Sacred Serenity

Sacred Serenity watercolor by Meera Rao 

Sacred sites and Temples dot the landscape in India. For Hindus Nature itself is a living goddess and Devine energy surrounds everything.  ‘Sacred Serenity’ shows a tiny glimpse of this beautiful concept. Traveling in India I see these sights every few minutes.  These small shrines hold as much awe and spirituality as any of the huge ornate temples. I hope these quiet places don’t get lost in the midst of fast moving modern encroachments.     

Behold the Universe in the glory of God:

And all that lives and moves on earth.

Leaving the transient, 

Find joy in the Eternal.

~ Isa Upanishad~

There Was Quiet In His World

In His Own World  watercolor by Meera Rao

This sketch from my travel art journal is also from Sri Rangam. The scene is from the Vaiyali Feastival.  Right in the midst of the loud lively procession that I wrote about in two posts ago, I noticed this devotee (priest?) standing in a clearing in front of the palanquin that carried the image of the Goddess. His hands  clasped, still, calm and lost in his own world, may be he was waiting for the next surge of movement. The elaborate green and gold head gear seems to indicate he is an official of importance at the temple. He though seemed to be oblivious to the people, the exuberant noisy chants of the devotees and the lighted torches around him. 

 

An Unforgettable Procession

Procession  watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

There is always much excitement when there is any religious procession. But this particular Vaiyali utsavam at the Sri Rangam Temple on Feb 6th 2020 was the first time for us. My cousin had urged us to be at the temple premises by 6pm for the Thai Thaer /Goddess Car Festival. 

Beautifully decked Goddess rides on Kuthurai Vahanam - a golden horse. Both are carried around on long poles shouldered by many devotees. The Goddess was out that evening, before the big festival for her beloved the next day -to oversee that all preparations were in order. She had come to check that it would indeed be safe for Him to take part in the festival.  And She was not merely carried by the devotees --it was a challenging choreographed procession with all the fanfare. The whole premise was so romantic and beautiful.  Here is a link to a video of a similar procession at the temple (I had trouble uploading my video). I was thrilled that we had arrived early enough to stake out a good spot and were able to witness it at close range.  This was indeed an unforgettable procession. 

 

Rooftop Sanctuary

Rooftop Sanctuary watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

There was someone else on the next rooftop - reading, enjoying the scenery, the peace and quiet of the morning as we were exploring the Sri Rangam temple complex.  This was definitely the place to be as the hubbub down below picked up. Looking around at the scene with almost a bird's eye view, I felt exhilarated and energized. It made me wonder if the lone reader had also found a respite from the throngs of devotees, shopkeepers, tourists  that were starting to congregate in the sprawling temple complex below. Did he do this everyday and if this different vantage point helped him gain a better understanding of any situation he encountered? Did he come up there to tap into higher awareness? I am pleased that this sketch brings back the wonderful memories of that morning to me

Shadows Dancing In Morning Light

Gopura: Shadows dancing in morning light  pen and ink by Meera Rao

My cousin told us about a staircase to the roof of one of the buildings in the Sri Rangam temple complex tucked away in an obscure corner. Of course we had to check it out ! The view from the roof was stunning. On one side was one of the 7 Gopuras.  I loved how the morning light lit the Gopura and the long shadows of a couple of people in the courtyard. 

I kept erasing more than I was drawing when I started out.  In frustration I decided to abandon the pencil and go with the pen and commit to the lines. I was surprised and pleased how the sketch started flowing after that. I used a brush pen with black ink to work on the shadows - my plan was to paint with watercolors to complete the sketch. My hubby who is usually my best critique, at that point checking on the progress said ‘I think you should stop after this and not add color’  I am happy I did :) 

Meditation on Beauty

Sri Rangam Temple courtyard -ink and watercolor 9x7”  by Meera Rao 

 Early morning at the temple waiting for our guide, I soaked in the sunlight, and the serene quiet before the hustle and bustle of devotees and tourists took over.  I was mesmerized by the awe inspiring elaborate carvings on the massive temple structures and the bright colorful painted embellishments.  

Not knowing where to start, I spent time admiring the details, and figuring out what I wanted to sketch- there was so much beauty all around!  The guide was late in arriving and I was able to sketch out a few pillars and one of the many many smaller temples within the Temple complex,  saving the watercolor wash for later.  

Travel Sketches : A Gift to Myself !

Festival Cart all decked up, Pen and watercolor by Meera Rao 

I have sketches from my trip in January and February to India and London that I somehow forgot to post.  But then, unfortunately I also have ignored this blog in the past month and have to make up for it !! I am hoping to  relive the travels that we were able to enjoy just before Covid quarantine as I post these sketches ! 

