With
Homemade Harvest just around the corner, I wanted to take a little time to talk about the artwork that will be hanging on the walls around my living room.
These limited edition canvas and photo watercolor prints are by Seattle artist
Samia El-Moslimany.
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| Homemade Harvest 2015 Artist - Samia El-Moslimany |
Samia is currently engaged on a refugee relief mission for the
Salaam Cultural Museum and unable to be at our event. While I do make it a requirement that all artists be present for customer questions at Homemade Harvest, I do understand sometimes life happens and you find yourself on a beach instead of an art show pop up.
Since Samia is standing on the shores of Lesvos, Greece
helping flagging down boats, she was unable to answer my interview questions. I did manage to find a bio from an art exhibit we did together this past August at the
Arab Festival.
In honor of her working instead of hanging out with us, I'm asking anyone coming to bring gently used
medical supplies to the Homemade Harvest for donations.
I hope you are able to stop by and enjoy her artwork that will be up for sale.
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| Homemade Harvest 2015 Artist - Samia El-Moslimany |
Samia El-Moslimany, is a Saudi-American originally hailing
from Seattle, receiving her Bachelor of Arts in
Film Making and Television Production and her Master’s Degree in Education from
the University of
Washington.
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| Homemade Harvest 2015 Artist - Samia El-Moslimany |
In addition
to Seattle, she has lived in Kuwait and currently splits her time between the
US and Saudi Arabia
her home for more than 30 years. Samia is the mother of a daughter, two sons, three
foster sons and is the grandmother of the most adorable baby in the world.
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| Homemade Harvest 2015 Artist - Samia El-Moslimany |
Samia has photographed professionally for close to 30 years,
and is the managing owner of one of Arabia’s
leading photography studios located in Jeddah. In addition to numerous Saudi
publications, Samia has photographed for Business Week, Fortune, The New York
Times, The Washington Post, Marie Claire Magazine, Institutional Investor, Le
Figaro, Saudi Aramco World, The Christian Science Monitor, the Associated Press,
and most recently photographed for the cover of a
TIME Magazine.
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| Homemade Harvest 2015 Artist - Samia El-Moslimany |
Samia’s volunteer activities include having serving as a
founder and chair of the board of directors CAIR-WA, as a founding member of
the Jeddah Orphan Eid Gift Project, as a member of the steering committee of
Together We Build, a Seattle interfaith coalition working with Habitat for
Humanity, as a member of the Muslim Youth Camp of California board of directors
as a volunteer and Community Activity Chairperson at the Islamic School of
Seattle, and as a co-founder of the Wanisa Sisterhood, a support network for
First Wives, in Saudi Arabia.
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| Homemade Harvest 2015 Artist - Samia El-Moslimany |
In January of 2012, Samia reluctantly became involved in a
family law dispute in Saudi
Arabia and took on the justice system.
Samia prevailed in her cases and was pleasantly surprised to find individuals
and a system within the Saudi Shariah courts that advocated for women’s rights.
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| Homemade Harvest 2015 Artist - Samia El-Moslimany |
On October 26, 2013 when over a hundred Saudi women took the
drivers seat in a call to allow women basic freedom of movement and the right
to drive, Samia was one of the only two women who were
arrested and detained
with by authorities. She was later released without benefit of her “legal
guardian” which was without precedent.
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| Homemade Harvest 2015 Artist - Samia El-Moslimany |
