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My Life Journey

HomeMy Life Journey

My Life Journey

Ever since I can remember, I've had a passionate love for painting. I started at the age of 18, initially focusing on realistic portraits and nature. My journey began with pen and pencil, meticulously recreating the intricate details of a flower or an apple. As I progressed through university, I delved into the world of art history, discovering various styles and forms. This exploration led me to experiment with oil colors and different techniques. Portraits, especially those of women, have always held a special fascination for me. Each face is like a world filled with secrets, a unique story waiting to be unveiled. I believe that every individual is a soul, and each soul experiences life in its own distinct way. When I gaze into the eyes of the people I've portrayed, I feel like I've glimpsed a piece of their inner world. Color has always been my playground. I take great pride in my ability to choose and combine the perfect colors that harmonize with one another. I incorporate various symbolic elements representing love, wisdom, power, and freedom into my work. You might spot golden hearts, stars, and a touch of sparkle. I also use animals and plants as symbols of different qualities, for they too possess unique souls. Painting allows me to create my own golden world on canvas

The physical, finite dimensions of my life journey
(13,200 kilometers from Tehran to Nosara)

My journey of public life and self-discovery began in Tehran where I was born. The environment was turbulent with the revolution (1979) and the Iran-Iraq war. But it made me learn how to survive and be creative in every moment of my life. I attended Azad Tehran University and studied Graphic Design four years. I also attended many painting classes (pencil, watercolor, acrylic, oil and collage) and taught painting to children. I had different public and private painting exhibitions in Tehran. My heart was to work with people and to gain greater awareness of people’s selves.

I studied energy healing (Reiki). I worked in Tehran (1995-2002) in major Iranian companies like Paxan Co. and Did Graphics.

The national restrictions upon women and personal experimentation, led me to move abroad. I went to Famagusta in the Turkish part of Cyprus. I studied for two years at the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) and earned a MBA degree which gave me valuable business skills. I also worked in the dean’s office of EMU as a graphic designer and then in Dalig Trading. Cyprus had been partitioned under United Nations’ auspices into a Turkish and Greek part. But I yearned for a more open, cosmopolitan experience and moved to Barcelona, Spain. 

I was accepted into the prestigious Llotja art school in Barcelona and studied Product Design for four years. Later, I studied Footwear Design at another art school. Living in such a beautiful vibrant cultural artistic city encouraged me to realize some of my childhood dreams like trying to learn ice-skating, horseback-riding, sailing and dancing. Knowing Persian dances, I easily learned to dance tango and flamenco. I participated in the “Barris e Danca” program (La Caldera Company) which created a professional dance spectacle with non-professional participants and then performed in different neighborhoods of Barcelona. I also enrolled in a singing/voice therapy program. 

Surviving since leaving my family in Tehran, has been a constant struggle. I decided to use my two decades-long experience in Graphic Design, Product Design, painting, and business skills. My motto was “los pies en la terra y el alma en el cielo” (feet on the ground and the soul in the sky).

I created my own high-end women’s shoe business (2013-2018) with my own two brands (PARSELONA and HIUMANS). My shoes gained a reputation as being very comfortable, but also being product differentiated. PARSELONA shoes were made with different fish skins. PARSELONA blends Persian and Barcelona cultures.

The HIUMANS sandals brand made of only natural materials, was born from my collaboration with the well-known Spanish NGO, Fundacion Vicente Ferrer operating in India. The brand name HIUMANS combines a greeting (“hi”) and human beings. Mans means hands, reflecting the work of the disabled Indian women who made the shoe parts. I went twice to India which sparked my impulse to change my lifestyle.

My footwear business was amazingly successful over the five years that I operated it. I held many public exhibitions of shoes in Barcelona, Madrid.
Exhibitions of my paintings were shown in Tehran, Famagusta, Barcelona, San Sebastian, Sant Just Desvern, Helsinki and New York City.

But the shoe became increasingly draining for me, physically and mentally. I suffered from the lack of deeper social connections. As the academic literature demonstrates, richer was not happier. I became ill and sold most everything I owned.

After recovering physically sufficiently, I decided to go somewhere to heal myself. I found a place to enroll in a program of yoga teacher training in Nosara, Costa Rica. The popularity of Nosara for yoga and surfing appealed to me. I moved to Nosara with my two suitcases, not knowing anyone there, to pursue my life journey.

What a person associates with a specific location tells us about that person. A certain place conjures particular words. 

The socio-spiritual, inner, infinite dimensions of my life journey

After many, many rainy days in my room in Barcelona, I began to stand up with my new consciousness which required a new place. Within those difficult days, an opportunity was born, not a better one but rather a different one whose time had come. I left behind life in big cosmopolitan cities to begin “being” humbly at the edge of a rainforest jungle by the ocean.

My immersion began by living in a hostel, sharing magical moments there with doing art with travelers, taking long walks on the beach and watching sunrises, seeing beautiful details in my surroundings, exploring the self and art, noticing nature in all its minute details, the amazing tropical weather, the colors, lights and sounds, the ocean, and the many dimensions of love by Golden Heart.

I began a new chapter of my life in Nosara as a spiritual designer built upon earlier realizations: changes in lifestyle, in attitudes, being aware in every moment and in every breath I take, with pure mind and pure heart.

After spending three transformative years in Nosara, Costa Rica, where I explored, healed, and discovered my purpose, I felt a pull to return to Barcelona. My journey of self-discovery continues here, and I invite you to join me as I navigate life’s artistic pathways. Welcome to my ongoing adventure.

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