Sari Art Mixed Media Yin and Yang in Autumn

This sari art is my interpretation of the Daoist concept of Yin Yang-- dark-light, strong images-soft lines, text-symbols are brought together to create a unified whole. Select wisdom sayings from Dao De Jing are printed in soft colors on the background along with the Chinese symbol of harmony and peace. The fusion of Indian materials and colors with Chinese text and symbol is also very yinyang.

You can find more about this artwork here : yin and yang

Mixed Media November Challenge: Boxing Clever

Just finished decorating the top...looks like beadwork, doesn't it?

For interior lining, I thought I would use the mulberry paper I bought last year. Here it is with the first layer of color.

The one below is another piece I did for my daughter.

Legume and Tomatoes: Healthy and Satisfying

This is one of my favorite dish--healthy and easy to prepare. And goes with rice as well as chapati (Indian baked bread). Or you can eat it just plain with a little bit of yogurt.

It is easy to prepare because like a typical Indian, I cook the legume (green mung dal) in the pressure cooker. No overnight soaking or slow cooking. It only takes about 20 minutes to have it cooked in the pressure cooker.

Heat up a little bit of olive oil in a pan and cook some tomatoes with salt, turmeric and chilli powder. When the tomatoes are soft, add the already cooked mung dal and mix it thoroughly into the tomato sauce. Let it simmer for a few minutes before removing from the stove.

How to Create U-Tube Video for Your Etsy, 1000 Markets Teams

As an artisan with a shop on Etsy I belong to several teams and on 1000Markets, I founded and manage a market known as the Asian Inspirations Market.

This week as part of my team duties, I created u-tube videos for the Etsy Melange Team ( a mixed media art group with shops on Etsy) and the Asian Inspirations Market. Many of my team/market colleagues wanted to know if it was difficult to do. Actually, it is not. It is super simple and I did it all on Picasa. Basically, it is a slide show converted into a movie format. Below is the video I made for the Etsy Melange Team

Here is how:

Note: Before you gather the images for the video, get the artists consent first.

1. You need to create a folder to hold the images that will be included in the video. Give a name to the folder, preferably with the team name and a date. This is what will show on the first slide (you can also edit the slide later).

2. Go to individual shops and decide on the product that will be part of the slide show.

2. Saving the images---I have a Mac and it is simply a matter of dragging the product image to the folder. Do not use the thumbnail image. Click on the thumbnail and copy the image that shows up on the actual product page. 

3. Once you have added all the images that you want to include in the video, open up Picasa. If you do not have Picasa, you can download it  here

4. In Picasa, select the folder that contains the images and click on the Movie icon at the bottom of the screen.

5. The movie window will look like this

5. Now you set up the video as you want. Under the movie tab, on the left side, you can load audio from your hard disk and use the various options to play (e.g, fit photos to audio, truncate audio etc.).

6. Set the transition style.

7. if you want to add any text slide, click on the slide tab and it will open a blank slide and you can add your text. I must warn you here--the adding and editing text is the clunkiest part of this process. 

8. Click on "Create Movie" to make the movie. It will take a few minutes for it to process.

9. Play it and if you want to change it, click on edit, make the changes and click on "Create Movie" again. You can do this any number of times till you are satisfied.

10. Now the last step: Click on the YouTube button. You need to have an account onYouTube t to load the video. Once you set up the account, follow the instructions on the screen.

Etsy Melange video on YouTube

Peanut Butter and Capsicum Curry

This dish is for those who love  peanut butter is any form, any where. It is a very tantalizing combination, the mild spiciness of green pepper offset by the sweetness of the peanut butter. Though it is a comfort food, it can be still be considered healthy especially if unsalted freshly ground peanut butter is used. Aside from the peanut butter, very little oil is used in preparing the curry. 

Pondy Bazaar

Side by Side

Pondy Bazaar in T.Nagar is one of the oldest shopping and business hubs in Chennai. It has been around for a long time, predating India's independence in 1947. Way back then it was the shopping hub for well-to-do Indian doctors, lawyers and businessmen who lived in the spacious bungalows in T.Nagar. Today, many of the bungalows are being transformed into multi-storied condos while Pondy Bazaar has become a microcosm of 21st century India where tradition and modernity comfortably coexist--slick department stores alongside hole in the wall shops, bicycles with motor cars, styrofoam plates with raw coconuts, pedestrians with jam packed buses...as a visual spectacle it will take the critical eye a long time to unpack. Take a look...

It may not seem like it these are thriving shops that have been around for a long time

Colorful!

Choices, choices

Home Decor Anyone?

 Chappals or Jewelry?!

Flowers!!!

21st century Chennai

Making a living

Creating Henna Dyed Jewelry Components

I love henna and I am always looking for opportunities to incorporate the rich, warm orange brown of the henna color into my work. Ifound a wonderful use for it in the carved bone components that I have been accumulating for a while. These carved bone components make for fabulous jewelry designs but one of the disadvantages of using them is that they tend to yellow over a period of time.