Blessing A Day

India Art Journal July3,4,5 By Meera Rao

One of the first things I always do when I get to India is to visit the Ganesha Temple right across from my parents' house and give my thanks for  having had a safe journey over seas and continents :)  At the temple there is always tasty 'prasada' that is distributed to the devotees. In most of the temples, leaf bowls are used to make it easier for all to either consume it right there or take it home while also being environmental fiendly- a practice that is actually very ancient.

Most all Hindu household yards have a little special 'pot' where 'tulasi' plant is grown. Tulasi is considered as sacred, used in religious services and worshipped every day. It also is proven to have potent medicinal qualities and used in traditional treatments.

The lady in the last skectch is decorating the temple entrance with rangoli - elaborate designs that are drawn free hand with rice powder. While chatting with her I found out that she does this almost every morning as a volunteer 'seva' to the Lord. I definitely did not do justice to her beautiful 'rangoli' design.

I would like to end with a quote by Mark Twain from an account of his trip to India:

"In religion, India is the only millionaire....the One land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined."

~Mark Twain.  

Daily Vignettes

India Art Journal June 30-July 2 by Meera Rao

"Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day,  for no matter how little it is, it will be well worthwhile, and it will do you a world of good."

~ Cennini

I am in India for next several months to take care of my M-I-L. I have decided to keep an art journal of sorts doing a vignette a day of my impressions/experience/observation etc during my time in India to force myself to set aside some painting/sketching time every day.

I have a Stathmore mixed media 5.5x8"  34 page 90 lb spiral bound visual journal. I am using Koi water color pocket field sketch box with a waterbrush, prismacolor fine line 8 marker set, pilot G-2 07 black pen and a #2 pencil for my sketching.  Dividing the paper into 4 sections and using a section a day (painting on one side only) has worked well for the past fifteen days. This way, if I keep up with my sketching I should have atleast one hundred little sketches  :)  I already feel a sense of freedom in my sketching. I am not going for perection, finished compositions, nor worry much about values.  The idea is to have a simple record of my time here, get some sketching practice and develop some discipline to sketch, draw and paint each day atleast for fifteen minutes! I hope to be able to do a few larger pieces too --please, wish me luck :)

The first page documents our dinner at the airport - vegetarian sushi, different documents used, an air line employee and finally our first happy purchase soon after reaching our destination - Fresh divine Mangoes :) I have to relearn the PC here and hope to post better photographs soon!

Surprising Beauty

Digital Photography by Meera Rao

Digitial Photography by Meera Rao

Everything is transformed in the loveliness of glorious sunrise!  

Awesome Light

Window Light watercolor 2.5x3.5" by Meera Rao

The buzz over 'Higgs boson' god particle in the past few days has been exciting. And to discover that in 1924, Satyendra Nath Bose from India sent a paper to Einstein which lead to Bose-Einstein statistics, Bose-Einstein condensate, Bose-Fermi mixtures and then to the much talked about 'god particle' was pretty amazing! I have been poring over stuff from all over the web trying to understand how physics and god particle came to be talked about in the same breath!

Turns out, the light that we artists so love to paint is also behind these amazing discoveries. It's awe inspiring to realize the mystery that is all around us!

Moment of Miracle

Light Dance watercolor 2.5x3.5" by Meera Rao

Painting miniatures is a challenge for me. I was attracted by the lines and curves of the bird, the perch the beautiful light and the shadows. It reminded me of Walt Witman's words : "Every moment of light and dark is a miracle "

Patterned View Point

Looking out from Library of Congress digital photography by Meera Rao

Textured Story

Reverie  mixed media 15x13" by Meera Rao

"Only this: if you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer. It means you are so busy keeping one eye on the commercial market, or one ear peeled for the avant-garde coterie, that you are not being yourself. You don't even know yourself. For the first thing a writer should be is—excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health."  These words are by one of my favorite authors, Ray Bradbury from his :"Zen in the Art of Writing"   'Writer', I think, can be easily substituted by 'painter.'    

One way for me to be excited is by experimenting. I played with watercolors, gesso, stencils and collage and the resulting painting is Reverie - conjuring up the image of a serene lady I remembered from many years ago on a rainy day at the foot of a hill near what seemed like a thousand steps leading to a temple at the very top. She was making garlands for the devotees to buy and offer it as a prayer when they get to the temple but was really lost in her own world.  I added textures with gesso, stencils, and collaging torn bits of rangoli designs, tissue and handmade paper.  

As Ray Bradbury said in his essay, "And the stories began to burst, to explode from those memories, hidden in the nouns, lost in the lists." Not as eloquent as his stories, nonetheless, one all my own. 

Transcending Chaos

Transcending Chaos mixed media by Meera Rao 30x22"

"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration."

Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954)

Even though it looks like a perfect match for Kahlo's quote, I had started this painting almost 18 years ago at a workshop given by Doug Walton. The shapes and various elements were drawn to cues given. The steps also included 'spiritcard' shapes and underpainting. Unfortunately my choices somehow never jelled into a decent composition.  Over the years, I tried to unify and pull something out of the chaos that was on the paper. At one point I added a unifying background color. Most recently, it got a bit of gesso on it in places and some collage as I tried out what I had picked up in Myrna Wacknov's workshop. All I can say is that I learned a lot as I brainstormed and tried out various options.  

Here is a Doug Walton gem from my notes from that first workshop which perhaps sums up my efforts? : "Wrong is right and right is wrong. Allow your 'how' to show- not the 'what.'  Your wrongness is your difference; your difference is your significance. Be consistent. Be decisive even your wrongness. " 

Try And Try Again Differently

Lunch Break again mixed media by Meera Rao

This painting was the result of playing with an abandoned piece.  When I painted Lunch Break  (check out that post for variation1) about two years ago it was my second attempt.  Earlier this year I pulled out the first discarded try.  I like to have something to keep my hands and brushes busy while I am waiting for washes or paints on a piece I am working is drying.  This, I hope, keeps me from muddying the work but that does not always happen! I have been trying to remember to take photos of my playing around to see where it takes me. Below is the piece when I first abandoned it. 

w-i-p

 I used a black Prismacolor pen to outline the various shapes. May be I should have stopped long before I outlined every shape!!! 

w-i-p 

I went on to darken some parts and then cropped the painting( - see the top most photo).  I had always underestimated what a tremendous learning experience it is to paint variations. I see now how very interesting it is to see the two paintings side by side now.  

And as this quote by Bob Brendle says so eloquently, "There can be no failure in an art experiment excepting that of vision."

Figures in Color

Figure in watercolor on Yupo by Meera Rao

Figure in watercolor on YUPO by Meera Rao

For almost three weeks now I have been practicing drawing the human figure.  Painting on Yupo was perfect for practicing with watercolors since I could easily rectify any mistakes by wiping off! I drew with watercolor pencils for the top one and graphite pencil for the bottom one before picking up transparent watercolors and had fun with it. It has been very exciting and challenging.  

Last year I volunteered to be a model for a portrait painting demo at our watercolor society meeting.  The one thing I noticed was that the artist constantly looked at me --as much or more than looking down at the paper.  Her rapid fire glances, constant measuring and checking the angles was my takeaway from the session --since I couldn't see what she was drawing only how she was looking at the model! 

I came across this quote by Leonardo da Vinci : "Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works."  So off to more practice :)