Short Biography of Mrs. Sharghieh Moshirian

I was born in Iran (Persia) into a Bahá’í family as a fourth generation Bahá’í. From a young age, I attended Bahá’í classes, and studied Bahá’í history and scripture with friends and family. My first experience with writing was in high school, where I composed short stories and poems. After completing two years of study in the Interior Design Program, I worked as an assistant at the Department of Art for Children in a museum. Meanwhile, I studied Persian arts such as wood block printing (at the Handicrafts Organization). I also studied the fascinating Persian art of Illumination with a skillful master teacher, Mr. Bahgheri. I created designs on the small wooden blocks and then printed them on silk and cotton. I also created delicate designs for my Persian style of the art of illumination known as "Tazhib". I moved to Canada in 1985 and obtained my bachelor's degree in Surface Design and Print at Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto. I specialized in silk screen printing on silk and cotton. Years later, I moved to the USA and received my master's degree in Art from California State University, Northridge.  My university thesis included poems in English, and creative art on plain canvas. I arranged several group and solo art presentations in Toronto and Montreal in Canada, Queensland in Australia, and several in Los Angeles. In regards to teaching art to students of different ages, I created age-specific programs for them and encouraged them to express themselves uniquely and creatively. Working as an art instructor in after-school classes and at college level was a truly uplifting job for me. Planning solo and group art shows were also very satisfying activities which brought harmony and peace among individual artists of different religions and cultures. To me, anything related to nature, human life, society, or religion, could be a spark to manifest the human inspiration which results in discovery and creativity, just as I found inspiration in my brief meeting with a devoted and respected woman who loved Humanity and Peace. It was in Los Angeles that I met Mrs. Sharghieh Moshirian unexpectedly. Then she shared her story. Her story was so real and amazingly heroic that it inspired me. As I have read in one of the letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi (20 June 1932 to an individual who liked the book The Dawn-Breakers):  "It is surely true that the spirit of those heroic souls will stir many artists to produce their best."