Giving Thanks and Counting Blessings

India Art Journal  Sept 20-23 2012 By Meera Rao 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am excited that I have been able to blog for four years now! My blog anniversary was on Nov 17th and I almost forgot about it :)   I also noticed this is my 302nd post! I am grateful for all my readers for your support and encouragement! A huge heartfelt 'Thank you' to all :)

India Art Journal Sept 20 2012 By Meera Rao

This sketch was one I wanted to do for a while  but I avoided going down this particular street that sold live poultry and fresh meat etc. It was difficult for me to see them in the cages and I always wonder if they are aware what fate awaits them! Finally I managed to walk by hurriedly to take a couple of photos as references! What will I do without my little camera? 

India Art Journal Sept. 21 2012 by Meera Rao

New vehicles soon after they are purchased are usually taken directly to a Ganesha Temple and 'blessed' before they are driven anywhere else.  On this particular day there was a line of Auto-rickshas, a few cars and motorcycles fully decorated with colorful flower garlands waiting for the priest to bless them. The priest says a prayer of safety for all, chants blessings in sanskrit, a coconut is broken open, vehicle is sprinkled with holy water, and then anointed with red kumkuma and yellow turmeric.  A lemon is placed under each tire and the vehicle is driven over and off by the proud new owners!  

  Indian Art Journal Sept 22 2012 by Meera Rao

I regularly bought bananas from this lady.  She would decide for her customers what kind and how much they should buy!!!!  She was very particular about what she sold and made sure I tried a variety :) And she carried a variety of delicious bananas! I had to stand my ground sometimes and insist on what I would rather buy! As I became a regular customer she started putting a few extra bananas into my bag after she had weighed  and  I had paid her.  In the beginning she was quite gruff  and I was quite weary of her but as the days rolled by her attitude softened a bit.  Her whole family pitched in at the banana stall on evenings and sundays and I would see her very smart and sharp grand-daughters and their Dad working by her side.  I hope I have captured her proud strong personality in my sketch. 

India Art Journal Sept 23 2012 by Meera Rao 

From my balcony, I had a great view of this family's front porch and they did spend a lot of time there. Every morning I saw the grandmother sweep the front yard, decorate it with a beautiful white rice powder rangoli design, gather the jasmine flowers from a big bush in the yard for the morning puja, and a little later comb her grand-daughter's hair as she got ready for school.  The young girl stood very patiently with her eyes closed and seemed to enjoy the attention :) There was such tenderness in the way her grandmother combed her hair and I feel happy to record it. 

Below are the sketches posted individually from my post  Honest Work and Steadfast Faith.

 India Art Journal July 26 2012 by Meera Rao

 India Art Journal July 27 2012 By Meera Rao

 India Art Journal July 28 2012 By Meera Rao

 India Art Journal July 29 2012 By Meera Rao 

Keys to happiness

India Art Journal Sept.16 2012 by Meera Rao

One exciting news that I missed mentioning here on my blog is that my India Art journal and I were  featured on Strathmore Art Papers Facebook page about three weeks ago :)  It happened during my last week in India and I guess it is understandable that I shared it only on my Facebook page in all the rush and excitement! Thank you Strathmore !

I noticed around our neighborhood  in the narrow alleyways tucked here and there, how people find creative ways to hang the laundry!  The colorful clothes draped around brighten the drab dusty streets. 

 India Art Journal Sept. 17 2012 by Meera Rao

Everyday I passed by this tailor shop and I felt seeing him sitting in front of his sewing machine day in and day out that he embodied the phrase -nose to the grinding stone! His cluttered shop was tiny with fabric strewn, stuffed and hung everywhere. I wondered if and how he was able to keep up with all the different clients' items! 

India Art Journal Sept 18 2012 by Meera Rao

One of the side streets has shop after shop, and also little 'kiosks' (really a small table or a bench) on the sidewalks exclusively specializing in making keys!  A few of them have computers to assist them but most use old fashioned metal files and muscle power to make copies of keys! It was interesting to see all kinds of key skeletons hanging in bunches and glistening in the sun. 

 India Art Journal Sept 19 2012 by Meera Rao

September 19th was Ganesha Chathurthy, festival of the god with an elephant head, remover of all obstacles in life.  Streets were filled with all different size statues of the Lord for puja/worship which are then taken in a procession and immersed in a body of water. This year there was much awareness of environmental impact of the ritual and there were many more statues in just clay with minimal colored paint on them. 

Below is the full page view of the four sketches all together. Each sketch is 2.5x4" on Strathmore Mixed media visual Journal 5.5x8" and 90lbs wt. 

India Art journal Sept 16-19 2012 by Meera Rao

Once again, sharing the sketches individually from the post Sketching the Spirit of a Place from July. 