When in India we visited Sri Rangam and Tiruchirapalli in the state of Tamil Nadu for a family event and I spent a couple of hours sketching at the temple premises. The temple which is many centuries old occupies an area of 155 acres (63 ha) with 81 shrines, 21 towers, 39 pavilions, and many water tanks integrated into the complex making it the world's largest functioning Hindu temple. We were lucky to get a great tour even in the limited time we had, courtesy of my cousin Vrinda and her husband Ramanan who have published a wonderful book of photography and temple history "Sri Rangam: Bhooloka Vaikuntam".   

This is the Festival cart all decked up ready for the major festival next day. The huge wooden structure is elaborately carved and decorated with colorful, embroidered cloth curtains and flags. I sketched it as we waited for the start of another festival ceremony the evening before. It is one of the few times I have sketched under the watchful eyes of a small crowd of  devotees who were also lined up and waiting. As I balanced the sketchbook  in one hand and drew standing up in the dim light of the setting sun, I could hear comments and some approval as the sketch evolved :)  I had just enough time to complete the pencil drawing and did the watercolor wash at home.  I included the father and daughter in the drawing for scale to highlight the massive structure ! 

The Best View

The Daily Commute  watercolor ink India Art Journal 2017 by Meera Rao

I distinctly remember the fear and excitement when I was a little girl looking out the open train car door as the world zipped by.  I only traveled a couple of times on train when I was young which made the trips quite memorable.  This commuter train was moving slowly past the station.  The little kid in  white uniform shirt with school backpack and the lady sitting right next caught my attention along with the many passengers crammed in! The overcrowded dusty train cars on an overcast day made an impression on me. 

This is the last sketch in my little homemade accordion watercolor journal from my short trip to India in Nov 2017.  Below is the photo of the completed open journal. There is a sketch behind the bell that I could not include in this shot. I started the sketches during my trip and used reference photos once I returned to complete them with watercolors.  

Clear View

Window Cleaners  India Sketchbook 2017 watercolor by Meera Rao 

These three young ladies were part of the train cleaning crew. It was a bright sunny afternoon and I loved the play of light, colors and shadows as they chatted and worked. They had a assembly line of sorts going - one squirted water, one had a bunch of newspaper she was using to wipe it off with and the third lady had a long handled glass cleaner to finish the job. Once inside though, I found those windows were not clear enough capture the scenery with my camera! The trains are workhorses and it is a tough job to keep the trains clean as they chug along with barely enough time between rides. 

Never A Dull Ride

 Autoricksha Ride India Sketchbook by Meera Rao 

Life is never dull on the streets in India.  The variety and number of modes of transportation and the  kind of loads they carry,  how many passengers they manage to cram into those vehicles is always a surprise ! Over the years I have photographed and sketched many interesting scenes - and I know I will find new ones on my next trip :) 

During my last trip, I saw this precarious looking two-wheeler -somewhat small and a cross between a bicycle and a motorcycle. The passenger was holding two sheep/lambs in his arms!  The the scene outside the autorickshaw and the view of the inside of the richly decorated brand new vehicle made for an interesting outing on that particular day. 

Cry Me A River

Hanging Onions watercolor India sketchbook by Meera Rao 

Member of the Allium family (Lily Family),  onions claim nutritional as well as medicinal benefits and play a prominent role in Indian cooking.  There is always a bunch, two or more hanging off the window in my brother and sister-in-law's kitchen :)  This is probably the biggest bunch I saw during one of my trips and I had to sketch it.  

By the way, the compound allyl sulphate which is produced when an onion's ruptured cells are exposed to air is responsible for producing tears. To reduce the production of this compound, chill the onions for half an hour or so before cutting to reduce the activity of the enzyme. My Mom was the only person I know who never teared when she chopped onions!

Directing Attention

Bell by the Door  watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

Ringing of the bells during Puja (worship) is an important ritual for Hindus whether at home or at temple.  We ring the bell at the temple when we enter and then as we leave.  A small  hand held bell is rung when 'aarati' (or light) is shown to the murthy (idol of deity).  The light flames  and sound vibrations wake up the senses, clear the mind of distractions and help direct the attention to pray and meditate. 

I love this particular ornate bell that graces the entrance of my brother's home.  During my last visit in November, one afternoon I sat by the steps near the door and sketched it.   

