Dastgah Systems

Mr. Ahmad Ebadi
11" x 8", markers on paper, 2014

Awoken by the flashing lights of police cars and a helicopter overhead, and after a peanut butter sandwich and a cup of coffee,  I felt I had to something positive with the unexpected available hours of the early morning. I decided to spent time with my #1 hobby so I pulled up the top 100 list and looked for an image for the highest number not painted yet. This was the Iranian master of setar Mr. Ahmad Ebadi. Plenty of images to choose from, from all stages of his long career, I settled for this image of Mr. (or Ostad—master) Ebadi that shows him late in his life. Ahmad Ebadi was born in 1906 in Tehran and died in 1993, also in Tehran. The piece in the top 100 is titled Dastgah of Mahour, and is after Dastgah of Shour the second piece from the album Classical Music of Iran: Dastgah Systems, Vol. 1 on Folkways Records. Picking up random markers from a box without a concern for artistic integrity I filled up the page in my sketchbook before daylight struck, put it on the scanner, fiddled around with the tools in my photo program, and voila...It is 6:00 am now, the police have left, and I might have an early morning nap. Enjoy your weekend y'all.