Welcome Fall 2016!

Do-Something-Everyday, Sept 22, 2016

One of my favorite collage techniques is using vintage book page as background in my paintings. Once upon a time, I used to do this by either directly painting on the book page or collage the art on the book page using glue. Now, Photoshop enables me to do this digitally while preserving both the book page and the artwork. The book page is from an old Tamil (my mother tongue) magazine. The artwork is a watercolor of the last flower blooming in my garden on this first day of Fall. I scanned both and digitally collaged them in Photoshop.

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

Speaking of Fall, I spent most of my afternoon today sprucing up my front stoop with a new floor art (kolam/ rangoli) in readiness for the festival of Navrathri that is starting next Friday. The one I did last year had become quite weather worn.

This time I am doing something different from the typical South Indian style of floor art. The two photos below are progress shots. It is still very much a work in progress. I will post a full photo once it is completed.

After a quiet August, with cooling temperatures and ripening berries, the birds and the critters are back in my yard. Yesterday,  I saw all 8 robins, 4 bluejays, 4 starlings, two finches, a nuthatch and a titmouse, a chipmunk, rabbit and several squirrels, all at the same time. This is how spring started. The predictability of nature's rhythm is indeed very comforting.

Thanks for visiting.

Kolam: A Threshold Art

Navarthri (the festival of nine nights/the festival of Goddess) started on Tuesday. All Hindus celebrate but with great variations across India. In South India, where I am from originally, it is celebrated with Golu, a doll and figurine display at home. It is also customary to draw in front of  the house large designs called kolam. A kolam is usually drawn using a mix of colored rice flour and chalk powder. It is obviously an ephemeral art not meant to last more than a few hours. Typically, a new kolam is made every day.

Here in the US, it is not very practical to draw kolam just using flour and chalk powder. I wanted it to last a little longer than a day. So, I made it with craft acrylic paints. The cement surface was rough and gray. I applied a coat of white gesso first to make the colors come out bright. I improvised using a typical mandala design and adding a few decorative elements here and there. The drawing did not flow smoothly because of the rough surface and it took me about 3 hours from start to finish.

Right now it looks bright and cheerful. Come winter, with ice and snow, most of it will peel away.

It is getting chilly here and sweater and glove weather is predicted for this weekend. Undeterred, the squirrels are still running around hoarding their secret stash.  I caught this one in action from my usual perch aka as the kitchen window. Enjoy.

Thanks for visiting.

Mandala Tile Zen Art Box

This is the last of my "art" boxes, as boxes of this size, shape and wood are no longer available in the market. To make this special, instead of painting directly on the top of the lid, I created the mandala on a watercolor aqua board. The mandala is based on the Indian "rangoli" or "kolam". 

The design is drawn on a background that was first painted with India and acrylic inks. Over this background, I hand wrote several sanskrit verses: (1) invoking Ganesha, the elephant god, known as remover of obstacles, (2) couple of verses from Yoga texts, (3) a verse from Bhagavat Gita. I scrubbed the board to give it a weathered finish. Typically kolam or mandala is drawn on washed and scrubbed mud floor and I wanted the same look on the board also. Finally, I drew the mandala over this background with black and white inks.

The aqua board was anchored on top of the box with strong gel and nails (they are invisible). The top of the box was painted a lovely shimmery peacock green using Jacquard's Lumiere paint.

The sides are painted in coordinated colors. The inside of the box is layered with foam. 

The inks and the aqua board are archival. Several layers of varnish have been added to protect the paint and the design. 

The box measures 7"x7"x3". A capacious box, it can be used in multiple ways--to keep your journals, prayer beads, jewelry, photos etc. It would also make an excellent gift.

You will find more hand painted, decorated boxes in my Etsy shop 

A Mandala for the Earth

The theme for this week's I am the Diva: Certified Zentangle Teacher is
Earth Day also called Amanda Day by Laura's son Chewie :). I thought I would do my tangle art with minimum of foot print, using impermanent organic materials. I was not breaking any new ground, just borrowing from the Tamil practice of kolam drawing. I did not have the materials that are typically used in Tamilnadu. So, I improvised. I drew the mandala using  rice flour, turmeric and pink vermilion (kumkum) powder on a bamboo cutting board. Because the powders I used were finely ground and smooth (unlike those used in typical kolam drawing), they did not lend to smooth and intricate line drawing. But, I was not aiming for perfection. After it was completed, I gathered the powders and mingled them with the mud in the backyard.

I washed the bamboo board and put it away.

Thanks for visiting.

Mixed Media Challenge: Boxing Clever

This is my submission for Mixed Media November Challenge: Boxing Clever. The design on the top is based on South Indian kolam (rangoli) lotus pattern. Lotus is considered a sacred flower in the Eastern religious traditions and while kolam drawings are decorative, they also mark a sacred space. I added a finial on top to evoke the cupola of a monastery or a temple. A micro handmade accordion journal tied to the finial evokes the palm leaf bindings of ancient sanskrit and buddhist texts.

More details on this box can be found here