We were lucky to catch up with Wafa Mehdi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Wafa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Other artists have been so crucial to being where I am today. The first artist I ever encountered is my mother. Growing up, I remember that my grandparents and aunts and uncles would all proudly display her work in their homes. It was incredible to see her ability to create such realistic portraits. It looked magical. I felt motivated to start drawing from seeing her work. She taught me how to sketch, use shadows and maneuver imperfections. She has such a funky and unique taste; I love seeing what catches her eye.

Since then, I have had the benefit of social media and YouTube to show me how other artists create. They share their tips and tricks, which has made learning so much easier.

I wish I had taken art more seriously when I was younger, so that I would have had more time to develop and hone in on my skills. The only way to learn is to practice and experiment on your own.

The most essential thing is to hold onto your passion & keep working towards it, even if the end result isn’t always what you hoped, you learned from it!
Time will always be an obstacle in being able to indulge in art as much as I’d like, but I love to carve out time for it whenever I can.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Wafa and I am an artist / art enthusiast! I’m not going to lie – sometimes I struggle with calling myself an artist because of the immense amount of talent I see everywhere but I know that’s silly.

Art has always been my “go to” thing.

My mom likes to tell this funny story: she was emotional dropping me off for my first day of kindergarten and was heartbroken when she saw I ran to the painting table and didn’t shed a tear. Oops!

During my physician assistant program, I’d find myself sketching on the sides of the notes during rotations.

Art is my calm in chaos, it’s my happiness in darkness, it’s my control when I can’t control anything else.

My favorite avenues of art expression are painting and using polymer clay. I love using watercolor and acrylic paints & hope to use oil paints one day soon!

I’ve worked on all sorts of projects for clients including custom paintings, polymer clay earrings, & most recently, a wedding sign! I have a very exciting new venture I’ll be starting soon which I cannot WAIT to share! It’s wedding related. :)

I’m proud of any artwork I’ve created that has brought joy to another person. It absolutely makes my day!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I believe it’s important to have opportunities in our education system for children and young adults to explore creativity. You don’t have to be an amazing artist! Even having the opportunity for creative freedom, however it looks, can be such a stress relief! It may be a way that many people can find comfort and joy but they just haven’t had a time to explore it. I also think it’s important to compensate artists & creatives appropriately for their work. You are not only paying for the final product, but the many years of practice and experience the artist brings to their craft.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

My personal goal is general wellness & advocating for that with our society. Art helps provide that for me, and if my art brings somebody else peace or joy, my mission has been accomplished. I get to be a part of such special memories. I had a client who used a custom painting to propose to his now fiance. I feel so privileged to be a part of a day that they will both remember forever. More recently, I was able to create a wedding mirror sign for my sister’s Islamic wedding. It made me feel good that I was able to be a part of her creative vision for her wedding stage.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/never.erase/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYGB6_9akXamYR-Bs34vC7Q

Image Credits
Zohaib “Zo” Qadri and Sidney Hollingsworth