Kareem Ali

For info. go to my website http://www.vaartist.com

Biography:      Kareem Ali was born in the in Washington, D.C. in 1959. During his childhood years he always had a love for art. And during his Jr. High School years his art teacher told him that his art work was wonderful and then she would advise him to audition for Duke Ellington High School of the Arts. Life was not easy for Kareem because he was very shy and he only had one friend. Creating his art was the only thing that took him away from his troubles. Kareem was an A student when it came to his art classes and always had the support of his Father and Mother. He could always remember how his father was there to pick him up and take him to school and how he would buy everything he needed for his classes. Some of the other classes he attended were Art History, Painting, Photography, graphic Design. Pottery, Animation, and Life Drawing. Duke Ellington taught anything associated with Visual Arts. During the last year at Duke Ellington Kareems father became ill he was unable to talk and was confined to a wheel chair. This was very hard on the artist and his family. During this trying time Kareem and his Twin brother Garry were always together which was not hard to do since they both had the same classes. After High School Kareem attended University of D.C. for advertising and Design for 3 years. During that time he would place ads in the Washington Post to paint portraits and also lifesize paintings. He also attended workshop classes at the Corcoran Art School. Some of the classes that he attended at the UNIVERSITY of D.C. were Drawing, Layout, Photography, Filming, Fashion Drawing Anatomy and more. Most of the time when he was not doing homework he was reading self help books. If you ever had met him in person he would have his artwork and 3 self help books . When painting a portrait it was almost like he would feel like he almost became that person he could feel their likes and dislikes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Kareem has always been a very shy person so people thought that he didn't want to talk to them but then when the person would talk to him they would find that Kareem was a very kind and helpful person.

     After the UNIVERSITY of D.C. Kareem and his brother moved on to other things related to relationships and work. Then their father passed away and it was very hard on the Artist because his father was a huge support for Kareem. Kareem only created a few paintings and drawings after his father passed away for many many years. He spent most of his years moving from place to place trying to find his way in life.

     One day he moved into a rooming house and he went out to look for old furniture to decorate his room . And he was walking down the street and this man stopped him and told him that he would never be happy unless he was painting and creating his Art. Kareem said that the man came out of no where he just appeared. After talking to the man Kareem turned around and the man was not there. He had to have been an angel. Many more things happened to Kareem after that day. However he still couldn't get motivated enough to paint and create any Art. Then Kareem decided to move to another rooming house off of Good Hope Rd. In Washington D.C. across from Frederick Douglas Home. One night he was out for a walk and two men approached him and stopped him and told kareem We are here to keep you safe because this is not a good area to be walking in at night. During that time Kareem felt that time had stopped when he was talking to these men. The men left the same way the other man left that he had met some years ago.

     Many years past and he went from job to job and home to home. However if anyone is a Jack of all trades it is Kareem. He hated jobs because he always had someone looking over him and his work and he wanted and needed to be a independent person. So in 1989 he started a job in Security this was the perfect job for him because he would travel from store to store in a company vehicle and he could choose his on hours and he had one partner. And he was able to stay in the Virginia and D.C. area. After 11 years of working this job he had learned that he had a gift of knowing what was going to happen before it took place and seeing and hearing the truth and a lie.

     Not one time during his job in apprehending shoplifters was he injured until he started a second job doing a similar task.

     However before that time Kareem had always been in search of God or the meaning of life. He would think to himself there had got to be more to life than just going to work everyday. One day Kareem got to meet God.

     "Kareem states God is not the way we think he is". "He is a person however he is more than a person he is in each and every one of us". You have to have an open mind to understand. You have to put your on feelings aside and only think in terms of truth. God is all positive however we are positive and negative. Everything happens for a reason and I now know why I injured my leg. It was my time to stop working in the Security field. Kareem is the type of person that finds it hard to let go however the job was getting more and more dangerous.

     So he left his job on disability. With time and more time on his hands Kareem got to know his self alot better. And with the help of his wonderful and supportive wife of 12 years. Kareem has been able to achieve alot of his goals and the most important goal was to start painting again.

     One of the 1st projects that he created was a catalog for a non-profit organization which is still in use today being sold all over the United States. And he has create flyers, posters, small newsletters etc.

     Kareems realizes that everything happens for a reason the answers are out there just waiting for us to see however we have to keep an open mind and pay attention to the small things.

Country: United States

E-mail: kcdareem@comcast.net

Site: Visual Art by Kareem Ali