That maddening feeling that brings with it confusion, fear, excitement, and disbelief.
And everything she had felt before about that fleeting sentiment that may hold a whole world of illusion, brought with it the necessity of a slight, ever so slight, hint of imperfection.
perfection, you see, is not her vision.
It is not a necessary "Tale" for her. She understands perfectly well that there are people - oh! so many of them - out there, who are meticulous.
They cherish details and build their world, their inner canals, outward archways, lanes and tiny courtyards around them.
But that is not the case with artist Leila Jabre Jureidini whose work I had the pleasure of being introduced to at
Galerie Janine Rubeiz
In its beautiful location opposite our sea(Enchanting?) in Charles De Gaulle avenue, Raouche, in our Fabulous Beirut.
She felt enchantment - And we really must go back to that feeling - however fleeting it might have been - when she stood face to face with the Baobab tree, understandably called
"The Tree Of Life".
She recalls, when we later talk over the phone, that it was really love at first sight. It must have been perfection - whatever that may mean in real life -
However, I noticed a few hints of imperfections in those works she stitched, weaved, painted, in the hope of honoring and persevering:
"The legacy of these ancient trees - some of which have lived for over 1,275 years, according to Africa Geographic".
It is only understandable, then, to use the word "Grandeur" - and why not, majestic, when describing the Tree of life, The Baobab, where she fell in love once upon a time, when she first saw them. It haunted her from then onwards.
That sentiment did not dissipate. Its Beauty elongated in her imagination with the passage of time.
And it is necessary to point out that imperfections do not bother her. She might, one could add, thrive on them.
The tree was perfect. Disturbingly so,
she made sure, the artworks were not.
For however perfect this majestic tree might be in real life, a touch of imperfection in the artworks presented in the elegant gallery, only adds to the grandeur (there we go again!) of the Tree of Life, which forced her to create a series of Works she did not, initially, think of displaying.
But how lucky we are that she did.
She had "only ever encountered their name(The name of the BaoBab trees) in a childhood book that left a profound impression on me - Saint Exupery's The Little Prince - A story that sparked countless childhood dreams and carried my imagination to uncharted destinations - Who could have known that years later, I would be utterly captivated by the Baoabs I discovered in Zanzibar?".
She discovered them In Zanzibar, and carried them in her imagination from then onwards.
The moment she saw them, she recognized them instinctively "despite having no prior knowledge of the Local Flora".
She was on a quest to "uncover what made Baobabs so extraordinary. Was it their immense size, their astonishing shapes, or the sense of mystery they evoked?"
But do we ever really know the story behind our enchantment?
Later on when it was time to bring this encounter back to life in a series of almost minimalist artworks of different shapes and sizes, she did so in the most spontaneous and unplanned of manners.
She had been working on the subject of collective memory when she first encountered them in Zanzibar.
"I saw these trees and I cannot really explain to you what I felt".
She started searching for them. She did her research. For that is always the case when we are fascinated with anything - or anyone -
And how befitting it was to discover that these BaoBab trees are "A vital source of shelter and sustenance, providing nutritious fruit for countless animals, reptiles, insects, and bats. They store water in their trunks, sustaining elephants during dry seasons, and their edible leaves play a key role in various herbal remedies".
She felt the need to create a mountain of stories from this perfect tree. And how happy she was when she left a few imperfections here and there in the artworks.
For how could we talk about a tree so sumptuous in all that it represents, that a human being looks like a small ant standing face to face with it?
The story then becomes an enchanting series of artworks. And each artwork "Captures a fragment of this story. A story with many chapters. For that is the only way to describe a tree symbolizing strength, life, and community".
This series is an expression of the feeling she felt for a majestic tree she discovered once, when enchantment allowed her to dream.
It is really a small fraction of a whole story.
That is always the case, isn't it? And there is always imperfection here and there.
For as she made it abundantly clear in the beginning of our conversation, Leila Jabre Jureidini does not have an affinity for perfection.
AR 
EN