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Kazi Ahmed is my name and I was born in the sub-tropical country of Bangladesh.
I grew up in a village on a zig-zag river that flows to the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
Bangladesh has many rivers, and although they are beautiful and fertile, every year floods wash away people, animals and property.
Still, I have fond memories of my childhood.
I remember the blue sky, the clouds floating over the mango trees, the seagulls, and my kite, which I used to fly near my uncle's watermelon farm.
I have always enjoyed art, even though I was a science student.
As a child I used to sit on a hay bale drawing with chalk on slate (paper was expensive).
Once I drew a picture of a seagull eating a watermelon.
I showed it to my grandmother.
She understood that it was a bird but not sure what kind.
My grandfather was a folk singer/writer and artist.
That touched my heart and encouraged me to continue.
Even though I never had formal schooling for fine arts, people tell me I paint like such-and-such an artist.
Sometimes I do not know who they mean.
Once, a tourist bought one of my name art and said she was thrilled because I paint like Picasso.
I asked her, "What is the meaning of Picasso?" She laughed because she thought I was joking, but I had never learned about Picasso in Bangladesh.
Although I achieved poor grades in my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Dhaka, I later invented an oven that uses up to 40 per cent less energy when cooking.
The National Research Council of Canada was impressed with this and invited me to move to Canada from Saudi Arabia, where I was then living.
I moved to Vancouver, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, in 1989.
It was there I met my wife Cindy.
Cindy was born in Vancouver, but her great-grandparents came to Canada from China to build the Trans-Canada Railway.
It is unusual to see a Chinese and Indian couple in Vancouver. (Have you seen one?)
Cindy is Christian and I come from a Muslim family, but we have never had any problems because the Lord is in our heart.
Cindy graduated with honors as a Building Technologist from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), and is recognized as a scholar and famous inventors by the both Canadian and US government.
She always finds time to care for our family and help me with name painting in our studio.
In fact, the Rainbowbrush™ was Cindy's idea.
From the beginning Cindy, along with my friends, encouraged me with my art.
Outer space has always fascinated me and I began by painting space scenes - galaxies, comets, solar systems - with an airbrush.
Soon my art became more than a hobby.
A shift in focus to Kazigraphy™ and name painting coincided with the growth of our family.
Our children, Maia, Alexander and Melody (Melody was born in our car on the way to Hospital at HWY US1 in Key West Florida) are the blessed joy in our lives.
They are the true inspiration for my art.
I have demonstrated my art in Sydney and Brisbane in Australia, Vancouver and Victoria in Canada, Hawaii and in the florida keys, Key West.
I hope in the future to take my artistic vision to children in schools and communities all over the world.
In addition to the fun this will create - for the children and for me - I believe my Name painting help inspire in children a love of art, animals and the environment.
Our family currently lives in Vancouver and florida keys Key West, depending on the weather.
We also have a business location in each city.
We are in the process of putting together manufacturing and marketing plans for the Rainbowbrush™ and our children's books, and look forward to the day when we can share our art with people the world over.
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