WATCH: Indian expat's 'labour of love' for Shaikh Mohammed

Dipti Mulani with her portrait of Shaikh Mohammed

A picture speaks a thousand words and Dubai resident Dipti Mulani proved that with a beautiful portrait of Dubai's iconic leader, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The Indian expat, living in the UAE for over two decades now, is an interior designer who turned full-time artist 6 years ago; she recently completed her first series of portraits. In this, she paid tribute to the visionary leader by painting a large portrait of his.
It took her over 18 months to complete this work, but what's so different about her labour of love compared to other portraits of Shaikh Mohammed?
Mulani was heavily pregnant when she worked on this particular painting and just a few weeks after completing it, she was blessed with a baby girl, Meher. Not only that, the glowing new mom hopes to get the opportunity to present her work to the leader in person.
Why did she choose Shaikh Mohammed as the subject of her portrait? "I believe that he's a hero to every single person residing in Dubai and the UAE. He is an inspiration to people; the transformation he has brought about in Dubai under his leadership are massive and amazing".
In her 6 years as an artist, she has churned out portraits of famous personalities, including the likes of the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali and best-selling author Paulo Coelho, among others. Another highlight of her paintings is that they are inscribed with popular quotes made by the subject.
Shaikh Mohammed's painting, too, contains verses from his Arabic poetry and six English quotes. Of which, Mulani said her favourite one is: "I am confident that women will perform nothing short of miracles".

Watch a video of the 'labour of love' here:

 

Two Journeys. The first of growing up in Dubai, of pride in calling this city home, of learning from it and being part of it vibrancy. The second of creating this painting, of learning to write his poetry in Arabic, of honouring the man to whom all the credit goes for making this city great, of humbly offering it as a gift to H.H. #instaartist #instagood #tagstagramers #follow4follow #sheikhmohammed #fridaymagazine #khaleejtimes #faz3 #dubai #mynation #mydubai #iloveuae #uaenationalday45 #uaenationalday #uae #colorful #color #colors #artistsoninstagram #artistic #drawingoftheday #draw #drawing #arts #artsy #arts_gallery #art #paintings
A video posted by Dipti Mulani (@diptim.artist) on Nov 29, 2016 at 4:29am PST