Design of the Month · December 2013
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"Arabesque"
This is the second article by Hana Kanbour. To read about her background, see the November 2013 Design of the Month article.
From the earliest days of the Babylon, Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations, inhabitants of Mesopotamia have been creative in the arts. In particular, the style known as Arabesque spread widely after the arrival of Islam to Iraq. It is used in a variety of art forms, including carved ceilings, shrines, mosques, cupolas, columns, walls and in the cover and preliminary pages of the Qur'an. Arab and Muslim artists generally refrain from using living creatures in a design; instead, they employ geometric lines, twigs, leaves, stems and flowers, and often use mirror images to achieve the desired aesthetics. Decorative motifs exist in carpet designs, mugs and saucers.
I created this month's design to decorate the cover of a Qur'an, but it can also be used in windows and on walls. I drew it originally on thick cardboard using pens and brushes, and to achieve the symmetries I used tracing paper and a great deal of labor. Later I discovered Glass Eye 2000 and reproduced my design there. The reflection commands in the software gave me my symmetries in an instant — effortless, and more accurate than tracing paper! Also, with the software I now have a more malleable design, and I'm beginning to convert my entire portfolio to Glass Eye 2000 format.
~ Hana Kanbour
About the artist
Hana Kanbour is an artist from Iraq. She especially enjoys ceramics, painting on glass, painting on fabric, macramé, enameling and jewelry making. She has Bachelor's in Education with an emphasis in home economics and nutrition. She works on analysis and standards for foods as part of the Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control (COSQC). Hana also loves gardening, both indoors and outdoors. She feels that life would be meaningless without art and nature. You are invited to visit Hana's Facebook page or to send her an email.
This pattern may be used to make one or more artworks for sale or personal enjoyment. This pattern may be printed for personal use only and may not be sold or given away in printed or electronic form.
Each month we feature a project designed using Glass Eye 2000. Do you have a project to share with the world? Contact Dragonfly Software and your creation might be our next Design of the Month.