1- Reading about my grandmother or watching her paintings always inspire me to be creative. My grandmother, Ikbal Naji Kareisly, was born in Damascus, Syria, in 1925. She got married when she was 15, then moved to Palmyra with my grandfather, a government employee who resided there until 1950. This period of time had a tremendous influence of forming her culture, art, and human attitudes. In 1964, she was the first female painter in Syria who had a solo exhibition at "Modern Art Gallery" in Damascus. On May 11th, 1969, she died in Damascus. Please visit the link below to read more about her and see some of her paintings.
2- Her son Walid Kareisly, my uncle, was born in Palmyra in 1944. He spent 32 years of his life lying in
bed on one side, paralyzed due to an accident at the age of 30. He graduated from the Leningrad Academy of Soviet with a
masters diploma of Electronic Science 1966. He was a member of the Association of
fine arts and the Union of Arab artists. He worked alongside independent artists, creating melodies, songs, and soundtracks. Walid grew up in the spirit of art and saturation of color through his
mother, drawing through special
experiences. He died on April 18th 2006 due to health complications. When I think about his hard life and how his impairment made him creative and encouraged him to produce works, I feel very inspired to explore my creativity. If you are interested in reading about him and seeing his art, please go to:
3- I recently met an artist on Facebook, her name is Lina Shadid. We are actually now friends. The days I look at Lina's page and glance at her paintings, I feel energized.These days I come up with many great ideas to use in my classroom. I will share with you her page to enjoy what I am enjoying by observing her art.
4- A wonderful park in NJ, Grounds For Sculpture, is great for enjoying nature, art, and music. Since I learned about it, I try to visit at least two times a year. When I am back home, I feel that I am full of energy and ideas to create and make for my home and classroom.
5- The TV program How It's Made is very inspiring to me. Each episode includes three or four products featured, with a mix consisting of both common and uncommon items. If you are not a TV watcher, you can watch on your device by visiting
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