Ignorance

Ignorance mixed media 12x15"

The explosion of violence, hate and extremism around the world is very very scary. This piece in a way painted itself. Its beginnings were innocent enough but before long as I was listening to radio news of bombings, terrorist plots and raging wars, I found myself painting dark figures, smoke and a war zone of a city. Apathy is as dangerous as hate. How do we give non-violence a chance? Will we all ever learn to live and let live?

New Possibilities

I am always trying out mixing different media and experimenting with shapes, values and color in my quest to improve my art. Painting this particular abstract piece was a compositional challenge especially since I did not have a blueprint to follow. So, in a way, it was liberating to just 'let-go' and play with watercolors, gouache, pastels, gesso and acrylics.

Another way to improve would be to draw everyday. It is pretty impressive that New York artist Jason Polan is on a mission to draw every person in the city. He has so far drawn over 8000 people from New York city. Check out this video by my daughter of Jason sketching.

untitled mixed media 22x23"

Exciting Challenges

Autumn is always an occasion for harvests and celebration. Every culture has festivals around it. This past weekend though, I was part of a celebration - a harvest of different kind. Our son and daughter-in-law completed the New York City Marathon in 4:22:10!!! After months of grueling training they ran a terrific race showing grit, determination and grace. We happily chased them around the course -in Subways, fortunately for us! We caught up with them at four different points, waved our banners, and screamed our hearts out as we cheered them on! I am grateful that the weather was just perfect and wonderful. We are all in awe of them and very proud too!

In Harvest -mixed media, 8x10", I learned to be patient and persevere as I mixed watercolors, color pencils and graphite to bring out form and texture. This is one of my early works and I remember finally feeling a little confident and enjoying the process as things began to take shape on the paper!

I have been away from blogging, sketching and painting for the past couple of months with my various trips and other things -in general, life coming in the way and taking time away from my art :). I plan to get back to it in full swing soon.

So, Who is the Real Me?

'Guest' done in mixed media (24x30") was started by pouring paints in shades of red, yellow and blue. Then various shapes were isolated or added with a pen. The saved areas of white were used to paint features of a face. I then used crayons, acrylics and watercolors to embellish the different elements. Finally I used gouache to tame some of the colors and bring coherence to the painting. On the whole, as I unnerving as I found it, I also in a way, really enjoyed the process of building a painting on the go, rather than having a finished concept in my mind and working towards it. I named it 'Guest' as I felt I had put aside my usual way of working and thinking and paint as if someone else was doing the work.

Frequently Asked Question

One of the questions most frequently asked of an artist is 'How long does it take you to paint something?' I am someone who needs a lot of 'incubation period'! I will think about a subject, play around with composition in my head long before I even attempt to sketch or paint it. Even then, all that planning and thinking doesn't really guarantee that my painting will look like what I imagined it to be - and I get a surprise myself! Fortunately or unfortunately lots of them don't even make it to paper. And then there are some paintings which just pour out of my brushes as if they have a life of their own! Sometimes I will take a piece out years later and work on it some more to make it just right (or ruin it completely!) So, in my case, how long does it take is anybody's guess.

Flying Fun - (22" x 30") was on hold for many years. I had barely started it in a workshop by Doug Walton. I was at loss as to how to complete it then using what I had learnt during that week and struggled with it for a long time. Once every few months I would pull it out look at it and try to resolve it. Along the way the watercolor painting was transformed to a mixed media piece as I used crayons, pastels, acrylic and gouche. Meanwhile I painted two other paintings School's Out and Fishing Eyes using parts of this composition.

I realized how much of a luxury of time I have been enjoying as I watched a video Paintbrush in hand and Nothing to loose in New York Times web site on artist Cordula Volkening. Doctors have given Cordula Volkening, a Brooklyn mother of two, three months to live because of brain cancer. She has decided to forgo one more round of treatment. Rather than lose her ability to paint in the last few months of her life, she has found solace in painting. She is painting furiously so she can sell as many as she can with the proceeds going to her children.

I know I will now be painting with a renewed sense of committment as I keep her in my prayers.

Happy New Year!

May a year full of splendor unfold for you and your family!

And on a lighter note- which one are you? - " An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves " -Bill Vaughan.

Butterfly  watercolors and color pencils  12 x10 1/2 "

Mix and Match

This is a mixed media piece. I used collage, acrylics, watercolors and crayons and made up things as I went along. size: 11x13"  Even though I mix watercolors, color pencils and graphite very regularly, and love the effect of crayons with watercolors, adding collage and mixing them all up was a good experiment for me. I had to stop and let things dry, and settle every so often so was able to tackle laundry and cleaning in between! 

I am grateful that I am able to upload images again --never did find out why it refused earlier. Another mystery to add spice to my life  :).