Line with Wash - Neelu is everywhere!

Neelu.. Neelakantan :) is our California scrub jay who thinks he owns our backyard. He chases away every other bird, squirrel and even cats! He keeps us entertained with his antics everyday!

Natana said he is our Krishna keeping an eye on us.

We have seen 2 of them often but it is the spirit we call as Neelu. He is everywhere, ubiquitous.. sarvavyaapee! And so I added Neelu to all the sketches/paintings.

In my previous post I had posted the ink drawing of some sketches of the backyard. I filled it with wash and the effect is interesting!

The sketch of Buddha on our bird bath is an experiment. I tried giving it the effect of the sprinkler running and so the white and grey drops all over the painting.

I could do more of the backyard sketches as there is endless subjects and changes by season!

I wonder if I liked the ink by itself or with the wash.. you?

Line without wash - Monk's garden

One may ask what did I do during the lock-down days. It seems like only work and more work...Work and Home have blended together these days and I seem to be working in my corner more and more. The only advantage is my side desk with my art stuff and a window. I have been recently interested in Line and Wash technique and as I was searching for a subject, I just had to look out of the window. Monk's garden - Ram's pride and joy :)





I took some pictures and started sketching them with pencils and then used my micron pens to layer over it. My lines are not neat and my shading is hasty. But i liked the black and white much that I am posting them here before I add the watercolors.

The first is our shed with my Buddha painting. The second is the Ganesha centerpiece - George's gift. The third is our adirondack chairs and you can see the shed in the far top left. I have more pictures that I can work on.. so this space will get updated.

I will also be adding the watercolors to these and this will change .. but then that is another post.

Lock-down diaries!

Taming a Lion

A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.. Mark Twain.

Confidence has not been an issue with me but Lions can be daunting when it comes to paint them (and yes, even to face them!). I had chosen watercolors as the medium. As my painting evolved, it looked nothing like the original but I loved mine better. I had tamed the lion!

Watering the Flowers with Colors

 I haven't worked with watercolors much. I decided to force myself to try this medium by subscribing to Lets Make Art where they mail 4 assignments every month. The Iris on the right was an assignment with a YouTube video to follow through. It opened the doors, well floodgates almost. The other 3 on this post are my experiments - all water on water and the finale was to adorn Krishna's feet.. what else would a flower desire beyond that!

Churning of the Cosmos

It started with one canvas.. one ripple.. it got me thinking what could have caused the ripple. A drop of water.. one from many drops when the water was thrashing as Lord Krishna was dancing on Kaliya's head! And so I painted the next canvas with more ripples and the next had to have Kaliya to tell my story. If you see carefully, you will Krishna Himself.

And this is the churning of the Cosmos.

Feeling the Blues..

Everyday I feel His grace in many ways..To touch His hands and turn blue and unlimited....

 

Avatar 8.5

Avatar 8.5 was what my brother named this painting. At first I thought it was to do with the characters in the Avatar movie but then I realized it is Krishna (avatar 8) becoming Buddha (avatar 9) Mind-blowing ..I loved the name!! I had to paint the concept of Buddha playing the flute like Krishna but he is Krishna being meditative like Buddha. I worked this in acrylics and it evolved over 2 weeks. I added the lotus for Buddha and debated about adding a peacock feather and did not.. maybe at a later date.

Spot the Buddha

An experiment with my paint brush and acrylic paints as I went with the spotting/dotting with the colors. I found later that ear-buds work better for this :) a little late..

The bright colors just popped up and even without painting the background, I think this worked for a Buddha.

I have found that Buddha and Ganeshas are most forgiving on all art experiments.

And a year just passed.. or did it?

Appa's pencil sketch of himself

Yesterday marked a year since Appa left for his heavenly abode. April 4.

Whether Time is relative or Time is absolute or Time is an illusion.... I look back and think it is 2017 now. where did the time go?? Without going into cosmology, science or spirituality, I can close my eyes and think about him; smile at the fun moments we have shared and know that I am a part of him always. So the clocks can tick, calendars can change, time may fly or halt, I can always remember him.

An interpretation of a Mira Bhajan!

jhUlat rAdhA sanga Giridhar jhulat rAdha sanga

rAdhA is swinging with krishNA during the festival of hOli with carefree abandon!

When I heard Natana sing this bhajan for the first time, my mind was absorbed in this image of Radha swinging by herself! Krishna is implied as He is always with her, in her! So a sketch evolved of her swinging on His flute! As always Rumi fit in so well!

"Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They are in each other all along" - Rumi

abIr gulA kI dhUm macchAyI bhar pickArI rang giridhar
lAl bhayI brndAvan jamunA kE sar cUvat rang giridhar

Filling her syringe with red colored water, she makes a lot of joyous noise and squirts water
everywhere esp. on krishNA and the gOpis play so much with the colored water that yamUnA turns red!!

