Mirrors on the wall

Aksa Yusuf, 25, is a young ambitious woman. What makes her a little different from the rest is that she holds a full-time job at a bank and also creates beautiful pieces of art that adorn the walls of her house and that of her friends.

Nearly two years ago, she found herself in a local bookstore where she purchased a children's kit on mirror painting. She learnt the basic concept from there and with the help of other books has grown to become an artiste in her own right.

Initially, she experimented with mirrors at home. She painted floral motifs, geometric designs, cartoons, landscapes and her work kept getting better with time. "If you can draw, it is very easy to do mirror painting. I am extremely fond of drawing and felt that I needed to take it a step further. I was very curious about glass painting and applied a similar technique on mirrors and it worked," says Yusuf.

She uses flat-surfaced mirrors and glass since that allows the paint to settle evenly. She uses everyday objects like masking tape, stencils, paper, which are put to good use in her designs. Mostly her ideas are original but she admits getting inspiration from cartoon characters as designs for children.

Now she teaches this art to women and children. "Kids love looking at their reflection when they paint. Their work is quite creative with mostly original shapes. They are proud to display their work in their rooms," she says.

She recently exhibited her work at Crowne Plaza Hotel and was pleased with the response she received with a number of people expressing a desire to learn this art. "Everybody loves mirrors and what's nice about this art is that an ordinary mirror becomes a personalised gift to present to a friend," added Yusuf. For more information call 050-6598119.