Of Walls, Art and Friendship

I still remember the first day we met Kareem. He bounded into our house, beaming like a floodlight and shouting like a man blissfully possessed as he took in the scene. He was already faux-painting our walls in his imagination.

“I will make this house beautiful! I will transform it, Stevie! When I am done, you will not recognize your own home!”

And then 20-something, Caribbean-born, Kareem Ralph Amin went on to do a magnificent, artful job painting pattern, color and texture over our drab, vanilla walls.

And for good reason. It turned out that he wasn’t just a painter; he was an artist. As in fine-art-on-canvas kind of art. So Veronica and I commissioned him to do a piece for our living room (pictured above). Soon there’ll be another Kareem Amin original in our family room, too.

And as often happens when people come to our house to work, he’s become a dear friend as well.

So it thrills me to announce that Kareem has been invited to exhibit his work in Italy at the Florence Biennale art exhibition in 2007.

Consider Kareem for your home, too. (I’m sure he’ll come to you wherever you are). Besides, you have to admit that it would be pretty cool to upgrade your decor and support the arts at the same time, no?

You can learn more about his fine art here, and his magnificent faux-painting work here.