We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Fatima Khambati. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Fatima below.
Hi Fatima , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
In 6th grade I participated in an art contest to draw a bird sketch. The winner would have their sketch printed as a greeting card. I was very excited and couldnt wait to submit my sketch that same evening. After a few days the news came that my sketch had been selected for the greeting card. I thought it would be just one card and maybe it would be displayed on the class notice board. To my surprise, there were more than 500 cards printed and distributed to students, faculty and community members.
That’s when a thought how great it would be if I became an artist ?
I grew up watching my mom learning to make things on her own; she was my inspiration.
Women from the neighborhood and relatives would ask me if I would paint flowers on their clothes and I would happily do it without any charge.
later I was offered a job as an art teacher in the same school I attended. I worked there until got married and moved to the USA.
After having kids, painting had become just a hobby. I would paint a piece to add to my art collection or gift a friend. Eventually, with support and love from family, friends and blessings of my spiritual father Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin Tus I worked to perfect my skills through lessons and began posting my work on social media.
Fatima , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Fatima Khambati, I was born in Karachi, Pakistan. I am a homemaker and a self-taught artist based in Houston.
Art wasn’t something I thought I could make a career of, it just happened naturally. My father is a huge inspiration for me. My work with him on elaborate Islamic-inspired designs and calligraphy with gold leaf influenced me to pursue my passion.
I have experimented with a variety of mediums and methods. I started with acrylics, layering colors, and playing with textures, and then I got enticed by watercolors. I enjoy the loose qualities of watercolors, the natural, inherent luminescence caused by the transparency of the medium on the white paper, and the somewhat unexpected results. I further enhanced my art work with gold leaf to add a unique texture, dimension and depth.
To perfect a technique, I observe other artist and learn how they tackle specific issues to create meaningful art. I soon began creating my own unique painting style based on my self-training. I paint what I love, often focusing on nature, wildlife, and ancient Egyptian architecture. When I look at something, I immediately know I want to paint it. I like my painting to look realistic but not too real to the extent of hyperrealism. One of my favorite touches is adding gold leaf to my paintings, making my art piece more distinctive and a nod to my heritage.
I only sell my original artwork because I want the buyers to know that they won’t find the same work anywhere else. It’s an original. The purchaser is the only one who owns any version of that piece of art.
Along with my art, I also take commissions. As a freelance artist, it’s crucial to understand the many aspects of creating a masterpiece for a patron. The first dilemma is how much to charge; I tend to adjust my fee based on how long I think it will take me to complete the painting. Other aspects may include the cost of the materials, estimating the time the project will take to complete, and the potential revision requests at any duration of the project. In particular, good communication is vital for satisfaction on both ends. When I work with a new client, I always hope we share the same vision. I’ll do extra sketches and make them tighter, so there are plenty of clear options for the illustration. Maintaining passion and being devoted to the work is something that clients can feel.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The most obvious and direct way to support an artist is to buy their products. If possible, purchase these products directly from the artist. To take this a step further, leave an online comment or review on the product or service you purchased. so your comment may help someone make the decision to purchase this artist’s product over another.
In artistic businesses and small businesses in general, marketing and advertising often receive the least amount of financial investment of any budget category. To make up for this, artists rely on word of mouth to spread the word about their business and products.
Tell the artist themself how much you love their work. While words of encouragement won’t pay an artist’s bills, they will give the artist the motivation to keep creating.
social media is so important that it deserves a section of its own, so Share their posts on your own stories and timelines. Comment on their content and send it to your friends. Every small bit of organic reach helps artists to grow their online platforms.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Instagram growth is about building a community who will engage with your content, product, or service for years to come. For both sales and building professional relationships having a large following is essential. Bitter truth is followers make a business look more reliable. It is a source of credibility for users. Customers tend to trust those brands that have already built a following.
I myself don’t have many followers but I am happy the one I have are real ones, When you buy followers or likes, you risk getting spammed, wasting your money as IG deletes suspicious activities. You may even end up getting banned.
for most people, the sole reason for having an account is to interact, and for that, they require other followers to join in. Therefore, the more followers they see on an account, the more excited they get and press that follow button themselves to socialize immediately.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatimas_art_studio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fatimakhambat
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fatima-khambati
- Youtube: @FatimasArtStudio
Image Credits
Fatima khambati