 India Art Journal July 22 2012 Meera Rao

 India Art Journal July23 2012 By Meera Rao

 India Art Journal July24 2012 by Meera Rao

India Art Journal July 25 2012 by Meera Rao

Color of Life

 India Art Journal Sept 12 2012 by Meera Rao 

  To search for the good and make it matter: this is the challenge for the artist. 

~Estella Conwill Majozo~

Advantage of jet lag is that even though I went to bed at 8PM in the evening, I was up around 11PM and happily watched the returns and the acceptance speech by President Obama.  I was glad to be back in the country in time (planned that way!) to do my little bit for the campaign ( made a few phone calls earlier in the day at the local center for Obama) and of course cast my vote!  

The other celebration is a personal one - I am excited to have three pieces in the exhibit Small Works: Miniatures by Hampton  Roads Artists at the Hampton Arts' The Charles Taylor Arts Center in Hampton, VA.  The exhibit will run from Oct 20- Dec 2.  I posted the paintings earlier under Moment of Miracle,  Awesome light, and Memories of a Bloom2 in Art is a Verb

The journal sketches for Sept 12-15 are all street scenes I encountered on my daily errands and walks.  A majestic old building with colorful window panels is now home for the birds that dart in and out of the broken window panes.  

The three wheel auto-rikshas can be seen parked around almost every corner waiting for customers. The drivers can be seen either taking naps in their vehicles during the mid-day heat, reading papers, or doing some repairs under the shade of the huge African-tulip trees in full bloom.  

 India Art journal Sept 13 2012 by Meera Rao

 The shops selling material for ladies dresses with colorful cloth draped mannequins (no heads!) line  most streets.  It is wonderful to check out the latest designs, prints and possibilities in fashion as you walk past the stores. Often, I stopped and touched a fabric or looked at a design with interest but unfortunately never had enough time to go in to make a purchase. 

India Art Journal Sept 14 2012 By Meera Rao

Along with color one gets assaulted with various aromas as we walk the streets in India.  The best of the smells are the hot 'pakoras' being fried right on the sidewalk. A bench, a simple stove and a couple of pans are all that are needed for brisk business in mouthwatering snacks!

India Art Journal Sept 15 2012 by Meera Rao

 India Art Journal Sept 12-15 2012 by Meera Rao

 Below are four more sketches from July in spotlight from the post Subtle Joys    Now that I am back, I am really thinking about what to do next - feeling a little lost! I have not really painted since I landed and feeling very guilty for not continuing to keep a daily art journal. I hope to expand a few sketches to full size paintings soon and would  love to hear any bit of advice and suggestions ! 

India Art Journal July 18 2012 by Meera Rao

India Art Journal  July 18 2012 by Meera Rao

 India Art Journal July 20 2012 by Meera Rao

India Art Journal July 21 2012 by Meera Rao

Artful Lives

India Art Journal Sept 8 2012 by Meera Rao

 

There is something about buying fruits and vegetables from the street side vendors, from farmer's markets etc rather than from a supermarket! I really enjoyed the daily marketing in India and loved the different ways the sellers arranged their wares on various carts or stands to make them attractive for the buyers. And it is very impressive to see them calculate the prices and totaling the sale without ever resorting to calculators  or even paper and a pencil! 

 

India Art Journal Sept 9 2012 by Meera Rao 

 

This beautiful 'tent' was erected by the roadside on a grassy patch right outside a building gate. It was made by skillfully weaving palm fonds and decorated with orange marigolds and some purple flowers that I couldn't identify.  I am not sure what the tent was used for but I passed it on my walks for a few days wondering about the celebration that must have taken place there! 

India Art Journal Sept 10 2012 by Meera Rao





 

Just about anything can be bought or sold in the tiny stores on various streets and this particular store sold colorful bedding rolls and pillows. As always,  I admire the creative ways the store owners arrange and display their stock!

 



India Art journal Sept 11 2012 By Meera Rao

 

I watched  this construction worker as she worked for a couple of days - her movements were really delicate like a dancer even as she scooped sand into bags and carried the heavy load over towards the building site.

 

Below is the full page with the four sketches  altogether:

 

 India Art journal Sept 8-11 2012 By Meera Rao

 

Once again these sketches are from july when I was posting only the pages and not individual sketches.  I wrote about these on my post An Eclectic Mix

 

 India Art journal July 14 2012 by Meera Rao

 

India Art Journal July 16 2012 by Meera Rao

 

India Art Journal July 16 2012 by Meera Rao

 

 

 

Reality Check!

 

India Art Journal Sept 6 2012 by Meera Rao

The house next door has a solar tank on its roof top and this is a pretty typical scene in and around Maisuru - conservation in electricity and water is quite widespread and people have adopted the solar water heaters widely.  Shortage of water, electricity, gasoline, and cooking gas is very acute in India and conservation and global warming is on everyone's mind!

 

India Art journal Sept 7 2012 by Meera Rao

 

This 'petrol bunk' is a landmark for giving directions to our flat and the orange accents of the building  contrasts starkly with the green of the trees all around it! 

