Mahout, My Latest Drop on Foundation

 Third piece of my award-winning illustration trio entitled “The Mahout” is now minted on Foundation. The work along with two other works named “Elephant in the Dark” and “Shadowgraphists in the Wedding” won the main award in “Iranian Illustrator’s Society” annual event, held in past July. The work is a vector art originally uploaded in 21×29.7 cm and it is an Illustration based on an anecdote by Rumi -a 13th-century Persian poet. Full description and purchasing information is available on my Foundation page.

The Mahout

 History has witnessed then-thousands of battles. Millions of soldiers, thousands of kings, and thousands of fortresses were involved. A strong fortress surrounded by firm walls was the key element in winning many of those wars, forcing invaders to leave desperately. Our body is the unique fortress in history. A well-found citadel that has made many aggressors disappointed. Regarding the latest pandemic, people became aware of the necessity of doing simple things ti keep the disease away. Simple things like wearing a simple mask. The gate for our fortress. So keep the gates closed and make these tiny offenders disappointed.

The Last Fortress

This is the story of my  new drop on Foundation. This is an illustration entitled “The Last Fortress” originally created as an artwork to notify the necessity of wearing mask during the recent Covid-19 pandemic. The fortress with its gated being closed against a large army of brutal knights is a metaphor for how wearing ask can protect us agains contagious virus outbreaks.

The artwork was qualified for 13th Fadjr Visual Arts Festival exhibition and book (held in February 2021). It is a 50×70 cm vector art created in 2020 but had several edits and updates before being listed as NFT. That is, the signature date is 2022.  The piece is available as a “buy now’ offer for 0.18 ETH via the link here.

The Last Fortress, Some of the works’ vector details (shapes with their outlines and handles in Adobe PS)

Queen of Cheetahs, My Entry for #BejaminKato

 My latest NFT art illustrated for#BenjaminKato art contest minted on Foundation. The contest theme was based on  Benjamin Bitcoin‘s Twitter avatar picture (a Bored Ape NFT) and must included some of the main features of that BAYC NFT like ape, cheetah, colors green and red, etc.

The Queen of Cheetahs

The artwork created for the contest was inspired by an old illustration of mine depicting a queen on her throne rising up a golden cup. I added cheetahs with a pattern of Ethereum symbols on their skins around the queen. The queen has heart-shaped sunglasses over her head (identical to the bored ape NFT) and have put a red dress on with the similar pattern on the cheetahs’ skin. She also has worn Ethereum earrings. The illustration is a 50x70cm vector art listed for 0.19 ETH. More Information and the artwork description are available in my Foundation page.

Shadowgraphists in the Wedding, availabe on Foundation

Shadowgraphists in the Wedding

 Another illustration of mine called “Shadowgraphists in the Wedding” was minted and listed on my Foundation page. Like my pevious drop on the same platform, this work is also an award-winning piece, won the main award in “Iranian Illustrator’s Society” annual event, commemorating Mehd Azar Yazdi -a well-known children’s book author- 100th birthday. The work is a vector art originally uploaded in 21×29.7 cm and it is an Illustration based on an anecdote by Rumi -a 13th-century Persian poet- titled “Elephant in the Dark”. In this scene, the story’s characters try to demonstrate an an exotic creature they barely could see in the dark some minutes before. Full description and purchasing information is available the piece page on Foundation.

Elephant in the Dark, Minted

Elephant in The Dark

 My new illustration entitled “Elephant in the Dark” was minted on Foundation. The work is an award-winning piece, won the main award in “Iranian Illustrator’s Society” annual event. The work is a vector art originally uploaded in 21×29.7 cm and it is an Illustration based on an anecdote by Rumi -a 13th-century Persian poet- with the same name. Full description and purchasing information is available on my Foundation page.

The Illustration Exhibition "Good Stories for Good Children" Announced the Winners: My Artworks Were Among the Main Winners

 On July 1st, 2022, The illustration exhibition "Good stories for good children" commemorates the 100th birthday of Mehdi Azarizdi's inauguration held, and the jury at the end of an opening ceremony announced the winners.

