Fascinatingly Beautiful

Orchid  watercolor 5x3" 

As I did a quick sketch of the orchid a few days ago using my water brush pen and sketch kit of limited paints, I vaguely remembered that the orchid varieties in number are almost double that of bird species. I went surfing to see if my recollection was right. 

My memory had served me well and  I also discovered that at 25,000+ species, there are four times more varieties of orchids as that of mammals!  More interesting was that 'the name comes from the Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), literally meaning "testicle", because of the shape of the root.'!  Greeks also thought if would-be fathers ate large new orchid tubers their child would be male and if mothers ate small tubers, the child would be female :)  The flavoring vanilla comes from one genus of Orchid -vanilla(of course). The Aztecs believed vanilla mixed with chocolate gave them great strength. In China however, orchids are a key ingredient in medicines for treating coughs and lung-related illnesses. It is also quite fascinating to read about pollination, propagation and seed production in orchids. Growing up in tropical India, I knew them as beautiful and colorful epiphytes and was fascinated how they grew on trees!  

I have a l wide collection of photos as well as few sketches of orchids and I hope to paint some larger varied flowers soon!

Remembrance, The Lasting Perfume

Memories of a bloom 2 watercolor on Yupo 5x7"

Pleasure is the flower that passes; remembrance, the lasting perfume.  ~Jean de Boufflers

I saw these stalks with dried out flower pods, petals, leaves still attached while on a walk couple of years ago in Colorado.  This painting is the second in the series capturing the memories of that cold crisp morning. I used the same techniques in this painting as in the earlier one.  My plan is to  change or add  one color to each of the painting to give each painting its uniqueness as well as making it a part of the series. They are small paintings but take time to complete since each layer has to dry completely before I lay the next one. You may check out the first painting here. 

Talking about memories I recently came across an article highlighting the fact that memories are not fixed but flexible and can be manipulated very easily: "....memories are surprisingly vulnerable and highly dynamic. In the lab they can be flicked on or dimmed with a simple dose of drugs. “For a hundred years, people thought memory was wired into the brain,” Nader says. “Instead, we find it can be rewired—you can add false information to it, make it stronger, make it weaker, and possibly even make it disappear.” Nader and Brunet are not the only ones to make this observation. One of the scietinsts, Nader further wonders:  "What actually happens when we recall the past? Does the very act of remembering undo what happened? Does a memory have to go through the consolidation process again? " 

A little further the article points out a fascinating point: "While neuroscientists were skeptical of Nader’s findings, cognitive scientists were immediately fascinated that memory might be constantly revamped. It certainly seemed to explain their observations: The home run you hit in Little League? Your first kiss? As you replay these memories, you reawaken and reconsolidate them hundreds of times. Each time, you replace the original with a slightly modified version. Eventually you are not really remembering what happened; you are remembering your story about it. “Reconsolidation suggests that when you use a memory, the one you had originally is no longer valid or maybe no longer accessible,” LeDoux says. “If you take it to the extreme, your memory is only as good as your last memory. The fewer times you use it, the more pristine it is. The more you use it, the more you change it.” We’ve all had the experience of repeating a dramatic story so many times that the events seem dead, as if they came from a novel rather than real life."

So I wonder, how much do I change my memory when I sketch and paint things I encounter?   

Dewy Feathers

Dewy Feathers Digital Photography 

Last week one morning when I went to get the paper, I found these beautiful dewy feathers strewn around  our driveway and lawn. It looked like there was some kind of struggle wherein a few feathers were lost ! I didn't see any other signs or bird parts and am hoping the creature escaped worse fate from whatever that was after it! When something like this happens, I always wonder whether I notice things around me since I took up photography or did I start toting a camera because I see things around me that I want to capture :) 

These beautiful feathers reminded me about something I read a while ago:  'feather money - tevau' from Solomon Islands. We are familiar how Native Americans, Indonesian Islanders, and many many others hold feathers in high regard and use them in rituals. But in Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands,  feather is currency!  As many as 50,000 feathers from smallest scarlet honeyeaterer birds are fashioned into coils and used 'as a form of currency for settling important obligations' .  Check the link to see a photo of the coil in the British Museum website.   In ancient Mayan culture, the quetzal bird's tail feathers were used as currency and hence the Guatemalan currency is known as 'quetzal' ! Its amazing how many little beautiful birds have been sacrificed not for food but for their treasured feathers by various 'collectors' all over the world.  