My imagination soared as He played holi with Radha through the rain! she is drenched in blue (Krishna's color!)  and it turns red as it hits the ground :)

"All my feelings have the color you desire to paint" - Rumi

nAcat tAl adhAr surabar dhimi dhimi bhAje mrdang Giridhar

The cymbals dance as they keep rhythm while melodious music issue from tender lips and the mrdangs play the bOls - dhimi dhimi as krishNA continue to play!

I wanted the thunder and lightening to provide the rhythm for Radha as I took her in a swirl with my pencils and erased the lightening.

"In the rhythm of music, a secret is hidden" - Rumi

mIrA kE prabhu giridhar nAgar caraNa kamal kUdAnga giridhar

Concluding verse: mIrA is amazed at the magnificence of her beloved Giridhar's compassion, the refuge at His lotus like feet!

The sketch of the mountains with His feet as a reflection was an earlier sketch in one of my pensive moments! I just added Radha to it!

"A mountain keeps an echo deep inside. Thats how I hold your voice" - Rumi

My muse my nieces

Pencil Sketches of my nieces at their Arangetrams...
It started with Meera. Meera's poise and beauty has always set her apart. There are many things about her that make me so proud - a vicarious joy in her achievements. 5 years since her Arangetram, today, she is an independent spirit pursuing her dreams in Bryn Mawr.

Her Varanam was on Krishna and that got me thinking. With Krishna in the background, nothing could go wrong! I sketched this as a surprise gift for her.

Then it was our dearest niece Vedika's Arangetram. Her every step, stance, expression is perfect! She dances like a dream! This added to the pressure on working on her sketch!

So I worked on 2 pieces for her, just in case....

Vedika's Varanam was on Lord Shiva. And so Nataraja got her back on one while the other was a close-up to highlight her beauty.

Vedika is very dear to our heart and it is a joy to watch her blossom to a fine young lady in the past couple of years. She will discover more of her inner strengths in her college years!

My most recent sketch was Divya. Divya has time for us, to talk, to let us know about her plans, about her school and make us feel part of her life. Always...

It was Krishna again...and it brought me a smile. And this time, Divya was Krishna. The Lords's feet framed her in the sketch, as He will in her life, as she takes her next step in the world. The Lord will protect this special one.

Krishna will protect my Dad

I feel the need to write this...

The past few days has given me my first-hand experience of my fundamental Hindu belief that our journey on earth is temporary while the divinity inside us is permanent. My father breathed his last, peacefully in his sleep on Monday, April 4 at 8 am. Call it intuition or whatever but my anxiety levels were high since Friday. After concerning reports of my father’s health during that week, I booked tickets to India with the intention of taking him to the hospital myself to oversee his treatment. Nothing prepared me for what I saw when I reached home on Monday afternoon. Nothing.... it was like my heart just plunged into a vacuum.

Or maybe Krishna did give me signs that I did not catch very well. After talking with Dad on the phone on Wednesday and Thursday, my prayer was a sketch of Vasudeva carrying the Lord through the rain and the rising Yamuna. The Lord realizing the pain of His father, puts His tiny feet out to quell the raging waters. KRISHNA, protect my Dad too! 

Since you don’t know him, let me tell you briefly about him, my father, through my eyes. He lived a full active life of 80 years, a principled self-made man, who lived life on his own terms. He left his hometown when he was barely 20, worked on a ship for some years, settled in Doha, established himself and retired voluntarily as the head of the then Sheikh’s travel company. He and my mother raised me and my brother with the same principles and a love that makes us who we are today, his proud children. He would write every penny he spent in his diary and tally them meticulously multiple times and lived with pride without depending on anyone. He was always the first person to help a neighbor, to write to the local newspaper on social issues and no one went empty handed who knocked on our door. He has been my mother’s caregiver for the past 18 years until the last 2 years when he found himself with stage 3 Prostrate Cancer with bone mets. The last 4 months had been particularly difficult with multiple fractures but he did not worry us with his pain and discomfort, always sounding cheerful on the phone. He took care of his personal needs to his last day and even sorted my mother’s medicines, repaired her reading glasses and had his milk, rested his head on the pillow and left knowing that I will be home in a few hours to take care of mother. He left with a dignity that makes my Dad, my Dad.

We have rituals ordained by our scriptures for 13 days which they say is for my father’s soul’s passage but I feel it is more for us, the living, to reflect on life. Relatives and friends rallied around us for those days and whether we are orthodox or not, the customs and Sanskrit chanting have been cathartic. My brother and I made a road trip to my father’s hometown with his ashes as it was his wish that we immerse it in the Arabian Sea. Back to the 5 basic elements. 

Ganesha thanks those helped the cause!

More Zentangles of Ganesha and this time I doodled them as thank yous for those who helped with our 5th year of RFL! This is an addiction now, as I can sit with Sharpies and my sketch book and go on for days. I have more in the works....