Mokarrameh Ghanbari was born in 1928 in Darikandeh village , Mazandaran    province in the north of Iran
  
A self-confessed passion since childhood for creative patterns and    designs , resulted in her experimenting with mud and clay . Her interest    then extended to bridal make-up for women from near by village .   
  
It was not until she was 67 that Mokarrameh managed to start painting ,    up until then she had been busy : over the years , she has raised 9 kids    and worked variously as a seamstress , hair dresser , mid wife , healer    and oven-maker .
  
She owned beloved cow . She had to seek grass on a long and tiring walk    to feed the animal . One day her children sold the beast without telling    her , because they were concerned about their mother's health . Overcome    by sorrow she began to paint. Unable to read and write , she began    painting without any formal training .
  
She made her first painting ( A portrait of the cow ) with mud and cow    dung on a rock . Then she painted on the walls of her house , on pumpkins    and on whatever surfaces she could find .
  
On day one of her sons , on his monthly visit from Tehran , brought her    paper and paint . From that time Mokarrameh has painted timelessly .   
  
Now her home overflows with her colorful work, with paintings telling    stories from the Qu'ran , the Bible and her life . Each of Mokarrameh's    paintings tell a story . Interwoven are bitter sweet tails ; bickering    between wives about their husband- in common and Mokarrameh's    confrontation why she was sold in to marriage at such a young age.   
  
At first the neighbors were not so sure about her work- it was not    clear if someone , particularly a woman , ought to be painting all these    religious scenes .
  
From an interview conducted by Mrs. Holly ( an American artist who    direct a film about Mokarrameh ) :
  
"For 4 years I would only paint at night and if I had an unexpected    visitor , I would hide everything very quickly .... The mentality was that    a farmer should have nothing to do with paper. "
  
" I always have something to do . In the house I either clean up or    paint . I never sit idle and I do not take a nap in the afternoon like the    other women . "
  
Mokarrameh's first painting exhibition was held in seyhoon Art gallery    in 1995 , Tehran .
  
She won the Jury's special award at the Roshd Film Festival along with    a special prize of the Art-Literature Village Festival ; also she was    chosen as the women of the year 2001 by 19th international conference of    Iranian Women's Studies Foundation .
  
" Mokarrameh-dreams and memories " is the name of documentary     regarding her life and works , directed by well known Iranian director ,    Ebrahim Mokhtari ; it has been screened at several international festivals    .
  
Mokarrameh Ghanbari died at the age of 77 on    October 24 in Babol . She was buried in her house.