9
" Why do you paint, Akram?” I asked. “What—”
“Close your eyes, Sebastian,” he said, stopping me. “Just for a minute, close them and tell me what you see.”
I did as he asked and answered, “Nothing, just black.”
He tilted my head a bit to the west. “Open them now and find the blessing of vision. This abundance, the explosion, the mixture of colors, the movement, life passing by… See the sun setting? What colors can you find in the sea? Surely there are blue and gray, but don’t you also see that darker gray, light green, even black? Look at the hues of the sun drowning in the sea, melting in oranges, reds, purples. Look at those trees over there. Look at the waves, at me, at your hands, the eyes of your friends. Now, must you still ask me why I paint?” Akram replied. He then left me and walked to the tip of the yacht to enjoy the sunset and the breeze.
“Artists,” I mumbled to myself. "
― Ahmad Ardalan , The Art Collector of Le Marais
