Arichal Munai, Where Two Ocean Bodies Meet

 

There are several geological reasons why the Bay of Bengal is calm and Indian Ocean so turbulent, but when you are standing at Arichal Munai, Dhanushkodi, where the two water bodies meet, you can only feel its mystical quality.  Dhanushkodi on Rameshwaram island is an uninhabited strip of land but plenty of visitors come here. We went there early morning before the sun was barely up, the crowd sparse and spent a serene hour just listening to the sound of lapping waves and being caught up in the geographic wonder of it. This was two years ago and I am ready to go again. 

After Lives of a Newspaper

 

This book of collage/mixed media/altered art came about because I could not bear to chuck the daily newspaper, the Hindu, into the wastepaper bin after I finished reading it. Three years ago, when I moved to Chennai, after 40+ years in the US, I subscribed to the print version of the Hindu as a way to know and understand this city and its people. It was a revelation. I had not read a newspaper in its physical form in more than fifteen years. I subscribed and still do to the digital version of the New York Times (it is simply cheaper than a print version). Over this period, I had come to accept the increasing algorithmization of my reading interests. I had also come to expect  a barrage of articles suddenly appearing based on my web search on a topic. I had come to accept the ‘once read, gone forever’ phenomenon too. I recognize that on a daily basis, the print newspaper also exercises  a lot of editorial control in deciding what to publish. But it does give me the freedom to choose what I want to read, discover interesting topics on my own. I did discover that the Hindu put out many articles that caught my interests. Lest I give the wrong impression, the Hindu is not new to me. A newspaper of record founded as a nationalist voice against British rule, it was an important historical source when I was working on my M.Phil dissertation more than four decades ago. Ironically, I read it on microfiche!

I am aware that all online newspapers, including The Hindu, track their readers, use algorithms to place the right kind of ads and share user information in various ways.

As I got familiar with the paper’s contents (its long read articles, Thursday-Sunday supplements, book reviews in Sunday magazine), I began to feel that I should preserve these in some form. As an artist I wanted to more than just simply clip and put them in a file folder. Thus Afterlives of a Newspaper was born. It is a collection of artistically altered news articles using collage and mixed-media techniques. The original contents are not lost. They are just creatively repositioned, edited, enhanced and illustrated. Of the many art pieces I have made over the last three years, 30-40 of them have made their way into this book. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I had enjoyed making them. Many thanks to The Hindu for sending me off on this creative journey.

                                                        

 

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.