Birds of a Feather
Laurie Blum
While traveling in Iran, the American painter Laurie Blum set out to create her own unique Persian paintings drawing inspiration from the natural landscape. Hafez, which literally translates to "one who memorizes the Koran," was the pen name for Iran’s 14th century poet, Mohammad Shirazi. His mystical verses were loved as much for their unfailing guidance as for their ability to awaken one’s heart to the inner sanctuary. Blum found her own mystical significance in Shiraz, and took a piece back to the U.S.
Nightingales and Roses
Shiraz, Iran, 2004
This work is inspired by Hafez’s "Ghazel: the Rose and the Nightingale." Each rose and nightingale is my tribute to the nightingale which lost its life, piercing its breast on the thorn of the rose while trying to become one with its beloved.
Hafez’s Tomb 4
Hafez Tomb, Shiraz, Iran, 2004
I would go to Hafez’s Tomb and ask him to help me in my work. And I would feel a breeze come over me with many images. Then I would paint for hours; the days flew by until I felt the work was finished. With its similar architecture of trees and birds, I was amazed to see that the painting reminded me of a Persian Miniature that I loved so well.
Madness, Majnun Tree in the Garden of Paradise in Winter
Shiraz, Iran, 2004
I painted the Majnun Tree in the Garden of Paradise. The weather was getting extremely cold and I was forced to paint in a hooded coat with gloves. The winter schedule reduced the hours of admittance to the garden. I loved to paint the sun shining on the structure of this magnificent tree that had dropped most of its leaves. My favorite birds, the Zaghi, flew overhead and alighted in the trees calling to each other with their mischievous, cackling laugh.
Margon Waterfall
Outside Shiraz, Iran, 2004
It was extremely cold as I sat on a precipice witnessing the glory of the waterfall, Ob Shar Margon. My fingers felt almost frozen from the biting cold. Along came the architect of the area and his assistant. We took a photo together and then he left me to my painting. I was filled with a profound appreciation for my stark aloneness simply carved out by the grand symphony of Nature.
Sparrow and the Roses
Shiraz and South Carolina, 2004
I painted the roses and flowers in Shiraz. When I returned to the U.S. I added the sparrow. I didn’t understand the symbolism of the sparrow and the roses until I was in India in February 2005. I was ill and someone embraced me and I saw in my mind’s eye, the sparrow and the roses and I knew I was the sparrow. I think the sparrow was painted in America because it is a plain bird and the roses of Shiraz are exotic and bright. A sparrow enters nooks and cracks and goes unnoticed with its common appearance. In this same way I have been ushered into a world that seems very familiar to me–Iran–and I am accepted there. The sparrow sits in the sand and blends perfectly as I have reveled in the glory of the beauty of Iran. In my case it is my soul that finds its mirrored image in the beauty of Iran.
Conference of the Birds 2004
When I was in Tehran in October 2003, I met Mahmoud Farshchian at the Shah’s Palace Art Museum, where he was having an exhibition. I was very drawn to him and later sent him the drawing of Conference of the Birds. I completed the painting after returning from my second trip to Iran. The painting is about Attar’s story of the Conference of the Birds. The Hoopoe calls a meeting of all the birds and asks who wants to journey to the mountain of the Simurgh, the mythical bird of God. Only thirty birds undertake this journey– and Simurgh literally means "thirty birds." When they arrive at the mountain they cannot find the Simurgh and the Simurgh speaks in their hearts and says I am within each heart, find me there.
