support the education back home in Syria through the Keys for Syrian Kids organization

2020 – Auction one of my Paintings for the Keys for Syrian Kids organization

2020 – Auction 3 of my work for the Lebanese American University

2019 – Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham - MI

2018 - Auction in the ASACA (American Syrian Arab Cultural Association)

2018 – Ishtar art gallery, Damascus

2017 - Art House, Damascus

2017 – Amine Sayegh and Fadi Turk Gallery, Lebanon

2016 – Auction in the ASACA (American Syrian Arab Cultural Association)

2010 – Art of Rochester gallery, Michigan, Detroit - White and Black Photography

 

 

Group Exhibitions

 

2023 – Exhibition at DUBAI with the Collaboration with Arte arta gallery Canada and THINK SMART HUB gallery Dubai

2020 – Interfaith Leadership council – How Artist Depict Faith Through Art – Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI

2020 - The Arab American Artist Exhibition in the Creative Art Center – Pontiac, MI

2019 – Jury Selection Illume International Art Gallery for the Earth Day

2019 – Artists of the Arab Migration Exhibition – Dearborn, MI – Being also One of the Curators for the Exhibition  

2019 – The Arab American Artist Exhibition in the Creative Art Center – Pontiac, MI

2019 – Juried Art Show in the Art community Center – Birmingham, MI

2018 – group exhibition with Laura I Gallery “I am a Woman I am a Legend “, LONDON

2018 - Art Expo New York, pier 94

2018 – Auction in the Annual Luncheon for Chronic Gastritis Charity, Michigan, Detroit, Townsend Hotel

2006 – Paint Creek gallery, Detroit, Michigan

2005 – Art of Rochester gallery, Detroit, Michigan

2001 – Shell Middle East juried art show, Damascus, Syria with the 3rd place for the Photography

1999 – Luxor, Egypt student group art exhibition

 

 

Workshops

1999 – Art fellow, 20 days fine arts residency at Cairo University

 

Collections

Private and corporate collections, Middle East, Europe, Australia and USA

 

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

 

“ART IS FREEDON, PASSION, PERSONAL WITH VISUAL MESSAGES”

 

I Want my Practice to Reflect My Relationship Between my Upbringing in Rich, Historic Part of the World

And my Current Experience as an Arab American Artist, I like Mixing the Old with the New and Taking things into a Third Direction.

 

 

The inspiration of my work captures the spirit and essence of my surroundings to create personal passages through my previous and current experiences. I was born and raised in Damascus, Syria, throughout my childhood and adulthood, I was a frequent visitor to the Museum of Arts and Antiquities in Damascus that has one of the world’s best collections of artifacts of the ancient civilizations.

 

My visits to contemporary art galleries in Damascus and Beirut helped me combine some of the cultural elements with the modern life that surrounded me and shaped my artistic vision by using poetry as a visual means to add calligraphic elements to elevate the painting to a higher visual and intellectual experience that resonate with the viewers. Some of my poems expressed on canvas with Arabic calligraphy lettering that hugs the images to create a unique contemporary visual experience that tells a story about who I am as an artist and how I’m connected between the my birth place, the Syrian culture and my immigration to the US through the American culture.

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I am inspired by dreams, reality, memories, love, death, art, and the magic of being alive.  Inspired by an intense love and passion, I paint expressively with intuition, and the resulting artworks are a reflection of my inner world. I likes to give the viewer a glimpse of My world, inspired by my fears, dreams, and feelings.

My message of  art may be to communicate political, spiritual, or philosophical ideas, to create a sense of beauty to explore, sometimes for pleasure, or to generate strong emotions. 

 

"For me, true artists are learners for life; they believe in growth and are always focused on improving their work. This is what I am aiming for."