A Grand Little Bundle of Joy

Kallie watercolor study 4x6"

On Jan 26th we became grandparents for the first time - we now have precious little Kallie. The very next day I did the small study above --didn't think I could do a watercolor portrait but this little piece seemed to painted itself :) I forgot to take the final photograph -after I cleaned up some lines (by the nose bridge) etc before I framed it and gave it to the new parents ! Its been wonderful to hold, cuddle and love the little bundle of joy.

Cooking Up a Painting

  Fruity Goodness watercolor 5x3"

Last week we bought some apricots and a week later they were still hard, not ripening and sour :( So two days ago I chopped them up, added pulp from one mango tucked away in the freezer last summer, mixed in  pomegranate juice, a bit of sugar, ginger and red pepper flecks.  A few minutes in the microwave gave me a bottle full of delicious chutney to be savored for a few days !!!  

As the jar sat on the kitchen counter basking in the sunlight, I quickly painted this small watercolor.  I used my water brush and the small field paint kit with mostly transparent colors. The glass jar was a bit daunting to capture but I am pleased with both my cooking and painting --a day well spent :) 

On the Train

Now Serving.. (Brindavan Express -somewhere between Bangaluru and Chennai) digital photography


“How do they taste? They taste like more.”
- H.L. Mencken

Wabi-Sabi

Lily Pond  color pencils 8x10

Today I came across a Japanese term wabi-sabi. And it couldn't have happened at a better time. 'Wabi-sabi is the quintessential Japanese aesthetic. It is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble.'    Wikpedia explained  'Wabi sabi can change our perception of the world to the extent that a chip or crack in a vase makes it more interesting and gives the object greater meditative value.'  It further explained that  'In art books, it is typically defined as ″flawed beauty.' I am going to fully embrace that word! 

The 'Lily Pond" was framed and hanging for a number of years. A few days ago, I  took it off the frame and reworked it some, deepening the colors, mainly the darks and the shadow areas. I see  compositional  and technical flaws.  But I am going to embrace the philosophy of 'wabi sabi' as well as the  "How innocent"  outlook of my wise old Sumi teacher from a one day workshop long ago as she urged me to accept my art work with open arms and move on. :) 

Spicing Up the Sketch Book

A Day in the Life - Sketchbook project page 25 color pencils 

The spice box has a place of honor in an Indian Kitchen and I treasure mine :) I knew from the beginning that I wanted to include it in my sketchbook project. 

I approached the subject with lots of anxiety but  really loved sketching my special shiny Indian Spice Box, its contents as well as the red peppers, tomatoes, lemons, chilies etc.  The different textures, colors, sizes and shapes were fun and a huge challenge to sketch.  The decision to just sketch the objects and not worry about background was freeing.  I learned that paying attention to  the mass of each variety of spice and hinting about the space between most individual mustard/cumin/coriander/dal gave the finished image more unified look. Spraying the finished sketch with Krylon Kamar varnish was a good idea too. Even though better  quality paper might have made a difference,  I am glad I put forth a lot of effort and time into this particular sketch :) 

Fleeting Patterns

 Fleeting Patterns  digital photography

I wonder if the little duckling was aware of distorted reflections, colors, and patterns around it as it swam about that particular morning  few months ago in San Antonio, Texas! Do ducks see color? depth? patterns? They must - because drakes - Mallards, Mandarin and Wood ducks are colorful and patterned. And I see duck hunters wearing camouflage and hide in covered boats.  Anyway, I am really grateful I was in the right place at the right time to capture a fleeting moment in time. 

Cheers to Potential and Possibilities!

Hofbrauhaus at Dusk  watermedia 12x9"

Sixty posts, twenty plus paintings, thirty some pages of color pencil 'sketches' and narrative to go with  them  for my sketchbook-fiction project  "A Day In The Life -In Blue Jeans with Gold Embroidery" and more on-the-go pencil sketches than any previous years makes me content with 2011 art-wise :)  This surely has been a year of experimenting for me with finishing an illustrated sketch/fiction book, yupo, deliberate washes and paint mixing, water brushes, field kits and working on patience! 

I am pleased to post this painting - done mostly with watercolors except the sky part where I used acrylics mixed with watercolor. The watercolor paper  was a 'test-paper' for colors by a young friend of mine who wanted to paint with me sometime ago. I pulled this paper out waiting for washes to dry on couple of Yupo paintings I was working on. I needed to keep my hands busy and away from the wet yupo. Using Masquepen Supernib I sketched free hand and then proceeded to play mostly with transparent watercolors in between the washes on Yupo. The reference was a photograph I took in Munich years ago.  The underpainting worked quite well, and I felt little stress since I was really  only 'playing' around. I am totally ignoring any problem areas in the painting and enjoying the smug feeling of rescuing a good paper :) 

 before

So, here is to a brand New Year full of potential and possibilities !