Ganesha!

Threshold Ganesha Remover of Obstacles

Unlike my family or friends, I am not a collector of Ganesha images. Yet, I was surprised to see how many I had in my home! Here are a few samples. Enjoy.

Papercut Ganesha Lantern

Thanks for visiting.

Challenge #54: Purple Haze

I have not been participating in zentangle challenge hosted by I am the Diva in a while, mainly because of time constraints. But, I do follow the challenges regularly and also keep up with what's happening in the world of plucky Laura Harms.

When I discovered that this week's challenge is called Purple Haze I realized that I have already created ZIA that would qualify for the challenge. It is a mandala (kolam) painting that I drew and colored in purple and other colors on a box. It is one of my favorite decorative work and I am happy to be submitting for the challenge. It is available for purchase at my Etsy shop

Altering an Old Calendar into New

It always seem that at the beginning of the new year one does not seem to have enough calendars for use. Typically, I need one for each room in the house, plus one for the office. I also like to have the religious calendars like the one I get from the temples which are marked with all the Hindu festivals, moon's phases etc,.

Sometimes, I also like to repurpose old calendars into new like the one at the top of the page. It was originally a 2010 calendar I got from a local Chinese restaurant. Shaped like a scroll, in plastic (!), it was the usual kitschy stuff, except that it was a zodiac calendar. I like anything zodiac, so I kept it even after the year was over. As 2012 was approaching, I decided to reuse it with some alterations. These are the alterations I made:

Original 2010 Calendar

1. I kept the "Good Luck Every Year", since it was neutral year wise. 

2. I replaced the year of the Tiger (2010) with the Year of Dragon 2012. Using the word processing software,  I composed the Year of the Dragon with text and image and printed it on a green card stock. I laid it over the over the old text using glue dots.

3. I replaced the cherubic images of bouncy Chinese children with a colorful Hiroshige woodblock print of Tanabata Festival.

4. For the calendar part, I adhered a square of chalkboard cloth over the old calendar with brads. Then drew the grid for the month of January 2012 using chalk and white Gelly roll pen. 

Each month, all that I need to do is to wipe off the chalkboard and create a new grid for the new month. I look forward to it with pleasure. 

Enabling the Disabled, 2012

Children at mid-day lunch at Shri Arunodhayam

All concentration! Road Safety Poster Contest

Despite some unexpected events during this recent trip to Chennai (Dec, 2011), I managed to do two projects for the Sukriti Social Foundation: a craft workshop for special educators for mentally challenged children, and jurying a road safety poster contest. Sukriti is a non-governmental organization that I support. Founded by Sowmya Simhan (my sister), it is a  cross-disability organisation based in Chennai (Tamil Nadu, South India) that addresses key disability issues with initiatives in the areas of prevention, rehabilitation, employability and advocacy. (Sowmya too is a victim of childhood polio.) My support for Sukriti usually takes two forms: (1) donation of funds from sales from my handmade shop Dharmakarmaarts and (2) free arts and crafts workshops. (During my visit to India last year, I conducted a jewelry making workshop to a group of physically challenged young women at the Andhra Mahila Sabha.)


I. Paper Crafting Workshop: I was requested by Mr. Iyyappan, who runs a home for orphaned mentally challenged children called Shri Arunodhayam, to conduct a craft workshop for his special education teachers and care-givers. 

Good lunch and Happy Smile!

After much back-and-forth, I decided to do a paper crafting workshop for them. One of the core principles that I follow in teaching these workshops is that the tools and the materials used are economically priced and locally available and, the techniques are accessible and sensible (no burning of Tyvek paper here!). The goal is that the participants, should they choose to, be able to continue with the craft after the workshop on their own. With that in mind, I took a collection of stamps, inks, punches and papers from my own stash for use by the participants. Though my own stash was American bought, I made sure that equivalent materials are available in India. 


The workshop participants were from both sexes--all of them have vocational training in special education. None have been exposed to paper crafting tools like punches or stamps. So, it was a totally new craft experience for them. I started it small with tag decoration and then moved on to decorating book covers.  Each participant first created a blank book using the slot-and-tab method and the proceeded to decorate the cover using scrap papers, old greeting cards, cut outs etc. They were like kids in a toy store, punching and stamping away to glory. Overall, it was a very enjoyable morning.

Happy crafters!

II. Road Safety Poster Contest: It may seem strange, but the biggest contributor to childhood disability in India is not natural diseases like polio, but road accidents. So, it is not surprising that organizations such as Sukriti that focus on disability put a lot of time and effort on raising awareness about road safety among school children. In addition to road safety workshops, Sukriti also sponsors poster contests at local schools. This year almost fifty children participated in the contest and I, along with another artist, juried the contest. I was impressed by their seriousness and many of the posters were creative and accurate on facts. It was tough choosing the winners! Here are some photos of the day and the winning entries.

