Shisha (Mirror) Embroidery

Wallhanging with applique and mirror work (personal collection)

One of the most distinctive features of Indian embroidery is the shisha (mirror) technique. It is a technique in which a small, flat and round piece of mirror is encased on a fabric using a series of chain stitches. This extremely popular technique is used on all fabrics and all types of clothing (sari, tunic), accessories (bags), linen (pillow covers, bed covers) and so on. The trick to this techniques the tightly woven chain stitches that keep the mirror from slipping out of the casing. It is really quite easy and a fun technique and pieces of mirror strategically placed can enliven a piece of embroidery very beautifully (like in the picture above). Below are few more examples of this mirror work:

Gujarati Bedcover (personal collection)

Yarn wrapped box with mirror work on the cover (my Etsy)

A cool bag for my ipad (personal collection)

Mixed media canvas art with mirrorwork (my Etsy)

Sling bag (personal collection)

If you are interested in learning this technique, here is a link to a very clear and detailed tutorial.

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Week as Art

Wow...Very excited to be selected for the CreateMixedMedia's Week as Art feature. It is such an honor!  (Thank you Tonia.) As you can see below, I used my favorite materials, burlap, vinyl chalk cloth and my latest discovery Pentel's Wet Erase Chalk marker. If you go to my Etsy shop, you will see how I upcycle burlap.

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Electromagnetism: Attraction of Opposites

This is my rendition of the scientific phenomenon known as electromagnetism in a three-dimensional format. The idea for it came after seeing digital rendition of protein molecules in the shape of ribbons, tendrils and corkscrews in the chemistry magazines that my husband, who is a chemist, subscribes to.

Electromagnetism is one of the fundamental forces of nature that regulate the movement of particles. To represent this phenomenon in art form,  I used a stretched canvas, embroidery threads, metallic beads and paints. I edged the borders with a map of the world to emphasize it show its material aspects.

I have also incorporated some zentangle patterns, such as the Golven to add depth to the design. It was not intentional but as I was doing the art, I noticed how these patterns were getting woven into it. Overall, I am pleased with the three dimensionality I have been able to achieve just with hand tools and techniques.

Submitted for I am the Diva Weekly Challenge #61 .

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Redefining our past to recreate our future

The cover of this journal was originally a bag. An embroidered sari that I bought at a handloom and handicraft exhibition two months ago came packaged in this bag. Made of spun polyester there was nothing remarkable about the bag except the words that were written on it: "Redefining our past to recreate our future" " Hast Karigar Society". "Hast Karigar Society" means "a community of artisans who make things with their hands". Thus a community of artisans are reaching back into past traditions of making things by hand for creating livelihood in the present. As an handmade artisan myself, the message touched me. After I had taken the sari out, I wanted to reuse the bag in some way with the text intact. Since the material was soft but strong, I remade it into a journal cover. 

I used the entire material of the bag into two layers with the top layer consisting of the text. I embellished the cover with wood beads in several places. The journal has three signatures for a total of 120 pages (counting both sides). It closes with a detachable cord. The journal measures 6 1/2" by 9 1/2".

Available in my Etsy Shop

For more eco-friendly journals in my shop click here

Sales from this and every item in this ship go to support handicapped Indian children at http://www.sukriti.org

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Finding a Department Store in Paris

The star attraction of this wall art is the lovely french label of a department store from the Graphics Fairy. There are hundreds and thousands of fabulous vintage images there but I favorites are usually are the labels. The mat for the label was woven into the canvas using embroidery floss. I distressed the label and affixed it to the woven mat. For more texture, I crackled the outer areas of the canvas. The glass pieces which were backed with bits of Paris map (again from Graphics Fairy)  completes the piece.

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Palm Leaf Book

One of my favorite book formats is the palm leaf book. It is a very ancient book format prevalent in India and other South-Asian and South-eastern countries. Palm leaves were one of the earliest writing materials to be used and initially they were used for religious texts. Eventually their use expanded to include art and other subjects. The leaves were made into a book by stringing them through either a single hole or two holes. Often, the top most leaf was covered with panels of wood, ivory, or other hard material that were often elaborately decorated with carving, inlays, painting, or precious stones. Even today, one can still find in some Hindu temples the resident astrologer  reading astrological predictions from palm leaf manuscripts. The format continues to be popular in folk art.

Anyway, I decided to make a palm leaf book myself. Obviously, I did not have access to palm leaves. Instead, I used Arches rough 140 lib watercolor paper. I painted the paper first using a combination of olive and sap green to give it a look of palm leaf. Then I antiqued the edges using distress stains. I cut the paper into 13 strips of equal width and length. On each strip, I adhered a scrap of vintage music paper and a thin layer of mulberry paper. Then I sewed the strips together. I wrote a a quote by Indira Gandhi, carefully spreading the lines across all the strips. I adhered a piece of vintage looking ribbon on the top most strip and attached a length of string to wrap the manuscript. 

The quote is biting and true and appealed to me:

"There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first. There is less competition there".


Indira Gandhi


This piece of mixed media art is in response to Ginger Snap Words of Wisdom Challenge

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Yarn Wrapped Decorative Box

Sometimes, inspiration and a good product come about unexpectedly. Like the box above. Last night after dinner, I had about two hours to kill before going to bed. I decided to try out a new idea for decorating the box. I have seen bottles wrapped with knitting yarn and I wanted to see if it would work on a wooden box. I already had all the supplies on hand including time. So, I set out to play a little.

Two and a half hours later it was done and I absolutely loved how it turned out.  Here is how I did it:

Supplies and Materials:

1 small box (wood, cardboard, paper mache etc.)
Knitting yarns of different colors, fairly thick
Glue (I used Sobo, you can also use Modge Podge); craft stick for applying glue
craft paints and scrap papers
embellishments

I first sanded and painted the sides and the insides of the box and lined the inside top and bottom with scrap paper. Then started applying the yarn to the sides with the glue. It is easy to wrap around if one works with a long string of yarn. To cover the top of the box, I cut and glued single strands of yarn lengthwise. I finished the piece with a piece of embroidery from a discarded top.

Went to bed very happy!

This and several other decorative boxes are available in my Etsy shop.

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