Wonder of Creation

Tulips watercolor 16x20"

The change of seasons always gets me very excited. Right now it is amazing to shed jackets and gloves, see and feel the transformation outside: fresh green and other colors all around us, rabbits hopping around, chirping birds looking for morsels and a place to nest. As we were moving the potted plants outside from the sunny kitchen window corner and the sun room, I was tickled to separate the plants as some were sending creepers every which way.

In the past week, I also saw a TED video by Amy Tan on how she goes about creating, a movie "Creation" on Charles Darwin writing 'The Origin of Species" and another TED talk by V.S. Ramachandran on our brains and the universal connection. The world around is just full of wonder.

Tulips in watercolor was painted by me a few years ago. I am dipping once again into my collection as I have been busy matting and framing my paintings rather than making new ones. I am now itching to get back to my brushes and pencils.

Experimental Recycling

These two small watercolor pieces (5x7") are experiments done on tyvek. A few days ago when I received some mail in tyveck envelope, I decided to try painting on it as I had been admiring Myrna Wacknov and Sandy Maudlin's paintings on Tyvek and Yupo. It was a very spur of the moment decision and I cut the envelope so I would have a decent size empty space for me to paint. This morning I quickly selected two photographs and without sketching or planing just took the brush and paint to the paper. It was a fun experiment and I will look into playing with some decent proper pieces of tyvek or yupo. I liked how paints mixed with each other and in a way just sat on the paper which made it easier to wipe and repaint. It has very similar feel to Fredrix watercolor canvas. I got a big kick out of having recycled the envelope as tomorrow is Earth Day 2010.

Zen Moment

Two days ago I took a series of photographs of this bird. Trying to capture as close-up as possible with my simple camera(Sony cyber-shot) , I approached slowly, taking a step at a time and clicking away, fully aware that any second I could be deemed dangerous and the bird might take flight. I was able to get pretty close and sit right by the pole just a couple of feet away in the pier. We studied each other until it was time for me to leave. I was thrilled to share quiet zen moment together on a beautiful day. I wondered what kind of adventure resulted in only one leg for this bird -- because he surely was not standing on one leg rather had only one leg.

Speaking of sharing, a friend sent me a link to a two minute video of the day on every painting in MoMA on Flavorwire.com - a wonderful way to check out the paintings!

Color of Life

"A picture is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it is being done, it changes as one's thoughts change. And when it is finished, it still goes on changing, according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it. A picture lives a life like a living creature, undergoing the changes imposed on us by our life from day to day. This is natural enough as the picture lives only through the man who is looking at it. " - Picasso

A stainless-steel plate with ripe bitter-gourd busting with seeds sunning on my deck last summer was the inspiration for this painting. Does it matter?

Color of Life watercolor 9x12"

Something to Crow About

I finally got around to painting this guy in color pencils! When we visited Hawaii a few years ago, I was delighted to see lots of hens and roosters roaming around scratching and clawing the earth looking for food. I also have a few photographs and sketches of their cousins from India. Somehow I never got around to drawing or painting them until now. By the way, a rooster can and will crow any time of the day or night -not just at break of dawn. And they cannot crow if they cannot fully extend their necks.

Fowl Vision color pencils 9x12"

Innocence

It has been gloomy and dark even during day time and raining relentlessly for the past couple days. I was unable to photograph the two paintings I just completed. Mangalore Beach is a watercolor, color pencil and graphite piece that I did in a class several years ago when I was first trying out my hand in art. Looking at it now, I was reminded of a remark by one wise old artist friend who once insisted that 'How innocent' is what I will find my early paintings :) What a beautiful way of looking - no judgement, no regrets, and no harsh self-criticism - just full acceptance.

That is what I discovered when I was demonstrating drawing last week at the 'Festival of Arts' arranged by the local Elementary School. Most of the children were thrilled to try 'upside down drawing' and were very pleased with their 'masterpieces.' Once again, I was made aware to 'be in the now' - to get excited about creating and enjoy the process fully.

Mangalore Beach Watercolor, color pencils and graphite. 11x9"

Colors of the Imagination

This past weekend afternoon as we were ducking from one store into another trying not to get wet from the rain, we were treated to this beautiful rainbow. The scene was captured quickly with my cell phone. Rainbows may be formed by the refraction of the visible spectrum through the drops of rain, but I like its Kannada (my mother tongue) name : Kaamana billu - Cupid's Bow, which conjures up mysterious romantic plot that just may be happening right around the bend any minute now :)

Kaamana Billu digital photography

Language of Art

In painting Serenity, I combined several elements of the garden from the Colonial Williamsburg Nursery to come up with this composition. I loved the red water pump, the hose, the wooden buckets, the wall, and the vines scattered around the garden and clicked away merrily with my camera. Drawing and painting this piece was a pleasant challenge. My goal was to convey the sun dappled busy corner of the garden.

I have been reading "Watercolor Wisdom - Lessons From a Lifetime of Painting and Teaching" by Jo Taylor, AWS . In the introduction she writes : In music there are the notes, keys, and chords with which to compose. In the visual arts there are the elements and principles of design. This language of art is applicable to any style of work, whether absolute realism, abstraction, or non-representation.

I hope one day 'fusing technique, style and design' will become second nature to me.

Serenity watercolor 18"x12"

Spring Fever

Spring is in the air. The daffodil plants are poking through in the yard. I see gardeners excitedly spending time clearing winter debris and getting the garden ready for spring planting. Ducks are frantically looking for a place to nest and lay eggs. During my walk in the local fitness trail last saturday I saw patches of beautiful tiny blue flowers whose name unfortunately I haven't learnt yet. And, I came across a fascinating article "Breezy Love or Sacking of the Bees" by Olivia Judson in New York Times.

The flower power was indeed strong. I pushed aside the two paintings I was working on and decided to do a quick small color pencil flower sketch. The simple flower took longer than I anticipated. I got carried away, covering the paper with design and color!

Red Beauty color pencils 6x6"

Masterful Storytelling

Kathakali is a beautiful form of dance-drama from the state of Kerala in India. In very expressive body language and precise hand movements called mudras, with extremely elaborate costumes and make up that enhances facial expressions, tales from the great Indian epics are told to melodious music and spirited percussion beats. For years these were usually all night performances, with the exciting climax coming at the wee hours of the morning.

I painted this face using some photographs and lots of memories as reference on a sheet of cold press watercolor paper on which I had done some calligraphy and rangoli painting. The colored words in this blog entry are links to various picture galleries and more information on Kathakali.

Face of a story watermedia 12x9"