I started Ramadan on august 1, since then I have not been as productive as I should be in term of finishing my 7 geometric abstraction acrylic multi layer liquitex paintings, this is not due to fasting, it is just a matter of priority, fasting, getting close to God has priority to me in Ramadan than anything else
However, I did manage to accomplish some progress in some of the paintings but not all of them
I am almost done with the 40x40in black & white painting, I think I only need one more layer of both patters and liquitex, I named it “Parallel Universe”
I also did good progress on the 30x60in painting, I have not named it yet , although “Passionate Joy” is a candidate, 4 to 6 layers are needed to finish it
I also made some progress on the 40x40in whose colors are golden to reddish and I called it “Glowing Universe”
At least 4 more layers are needed
I did little progress on the 36x72in black & white painting, which I may call “Castle”
The other 36x72in painting that i may name it as “Triumphant city ” has no progress at all, the last 2 small ones had little progress
If you visit my previous blogs, you can see the amount of progress accomplished in between
Ramadan is half through, I should resume active work in September , speaking of September , I’d like to announce that I will be exhibiting at Sunnyside pavilion venue along the lakeshore of downtown Toronto , Sep 9,10, & 11
Hope to see you there if your are local to Toronto

It had been a week since my last blog updates regarding the status of my 7 paintings I am currently working on
I paint everyday, and I tweet about it, so if you are interested to know the daily updates, please follow me on tweeter follow me on twitter
It is a slow process, since I do a lot of calculations to preserve the proportionality between my computer prototype of the geometric patterns and the actual large or small canvas
Also, since I create several layers of the liquitex medium to separate the different layers of the patterns, that adds to the slow process as well
Note I could ve used resin instead of liquitex, but after a long research and experience, I chose liquitex for several reasons:
1: resin yellows overtime, liquitex never yellows
2: resin is toxic to use, liquitex is safe
3: resin is difficult to work, liquitex is easy to use
4: resin could produce bubbles if not used properly, liquitex doesn’t produce any bubbles
5: resin is more expensive
6: liquitex produces same results as of resin
Anyway, I am happy using liquitex and so are my clients
I made some major improvements to my 7 paintings please see the attached images and compare them to my previous blogs, you will notice the difference
Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan, I look forward to balance my spiritual journey along my artistic journey
Muslims fast everyday from dawn to sunset for the whole month of Ramadan, fasting is not a starvation, it is rather a discipline to the body and the soul, we actually feel the hunger and the thirst unfortunate people feel around the world and that prompts us to help the poor and the needy
It is a challenge for me to fast and paint , because by the end of the day, I do feel tired, hungry and thirsty, and painting requires energy of the mind, so trying to balance it out will be a great awesome feeling

This is a follow up to my previous blog, a status to my 7 geometric design pattern abstraction acrylic paintings
I am still on my early stages of the layering of both liquitex pouring medium and the geometric pattern
I like to also refer to my style as geometric architecture abstraction, for example if you observe the pattern on both 36x72in paintings down below, they are both rich in architectural pattern, the black & white one will depict a geometric castle, & the city scape one will depict a passionate city expressed with geometric architecture pattern
I am in layer stage 3 or 4 , and will need at least 5 more layers
Hopefully, I finish all my 7 paintings by end of August or mid September
I may not paint as much in the month of August this year, because it is Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month

Speaking of Ramadan, incase you don’t know, Ramadan is the month when the Quran was revealed to the prophet Mohamed, it is a lunar month, either 29 or 30 days, Muslims fast during this month from dawn to sunset , abstain from food, drinks, and sex between dawn and sunset, Muslims are supposed to reach an elevated stage of spirituality, help the poor and the needy whether Muslims or not, be humble, and get closer to God