According to the public relations of the illustrators' society, during the event, the Iranian Artists Forum's ' "Momayez" Gallery and its conference hall, witnessed the presence of great artists, young illustrators, and others who attended the exhibition on a hot Friday afternoon, on July 1st, 2022.

At the beginning of the event, a video message from the secretary of the Children’s Book Council, played for the audience, emphasizing the importance of Mehdi Azaryazdi’s collaborations and efforts toward updating and presenting Persian old tales and fables to the new generations.

Ali Bouzari, CEO of the Illustrators Society, the first event’s speaker also highlighted Azaryazdi’s important role in children’s publication by telling a memory of his childhood reading Azaryazdi’s famous book collection “Good Stories for Good Children”.

“During the summer, I used to stay at my grandmother’s house and many times after we’d done shopping, we always went to AmirKabir bookstore on Khaje Nasir St. where she used to buy me a new book from “Good stories for Good Children” book series, said Bouzari. 

Then, after presenting a brief report on how the event was organized and how the works were being selected, the three main winners were introduced including Niloofar Ataeifar, Arvin Fouladifar, and Pedram Kazroni for illustrating the stories of the book series “Good Stories for Good Children”. In the same section, Armin Abolfathi, Zahra Amini, Sahar Khorasani, and Najla Mahdavi were acknowledged with a certificate of appreciation.

The exhibition will be going on until July 20 at “Momayez” Gallery, Iranian Artists Forum.

گلدان

 دیروز گلدان چینی قرمزمان شکست

گلدانی با کلی گل مرغ بازاری که ارزش هنری خاصی هم ندارد. ارزش اصلی گلدان البته جز قدمتش، مالک اول آن بود؛ عزیزی کهسال‌هاست رفته.

پدرم با چسب همه تکه‌ها را با وسواسی که در او معمولاً دیده نمی‌شود سر هم کرد و با غرور گفت: «بفرمایید! دوباره جان گرفت!»

ولی من می‌گویم که هیچ‌گاه مثل قبلش نیست. گلدان همیشه بوی چسب را بین زخم‌هایش حس خواهد کرد و خطوط بیشماری که می‌گوینددقیقاً چند تکه شده بود همیشه رویش خواهند ماند. گلدان -ولو سرپا- تا ابد یک گلدان شکسته است.

Farewell The Millennium Bank

 Well, today was such an emotional day. My colleagues -I would better say ex-colleagues-surprised me with a goodbye party there in the bank PR office. There was a cake, memory telling, impressions of the way I use to speak by Vahid, and even an hiphop performance about my resignation by Sarah and Pejman. Well, I have been working there for 12 years as a PR expert and I resigned as the head of the communications and media team. I somehow was raised there while working with a dozen great people who taught me many things I know today. People like Mr. Rafiee, Elham, Niloofar, Somayeh, Najmeh, Fereshteh, Arshad, Yaser, Mohsens (since we had 3 of them), and Morteza.

Last day of my career as a bank employee, March 2022

But the reasons that made me resign at the end of my contract period this March was something I would like to explain. Officially, as I said to the bank’s HR, I wanted to change my field of work and concentrate more on NFTs and making illustrations. Working an unrelated full-time job did not let me spend enough time necessary for making artworks and related marketing (e.g. personal branding) activities. But if I had not made that decision, I would resign either way. So, there is a bigger reason for stopping working there.

