Recently, I visited the home of artist Datin Eliza Tajuddin from whom I am commissioning a painting. She is a gentle, warm Malaysian woman whose art I fell in love with a couple of months ago. We met at her first solo art exhibit. The wife of a retired diplomat, she has traveled extensively including expatriations to Serbia, Mexico, and Africa. After retiring to her homeland, Malaysia, she took up painting. Teaching herself, she let her own passions, experiences, and ideas guide the development of her artwork.
On my first visit to Datin Eliza’s exhibit, I was lucky enough to be a lone visitor. The artist discussed many of her paintings with me, explaining the background of each painting. I was entranced by the vibrancy of her colors and the detailed cultural aspects that helped me better understand her culture.
I knew that I wanted to bring home one of Datin Eliza’s paintings. But which painting should I choose? So many of the paintings had struck a chord with me. Especially the pictures of the Malaysian Kampung (village) during a wedding ceremony. The detailed pictures of the village, musicians, cooks, wedding presents, wedding guests, and bride and groom drew me to them. Pictures with women in colorful garb performing cultural activities also caught my attention. In the end, a simpler composition of water, fish, and women won out. I chose Catch of the Day as it had both women conversing about meal preparation (fish) and my favorite theme-water. Because the original picture had already been sold, I commissioned a copy of the original. And as a result, I was able to see the work in progress at the artist’s home.
The website for the artist is: elizataj.blogspot.com. Below are a few of my favorite pictures from Datin Eliza's portfolio of paintings.
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| The Malay Wedding Preparation |
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| Malay Ladies Series 5 |
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| Coming Home |
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| My Daughter's Wedding |
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| Artist Datin Eliza and me at solo exhibit |
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| one of the artists home studio areas |
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| Datin Eliza finishing my "Catch of the Day" painting |
