Welcome to my 2025-2026 Educational Crowdfunding Campaign!
Rise Beyond the Margins: Empowering Inclusive Scholarship
“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” — Pablo Picasso
The paintings below are available as a thank you for your donations to my campaign. Every contribution – no matter the amount – supports my educational endeavors, advocacy, and scholarship: work connected to mental health awareness, inclusive pedagogy, women’s and human rights, and indigenous development in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. As I share on my About the Artist page, my vision is to revive Painting Heals as a platform for supporting humanitarian causes in the near future, turning art into a tool for healing, research, pedagogy, and collective social/philanthropic impact.
Suggested Donations (Flexible):
- Small paintings: starting at $20
- Medium paintings: starting at $35
- Large paintings: starting at $50
- Arabic calligraphy pieces: starting at $15-25
These are suggested minimums to also help cover materials, preparation, and shipping (included in the cost). If you’re unable to donate at that level, please don’t let that hold you back. Your support in any amount matters, and the prices are negotiable for this crowdfunding campaign.
I will update this page as paintings are reserved, based on a first-come, first-served basis. If a painting you love has already been claimed, please let me know, I’d be happy to create a similar piece just for you.
Some of these paintings are featured in my YouTube shorts and videos or blog articles (Medium & personal blog). Where available, the painting titles will be linked to their corresponding video, so you can see a glimpse of the process and story behind the art.
Not looking to claim a painting? You can still make a contribution to this fundraiser!
The campaign will continue through the end of the year, and updates about the fundraising purpose and progress will be shared on the GoFundMe page. Every act of support – no matter the size – helps amplify this journey.
How to claim a Painting
1) Make your donation via my GoFundMe campaign.
2) Email me at dr.elsatkhwaja@gmail.com with the subject: Painting Heals – Claim
Please include:
- Painting choice: title or a brief description
- Any questions about painting choices (ie, size, medium): The medium/dimensions will be updated in the near future. Thank you for your patience!
- Shipping name & address (phone optional for the carrier)
- Arabic calligraphy preference (optional): ie, a word/verse/theme you love
- Solidarity token (optional): If you’d like a small gift reflecting advocacy for Palestine, please note “include solidarity token”
- Donor listing preference: “list my name” / “anonymous” (and, if listed, how you’d like your name to appear – see example from previous fundraiser)
Shipping note: If you are not located in the DMV area, please allow up to 2-3 weeks for delivery. I’ll email a confirmation once your painting is reserved.
Every donor also receives a small surprise painting or token of appreciation — a tradition I’ve had from my previous fundraisers to show my gratitude.
Thank you for supporting this journey. Your generosity fuels more than travel. The message it highlights is one of resilience in academic excellence. This campaign is about inclusion, resourcefulness, empowering critical research, raising awareness of urgent issues in fragile and marginalized regions, and amplifying underrepresented voices in academic spaces where they are needed most.
THE PAINTINGS
SMALL ($20 (includes S&H)
Small Paintings — Titles & Notes (to be updated periodically)
(Listed in order, left to right in the gallery)
- Purple Swamp – Stretched Canvas. A moody abstract symbolizing survival.
- Reflection on Healing Waters – Stretched Canvas. Layered color for strength and persistence.
- Breathwork – Canvas Panel. A new painting for practice, exploring balance, breath, and holding on.
- Frequencies Pt 1 – Canvas Panel. A primary acrylic abstract completed during the doctoral dissertation, a special piece of that journey.
- Frequencies Pt 2 – Canvas Panel. Another abstract completed during dissertation writing – both a reflection on complexity.
- Still Rising – Stretched Canvas. Companion to #3, recently painted in a moment of healing, and for Suicide Prevention Month (September).
- Embracing Chaos – Stretched Canvas. A bright, energetic mix.
- Hope and Celebration – Stretched Canvas. Symbolizing movement and joy, painted for the 2022 New Year and to honor breakthroughs.
- Honoring Milestones – Stretched Canvas. Created after a small win, honoring persistence and gratitude.
- Prisoner of Conscience – Canvas Panel. Inspired by and connected to my 2025 poem published in The Memoirist HERE.
- The Yellow Moon – Stretched Canvas. Painted during dissertation writing in 2019. Contemplative, stillness of night under a warm moon.
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MEDIUM ($35 – includes S&H)
Medium Paintings — Titles & Notes (to be updated periodically)
(Listed in order, left to right in the gallery)
- Thriving Amid Uncertainty – Stretched Canvas. Painted in honor of Ukraine.
- After the Rain – Stretched Canvas. Painted recently for Suicide Prevention Month (September)
- Shattering the Glass Coffin – Stretched Canvas.
- Boxes and Intersections – Stretched Canvas. Painted during the dissertation writing phase.
- Speaking Our Truths – Stretched Canvas. Painted in honor of Suicide Prevention.
- Lunar Reflections – Stretched Canvas.
- Geometry of Resilience – Stretched Canvas.
- The Window of the Heart – Stretched Canvas. Painted in Wisconsin during the Dissertation writing phase in 2020.
- World Peace Sign – Large Stretched Canvas. Painted during a Busboys and Poets Painting Lesson in 2017 and Repainted in 2022.
- The Golden Mountain – Stretched Canvas.
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LARGE ($50 – includes S&H)
Medium Paintings — Titles & Notes (to be updated periodically)
(Listed in order, left to right in the gallery)
- The Inward and Outward Revolution – Stretched Canvas. Painted at the end of 2024 for Mental Health Awareness.
- The Prelude to Revolution – Stretched Canvas. Painted in 2024.
- Vines of Hope – Stretched Canvas. Painted in 2024 in Honor of Palestine.
- Inqilab – Urdu word for Revolution. Painted for the protests to Free Imran Khan.
- Purple Mountain Waterfalls – Stretched Canvas. Older/initial oil painting (2017), part of the original Purple Skies Series.
- Somber Mountain Moon – Stretched Canvas. Older/initial oil painting (2017), part of the original Purple Skies Series.
- Inhaling the Shores: a Seascape Escape – Stretched Canvas. Older/initial oil painting (2017), part of the original Purple Skies Series.
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ARABIC CALLIGRAPHY ($15-20 donations (including S&H), small and medium sizes)
This collection features Quranic and Arabic calligraphy, an art form I began exploring in recent years and continue to nurture. If you make a donation for any painting above, you’re welcome to note in your email to dr.elsatkhwaja@gmail.com that you like calligraphy, and I will include a small token of appreciation with your shipment.
Arabic Calligraphy Paintings – Titles & Notes (to be updated periodically)
(Listed in order, left to right in gallery below)
- Tree of Faith – God is Great – Stretched Canvas Board. Medium (size)
- Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) – The Most Beautiful Name – Canvas Panel Board. Small
- Ya Allah, I am Here – Stretched Canvas Board. Small
- God is Great – Stretched Canvas Board – Small
- Forgiveness Prayer – Canvas Panel – Medium
- The Shahada – Declaration of Faith – Canvas Panel – Medium
- Evi Eye Prayer Dot Mandala – Canvas Panel – Medium
- Allah is Sufficient – Canvas Paper. Medium
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso