True Inspiration (Hamed Alrefaei)

- young Picasso Hamed @ his workshop -

i will start this post with Masha Allah ..
on jan 22nd, at mini boutique in adaileya .. i was busy shopping for bokhor, bags, necklaces and everything pretty in between, the last thing i expected to get from there was "inspiration".
as i entered the last room in the boutique, it was kind of unique; in the front was a huge display table of jewelery, on the right side was a display table of all kinds of pashmenas and scarves. Finally, hanged all around the room were big and small very colorful creative paintings. they were the first thing that got my attention, so i asked whos work is this? a woman said "theyre her Italian friends" later on i was greeted by a fine, petite very beautiful young lady, showing me the pashmenas i was checking out, she then very casually started pointing out the paintings; "these are the work of my son Hamed"! i pause and look at her with a huge question mark on my face?! and asked her but how old is your son?! and is he Italian?!! she smiled and said (hes 7 years old) and i truly honestly believed that they were the work of an Italian artist! Mashallah. -just to clarify the misunderstanding; the jewelery line was designed by their Italian friend not the paintings-

- this is my personal favorite called "the beautiful" -

Back to young Picasso Hamed, this boy is a real talent.. his work and creativity are mind blowing, his passion is so inspiring and heart warming. we went through his entire work, she showed me his portfolio in an album decorated with colored ice cream sticks! i loved each an every detail that i saw .. what i loved the most was his parents (specially his mother since shes the one i met) how dedicated and encouraging she was. she told me he started to paint from the age of 3 (esmila 3laih).. she began that early on to encourage his talent and take it seriously. which got me thinking, the first thing that she must have done differently was - notice - his talent and paid attention to him, instead of asking him not to make a mess and put all the colors away from a 3 year old kid! she - encouraged - him and - provided - him with what ever he needed, the material and space but most of all she gave him confidence and respect. she let him paint what ever he wanted with out interfering with his ideas colors or concepts. Im sure they talked about each painting after he finished, im sure she hanged them on the wall to appreciate his hard work. hes self taught but i believe his mother and father were his school :) emsila 3laihom. thats all what our children need, their parents believing in them, taking them seriously and giving them what they need; which is both love, attention and a nurturing environment

- the Queen of Birds -

we talked alot and i really enjoyed every moment of our conversation, I just wished for Hamed to be there so i could just tell him how proud im of him and wish for my kids to be just like him one day :) best of luck to you little Hamed... you are truly a great inspiration to us all. o Allah ewafgik o ya7fithik inshallah.. where for your lovely parents, they are great roll-models, and i have learned already a lot from them, inshallah will do my best to encourage my kids in the future to show their best in their interest :)

again thank you for your time, wish u guys all the best!

this is hameds facebook page and his twitter ! dont miss it!