 

 India Art Journal Sept 4,5,6,7 by Meera Rao

 

Here is the page with all four sketches together.  As I have mentioned before, I am way behind in posting and hope to catch up now that I am back in my home in USA.  I was fortunate to land in DC just before the airports were closed on sunday for the 1000 mile wide hurricane Sandy!  We drove back home to Poquson yesterday as Sandy left the area towards New Jersey.  I am very grateful that Sandy spared us major damage especially since we were not around to secure the house! Other than some flooding and debris in yard, our house and property is in tact; we have power, water and other amenities :) As others hard hit by the hurricane cope with the destruction my heart goes out to them.  I am deeply thankful for our luck as I  get busy unpacking, getting to laundry, mail, house back in working order and of course cleaning up the yard!

 

 

The following sketches are from july 10 -13 getting individual attention  from my original post The Kitchen is a Country. 

 

India art Journal July 10 2012 by Meera Rao

 

India Art Journal July 12 2012 by Meera Rao

 

India Art journal  July 11 2012 by Meera Rao

 

India Art Journal July 13 2012 by Meera Rao

Reminders of The Ancient Past.

 

India art journal Sept 4 2012 by Meera Rao

I did not see this scaly anteater in person, but it made the news for a couple of days! It emerged from the forests in a nearby village and scared the inhabitants since no one had seen a specimen until then.  The police captured the animal and handed it over to the forest department officials who identified it as the Scaly Anteater, tagged it and released it back into the wild. I am not sure who was more scared - the rare scaly anteater Pangolin or the villagers! But the excitement till it was identified was well documented :)  I read that despite their looks the closest relatives are the carnivorous mammals cats and dogs and not reptiles! The  scales are sharp enough to wound lions and tigers and are made of compressed hair. 

 

India Art Journal Sept. 5 2012 By Meera Rao

Right in the centre of busy section of the neighbourhood is a Buddha Vihar - a Buddhist Temple with a beautiful golden Buddha statue.  The temple is an unexpected quiet place for reflection and meditation right in the middle of noisy hubbub with its serene blue walls accented with orange trims and marigold flowers artfully arranged on  the black shiny alter. I enjoyed visiting the place whenever I felt lonely or lost. 

Two more sketches below from earlier pages of the journal as well as the whole page look at the journal sheet with sketches from Aug 3-sept 3 2012.

 

India Art Journal July 8 2012 by Meera Rao

 

India Art Journal July 9 2012 by Meera Rao 

India Art Journal Aug 31-Sept 3 by Meera Rao

Wheeling!

India Art Journal Sept 2 2012 By Meera Rao

 

 

India Art Journal Sept 3 2012 By Meera Rao

 

The idea is transportation whether it is an old man trying to move his wares on a bicycle or shiny two wheelers on sale, waiting to catch someone's fancy!  I am always in awe as to how many different kinds of vehicles share the road in India from fancy cars, various size trucks, buses, a fleet of all different kind two wheelers from bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, three wheel autorikshas, bullock carts, horse carriages and a few ingenious transformations of some kind of a motorized or other vehicles :) It is indeed a wonder the traffic moves at all!!! 

 

And a closer look at a tropical fruit and and a vegetable sketches from july that didn't get individual attention earlier :)  

 

 

India Art Journal July 7 2012 by Meera Rao

India Art Journal July 8 by Meera Rao  

I am having trouble cropping, sizing or otherwise editing my posts on the very moody computer here in India. Hope to correct a few of these quirkes when I get back to my own computer later in the month. Right now I am happy to be able to find the time to sketch and  share whatever I can of my adventures :)  

Everyday Pleasures

India Art Journal Sept 1 by Meera Rao

 

Here is another 'newspaper reader' that I came accross early morning sitting in front of  yet to open row of stores.  As noted in the earlier post  I am fascinated by the number of people reading the daily paper in all different places and postures!  







India Art Journal Aug 31 by Meera Rao

 

No part of mini sweet pumpkin goes to waste! The inner meat is cubed, cooked into tasty sambar or some kind of curry, the skin cooked and ground to paste with coconut gratings into a delicious chutny and the seeds are roasted and happpily munched on!!!

 

The sketches below are once again from the first few pages of my journal which I didn't post individually.  The red acacia flowers were abundant in early july but now I see the yellow variety blooming all along the roads.  I read that the use of the flowers in paints, perfume and medicine dates back centuries.  Please check my post A blessing a Day for more on the these two sketches.

 

India Art journal July 4 by Meera Rao 

India Art Journal July 5 2012 By Meera Rao

 

I finished my 100th daily sketch on Oct 5 but am really behind in posting them - hoping to catch up in a few weeks! I am totally thrilled that I have managed to sketch each day during my stay here despite the hectic schedule and hope to keep up untill I head back home end of this month. Please do leave a comment let me know what you think of my efforts.