Well, back to my Ph.D in mathematics, it was a long journey, mixed with happiness, excitements and sometimes depression, I must say however, once I finished my thesis defense and passed it, I felt so proud of myself possibly for the very first time, it was a relief , a huge weight off my back, and most of all I felt FREE,
Unfortunately, that happiness did not last forever, now I was faced with a harsh reality of finding a job, while in the Ph.D program I was teaching math in Hunter College and Medgar Evers college in New York,
In my last few years of my Ph.D program I had totally given up my art passion, I simply had no time nor money for it. Although it remained an unfulfilled passion in my unconscious mind all my life.
Anyway, I did find a job After graduation, but I had to relocate far away from New York, I moved to Toronto, I worked in private sector as a senior consultant for a consulting company, this is due to my other passion and interest I developed for computers and especially programming, I actually minored in computer science in undergrads ,
I admired math, philosophy, religion, computer science, but kept a hidden special passion for art inside of me all the time, I felt guilty so many time for giving up my art passion to more realistic career options,
Anyway, I started a new corporate life, it was very different from what I ever dreamed to be, it was very rewarding money wise, I got to travel in different cities in Canada and the United States, it also kept me busy all week long and year long, I still could not squeeze art in my hectic corporate lifestyle, until a new turning point happened in my life and changed my entire life .. to be continued in my next blog posting

By the time I finished my Bacalauria (high school) exam, I received my visa to go study in New York, this must have been the biggest blessing I got from God, my whole life changed, I moved from a small unknown town in morocco to the greatest city in the world
I must say, I had mixed feelings but I believed it to be my destiny, it was a cultural shock for me the moment I got to New York
I am sure my friends back home were jealous of me ending up in New York, although many of my friends did make it out of Morocco to Europe, some of them remained in Morocco and made the best out of the situation,
Anyway, I arrived to the greatest city in the world the city of having dreams turning into reality
Speaking of reality, when I started university, I was afraid to major in art, to end up without a job, so I decided to follow my other half of my brain dream, I decided to pursue a Ph.D in mathematics
At the same time I resumed painting, this time I moved from water color into oil, mostly landscape, I was very busy with university, so I never tried to exhibit in art shows, plus it was pretty expensive too. Being a university student was more than enough in term of expenses
Well, a Ph.D in math was a mixed experience , a huge commitment , basically no life, lots of hard work, in the hope that I end up with a respected career rather than a jobless artist, my parents were happy of my career choice, they thought pursuing art is too risky, I kind of agreed with them or at least I convinced myself, besides I had a real passion for math, that helped too
Finally I graduated with a Ph.D in math from city university of New York Graduate Center in year 2000 , then what , to be continued in my next blog posting

A quick update: I started my 7th geometric design pattern acrylic painting size 14x20in

This is a follow up to my previous blog dated July 10 2011, I started working on 5 acrylic paintings, geometric design pattern Selye with multiple layer of liquitex to create a real dept.
Well I work on these paintings everyday, actuality today, I added a 6th one
These are the sizes:
2 of size 36x72iin
2 of size 40x40in
1of size 30x60in
1of size 12x30in
Since I create layers of design pattern and layers of liquitex, each one of the paintings is in a different stage, I usually create an average of 8 to 10 layers, it gets really heavy
Attached are the different stages if my 6 paintings:

Currently I am working on 6 acrylic-liquitex medium paintings, they are within my geometric design pattern style, lots of layers of liquitex & between each layer lots of design patterns
Working on 2 large black & white only acrylic paintings, one is 40x40in and one is 36x72in please see attached images, they are still in early stages, I tweet about the changes everyday, you can follow me on twitter artbyrami to see day to day updates
At the same time I am working on a 30x60in painting mostly white, black & red colored
Working on a 36x72in painting which depicts a passionate city in geometric style
And last but not least working on a 40x40in geometric style acrylic painting
Please see attached images in early stages

