Thank you for visiting my site. I'm Aisha Baika, an independent artist based in London. You can visit my Etsy store here, or if you'd like to get in touch about licensing or anything else related to my work, you can email me here.
A bit about me. I don't generally have much 'stuff' but I always hold on to paper: old journals, birthday cards, things like that, and I love to receive letters. There's something so intimate and wonderful about handwriting. If I ever pass a community noticeboard I'll stop to find ads that have been physically written. I like imagining who the author may be and looking at the torn edges of scraps of paper - wondering what wholes they once belonged to. Finding scribbles on pages of second-hand books also tickles my mind.
I have a pinboard at home where I keep my favourite notes from people, as it's nice to see them every day. When I receive cards, I like to display them inside-out because I enjoy looking at the swirls and scrawls and smudges of the pen. And then you have the contents: everyone that I love dearly in this life has a wonderful way with words, and is so very generous with them.
Apart from waxing lyrical about handwriting and paper, I also paint. I started a few years ago and found I couldn't stop, so I have piles and boxes and cupboards full of outputs. I find it very stimulating and relaxing. I never intended to share any of it and for a while, responded in a prickly and insufferable manner when people suggested I sell my work: 'But that would change things... This is just for me, and there's such joy in that, you know?... Not everything needs to be commercialised... It would suck all the soul out of it...' - ad infinitum. But the right person told me at the right time to get a grip and so now, some selected works are available to buy as limited edition prints, with more to come.
Going through the process of choosing, scanning, retouching, laying out, choosing a print studio, testing papers, and so on, has been a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable journey. I would like to say thank you to everyone who has supported along the way.