"I have this relationship with the water and fish because it's a sign of life and peace. If you want to grow a garden, you need the water (and) to build Iraq, too, because Iraq was green," he said. "I hope Iraq's going to be green again. The green is the people in heaven. Their best color is green."

Alhamdani feels color is important in expressing the point he wants to make. Each color in his paintings has meaning behind it. For example, yellow is a sign of happiness, while red signifies excitement and orange is the color of life.

"Colors have a lot of meaning, and every color has a different meaning to the artist when he's painting," he said.

Alhamdani calls the terrorists in his country black snakes and hopes they can be wiped out soon so peace can be restored. He hopes his artwork can convey the people in his country are peaceful.

"The Earth is for good people and this is God's promise," he said, pointing out that this is part of the reason he wants to see the terrorists destroyed. "I put this in my art because we're waiting day after day listening to news. . . . We just want to have a better life, a long life."

One of Alhamdani's paintings, called "Death of Angels," is a remembrance of his brother, who disappeared in 1991 during the Gulf War and is believed to be among thousands killed by one of Saddam's top advisers. He hopes atrocities like this will stop once the new government is up and running.

"So this is my message — to build a good country and build a good relationship with all people," he said. "I want to say, 'No more war.' "

It takes Alhamdani from four to eight hours to complete a painting, sometimes as long as a day or two. Sometimes he sketches out ideas right when he gets them, while other times he has an idea in his head for several days or months before he uses it in his artwork. He compares putting an idea from his head on canvas to giving birth, which sometimes happens right away and sometimes takes awhile.

One charcoal drawing reveals his deepest feelings about his country. It depicts a palm tree with roots firmly planted in the ground and a man with strong muscles, who is also rooted into the ground, hugging the tree with all of his might. The idea for the drawing was in his head for a long time before he finally put it down on paper. It represents the strong relationship he feels with Iraq, even in its current condition.

He hopes others can experience these feelings through his artwork.

"Iraq is a rich historical country, and we just need to start building . . . People are waiting for the government, and everyone is waiting," he said. "We're happy because Saddam's regime is gone and happy because the doorway is open for a better Iraq."

Alhamdani will be holding a reception for the opening of his "Colors of Heaven" exhibit Saturday from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Oasis Cafe, 151 S. 500 East. The artwork will be on display through July 30.

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E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com