Myths and Rumors about Islam!

Hey Hey Hey!

I was saying last blog time around, once a week, I was going to bust an Islamic bad rumor going about. It seems like nowadays Islam is one of the most misunderstood religions thanks to effing Media and I personally don't like it when people are living in lies. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but if I hear "It's a Sexist religion!" one more time I think I'm going to scream.

Also may I point out, this is coming from a woman who happens to NOT be Muslim, should show you guys I have no reason to defend something, just because it's my own. I simply am a follower of truth and the truth about this religion seems to have "gone under" somewhere between Iraq and 9/11...So lets set some things straight shall we?! Speaking of Media...

Week 1

"Muslim Husbands are legally allowed to have Sex with their dead Wives 

up to 6 hours after death"

This completely misconstrued and fucking horrific Rumor has nothing to do with Islam. Again people:

HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ISLAM!!!

This rumor is based on a news article that was published in an Egyptian newspaper. The journalist had claimed that the parliament, which mostly consisted of members of the Muslim Brotherhood at the time, was discussing plans on passing a law making it legal for Husbands to engage in sexual intercourse with their deceased spouses. This rumor went viral ending up in several newspapers around the world, causing a bad hear say towards Islam itself. Even though this was never discussed by the Egyptian parliament and no such law was ever passed, not even publicly spoken of, I find it hilarious that ONE rumor about ONE Arabic speaking country gets so drug out to where millions of people believe it is actually the religion allowing this. It has nothing to do with Muslims, it just happened to go down in a country where the majority of folk follows this specific religion. Long story short some crackpot decided to be a douche.

Further more I would like to state that not one page in the Quaran states this, NOT one. I will reassure you all, if you take that book into your hands this minute and read page for page you will not find any sort of statement. Also here are some links to articles that clear this matter up, stating that the original article, claiming this madness, is indeed fake, DailyMail and CSMonitor. 

Take it easy guys and 'til next time!

      Islam Style

Awkward Moment of the Day

Awkward Moment of the Day

Awkward Moment of the Day

Mixed Media Art in the Process

Hi everybody!! 

If you read my babbling on 'About Me' then you most likely already know I'm an Artist. Painting and creating new pieces of art is my absolute everything. For the most part one could throw me in the Abstract department when it comes to painting, but I also enjoy Still Life, Mixed Media and Landscape. It pretty much varies depending on what mood I am in when starting yet another canvas.

Currently I am working on a Mixed Media canvas that I started a couple of days ago. There are different ways to go about this, depending on what your goal is. Personally I believe texture is the most important factor in these paintings, which without they sometimes tend to be quite dull. Since a good amount of people have been asking me questions about this specific type of art, plus it seems to be quite the hot topic these days,  I thought I'd give you a glance at the process of my up to date, in progress canvas.

Here is what I started out with:

canvas, plaster, spatula and stencil. Let the fun begin!!

One empty 50x70 cm canvas, a spatula, plaster and a tin foil stencil (which all in all could be anything you choose or may not even be there). Also, stencils can be ANYTHING! I tend to use whatever I have home, seriously be creative! How I like to say it:

"Mixed Media doesn't start on the canvas it starts with picking your Tools!"

With  the plaster and spatula I covered the entire canvas, more raised here and there than elsewhere, bumps, effects...I went CrAzY in the most literal sense. There really are no rules, just basics.

While the plaster was still wet I made the stencil print and started adding paint to it, continuing to use the spatula though, not a brush. In my experience the best to use for this is Acrylic paint, you really do need something thick that is able to cover and really pop! Watercolor wont do much of anything at this state and I wouldn't recommend using it until you're finishing up. Further more I strongly recommend NOT to use watercolors at all if you are using any sorts of paper or cardboard (anything that could get soggy) on your artwork. For a tool highlight on this particular work I chose egg shells believe it or not. I decided to keep and clean them last time I baked cake, for Brunch with the girls. I then proceeded with drying them (by laying them out on paper towel) and crumbling them up in smaller pieces. Tada ready to use, cost free, Mixed Media texture! Like I said I use ANYTHING.

Canvas covered in plaster, stencil applied, paint and egg shells added.

Once I had reached this state I let the painting sit over night to dry. There were so many layers of plaster and paint, a couple hours didn't even get it half dry. I made sure it was sitting in a warm place and by next morning though, it was good to go.

Now that the plaster was hard and the colors wouldn't smear into one another anymore I started adding more paint. For this I used a sponge and decided to still not use a brush, because I was really liking the results of spatula painting. I added a few more eggshells here and there as well. 

"Texture, texture, texture! The more the better!"