We (all my colleagues and I) in the PR department had experienced a catastrophic situation caused by our new chief officer of public relations since the end of 2019, and the saddest part is we implicitly were not allowed to make any official objection or to complain about it. I am not going so deep through this since it could be interpreted as personal or unprofessional but on the other hand, I have to say it since organizations should be responsible about their choices for managerial positions. The ones who always take the management seats are not the best choice for the business. Thus, like the control tools monitoring employees and processes, a sound and robust system also needs to check on its managerial layer via many managerial tools. Apart from questionnaires, interviews, and other official procedures, the employees’ (and ex-employees’) direct feedback is one of the most important control tools every executive board member should be using – as every one of them usually is responsible for several departments in many organizations. Forthright communication channels with the senior management always should be open to anyone and this doesn’t mean simply introducing CEOs’ -or other board members’- direct email addresses. This means senior management -especially the CEO- should listen to their employees from any layer and respond to them professionally. Additionally, this communication should remain confidential and employees should not be afraid of their feedback’s negative consequences. Unfortunately, we -there as PR staff- had no access to such an open channel to relate the crisis we had. Ironically the CEO’s direct email is checked by the PR manager there… So, sending feedback to CEO has never been an option for our department. I am sure the CEO had heard about our problem but he has not reacted yet for some reason. Whatever the reason is, he has preferred to lose more than 25 employees in his PR department in less than a year and did nothing about it. However, after the first wave of resignations in early 2021, he only had a meeting with us. Not letting anybody speak about the issue, he called all those quittings nothing but the ex-manager plots to sabotage and destroy the reputation of his new successor. Then he intimidated us and recommended we had better not follow the schemes made by those who resigned. Well, none of his thoughts were true… there were all conspiracy theories people usually make up to escape reality! I cannot think of anything but the idea that we -me and literally all the PR team at that time- were only the cost of a bigger interest. In other words, our CEO had to keep his new manager in position regardless of whatever she does.

me and my coursmates during our new-hire training classes, April 2010

Well, I always have loved the bank. It was my second home, my colleagues were my second family. I have been witnessing losing more than 25 of them leaving for good. That was a horrible experience! Here I want to address the bank’s CEO. Despiting knowing that this is not going to make a difference, I have to say it. 25 resignations only in a year in a single department are no accident, Mr. CEO! Even though either of them gave excuses, you can be sure their main problem was not immigration and having two little kids. They could not simply stand working in a toxic atmosphere where the manager -the one you put in the office- constantly humiliates them and smashes their self-esteem. They could not stand being constantly under deadly stress for unimportant things. Yes Mr. CEO unimportant things like how should we ask a simple question from our manager? whether via her office, a text message, a voice message, or an official letter?! Yes Mr. CEO we had the most basic communication issues with your chief communications officer! Yes, these are unnecessary things we have faced bad consequences for. It is not possible to work with a manager who uses anger, ire, and intimidation as a managerial tool, who enjoys seeing people being scared of her, who does not respect her employees’ privacy wants them to be accessible 7/24, who does not welcome dialogues, and communications, the one whose ideas and thought should be executed without any questions. I can understand why she is so scared of employees’ comments and questions; that is your fault, Mr. CEO, you have chosen a person as your PR manager with no communication skills not able to give a simple speech; someone with no background in social and traditional media; someone with no executive and event organizing work experience, someone with no artistic or aesthetics viewpoint who has not even watched a movie or theatre in eons, someone with no managerial skills to stimulate people and lead even a small team of three. Besides working skills, she is not behaviorally and mentally qualified for any managerial position Mr. CEO and you know it. Someone with a military sergeant language, with an up-to-down way of looking at people (I am not talking about the common hierarchy of course), and with an ADHD detail-oriented approach has no place in a modern organization’s management, specifically an organization with the slogan: “The Millennium Bank”. I am not a psychologist but I am sure she even would fail a simple personality test!

I am not sure if someday you read this Mr. CEO but if someone sends you the link, instead of ordering the bank’s legal department to set a complaint against me (your favorite approach toward media and journalists) please think of it. I am not writing here to destroy your brand. Believe it or not, this is a personal blog, only reachable to a limited audience (at least now). Sorry to say that unlike what you defined as the bank’s vision, the organization will never rank among Fortune 500. Maybe it makes huge profits, but the way you and other managers see the human capital and the business itself definitely could not lead you among the globally-recognized companies and organizations.

