An artist painted this portrait of his ‘dream woman’ a year before he met his wife who looks exactly like the woman in the painting.
Ahad Saadi, 41, told Newsflash about the unusual story that led to him meeting the love of his life.
Ahad said his mother had been pressuring him to get married so in 2008 he decided to paint the woman of his dreams.
The successful artist created a branch of art known as ‘Azarnegari’ which involves creating art by burning various fabrics with fire.
(Ahad Saadi/Newsflash)
He completed the portrait of his future wife and then displayed it at the Huner-i Mukaddes Gallery, which means ‘Holy Art’, in the city of Tabriz, Iran, at the end of 2009.
During the exhibition, fellow artist Parisa Karamnezhad, 39, was shocked when she came across a painting that made her feel like she was looking in a mirror. Little did she know it had been painted by her future husband.
Ahad told Newsflash: “When I saw Parisa in my exhibition for the first time, both the excitement and the flutter of my heart gave me a feeling that I had never experienced before. It was an indescribable feeling.”
Parisa told Newsflash: “One evening, my boyfriend Kave called and said there was an extraordinary exhibition, and we should go. At first, I didn’t want to go. When Kave insisted, I accepted.
“When we walked into the exhibition, Ahad was drawing attention because he was the artist. At that moment, I realised that a woman next to Ahad was looking at me and touching his arm. She said something to him, and Ahad looked at us with searching eyes.”
(Ahad Saadi/Newsflash)
Parisa and her boyfriend at the time began to look at the various pieces of work by Ahad that she described as “truly impressive.”
She said: “After passing in front of a few paintings we arrived at the portrait that changed my life. A portrait of a smiling woman with curly hair.
“We froze in front of the portrait for a few seconds. I felt a strange closeness. I turned to my boyfriend and asked, ‘Does this portrait look like me?'”
Her boyfriend replied “kind of” and walked off but Parisa could not move as she fixated on what looked like a near-perfect reflection of her face, eyes and long curly hair.
Parisa left the exhibition still with her boyfriend unable to stop thinking about Ahad and his painting.
She spoke to a friend shortly after the exhibition, saying: “She was more excited than me and she wanted to know what was going on.”
The following day Parisa went back to the exhibition along with her excited friend and met Ahad who greeted them excitedly as they walked through the door.
(Ahad Saadi/Newsflash)
Parisa took her friend to see the painting while Ahad attended to his other guests.
Her friend said: “I don’t know what the story of this painting is, but this man is madly in love with you.”
Parisa and her friend left the exhibition and she did not see Ahad again for well over a year.
Ahad said that he did not see the love of his life for the following year and a half but eventually found her on Facebook and reached out.
By this point, Parisa has left her boyfriend and she agreed to have dinner with Ahad.
Parisa said that when he saw her they hugged tightly and he whispered in her ear “You don’t know how much I love you.”
Ahad, who had only seen Parisa twice before in his life, proposed to her during the dinner date.
Parisa was taken back by the proposal and said she needed time to think about it but the next day she contacted Ahad and said yes.
(Ahad Saadi/Newsflash)
She said that her mum could not believe that she was marrying someone on such short notice but after explaining the events that led to the decision, she said: “She sighed in relief and was deeply touched by the story”.
Both Parisa and Ahad meeting each other was one of the greatest moments in their lives and they have never been happier since getting married. Ahad’s mother is also especially happy about the marriage.
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Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Joe Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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