Creating Brings OK Artists of all Faiths Closer to God

OKLAHOMAN
By Isra Cheema

OKLAHOMA - Uzma Muzaffar feels a closeness to God whenever she paints. “I wrote one of the chapters of the Quran on a tile,” Muzaffar said of the Muslim holy book. “I made it with so much effort and it filled me with feelings of satisfaction.” The Muslim artist lives in Oklahoma and paints with oil, acrylic and watercolors and paints ayahs, or verses of the Quran, on her canvases. “We're driven to capture the beauty we see in the world in whatever medium we create in, and I'm no different,” said Oklahoma artist Cynthia Daniel Wolf. “The beauty is there, I have to capture it.” Wolf is a Christian photographer by trade and loves to photograph Western and Southwest landscapes. But how do religious artists express themselves? “Sometimes through strokes, sometimes in colors and sometimes with different mediums,” Muzaffar said. “It's not a conscious process,” said Rabbi Juan Mejia, who is also an artist. “I'm not really expressing my feelings. It's more of an expression avenue, a sort of release valve for unconscious emotions.” [link]