Memory in the Raw

First Glimpse Digital photography

Long Day  Digital photography

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away. 

 ~Eudora Welty

Last month, while visiting family in Coorg in southern India, I stopped by to see the Golden Temple at Namdroling Monastery, a Tibetan Refugee Settlement in Bylakuppe.  Its been impressive to see how the settlement has grown and thriving over the years as they have added buildings and expanded.  I was glad to capture a few more moments in the monastery with my camera and add to my collection from previous visits :). 

A Day In The Life

A Day in the Life- Sketchbook Fiction Project 2011 cover w-i-p

I signed up for the Fiction Project/sketchbook project by the Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, NY.  My moleskine cahier journal arrived about two months ago but my travels, the big bad flu and of course my worries of 'how am I going to fill the book with some kind of  an illustrated story?'- kept me from working on it. I spent a few days researching and experimenting on the paper with different mediums, pens and pencils and have decided color pencils work the best for me. I am not brave enough to change the look of book or papers completely, so will have to contend challenging myself with filling up book with some drawings and words. The theme I chose is "A Day in the Life"  and I have the first few pages percolating in my imagination. I finally started on the front cover today working with color pencils.  Wish me luck --I  have to fill up a book of 40 pages. 

Nostalgia

Urwa Market  pencil sketch 3 1/2 x5" 

Urwa Market Digital Photography

Last week I made a trip to my home town Mangalore after many years. Parts of the city were changed beyond recognition- gone were the paddy fields that littered the city, the old landmarks, the independent small houses and in their place were high rises, shopping centers and apartment complexes.  Here and there I recognized a building or two from my school days. I was totally lost in the city until we came to my old stomping grounds, where the house I grew up still stood, the small market that served the community, the temple by the house, the little algae filled pond, the fields and the coconut groves beyond that -- here the time had stood still.  I know this pocket will soon be gone too so I got very busy with my camera -- I needed help to tuck it all away in my memory!    

The sketch is of the market that still looks exactly like it did when I was growing up. Even though I had visited my city before, it had been 30 years since I last went to this market and I was tickled to see it looked the same! The only change I noticed was the ad for the cell phone service provider.  I think there were a few more plastic baskets piled high with fresh produce  and fewer cane baskets. Alas, there were also a few plastic bags flying around too. The fish market side is to the right of the camera and I was happy to see the cats were still there enjoying the morsels from the fishmongers :)  Having grown up completely vegetarian, it was my first time going near the fish market -to capture the fishmongers as I remembered seeing them from afar!