We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Summar Lababidi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Summar below.

Summar, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I always knew that I wanted to do something involving creating. When I was young I was regularly drawing, singing and dancing, making up my own world. My older sister Yasmine would choreograph dances for my younger sister Iman and I, and I would take them absolutely so seriously, imagining it was my definite future. When moving into my teenage years I was especially enthralled with singing and playing guitar as my focus, but still loved to sew and draw, among putting together any materials that I could get my hands on. When I was about 14 years old I bought my first set of Paint Brushes and Oil Paint. The first piece I created was such an experience, seeing my desires come into visual life. From then on I decided that I would continue to paint and try to strengthen my abilities. I experimented with Water Paint and Acrylic but always went back to Oil Paint. I sold items on Etsy such as handmade pillows, shelves, clocks, made business cards, and started the path of getting my work into local shops. When I was about 19 years old, living in Madison, WI, I started creating paintings that I was extremely excited about. So I decided that I would shift into selling prints of my work and make an effort to get my new work into local shops that I knew about. I then moved to Phoenix and started setting up with local events and First Fridays, as well getting my work into numerous local shops.

Summar, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I currently carry Prints, Mugs, Cards, and Clothing. I also work on commission pieces(currently open)-logos for small businesses, album covers, flyer designs and my most recent project is a mural for a local recording studio. I love creating pieces that take the viewer on their own adventure of understandings. I think we are all very powerful creators and just need the adapter pieces to take us there. My most recent focus has been on the beauty of whole foods and the magic that they can do for our bodies and quality of life. I just started my journey of studying neuroscience and plan to bring those understandings into my work to visually take viewers to living happier and healthier lives both mentally and physically.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the continued feeling of knowing that I am in charge of my reality. Painting and creating has allowed me to find the individual way that I choose to understand the elements of life. Hardships are inevitable (in fact we should be thankful that they create openings for new perceptions!), the way we perceive the problems and solution is what we are in control of. I also deeply appreciate creating because of the levels of emotion I feel it has allowed me to move through. I believe that we can understand so many of life’s lessons through our own simple doing, and within each line drawn or painted comes the understanding of why you do things the way you choose to.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

For so much of my creative journey so far the goal has been the creating itself- Passionately loving the process and loving to bring bright pieces into others perception. After much travel and consideration of the pain others are going through all over, I kept asking myself how I could be of service to the community in truly helpful ways. Nutrition has been a big focus of mine for some time. When I truly realized that there are many great tools for others to obtain in order to take control of their own lives, possibilities opened up and it became clear that I needed to strengthen my understanding so I can help others take back control of their own lives. My goal at this point is to study Neuroscience and continue to create along the way. I cannot wait for the ever changing path and everything it brings!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.summarlababidi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SummarLababidi/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/summarlababidiart/