Recapping Pandemic Year

 

I did this piece of collage as a memorial to that intense and compressed pandemic period when none of us could go out and do anything. This was a record of not only what I did or did not do but also how abnormal it was then. With the pandemic having completely disappeared from the rear view mirror, it is even hard to remember how life was like then. How short memory can be! 

 

Gaban, Chapter 1: Rainy Season

 

It is the rainy season- Savan, the fifth month of Hindu calendar…it is drizzling now and then. It is afternoon, but seems like evening already. Swings have been placed in the mango orchards. Girls and their mothers enjoy using them. Some are on the swings; some are pushing them. In this season, women’s childhood memories are aroused. It seems as if it washes away the worries of their hearts and replenishing their soul. Hearts are filled with hope. The green of the saris seems to bond with the greenery around. 

Munshi Premchand: Gaban (Embezzlement), 1931. Chapter 1. 

Digital Book illustration using Procreate. 

Illustrated Bookcover: Midnight’s Children

Salman Rushdie’s  groundbreaking Midnight’s Children was published exactly 40 years ago. On its 40th anniversary, it has been reissued with a new introduction by Rushdie himself. I did not read it when it was first published. I am reading it now and at 600+ pages the going is a little slow. But I will finish it. I don’t know if I will find it as great as it has been proclaimed to be. Meanwhile, I decided to design a cover of my own for the book, something that reflects the historical nature of the text. 

How to Make Ghee

Though Ghee is typically referred to as clarified butter, the process of making ghee differs from that of clarified butter. For ghee, the butter is simmered till the milk solids settle in the bottom and the butter is completely caramelized. Ghee has a nutty flavor and is very aromatic.

Ghee is used in Indian cooking in variety of ways. It is the fat of choice in all Indian sweets. In addition, ghee is mixed into rice and dal; spread on roti and used for tempering rasam.

Making ghee is easy but does requires care and attention. One can use either salted or unsalted butter. Except that the milk solid residue from salted butter will be very salty and must be kept in consideration if the residue is used in any other preparation. For example, I  reuse the pan with the left over residue for making vegetables and if it is residue from salted butter, I will use less salt for the vegetables.

How to make ghee:

Place the butter in a heavy pan, and melt it over low simmer flame. As the butter melts, it will foam a little bit. As it continues to heat, the foam will clear up and butter will turn into clear pale yellow liquid. If you stop here, you will get clarified butter. However, if you want ghee, continue to heat the butter till the liquid turns brown. Turn off the heat and let the liquid cool. Once it is cooled, pour into a container. It will keep well for a month or more at room temperature. No need to refrigerate.

Thanks for visiting.

Small Accessible Art

In the last post, I showed one photo with many of the rock art I had done in recent weeks. That photo elicited a lot of interest and questions and so I thought I would post some individual pieces of rock art and answer some of the questions:

First, as for rocks, I use a combination of found rocks from beaches and commercial rocks purchased from landscape shops. For creating art, I use a combination of inks, fluid acrylics and various types of  pens and brushes. Typically, each piece of art will take about 4-5 hours to complete. I use rocks of various sizes. The one below is about 3" x 2" and is placed in a deep square frame like a shadow box.

This one below was inspired by the cairns I saw at Cadillac mountain in Maine. I glued the painted rocks to create a stack and is about 4" tall.

Below are a few rocks painted with my favorite subject, birds.

 The ones below are rocks painted to emulate gems! These are smaller in size about (2.5") and to give them some heft, I mounted them on flat rock slabs. They make nice paperweights.

I love painting on these little substrates. The beauty of this art form is that you can make it as simple or as detailed as you want. They also make nice affordable art.

If you want to know more, please do not hesitate to contact me.

You can view more of these at my Etsy shop. Starting from December 1, I am offering free domestic (US) shipping on all items in the shop.

Thanks for visiting. Linked to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to Eva and Kristin for hosting.

November Updates

Although I have not posting much on the blog since the beginning of October, I have been making lot of art on variety of surfaces using several different media. The picture above and immediately below are chalk drawings on oil cloth.

The two below were drawn for the Inktober challenge using India ink on vintage music and map pages.

The one below is my current passion: painting on rocks. I think there are about two dozen here!

Thanks for visiting. Linked to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to Kristen and Eva for hosting.

Reading List

  

Though I spend a lot of time doing art, I also make time to read, fiction and non-fiction. Yesterday, I made a list of all the books I finished in the last 3-4 months. I have also rated them, five  stars being the highest. 

1. Perumal Murugan: Seasons of the Palm (English translation from Tamil)*****

2. Hari Kunzru: White Tears ****

3. Akhil Sharma: Family Life ***1/2

4. Stephen King: On Writing ***1/2 (non-fiction)

5. Walter Mosley: Charcoal Joe ****

6. Jesmyn Ward: Salvage the Bones ****1/2

7. Joe Ide: IQ ****1/2

8. Rahul Mehta: No Other World *** 1/2

9. Kathleen Collins: Whatever Happened to Interracial Marriage ****1/2

10. Rakesh Satyal: Nobody Can Pronounce My Name ***1/2

11. Lisa Congdon: Art Inc. **** (non-fiction)

12. Austin Kleon: Show Your Work ***1/2 (non-fiction)

On my desk: 

13. John Farrell: Richard Nixon (non-fiction)

14. Elizabeth Strout: Anything is Possible

As you can see, my taste in fiction runs towards either those written by non-white authors or about non-white lives. It was not always so. When I first started reading English fiction, there were only books written by whites and almost all men. Thankfully, in the last two decades, the world of book publication has expanded significantly to include Black, Asian, Latino and gay voices. More importantly, the local libraries are also stocking them in greater numbers. In the list above, all but three were borrowed from my local library. It is my guess that my town library relies on the New York Times Book Review and its best seller list to help determine its purchases and that works out fine for me.
 
What have you been reading in recent times? Any from my list? Please share in the comment section.

Linked to Paint Party Friday.