Universe at your feet

The idiom generally means if everything is going well and the future looks full of opportunity, you have the world or Universe at your feet! and then we have His footprints for Janmashtami drawn to show His arrival... the world full of opportunity and at our feet!

I was looking at other idioms on feet, atleast the positive ones.. land on our feet, find your feet, light on your feet, get your feet wet.. they all make me relate them to Krishna in some way!

My creed

                 

 

               

   

One in Many - Pointillism

Bharati triggered the thought.. (one of many to be truthful, she is like my muse now.. if you see a sudden increase in my Krishnas you know it is because of her!)

Seeing One in many - what better than Pointillism to prove the theory of vedanta! The dots all become Him..

Pointillism takes advantage of the way our eyes work with our brains. It is just a matter of tuning..

This was a quick sketch using my acrylic paint pens.

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