Amira Dvorah's Book Cover Illustrations

Male: Amira created several book covers in her career as an artist. One such cover poignantly adorns the book titled “Ramadan”.

YaKenda McGahee: This book here, I know that were you commissioned to do the cover? Did you write the book? Or tell me the story about this book.

Amira Dvorah: I just did the cover as a donation to the fellowship of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen who was my spiritual guide and my spiritual teacher. And it was my honor when they asked me to use this for the cover.

YaKenda McGahee: The most striking portrait in the Amira’s collection is the one she painted in honor of her spiritual mentor. Her love and adoration for the great man is translated in every stroke of this incomparable masterpiece.

Amira Dvorah: This is M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, a Lamah saint who came from Sri Lanka in the early 70s to live in Philadelphia which was amazing opportunity for all of us from that moment. I painted that one when he was still alive.

YaKenda McGahee: Wow, that’s beautiful.

Amira Dvorah: He teased me. He said all my paintings are beautiful, but obvious in agreeing.

YaKenda McGahee: I know from my visits to other artist studios that each interesting painting usually contains an equally inviting story behind it. I asked Amira about a particularly impressive painting.

So I understand that there is a story behind this painting and it has to do with your foot pain. Talk to me about that.

Amira Dvorah: Okay. My brother lives in Las Vegas and his client raises tigers for the movies and for commercials and he loves his tigers. So of course, I had to go and paint a tiger. And I went there. This tiger I played flute for him and I was sitting as close to him as we are now.

YaKenda McGahee: Really?

Amira Dvorah: And my eyes were closed and I was playing flute and he took a picture of the expression on the tiger’s face listening to the music. And this is what the tiger looked like listening to the flute.