Here are some close ups of the effects I got out of using a spat:

Letting everything dry once again, which thankfully only took about 2 hours this time, I started thinking about what to do with that center piece swirl I had going on. What colors to use, shading etc. I get these moments, where all I do is sit and really concentrate, almost meditate on the picture in front of my inner eye, trying to decide what course of action I want to go about next. Sometimes it takes me days or even weeks to finish the last bit of a painting, rushing these things just leads to a lot of scrapping and white outs. So I like to take my time with my work. I know, I know what you are thinking "What if I have a deadline?! I don't have time for this". It does happen where I have a deadline to get a painting done, but usually I know these things in advance and I just start earlier than usual. A lot of times this really saves stressful evenings, a day before the deadline >_> not knowing what to paint, how to pull it off and then hopefully, somehow, looking half way decent on only 4 hours of effing sleep in front of the buyer, the very next morning...Yes, I've been there, shit happens. Aaaanyyywaayyy, Mixed Media.

Knowing exactly what I want to do with the center piece now, I started focusing on that, trying to bring this baby home finish the artwork. I applied shades of reddish brown and turquoise to the spiral with a sponge and lots of water, wanting to smear and 'stain' more than actually paint. I let it dry once more and Kitty Arlowe decided to guard the painting from my Rugrat who absolutely frikken loves to either step in my paints and track them all over the house or add handprints to my wet canvases, he drives me bananas. Oh how I love the little monster.

Arlowe guarding the almost finished work of art.

Today, all that was left to do was add some highlights here and there. This is when I finally used a fine tip brush, going in with some bright paint, creating "light". Using some metallic 'rub on' paint I also added some golden shine to some of the rises, created by the plaster. After I reached my point of satisfaction, I placed my signature on the right hand, bottom corner of my now completed canvas and called it a day.

"The Spiral of Life"

Get creative, have fun, I hope I was of some sort of help to all of you wanting to get into Mixed Media and aren't quite sure where to begin. Also hope you loved the painting. If you would like to see more of my work, stick around here or check me out on Deviant Art. Have a great rest of the day!

Until next time!

Awkward Moment of the Day

My Hatred towards Hypocrisy in religious Affairs

I was reminded of some news headlines today, of a couple years back here in Germany and found myself upset by it once again. Emphasis on again. I will attempt to contain my rant and start from the beginning.

Germany, 2004 - 2011:

As I am reading the newspaper, turning on the television, checking news feeds online I am seeing headlines stating "The Islamic Veil across Europe" "The Muslim Veil and the Law in Europe" "German Court upholds ban on Hijab" "In Germany, Debate over Muslim Headscarf Rages On" etc. (You get my point!)

I decide to stop my busy day and read these articles, one after the other.

The issue appeared to have started with a Muslim teacher who happened to be a woman, who was wearing a Hijab to class. Supposedly parents didn't like it, other teachers didn't like it, school district didn't like etc. The woman, of course, stuck up for her belief and refused to take her veil off, saying it is on her person and has nothing to do with her methods of teaching her class etc. As this story went on and on, went to court etc more stories all around Germany and then Europe wide started popping up. Schools that made an issue about the the same things, Companies that had problems with the Muslim veil, Kinder gardens and even Universities. It drug on over years actually and during the same time I remember the next issue being that European Governments didn't want to build Mosques either, fearing that their own culture would go under. Don't even get me started on that one. There are CHRISTIAN CHURCHES in Egypt for crying out loud!! Long story short there was a large argument over moronic crap that could have been avoided if everyone would stick their nose in their own damn business in the first place discrimination of the Muslim Community.

End of today's History lesson and back to the future *ehem* I mean, the now:

I was shocked to say the least, I didn't even realize this was a thing! I never would have thought of this even being a problem, because really...Who cares what someone else does with their body parts, be it hair, legs, arms, face!? After all I am not being forced to do something I don't want, so live and let live. Yeah, well apparently I'm the only decent human being left around this forsaken place!

After further digging and researching I came to the conclusion that this had nothing to do with supposed influence of children in class, nor any of the other issues that were at claim here. There was evidence clear as day that this indeed, in my opinion, was nothing but another countless discrimination case towards Muslims in general.

First off, other religious symbols like cross wearing around the neck -> not forbidden. Symbolizes a religion, could possibly influence people, right?! The Kippa, seen on Jewish men didn't seem to be an offense either. Not at all to be exact. Also Roman Catholic Nuns are indeed allowed to wear their head coverings to schools, no issue there.

Rant Begin

Now folks, a little something about myself and I will be quite frank here. There ain't anything I dislike more than a bunch of Hypocrite liars. I can't stand the fact that it's OK for one person to do 'A' when another person who happens to be African American/Asian/Christian/Muslim/what the fuck ever can't do 'A' because they are Hispanic/homosexual/Catholic/orange/green/black/blue. This is nonsense. When are people going to wake the heck up and see that the way things are going this entire planet is going to fucking hell in a hand basket?! People just need to learn to be tolerant of other cultures! Learn to be tolerant in general towards other humans! We are talking about HUMAN BEINGS here!! Not vermin...When did we start treating each other like pests, frikken rats or roaches?!?! Seriously w.t.f. ?!

- to be continued -

Where was I...Aaahhhh yes! So other Religions oddly enough were given no difficulty what so ever in expressing themselves as long as the symbol was carried on one's self. Be it a necklace or a bracelet or a head covering... You see where this is going.

