Yoga Art Journal

I had a lot of fun creating this cover for the journal. I started with raw canvas upon which I wrote by hand Sanskrit verses from Yogasutra, the classic text on yoga by Patanjali. I love adding sizable chunks of texts in my art and I think I have been unconsciously emulating the art traditions of  great medieval Indian empires and kingdoms, where sacred and secular texts and poems were made part of the art itself (see below). Then I painted a stylized image of Ganesha, the Hindu god of auspicious beginnings. Finally, I splattered the cover with paint to create additional texture. I like the way it has turned out.

This very functional art is my submission for Paint Party Friday.

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Drawing Straight: Diva Challenge Straight Line Tangle

Ths week'schallenge at I am the diva is to do a tangle using just straight lines. The planter redo I have been working on lent itself to this challenge perfectly. I applied white gesso to the wood surface first. Then used a fine-tipped black sharpie to draw the lines. Finally, I applied Golden liquid acrylic to some parts to give it a pop. I have a feeling I will be doing more with it as I look at it more. But it is kind of finished too.

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Taking Artistic Liberties :Cesky Krumlov

For the month of May, the artists at Virtual Paintout travel to Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic. It is one of those picture postcard places, serene, bland, orderly and neat with nary a trash can in sight; for that matter, even humans are tucked neatly away. It had plenty of pretty  sights to paint but I didn't find them inspiring. I like my street views gritty, grimy and garish. After zooming around quite a bit, I found a spot that looked somewhat dingy and in transferring it to paper, I took lot of artistic license to liven it up. The painting was done on mixed-media paper with pastels, pen and watercolor. Below is the photo from Street view.

I am submitting this also for this week's Paint Party Friday

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Tangle on Found Object

This week's challenge at I am the Diva is to either tangle on black tile using white pen or tangle on a found object. I chose to do the latter. I found  a heart shaped rock near the cafeteria at my campus.  I drew with Sharpie extra fine for magenta and black. For white, I used Daler-Rowney Pro White watercolor with a brush. Needless to say, the markers worked a lot better than the brush. That's how  it goes sometimes!

On a happier note, two of my art work was published in the just released Zen Doodle Workshop magazine from Cloth Paper Scissors. The magazine is really very well put together. Digital version is available here and print copy is available for pre-order.

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Duobirds and Duotangle

This week's challenge at I am the Diva is to use just two tangles, Dex and Bunzo, to celebrate Laura's 35th birthday. I have been working on this painting for the last few days and the tangles found the right placement on the edge and side of the rock! This is a mixed-media painting done with watercolors, ink, pastels and markers.

This is also my submission for this week's Paint party friday.http:/paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com


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Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is one of my most favorite celebratory days. To honor all mothers of this world, human and non-humans, I did this art with my favorite elephants. Happy Mother's Day!

This is also a response to this week's challenge at I am the Diva. If you look carefully, you will find BRELA scattered in various places.

Enjoy and have a great Mother's Day! Here's another one the same theme.

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