My Third Silk Painting

I just finished my third painting on silk and had it framed. It was so much fun because I designed it myself instead of taking the design from a book as in my first two.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is my life verse and has a special place in my heart.

In my office when I worked at United Faith as the Preschool Director and Church Nursery Director I painted this verse on my light blue walls in lavender curly letters as a border.

When we moved to New York I decorated my half bath in a black and white

"Paris" theme with the verse as a border translated into french.

When we settled into our apartment I thought about painting it on a wall translated into Arabic, but hesitated wanting to be sure it would be okay and also not offensive if we had Muslims in our home. Then I started painting on silk and thought how great it would be to take it with me some day as a memory of living here in Abu Dhabi.

Now all I have to do is get it hung on these plaster walls!

I have been assured from several sources that being from the Old Testament it is not offensive.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says; "Trust in the Lord with all our heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and He will direct your path."

Arabic uses a lot less words than we do in English but the meaning is there.

Above and below are some close-ups of the detail work around the verse.

I can't begin to tell you how long it took, I do know I put in at least thirty hours!

Souk Madinat Jumeirah

During the last weekend in May we headed back to Dubai for the second week in a row (for Barry, third for me), for another three-day weekend. We stopped at the Emirates mall for Barry to see Ski Dubai, pictures in an older blog.

After settling in to our hotel that first evening we headed out to Souk Madinat Jumeirah.

It's a huge shopping center that has the feel of an old Arbian Souk with winding hallways and lots of dark wood features. It sits along man made waterways that intertwine with several hotels and three villa complexes, totaling well over 3,000 residences. At one end of the waterways sits the amazing Burj Al Arab. The five-star, suite only, landmark hotel in Dubai. It is shaped as a sail of an old Arabian dhow (fishing boat).

Twenty plus Abra's (boats) are running at any given moment allowing the three hotels guests and villa residents to get to the Souk which is also the home of at lest a dozen restaurants and a five hundred seat theatre. There is also an Abra tour for those who want to see the lovely waterways and are hot residents or guests. We took the twenty minute boat ride as the sunset!

The main reason we chose this location for dinner was we had tickets for the current show.

We saw "UMOJA", which was a South African show taking a peak into the history of

their music. It was fabulous!!! It started with drums and the music of

many generations ago and then moved forward.

I loved how they featured the major part gospel music played in shaping their music.

"UMOJA" meant the spirit of love and unity.

It was an excellent production, as good as anything I've seen on Broadway, and would recommend highly. The theatre hosts different shows throughout the year.

My Husband Survived the World's Largest Mall!

During our first trip (as a couple) to Dubai the first thing we did when we arrived Thursday mid morning (3rd weekend in May) was go to the newly opened Dubai mall. Other than two trips on the outskirts of town to inspect a cement factory this was Barry's first official trip to Dubai.

With more than 1,200 retail shops Dubai Mall is considered the world's largest mall. When it is complete in 2010 it will have approx. 1,500 shops!

The mall includes an Olympic-size ice rink, an indoor gold souk, an aquarium and underwater zoo, cinemas (not quite open), fashion avenue, and Dubai's only indoor-outdoor streetscape with a retractable roof! This area was called The Grove and it was unique, cobbled walkways, cafes, and lots of outdoor and sporting good stores.

Malls in the U.A.E. are not just about shopping, they are places where people go for entertainment and to socialize.

This set of waterfalls sat beside a three story set of escalators and was simply stunning!

The structure ran from ground level to the 3rd floor.

The aquarium boasts the largest viewing panel on earth, with a shark feeding twice daily.

For a small fee you can enter clear glass tunnel and then go upstairs to the underwater Zoo.

The tunnel (in the middle of the main aquarium) is amazing. Lots of sharks and stingrays.

The view below was directly over our heads! It is considered the largest clear glass tunnel of it's type in the world.

Barry up close with a stingray.

In the "zoo' area there were lots of open and wall tanks. The sea otters were great!

Barry taking a peak "inside" a tank!

Me with a great backdrop of penguins.

This picture is in memory of my sweet daddy who adored penguins.

After the Aquarium it was time to wander the mall. They have a Kinokuniya Bookstore

which was amazing. They are worldwide (a few in the U.S.) and if you love bookstores

and ever have the opportunity to go in one, don't miss it! It was the size of a

department store and after two hours and only half way through our brains were done

and decided to save the rest for another trip!

Through out the mall there was random entertainment. We never knew when we would see it and it was all different genres. Below a New Orleans flavored Jazz band wandered by!

Did I mention fashion avenue? With over 70 flagship luxury brand stores and a dedicated fashion catwalk to unveil the latest designs from leading fashion houses!

