خوش آمديد
سيلاکن
မင်္ဂလာပါဗျာ
สวัสดีครับ
Welcome…
I’m Charlie, painting under the name “Shah Wali” - an alias I acquired in Afghanistan many years ago. But that is another story…
Since childhood, I've loved drawing. Much of my youth was spent with sketchpad and pencil in hand.
I have been living in Asia since the turn of the century. From backpacker to bartender, English teacher to Persian student, for seventeen years I was a humanitarian, working in the conflict zones of Asia. Over the years, I have picked-up Thai, Lao, Persian, Pashto, Malay and even a little Burmese. Literacy in these different scripts also adds a unique flavour to my work.
Having spent almost my entire adult life so far in Asia, I speak Thai, Lao, Persian, Pashto, Malay and a little Burmese. Immersion in Asia's languages and cultures has opened my eyes to the beauty and genius of classical Oriental art. It was while based in Afghanistan in the early 2010s that I first tried my hand at creating my own Persian miniatures, drawing on the events which surrounded me at the time.
I am particularly fascinated by Indo-Persian miniature paintings, and their Siamese and Burmese counterparts of Buddhist temple art. These influences shine through my work, and I first tried my hand at Persian miniature painting whilst based in Afghanistan in the early 2010s, as the Taliban insurgency was intensifying.
But there's more…
I grew up in a house adorned with the paintings of Charlie Johnson Payne, the British artist who painted under the pseudonym “Snaffles”. As a boy, I used to spend hours poring over the details of his paintings; in my late-teens, I tried my hand at copying some of his military caricatures. As an inevitable consequence, his distinctive style has left an indelible mark on my own paintings.
From a 13-day full ordination as a Theravadin Bhikkhu at Bangkok's Temple of Dawn, to dining on Qabuli Palao with the Taliban in Helmand, my journey of the past two decades has rarely been mundane. Inevitably, my varied experiences of the past twenty-five years find their way into my paintings, and I very much hope that they will bring you as much pleasure as creating them brings to me.
With sincere thanks for your interest.
و السلام
شاه ولى
Charlie “Shah Wali” Dorman-O'Gowan