بختک ۲

عقربه‌های ساعت، درست وقتی که به زمان نیاز داری تو را پشت میز کارت، روی صندلی اتاقت یا روی تخت‌خوابت میخ‌کوب می‌کنند. باید مرور بدترین‌ احتمالات و عبور بدترین اضطراب‌ها را تجربه کنی و هم‌زمان گردش مستمر و پویایی‌ بی‌نقصشان را در برابر انفعال خورندۀ خودت ببینی. این خود شکنجه است. بنابراین همیشه زمان تنگ است و همیشه دیر خواهد شد؛ برای تصمیم گرفتن، برای دست به کار شدن، برای جوان ماندن، برای رسیدن به اتوبوس و برای امتحان.

زندگی، آن طور که مجبورمان می‌کنند سپری‌اش کنیم به تکلیف‌های ملال‌آور دوران مدرسه می‌ماند. رونویسی‌ها و حل مسائل بی‌سروته که باید انجام بدهی تا مسئولیت‌پذیر و موفق به نظر برسی. دوران‌هایی هم هست که خدا خودش را به خواب زده است و به عجز و لابه‌هایت گوش نمی‌دهد. مثل شب امتحان است. من همیشه شب‌های امتحان در چرت‌زدن‌های کوتاه آن نیمه‌شب‌های برزخی بختک می‌شدم. امتحان، چه تعلیمات اجتماعی و هندسه باشد و چه دوام آوردن در یک ادارۀ جهنمی، برای تلاشی بیهوده است. یادگرفتنی‌ها را یاد بلدید و یه نه. امتحان فقط نوعی محک زدن غیرضروری و زجر‌آور است برای ارزیابی دیگران از شما.

حقیقتش برای خواندن کتابِ این امتحان مضحک دیگر رمقی ندارم. خواب‌آلودگی جانت را قطره قطره از درون بخار می‌کند. ماهیچه‌هایت انگار در بدنت پخته‌اند و درون جمجمه‌ات شیره‌ای نوچ و شیرین نمی‌گذارد تمرکز کنی. صبح از سویی نزدیک است چون نیمۀ ماندۀ این کتاب این را می‌گوید. از طرفی هم خیلی دور است؛ چون نمی‌رسد! و ثانیه‌ثانیۀ این رنج مثل ماه و سال می‌گذرد. خودت را قانع می‌کنی چُرتی بزنی تا با انرژی بیشتری بیست دقیقه دیگر دوباره شروع کنی وهر یک دقیقه یک صفحه جلو بروی. اما این چرت خودش برایم آغاز رنجی دیگر است.

بختک، کابوس است. خوابی که در آن فکر می‌کنی بیداری. یا شاید نوعی بیداری که در آن که فکر می‌کنی خواب هستی. به هر حال همیشه اتفاق بدی در پشت سرت در جریان است: وزوز حشرات موذی، صدای قدم‌های یک جانی یا آژیر حمله هوایی را می‌شنوی اما نمی‌توانی حتی پوستۀ پلکت را تکان بدهی. دست و پا و کمرت انگار مال تو نیستند و تقلا کردن و زور زدن هیچ کاری را از پیش نمی‌برد. هزچند گزینۀ دیگری هم نیست.  چنان سنگینی که انگار خود کوه دماوندی که در میان البرز زنجیر شده. بی‌حرکت و خاموشی اما هشیار، مستأصل و زیر فشار سنگین ترین وزنۀ جهان.

بختک همیشه با یک ضربۀ انفجاری باز می‌شود. رها شدن فنری که از فشار زجر، تا انتها جمع شده. رهایی یک پیروزی کوچک است اما اندکی بعد از آن دنیای دیگری را می‌بینی که نه حشره‌ای موذی‌ای در خود داشته و نه حمله هوایی در آن نزدیک است. انگار ریشۀ این خودخوری طولانی فقط یک فریب زننده بوده است.

ساعت یازده و نیم شب است. فردا صبح دوباره باید بروم و به آن اهریمن همیشه‌حق‌به‌جانب گزارش کار بدهم. کاش این فنر سرجایش برگردد و صبح در جهانی بیدار شوم که نه در آن کسی کارمند جایی باشد و نه اصلاً بتوان در آن دفتر و دستک و اداره‌ای پیدا کرد.