Los Angeles based artist Jad Najjar creates all of his work from a pure sense of his own spiritual awakening.  Drawing inspiration from a rich tapestry of Lebanese and Cuban cultures, his art speaks to a triumph of the imagination.  Due to his diverse background in architecture, photography, and fashion, he has courted and excited patrons and interior designers, who have placed his work internationally.

Education

B.A. Architecture, University of Texas

Bio

Jad was born in a small mountain village in North Lebanon in 1956.  He was an introverted child, who started painting at the age of 10.  His parents recognized his talent, and his dad wanted to send him to Italy to learn how to become a painter.

As a high school student about to graduate, the civil war happened in 1974 and every high school graduate had to serve a year in the army.  His parents didn’t want him to serve in the army so his dad had a short amount of time to figure a way to get him out of Lebanon.  He took him to Dallas, Texas where he knew a professor that could help enroll him at the University of Texas in Arlington.  Seemingly his only option, he enrolled in the architecture school there, as UTA was one of the top schools in that subject.

While attending University, he was pursued by the Kim Dawson Agency to become a male model.  He accepted and got very interested in fashion as a model and worked for Calvin Klein and Neiman Marcus; published in magazines like “Town & Country.”

Shortly after he started his modeling career, he became interested in photography.  Self-taught, he had an instant career and became quite successful as a fashion photographer and did work nationally and internationally.

In 1985 he came to Laguna Beach on vacation and fell in love with California, so he went back to Dallas and canceled all his bookings and sold his share in Elle Boutique to his sister and moved to San Diego.  He worked as a fashion photographer in San Diego and Los Angeles.

In 1995 he was given bad news regarding his health and was told by a doctor that he had a form of lung cancer that no one at the time survived so he advised him to move home with family and set things in order.  A friend told him to go and see a doctor at USC who was using an experimental drug.  He was on experimental chemotherapy for two years and was able to beat the cancer.  During that time he found himself not wanting to do anything but stay home, and that is when he began painting again.  Through painting he felt in touch with his spiritual side and he found it very healing.  Painting transformed pain and fear into bright colors on canvas that reflected the joy of being alive.

Feeling strong and healthy, he started to think about getting his real estate license to sell properties and also wanted to learn about remodeling homes.  Within two years he bought his first home in Windsor Square and remodeled it to sell at a profit, and his real estate career took off.  Investors also hired him to handle the remodeling of their homes to sell.  In a period of 5 years, he has remodeled 11 homes in the Los Angeles area.

In November 2007 he bought his current house and the The Learning Channel (TLC) TV show “Flip that House” filmed him remodeling the house and creating paintings for it.  The show first aired in June 2008, and, consequently, he has received e-mails from viewers throughout the United States interested in his art and design work.

Always busy with some project or other, he continues to receive great pleasure from painting and being able to project something so personal to share with others.

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