For Safe Travels

Ganesha on Dashboard watercolor 7"x5" by Meera Rao 

Almost every vehicle in India has an idol of the owner's favorite deity stuck on the dashboard for blessings and safe travels for the driver and passengers.  They come in all different sizes, styles and colors tailored to individual tastes.  I came across an article recently that there is an "Unique campaign"  going on now where  "deities in car dashboards being equipped with accelerometers, lending them pre-recorded voice."  urging the drivers 'to slow down or drive safely.'  According to the company Droom that sells these pre-fitted idols, " India is the 3rd country in terms of deaths due to road accidents and stands at the 67th spot in terms of number of Vehicles per person. There is one death every four minutes due to a road accident in India. Moreover, 20 children under the age of 14 die every day due to road crashes." and ".. our idea comes from that sweet spot between technology and a razor sharp insight on the Indian driver. We thought we could make the Indian driver listen to us. After all, god was on our side!"

This particular abstract green marble sculpture is of Ganesha, the remover of obstacles though not fitted with a accelerometer! It became the first sketch in my India sketchbook from my trip last November. I used Indian handmade watercolor paper that I cut to 7x30" and folded into an Japanese style album. It was the first time I was using that paper which is heavy and rough and took a while to get used to. 

Eteched in Color

2017 India Japanese Album Sketchbook By Meera Rao

Temple Domes 2017 India Japanese Album Sketchbook By Meera Rao 

Flower Vendor and keeper of chappals 2017 India Japanese Album Sketchbook By Meera Rao 

Mysuru Nandi 2017 India Japanese Album Sketchbook By Meera Rao 

Baggage 2017 India Japanese Album Sketchbook By Meera Rao

Passing Time 2017 India Japanese Album Sketchbook By Meera Rao

The Japanese Style USKbook Sennelier Multimedia 340 (6x4" opening to 6x39") is where I sketched and painted vignettes of my trip to India earlier in February.  I was trying to have a theme but it slipped my mind while sketching the last four panels. It just happened that I used two panels per subject in this book. I sketched them during my trip but applied the watercolors later. 

I started with the view from balcony of my brother's house.  The temple is right across the road. The colorful Temple Domes though complicated were fun to sketch but hard to paint.  I had used two panels to sketch. Unfortunately while painting, the wash settled on the crease between the panel. The paper tore along the fold so I had to resort to clear tape to hold it together.  I also reinforced the back og the crease. It was my first time using this particular brand of sketchbook and the detailed sketch was not the right one to get used to the paper.  But I think I captured the colorful busy-ness of the domes! 

Devotees often buy coconut, flowers and fruits as offering to the Deity when they visit the temples. The vendors line up the entrance to the temple and sell small baskets filled with bananas, fruits and flowers. Many vendors also have a side-business of keeping an eye on devotees' footwares for a fee as visitors are not allowed to wear their shoes and 'chappals'  inside the temple. Just leaving them outside without supervision is not a good idea!

This massive Nandi (bull) carved out of a single stone, is 15' in height and 24' wide. It sits on the way to the Chamundi Temple which is on top of the Chamundi Hill in Mysuru, Karnataka. We were visiting the day before a major festival and there was scaffolding around to assist in decorating the statue with flowers, sandlewood paste and red Kumkum.  

The last four panels depict railway platform scenes. I came across the lady sitting crosslegged surrounded by boxes and bags. Perhaps she was moving to another city!  Passing time while waiting for the train, the man was sitting in the shadow of a huge tree that was left undisturbed in the middle of the platform! The three kids were climbing a pole for a better look at whatever grabbed their interest.  I decided to leave the people unpainted to show that the scene remained the same while the players the changed  :)  

The Japanese Style USKbook Sennelier Multimedia 340 (6x4" opening to 6x39"  India 2017.

Paintings and Sketches Show and Tell

Week3 sketches India 2017

Above is the third of my sketch pages from my trip to India earlier in Feb.  These were the sketches I was doing for my grandchildren :) I have couple of more pages of sketches and a Japanese style sketchbook that I am yet to scan - I just forgot once returned and plunged into my daily life here ! 

Poquoson Library artist of the Month Aug 2017

Poquoson Library artist of the Month Aug 2017

Poquoson Library artist of the Month Aug 2017

This year's collection were a surprise to me too as I put together the show for our local library.  I discovered the past year  I experimented with mixed media, collage and photography :) 

Resting Photography by Meera Rao

Resting, my photograph taken in India ,  just  returned home  after being a part of the show "Artist as Photographer" at Charles Taylor Art  Center in Hampton, Va. 

