Aafiya Shabir’s tryst with art journaling

Aafiya Shabir, a young artist from Srinagar was passionate for arts since her early childhood and now she is the one behind the art journaling in Kashmir.
Currently pursuing masters in Clinical Psychology at Uttar Pradesh, she has been working on a relatively new concept in Kashmir called art journaling for which she attracted much attention.
Art journaling is a visual diary where you can creatively express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, memories and emotions through any type of art form you enjoy.
“My passion for art started ever since I was a child. I used to draw, paint, cut, paste and put different things together, be it the walls of my room or just a drawing book,” she said.
Earlier, Aafiya didn’t share her art with many people, as it was something personal and she did not knew how others would react to it. Slowly she learned through social media that more people were interested in what she would do.
“In 2020, I realized that sharing my art doesn’t just help me in connecting with like-minded people from all over the world, but it also affects people. People find comfort in the words or the pages of my journal, they relate to it in their own ways. Among the few pleasures that this world offers, making people feel better is definitely one of them. And if my art can make a positive difference in even a single person’s life, like it does in mine, I would believe that i accomplished something of great value,” she said.
Aafiya likes to experiment with different ways of expressing herself through art. That is why she had an art journal for years. “It is a book with blank pages that I fill with my feelings and expressions of emotions. I may draw, sketch, paint, write or paste things in it,” she said.
“I think art for me is freedom. I am free to do, create and change whatever I want in the world, even if the world is as small as my journal. Art helps me detach from the real world and find peace in the process of creating. And the best part is that when I share it with people they can interpret it in their own ways, which keeps the personal aspect of it intact,” she said.
After doing art silently away from social media, Aafiya said she decided to turn her social media pages public and reach like-minded people.
The 22-year-old artist said art therapy is a known thing that helps humans in a positive way. Her wall paintings, art journaling and paintings on small objects like CDs have garbed much attention.
She is trying to move beyond traditional landscape art and introducing new forms of art which youngsters like. “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes,” she said.