Road Safety Poster Contestants

Tips on Becoming an Artist

Winning Entries

If you are interested in knowing more about Sukriti, please check out its website.


Thanks for visiting.

Transit of Sidereal Saturn

Those who follow Hindu (sidereal) astrology may be aware that on November 15, 2011, Saturn transited from Virgo (Kanya) to Libra (Tula). Saturn is exalted in Libra at 20 deg, so, it is now in a position of strength. From this exalted placement, Saturn casts aspects on Sagittarius, Aries and Cancer. Interestingly, with Jupiter currently transiting Aries, Saturn and Jupiter are in mutual aspect and, Aries, Libra and Sagittarius are also under the double transit impact of Saturn and Jupiter. As I have written elsewhere, the significations of the house or the sign that is activated by the double transit of the two slowest moving planets will come to fruition, especially, if one is currently running the dasha (planetary period) of Saturn or dasha of the lord of any of these signs (Mars for Aries, Venus for Libra or Jupiter for Sagittarius). As Mr. K.N. Rao has convincingly shown, Jupiter is the giver, but without Saturn's approval, Jupiter's gift will not take effect. It may seem counter-intuitive that a malefic planet known for obstruction is needed to have good things happen, but, that is the way it is! You can verify it in your own chart the transit positions of Jupiter and Saturn for any significant event in your life, marriage, birth of a child, job etc. (On the day my daughter was born, I was running the dasha (main period) of the planet in the 5th house and antar-dasha (sub-period) of 5th lord and, transiting Jupiter and Saturn were both aspecting the 5th lord and the 5th house. )


Here are some astrological facts about Saturn:

Name in Sanskrit: Shani

Signs: Makara (Capricorn) and Kumbha (Aquarius)
Day of the week: Sanivara (Saturday )

Direction: West

Season: Shishira (second half of winter)

Nature: malefic, tamasic

Kaalapurusha rulership: Miseries

Gender: Neuter

Son of : Surya and Chhaya (shadow) 

Exalted: Libra 20 deg; moola trikona: Aquarius 0 deg-20 deg

Directional strength: 7th house

Natural friends: Mercury, Venus

Represents: longevity, old age, death, renunciation

Represents (physical): limbs, feet, cemetery

Nakshatra (lunar mansion):  Pushya, Anuradha, Uttarabhadrapada

Dasa length: 19 years

Favorable in houses: 6

Aspects:  3, 7 and 10 house from itself

Yogas: Shasha yoga, when Saturn in exaltation or in its own sign is in a kendra (quadrant)

Navagraha Kirtana: divAkaratanujaM shanaishcaraM

Temples: Tirunallar temple, Karaikkal, Tamilnadu.

Mantra to chant: Om Saniswaryayai Namah

Kolam for Shani: You will find it on my blog here

Note: Saturn image source: Wikipedia Commons

Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum

Not having to do any holiday shopping, I spent Black Saturday at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts' new permanent gallery on Islamic Art.  It is named "Islamic Art" even though the curator of the gallery describes the collection as "primarily secular". It is also exclusively about the material culture of the padshahs, the sultans, and their nobles. If you are interested in knowing how the common people lived or what they consumed, you would not find it here. Despite such problematics, it is a grand visual and artistic treat and worth a visit. To whet your appetite, below is a sample of what you will find there:

Damascus Room, Syria, 17 century 

Latticed stone window, Mughal Empire, India, 16th cent

Page from one of the largest Qurans, (each line 3 ft. long), Samarqand, early 14th cent,

Album of Calligraphies, Ottoman Period 1500

Turquoise and Black Raqqa Ware, Iran, 15th cent

Enameled Glass, Syria

Tombstone, carved marble, Iran 1352

Gallery Entrance

All photos except the "Damascus Room" are by Indira Govindan


Damascus Room from the Museum website 


Thanks for visiting.

Mod Podge Transfer on Wood Surfaces

I picked up these cute little wooden boxes from Michael's for $1.50 a piece. They looked like little portmanteaus waiting for something to be put inside or on it. I decided to add a label on the lid using the modge podge transfer technique. I used this label from the Graphics Fairy. My method was simple but turned out quite well. Below are the instructions:

1. Print a mirror image of the label using ink jet printer.
2. Apply  a thin coat of the modge podge on the image and glue it on the top of the lid with the image side down. Press the paper gently but firmly so that it adheres on the wood.
3. Let it dry completely.
4. Wet the surface of the paper with little water and gently rub off the paper till the whole image is revealed.
5. I painted the box white around the image so that the image would retain its vintage yellowing color. After the painting, I applied a thin glaze on the image.

Thanks for visiting.