Secondary school was my favorite school years, I never worried of my future, was doing well in school, spent most of my free time between painting, studying math, and indulging myself in philosophy, I was very interested in metaphysics, universal morality and existence of God. By the time I graduated from secondary school and started high school, a turning point happened in my life, I became more realistic, I realized that graduating from high school and pursuing some tangible dreams is number one priority, after all none of my family or friends really encouraged me to pursue art as a career, as a result of social pressure and family expectations, I gave up painting
Mathematics became my ultimate career goal, I often dreamed of achieving a Ph.Din mathematics and always wondered what math is like in a P.h.D level
I guess I fell in love with math because in some sense, math is a magnificent
Piece of art, Math is beautiful,
Anyway, upon finishing my high school or rather as we knew it bacalauria national exam in Morocco, an unexpected turn happens in my life, I would call it a fantastic positive change happened in my life, opened many doors for my dreams
To be continued in my next blog

When I graduated from elementary school, I felt so excited to enter a new world of academic school, back then we called it secondary school, it was exciting because we got a weekly hourly class schedule much like in University, rather than the daily 8 hours of classes in elementary school. I still remember that summer of my graduation, it was special because I spent it mostly drawing, and preparing myself for math courses, by that time I had developed a special interest in math as a possible career option, I always dreamed big, although I knew that the world around me did not offer me much to reach my dreams, living in a remote town in Morocco, offered a lot less to me and people around me in general.Anyway, my love for art, math and philosophy gave me hope and kept me going.
While in secondary school, I met few friends who were passionate for art as well, we immediately became best friends, we understood each other, we competed with each other, we learned from each other and best of all we shared the BIG dreams of becoming famous artists someday; one of my artist friends was a cartoonist and an action figure artist, the other one was an action figure and a figurative artist, he also had a passion for writing in french, I on the other hand was never interested in action figures or cartoon style, I loved figurative and landscape, back then we never heard of abstract art, well, art was never on our academic courses, it was not much appreciated either as a career, it was a nice to have hobby.
Well, a turning point happened in my artistic development in those years, my older brother decided somehow to take me to a bigger city in Morocco and surprisingly bought me water color paint, the reason I said surprisingly, because I never thought that my brother cared that much about my art.
Anyway, I was trilled to move from crayons to water coloring, I was finally able to do some landscape, and some colored figurative art, back then I was very detailed oriented and had lots of patience, possibly even a perfectionist, I painted Monslisa in water color, portraits of myself, my siblings, and my friends. My mother actually acknowledged and appreciated my art and actually hanged some of my paintings in the house.I m sure my mother really liked the fact I paint since it kept me away from trouble, although she would not have approved it for me as a career. My father, on the other hand never showed any interest or at least never expressed his opinion, I kind of understand my father’s attitude, he was a hardworking man and barely stayed home. However, now that he sees my current success, he does show appreciation. My mother, who passed away few years ago (May God Bless her) would have loved my geometrical abstraction style.
Now that I look back to those innocent years, I feel nostalgic to those wonderful memories that last forever in our lives and possibly even helped to shape our present and future.
I remember when I used to invite my friends over my house to show them my latest artwork, I always felt proud of my talent, everyone in my neighborhood would come over and admire my little “exhibition”.
I also remember how I used to go to our local photographer studio in the neighborhood to create posters and prints of my paintings.
Those were my favorite years till I reached high school and then a turning point happened in my life, to be continued in my next blog
If you have questions, comments or feedback, please feel free and express yourself
Enjoy some of my current geometric abstraction

Growing up in Morocco in a small town called Berkane, 20 minutes away from a beautiful shore city named Saidia along the mediterranean sea. I always loved art, math and philosophy, as you can see, I loved anything that stimulates my mind and my creativity. I remember I used to love to draw when I was still in elementary school, although Art was never in our school curriculum. It was always my favorite time leisure, it kept me out of trouble especially on the long summer school vacation. It relaxed me and was a kind of meditation for me and an escape of the other reality people lived around me. I remember , I started with crayons only, but was always daring my capabilities to even try to draw Monalisa only in crayons, and I got great satisfaction out of it besides to the very positive feedback I got from my family and friends, I must say that no one really encouraged me to pursue my talent as a career option. I believed in my passion and always dreamed of becoming an artist someday in my future.
In the mean time, I enjoyed making portrait of my mother, myself, my sister and friends
This was my childhood as a passionate artist
In my next blog posting I will describe how my love for art got transitioned into my teenage life