Now of course I was left to wonder why it was such a big deal for Muslim women and why they are running into so many issues. The only logical explanation I was able to come up with, after hours of reading and researching, is the simple fact that the overall opinion of Muslims here in Germany, can't speak for other places, in general is a little fishy. The Religion is very misunderstood and there are a ton of rumors out there about these people to begin with. The biggest and utmost important one that plays a huge role in this specific case is the oppressing of women. What people like to confuse is this: 

"The Oppressing of Women in Muslim COUNTRIES" = "The Oppressing of Women in ISLAM" 

There is a gigantic difference here. Well for one the latter doesn't exist, hence Islam does not oppress women, people oppress women. I get the mix up though, which comes from the word Muslim in my first statement, hence when you're Muslim you are a follower of Islam. Which is precisely when the mistake happens. The only reason why we call Muslim Countries "Muslim Countries" is simply because the majority of the country folk are Muslim, this doesn't automatically mean that the Iraqi, Syrian, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Turkish etc. pp. CULTURE is equal to Islam.

Meaning that even though women are oppressed in certain Arabic speaking countries, does not automatically mean that it is represented in Islam. Religion and Culture do NOT go hand in hand when it comes to every single factor of behavior.

Since the Hijab is only worn by Muslim women and Islam in general is very restricting of what the woman can show of herself, opposed to Muslim men who are apparently not covering anything out of the ordinary, people seem to get the impression that Muslim men can do whatever the hell they please and the women can't. Hence this sets off a chain reaction by alarming for example Feminist Groups -ALERT ALERT Women being oppressed by MEN ALERT ALERT- that there is an offensive matter at hand, people get ticked off, shit hits the fan. It is all only because of a false stereotype that is embedded into societies very skulls. Here for instance a quote from one of the Muslim female lawyers that were handling one of the cases:

"Es ist leicht, aus der Ferne und ohne eigene Betroffenheit das Kopftuch zu tolerieren. Für mich ist das jedoch keine Toleranz, sondern Ignoranz. Das Kopftuch und der Tschador symbolisieren in meinen Augen die Unterwerfung der Frau. Aber solange das Kopftuch fremdbestimmt, also vom Mann bestimmt ist, werde ich mich mit den Frauen solidarisieren, die endlich das Kopftuch oder den Tschador ablegen wollen."

As an original text from a German Interview it is in the German language. Here the translation for my English reading folks:

"It is easy to tolerate from a distance and without personal impact the headscarf. For me however, this is not tolerance but ignorance. The headscarf and chador in my eyes symbolize the subjugation of women. But as long as the headscarf is externally determined, so determined by the man, I'm going to show solidarity with the women who want to finally quit the headscarf or the chador."

These kinds of statements from a MUSLIM WOMAN of course don't help. Hence a woman who follows Islam would know what she is talking about. Right?! Wrong. Depending on how her parents were educated about Islam, and their parents parents and so on and so on, there could well be false education at hand. Which again proves the only way to get rid of these issues is self education. 

-Continuation of Rant-

Read the Quaran, research Islam and the different cultures before you go making a big stink out of something that only exists in the depth of your own mind. It is unnecessary and quite frankly I think hearing about ONE thing for 7 YEARS in the news proves that people should frikken educate themselves. Seriously, what is this Madness?! 7 YEARS people!!!

Last but not least, who's business is it if a woman wants to cover her hair anyway?! No one comes up to me saying "Heidi you're not allowed to wear pants!" "I feel offended when you wear pants, I'd rather have you not wear them...it could influence something" (actually I can think of someone who would say this to me...but that's a different story >_>) 

Anyway, no one says this to me, you know why? Because they don't have the right to tell me how much to wear and how much not to wear. That would be an Outrage! Where the hell do people get off telling other people what the hell to wear?! If I only want to show my hair that happens to be ultra sexy to only my Husband then that's my damned choice and no one else's fucking business. To all women who wear the Hijab for that reason and that reason only, you go girls! Tell them all to shut the eff up!

-Rant End-

Man I feel so much better getting that out there. Stuff like this just truly annoys the heck out of me. Thankfully things about the head covering calmed down a while back and things are seemingly back to "normal", which of course still doesn't cover a wide span of fairness. Such is Society and the Government I guess. But at least it calmed down and as far as I know in most places in Germany the ban was lifted. Emphasis on most.

With my new found interest in this religion (through certain special significant others *wink*) and my general hatred for unfairness and hypocrisy towards people; I am going to take one bad myth, about Islam, per week and bust it! I will be posting the myth/rumor itself , if there is any idea on how it most likely came to be that will also be mentioned and last but not least proof of it's falseness. I am not saying that Islam has nothing about it that people could maybe not like or not agree with. By all means, it's not for everyone, what I do not like though is a whole group of people being looked down upon for something that doesn't even exist.

On that note, I'm off to yet another trip to the grocery store with the Rugrat ... Yippiiii! Not! -_-

Until next time!!

PS: In case there is any interest in further reading, I used Google searches and actual old articles I still had in my home. Also this Wikipedia post was quite interesting to read.