Finally, today is the opening of a group show at Velocity in Washington D.C. where "Dreamer" (shown on the flyer) and "Guest" will share the wall space :) 

Passage of Time

Whiling the Morning Away watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

India Art Journal 2015

Under the shades of huge trees in parks or elsewhere there are always elderly men mostly in crisp white shirts, wearing traditional white "Dhoti" (click on link for simple version) or western style pants sitting and whiling away their time - keeping up with friendships, resting after their daily walks, discussing world affairs and may be just fighting off loneliness. I saw this group daily while out on my errands and had to record it :)  

I feel a pang as I post this last sketch from my 2015 summer journal from India. The past four summers I went to India to take care of my Mother-in-law and started sketching daily as a way to keep up with my art. I compulsively sketched almost every single day when I was in India - something sadly I don't seem to be able to do now. As my Mother-in-law passed away late last year I won't be staying for extended period in Mysuru this summer. 

During those stays, I filled five sketchbooks with around 250 sketches - the first year I had done 124 sketches -small 2.7x4" in Strathmore 5.5x8" Visual Journal watercolor 140lbs- one for every day of my stay. It was easy to keep up with daily sketching as my only concern was to sketch every day! 

The second year feeling ambitious, instead of four sketches on the page like the past year, I decided to draw bigger 5"x4" sketches. I ended up with half as many sketches as most could not be completed in the allotted time each day. I had to resort to sketch one day and finish water-coloring them the next. 

The year after, I was a bit more adventurous filling in two Japanese style moleskine accordion sketchbooks - not restricting myself to any particular size within the sketchbook. I still finished around 40 vignettes. 

It was harder to sketch everyday in 2015 - I managed about 22- 5.5x8" sketches taking two to three days to finish each  - even working on the last few after my return as I unable to sketch on many days during my stay. On the whole, keeping the sketchbooks was definitely one of the best decisions I made.It helped see a bigger picture of life. I noticed and experienced things differently and the many fast disappearing vignettes of daily life are now not just only in my sketchbook but are etched in my memory.   

The past few months though I have spent more time reading and looking at art than picking up a pencil or paintbrush. Now finally I am beginning to feel an urgency and renewed enthusiasm to shake off my lethargy, to get back to sketching and painting every day. 

Artists don't get to work

Until the pain of working is exceeded 

by the pain of not working 

~Stephen DeStaebler~ 

Whiling the Morning Away 5.5x8" watercolor and ink on 140 lb Strathmore visual Journal

Simple Times

A Tire, A Street and A Buddy watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

India Art Journal 2015

Simple times and carefree days.  I watched them roll the tire back and forth down a quiet lane, laugh and squeal in delight. Pretty soon they had mastered the art of keeping the tire rolling without a break. I was a witness to a sealing of friendship, memories in the making and developing skills and imagination :) Definitely 'just playing' is really a lot of 'work' as well! 

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." 

Plato

 A Tire, A Street and A Buddy 5.5x8" watercolor and ink on 140 lb Strathmore visual Journal

Under the Mid-day Sun

Under the Mid-day Sun watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

India Art Journal 2015

To work under hot mid day sun is just plain hard work.  These two ladies were making plaster cast and clay statues for sale by a busy road side. They are migrants who traveled from northern states  to south in search for a better living. They had taken over the sidewalk, set up tents and a business. It is a difficult ethical problem - shouldn't the city evict them for blocking the roads for pedestrians like me who now have to walk on the edge of the road  with traffic whizzing by or do you applaud them because they are entrepreneurs  trying to make a decent wage by working and producing. For now, the only solution I saw was to capture them in my sketchbook.


Under the Mid-day sun 5.5x8" watercolor and ink on 140 lb Strathmore visual Journal

    

Water for Today

Water for Today watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

India Art Journal 2015

When you see water in a stream

you say: oh, this is stream

water; 

When you see water in the river

you say: oh, this is water

of the river; 

When you see ocean

water

you say: This is the ocean's

water! 

But actually water is always

only itself

and does not belong

to any of these containers

though it creates them.

And so it is with you. 

Alice Walker

Water for Today 5.5x8" watercolor and ink on 140 lb Strathmore visual Journal

A Colorful Cover-up

A Colorful Cover-up watercolor and ink by Meera Rao

India Art Journal 2015

It looked like a giant colorful caterpillar from a distance making me stop in my tracks. A long multicolored striped cotton floor mat (jamkane in local Kannada language) covering a vehicle protecting it from the hot sun and any mess dropped by birds sitting in the near by tree! It was by the front door of a school and my guess is that the car belonged to some 'important' visitor.  A dog was happily lying down by it too. 

I had sketched those mats a few times before - it was covering the stage platform and risers in a 'Yakshagana' performance  where the musicians were seated. Those mats come in different sizes and are workhorses - spread on the floor at functions for people to sit on, at many homes and on most train journeys they are the base layer for bedding for people to sleep on, for covering a pile of boxes or suitcases to keep dust away in some homes, as yoga mats etc.. 

A Colorful Cover-up, 5.5x8" watercolor and ink on 140 lb Strathmore visual Journal