A Bug's Life

This week's challenge at I am the Diva czt is to tangle a tile around a bug. I decided to tangle and place my bug on that most natural of tiles, a leaf. Early in the fall season, I had collected several leaves. I had coated them with mod-podge and packed them in a ziploc bag. This kept them from drying out and also made the surface smooth for drawing. I used a calligraphy pen and acrylic ink to draw the fine line/vein of the leaf. I drew the dragonfly with white gel pen.

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Leaf Art in Autumn

The leaves are falling with abandon covering the ground in riotous colors. As I feel their soft skin, they seem to be calling out "Take me with you. I am not ready to be raked away or sucked up". How can I resist? So, I bring some home with no idea of what I was going to do. I put them in a large ziploc bag so that they would not dry up while I decided how to immortalize them. The large maple leaves turning into this mouthwatering chocolate color were perfect canvases to doodle and to cut designs. So, every night I worked on one leaf without any prior planning, simply letting the leaves speak to me. The technique is very simple, tools are minimal and in short time one can produce a work of art.

For doodling on the leaves, I used a white gel pen. These are non-permanent and if you make a mistake or don't like the design, you can wash it off and start all over again. You can also apply a thin coat modge-podge over the doodle to seal it. To keep it from drying out, put in a ziploc bag. It will stay soft and supple for quite a while.

For cut out, I used a basic exacto knife. I lightly drew the lines first with a while gel pend and cut around the lines. Again, I sealed the leaf with modge-podge after the basic design has been cut.

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I am the Diva Zentangle Challenge: Comfort/Danger Zone

The Challenge at I am the Diva this week is to find one's comfort zone and then move to danger zone. My comfort zone is creating ZIA. The danger for me is using an unusual material to create the ZIA with a single pattern used repetitively. At some point though, both zones became one and the same.

I used a maple leaf that had fallen on the ground and turning into this beautiful brown color with a hint of gold here and there. I used a white gel pen to draw the tangle.

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Streets of Chennai: Sunday Morning at Barnaby Road, Kilpauk

Familiar Sight: Intersection of Truck and Motorcycle !

Offering Prayers from Outside: Padala Amman Temple

Vehicles Parked Outside the Temple

These photos were taken on a Sunday morning around 9 0' clock when the traffic was still light. It is still awesome to see how pedestrians, four-legged creatures, two-wheelers, auto rickshaws and trucks navigate their way on this busy intersection. There are really no traffic lights or pedestrian crossings here. Just everything and everyone following their own internal GPS!

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Challenge #140: Monotangle Pointillism

This week's challenge at I am the Diva czt is to create a monotangle with tiny dots. I did not exactly do a tile. But, I love using dots in my art. It is actually very calming to do. The one above is my signature sari art done with Indian silk, watercolor and of course, dots.

The one below is more elaborate  with lots of dots, bindis and swarovski crystals.

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Attracting Backyard Birds

Yellow Finch Munching Coneflower Seedpod

Ever since I found out that coneflower seedpods attract finches I stopped deadheading them. Now every fall yellow finches visit my yard to feast on these pods. The pictures are not sharp because I took these pictures from inside the living room through the glass window. Otherwise, the finches would have flown away at the slightest disturbance.

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London Diary: British Museum

Ten-Armed Ravana (carved ivory image from Tanjore, India)

If one is able to move past the harsh realization that  most of the artifacts in the Asian and African sections of the British Museum are ill-gotten booties of British colonialism, it is easy to appreciate their beauty, artistry and the craftsmanship and see why the English coveted them so much. On a recent visit to the British Museum, I managed to capture some of them on camera. Here is a look.

Srilankan Ivory

Jade Book, China

Bronze Images, Tibet

Engraved Prayer Table, Tibet

Ornate work depicting Buddha's Life Story fron Tibet

Gold and gemstone work. Thailand

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