That's just a peak on the inside, now let me tell you about the outside. When you step outside on the ground level in the back of the mall there is a man made lake. Across the water (pretty stone bridge walkway) is Sok Al Bahar. Pricey boutique type stores set among over thirty restaurants and cafes. You can go for the food, but the main reason is the view. It all sits at the base of the almost complete Burj Dubai. The world's tallest building.

We were too close to get the entire vertical view in one shot. It was twice as tall as anything near by, and none of those were small buildings by any means!

We sat in a cafe and enjoyed the quiet view as we waited for the fountains to begin the evening shows. "The Singing Fountains", largest in the world surpassing the Bellagio in Las Vegas just opened two weeks ago. The shows start at 6pm every evening and play on the hour until midnight with each show, set to music, longer than the one before.

It was breathtaking!

Barry and I at the fountains enjoying a latte!

At this point we had been at the Dubai mall for eight hours and had seen maybe half of it! We headed off to another area of Dubai to check into our hotel and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

My husband can now say; "I survived the world's mall, and lived to tell about it!"

And he has even admitted that he would go back!

Dubai x 3!

In May (2009) I ended up spending three weekends in a row in Dubai! I didn't plan it that way, it just evolved. The second weekend in May the wives from our small group at ECC went on a long planned "girls only" get-away in Dubai. Most of the expat wives (especially from U.S., Canada, U.K., and South Africa) head back to their home country for the summer. So this was a fun hang out and chill time before so many go their different directions.

Mattie, myself, and Katie. These are two women I hang around a lot with.

At Johnny Rockets at Marina Walk on Friday afternoon for lunch.

From the left: Rebecca, Julene, Krista, Marty, Myself, Jean, Mattie, Mary, and Katie.

Dinner Friday night at Japengas at Madinat Jumeirah.

An open air Japenese restaurant on the water's edge.

The third weekend in May, Barry took off Thursday so we would have a three day weekend (remember our weekends are Friday and Saturday). We had planned a weekend in the opposite direction of Dubai with another family. Unfortunately, they had to cancel at the last moment and we rescheduled it for the fall. Even though we already had a planned trip to Dubai (just Barry and I) the following weekend, we had the time and barry had not been to Dubai yet so off we went!

We road the Abra (water taxis) across the Dubai creek in "Old Dubai". It was fun showing Barry around since I had been there with my mom. You can see more pictures of this area on an older post labeled, Old Dubai.

Barry and I also stayed at the same hotel my mom on I did. The Crowne Plaza at Festival City in Dubai. It was so lovely, with an incredible pool on the fifth floor of the hotel which jutted out and over looked the Dubai creek. I took a picture of the room to show off the bathroom. All glass walls, with electric blinds and a frosted glass door for privacy. Speakers in the bathroom and a television that turned and I could see a movie from my nightly bubble bath!!!!

Mural Painting In Abu Dhabi

After being in Abu Dhabi nine months an opportunity opened up for me to start mural painting again. I did it for seven years (here and there) in Charlotte, NC. When we moved to New York in June of 2007 I was hoping to start doing it more, but the doors never really opened.

Here, I have been blessed for them to fly wide open. My first client was in a large villa and included three rooms. A play room (garden themed) and two children's bedrooms, the solar system, and the ocean. Enjoy the pictures below.

The playroom got little garden "features" through out. Lots of bugs!

All the rooms is this villa have a very realistic look in the murals.

There's even a few snails on the rock.

A monarch butterfly.

The tree: A snake in the left side branches, a momma bird with her babies in the nest, a lizard crawling up the trunk, ants at the bottom left base, and a snail on the right.

Over 25 bugs in the room, plus bumblebees and dragonflies.

This little frog below is my favorite thing in the room.

The first bedroom I painted had the theme of outer space. It was two walls opposite of each other. One ahead of you as walk in the room, the other behind you.

The solar system.

Close up of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Earth.

Close up of a galaxy, this one has a special view from the bottom bunk!

Wall 2, a view of earth from outer space.

A little closer look.

Space shuttle and various other space stuff!

Room three: Under the sea!! This room was three walls total.

This was a very unique room because it incorporated rub on transfers along with painting.

The entire background is painted and most of the larger items, although the sea turtle is a transfer. I painted under and over the transfers so they wouldn't appear to be "floating".

Wall 1: On the left as you walk in with a door to the bathroom at the end.

The stingray was a lot of fun to paint, and so were the caves.

The small fish are transfers the jellyfish I painted.

Close up.

The smaller anemones are transfers along with the clown fish, the large one I painted.

The "flying fish" are between the stingray and the jellyfish.

Wall 2: On the far side of the room. Eventually there will be bunk beds in this room also.

The whale shark below.

An arabian dhow (fishing boat).

A school of silvery fish.

This momma octopus and her toddlers are the most "whimsical" I got throughout all rooms. They are hiding behind the bed and will one day get a special view from the bottom bunk.

Overall, it was a fun job with hopefully more to come!!!!