Shortly after arriving in the US I became an entrepreneur with the creation of Your True Greetings, a successful greeting card company that uses my paintings and Arabic calligraphy to create Islamic Greeting cards and calendars etc.to serve the needs of Muslim communities in the US, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. Your True Greetings was formed almost 17 years back in 1989 in the small town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the hope of earning a little income to help our family settle down in US after migrating from India in 1987. Being an artist, I did not want to take up a job and get tied down to an inescapable routine, and I wanted to be with my two children as well when they needed me. My dream was to establish myself as a fine artist here in the US, however, to pay the bills, I started designing cards with the encouragement of a local printer, Mr. Robin Cook, who bartered my paintings and printed cards for me. With my first four card designs in the back of my old Volvo, I ran around town and sold all the cards and made some good money and thanked Allah Subhanahu Wa Taa’la for it. Gradually, as I started searching for a niche market, I made up my mind to serve Islamic communities here in the US. Using my education in Fine Arts and the design talents that I was blessed with, I started creating Islamic greeting cards. My husband and my children supported me. Some of the samples are displayed here and for a full catalog please visit www.yourtruegreetings.com

Early last year, I returned after performing Hajj, from Mecca,the land of Allah. The whole universe seemed to merge there and was moving in a rhythm of spirituality around that solid form of truth, the black square. It was a constant flow of different faces, yellow white black brown, mostly clad in white, uttering prayers in different languages, echoing and forming one sound of Allah O Akbar.

The experience of Hajj has been self-revealing. The sigh ts of multitudes of humanity all around are fresh in my mind. Moving, praying, eating, breathing with millions of people, from different parts of the world, each moment has been so interesting. It was amazing as if my dream of bringing people together was seeing the light of the day! I feel overwhelmed. At the moment, I do not feel like painting the crowds of people any more…
What next?

News! New film produced about my work by Sommeyah films, The Story of A Lyrical Line. This film is Written and narrated by me for Sommeyah films. The Story of A Lyrical Line is an attempt to praise Our Holy Creator for all blessings. This film documents my childhood in a northwestern Asian Indian desert town, Fine Arts training, journeys through Iran and Kuwait, and the flowering of my career in America.

Salma Arastu