Taste of the Tropics

Weather and skies have been a major part of our India trip so far! Chennai was HOT with a only a couple of showers that really didn't cool the temperatures down much. And we have been caught in torrential rains for three days because of late Monsoons in Bengaluru. Here is a glimpse of Chennai sky taken from the terrace. The coconut trees always make the scene really special for me :)

Taste of Tropics Digital Photography

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.

Eenie meenie minie moe

"Flaming Petals" was an experimental watercolor painting. We had visited the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Garden in Washigton D.C. and of course, we took lots of photographs of the colorful water lilies. When the time came to paint I couldn't make up my mind and choose one color for the lotus so I decided to try a different color for each petal and was very happy with the result.

Flaming Petals watercolor 24 x 30"

Captivating Cappadocia

Cappadocia located in central Turkey is a surreal wonder of nature and human ingenuity. Whole cities, some dating back to 2nd century BC to Roman, and some later to Byzantine period - thrived in undergrounds or in the wondrous and most dramatic volcanic tufas and chimney rocks. Please check here to see a collection of photographs and a video of the amazing area. We stayed at a cozy, small and aptly named 'The Village Cave Hotel" at the village of Cavusin near Goreme. The ancient ancestral home of the owner, one among the many many cave dwellings in the area had been converted to a small cute comfortable inn - and has a super chef and a couple of cute resident cats as well. The sketch above does not do one bit of justice - but is the scene from our room looking into the other side, into the dwellings that belonged to the owner's mother's family. The owner later took us on a tour of the area and one morning we hiked for hours the beautiful Red Valley, Rose Valley etc., gorged on the tastiest wild mulberries and apricots right off the trees! I hope to paint the scenes and attempt to capture the beauty on paper soon.

Zen of Seeing

"I have learned that what I have not drawn I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle. " ~Frederick Franck, The Zen of Seeing: Seeing and Drawing as a Meditation.

I have been following 'urbansketchers' for a while now -admiring and learning a lot about sketching and making drawings on the go. I decided to apply that to my sketches from Turkey. To my simple pen and ink sketches I added color with a dozen pastel and color pencils I had packed and was pleased with the result. It was exciting to discover a new way of sketching for me and will help me keep up with my art as I travel to India to visit my family for the next month and a half. The sketch above is a simple quick rendering of the scene at Anadolu Kabagi on the Bosphorous Cruise by the traditional ferryboat along the waterway that divides Europe and Asia. It was wonderful to sit on the deck taking in the beautiful summer day and just watch the scenery as we savored the authentic Turkish yogurt from a vendor who got on board at one of the stops.

This is my 100th post and I thank all of you who have visited my blog and encouraged my efforts. I really appreciate you spending your time with me here and am grateful for your comments. I do hope you will continue to stop by and let me know how I am faring. Once again my hearty thanks to all!!!

The Thrill of the Search

This past week when I was in New York city, I was constantly scanning for things to photograph or sketch. I get excited just anticipating a scene that may capture my fancy. The only risk is I will drain the battery in my camera clicking away constantly! But mostly when I am least expecting, an interesting subject unfolds. I have discovered that being present in the moment opens up so many possibilities. I was listening to the guide inside the Radio City Hall when I unexpectedly caught another tour participant silhouetted against the window. Opportunities are endless and all I need to do is look.

Silhouette Digital Photography

Music in the City

Washington Square Park in New York city is lively and vibrant especially in summer. I am enjoying a few days here in the city and was able to sketch this musician while listening to the wonderful music he was playing along with his two fellow musicians. It was a treat! Hope to visit a couple of museums and also sketch some more before I head back home tomorrow.

Small Wonders

The close up photographs of the bees and butterflies that I clicked in the past few days got me wondering how and what do they really see in a flower. So I googled and discovered that "The worker bee's eye is a very complex organ with 6,900 facets, known as ommatidia each carrying out separate visual processes. Each one of these acts like an individual eye, and they stand aligned together, rather like straws in a bucket. Each one ends in a small convex, transparent lens. These lenses form the outer, glassy and oval-shaped surface of the eye. As well as the two compound eyes on either side of their head, a bee also has three simple eyes atop its head. Its estimated that these latter three are used to measure the strength of the light. The bee's eye is superior to the human eye in two respects: it can see ultraviolet light and perceive the plane of light polarization." The miracle of nature - the smaller the creature, the more complex its anatomy and structure!!!

"Just because you can't see something doesn't mean its not there" -So started an inspirational TED talk by Willard Wigan who creates art so elaborate, so tiny and so unique that they are mounted on pin heads or the eye of a needle and you have to see them through a microscope. Check his amazing video here as he explains that since his sculpture is so small he has to work between his heartbeats!

Up-close and Personal color pencils on 11x14" on hot press paper.

Invocation by Design

This week it was my turn with the 'painted prayers.' I made simple and small 'rangoli' for friends who are getting ready for pooja celebrations. The first photograph shows three made on plates using different lentils/dals etc. The other two are on wooden boards. I roughly sketched the designs with a erasable marker on the plates. My friend Sudha helped me fill in with the grains and lentils. The designs on the wooden boards were done the traditional way using dots to plot out and then painted with white acrylic (the middle two) and chalk (last one). The links for my other posts on the age old custom of rangoli, mandala and explanations can be reached by clicking on the title of this post.

Traditionally, Rangolis are created in color or with just white rice powder as invocations to deities for protection and blessings. The rice powder also stops the ants etc by the door too! They vary in designs, form and style from region to region. They are painted daily or on special occasions by the alters, by the front door or gate, or anyplace a ceremony is to be held. Stephen H. Huyler's books Painted Prayers: Women's Art in Village India and Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion are good references on rangoli. I embroidered a rangoli to hang in my living room when we first purchased our house - my way of having a rangoli in the house all the time :). I feel blessed to be a part of the sacred ritual that brings balance to the daily existence.

Flying Colors

This painting is an experiment I tried last week. As I was rearranging my art papers and paints, I came across a sheet of landscape painting where I had been experimenting with pouring the paints a couple of years ago. I remember well that I was trying a lake scene and was no way close to getting it right! I never like to throw away anything and visit the stack of 'unfinished' paintings when I want to just play around.

As I stood staring at it I realized the white patch in the paper would work well as the beak of this toucan -photographed by Roy Taft in Honduras and on the cover of march april issue of Audubon magazine I was getting ready to recycle. I had some acrylic paints I wanted to try and this seemed like a good way to use it on top of the watercolors. I embellished the background from the original painting adding leaves and branches and used watercolors, acrylics and color pencils to paint the toucan. I always use my own photographs and sketches but decided to do this exercise as an experiment in working out problems in a painting. In the end, yellow is the only acrylic paint I used -it covered the blue of the lake from the watercolors and helped define the feathers on the toucan's body. I really enjoyed converting the old painting and gained new confidence in experimenting and not giving up. And, some day I would like to visit Honduras and see the wild flying colors!

Wild colors mixed media 11x 15"