By Mary-Justine Lanyon
The mountain is fortunate that artist Mahan Asghari’s family made the decision in 2012 to emigrate to the U.S. from Iran. They settled in Glendora, where Asghari had to adapt to a new language and a new culture.
“It was difficult at first,” she said. She was in her senior year of high school, a time when friendships have long been formed. But she found friends from all over the world there.
Asghari grew up in an artistic family. Both her parents sewed a lot, with her mother making her clothes. Her sister is a sculptor, her brother an architect.
“I was surrounded by creativity,” she said. “I was passionate about drawing, even in elementary school. That childhood spark of drawing and coloring didn’t end for me – it has grown with me.”
She attended Citrus College and then Cal Poly Pomona. “People told me to get a practical career, that I couldn’t make money with art,” Asghari said. “I realized my priority was not money but my happiness – waking up every day and being excited about what I was going to create that day.”
At Cal Poly she met a lot of fellow artists and inspiring professors. She studied graphic design and studio art. Her graphic design professor Sarah Meyer told her that “the process is even more important than the outcome. She taught me how to be myself on canvas, how to find my signature style.”
Every art medium, Asghari said, has its own style. Her traditional paintings are very different from the digital artwork she now creates. “In digital drawing,” she said, “I found my style. The mountain – the beauty, the nature, the weather – really helped me see what I needed to inspire me.”
When Asghari met her husband, Hamed, they often came up to the mountain on their dates. After they got married, they made the decision to buy a house in Crestline. “The community was more than I expected,” she said. “I don’t know a lot of people yet but I feel the love, the care. People look out for each other.”
All of her digital drawing comes from her surroundings, Asghari said. She takes a lot of photos of what she loves, what moves her – trees, leaves, the changing seasons.
“Snow brings me joy. Where I came from, there were four seasons. I missed the snow – that’s one reason we moved here. I needed four seasons,” Asghari said.
As for her traditional art, that is something Asghari wants to include in her portfolio. “I bought a lot of canvases and paint. They are sitting there, waiting for me.”
Asghari showed her work at the recent Winterfest in Skyforest. She hopes to have it available in Crestline shops.
“Seeing my work in other people’s homes means a lot to me. People stopping by my booth and saying something about my work gives me the energy I need to move forward, do more.
“It gives me joy to do this. I want to share that joy with other people.”
Follow Mahan Asghari on Instagram: @aboutmahan_
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