New Year Party 2006

What a great time we had! Asked by one of the finer hotels of the city to create the decor for a their 2006 New Year's Party was a thrilling experience. The theme was 'Wild Flower Garden'. Three other friends and I worked hard day and night for 3 weeks on all the props. A cave entrance for the D.J console painted white to glow under the neon lights, 50 large and fluorescent hand painted fabric flowers..
...12 plaster of Paris mushroom stools, 6 grass cutouts..
...1 hand painted wooden tree, 2 white picket fences and a lot of extra details is what made up this fantasy. Was the party a success?..sure did look like it!

Linocut

Linocut is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for the relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped chisel or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed. The cut areas can then be pulled from the backing. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller (called a brayer), and then impressed onto paper or fabric. The actual printing can be done by hand or with a press.
For more information on this process check this site:
www.fimp.net/howtomakealinocut.html
The prints were done in 2005-06 at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath

Intaglio

Intaglio printmaking techniques - engraving, drypoint, etching, aquatint, stipple, mezzotint.

These are the 3 techniques I mainly worked in:

Engraving
Engraving is the oldest and most common of the intaglio techniques. Lines are cut into a metal plate using a tool called burin or graver. After the process of incising lines has been finished, the plate is inked. Then the surface of the plate is cleaned and only the ink in the incised lines is left. A dampened paper is put on the plate. With the paper being pressed firmly against the plate, it absorbs the ink left in the lines.

Etching
For etchings the plate is first covered with an acid-resistant wax or resin ground. Then the image is incised into the wax or resin layer with an etching needle. Finally the plate is dipped into acid. The acid bites into the exposed lines where the wax or resin was removed. These acid-bitten areas hold the ink.

Aquatint

Aquatint is a special form of etching. It is created by etching sections rather than lines of a plate. First a porous ground of powdered or melted resin or asphalt or a similar ground is dusted onto the plate. Next the plate is heated from below and as a result the applied dusty coat adheres to the metal and is acid-resistant. The acid is spread over the plate and bites into the tiny holes left in the coating. Similar to mezzotint, aquatint is a technique to produce prints with the effect of printing rather whole areas than just lines. Typical for acquatint are the finely dotted areas.

These prints were done in 2007 at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.

Lithography

These are some of my lithograhy prints, done at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in 2006-07.


The Basic Idea:The essence of the technique is the affinity of oil for oil and the repulsion of oil and water.
Stone lithography was invented in 1798, and it was the first new printmaking technique to emerge in about 300 years. Stone lithography became very popular as a medium by the 1830s. People used stone lithography to create color art for books, as well as for more pedestrian things like labels, flyers and posters.
Stone lithography's popularity with artists came about because it was the first printmaking medium to allow the artist to naturally "paint" or "draw" onto a flat stone (limestone) to create an image. The artist creates the work directly and naturally.

The basic idea used in stone lithography is extremely simple:

• The artist draws/paints on the stone with a greasy substance. For example, a litho crayon is a soft waxy/greasy crayon. There are also litho paints and pencils. The stone picks up this greasy substance and holds it.
• The stone is moistened with water. The parts of the stone not protected by the greasy paint soak up the water.
• Oil-based ink is rolled onto the stone. The greasy parts of the stone pick up the ink, while the wet parts do not.
• A piece of paper is pressed onto the stone, and the ink transfers from the stone to the paper.

For more information about the technique and process check this site: http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/stone-lithography2.htm

Art on a bottle

It's so much fun to find things that we usually discard and intead bring out their artistic potential.. it really gets creative juices flowing.. I guess we could term it 'Creative Re cyling'.. you feel a sense of pride as you see ordinary things transformed..
Something new to think about:

• Artists add life to an otherwise dull looking world.
• God knows the importance of art, He would have created and painted everything the same otherwise.
  

Words that describe

These are words that I feel describe my art style and the direction I would like to perfect myself in. I find is so helpful to simplify what might seem confusing. I looked at other artist's work and wrote down what I connected with or what made me go 'wow'. It made it more clear to me what I was passionate about and what made me go 'wow' about my own art.

The St.Mark's Cathedral Mural

What an honour for my friend Shireen and I to be able to create a mural for the new Community Hall to celebrate St.Mark's Cathedral's 200years! We have both grown up in this church and being close friends for so many years this was a special project for us. We began by sketching the church outline onto the wall...
.... next came hard labour, chiselling off the wall plaster to get to the rough brick surface(a great way to release any frustration btw) so that the tiles would fix in well. Shireen then manually broke the strips of tile for us to create the mosaic outline, we then fixed in each tiny piece with cement, reworking parts till it reached perfection. We then filled the inbetween parts with plaster and painted it white to match the rest of the wall.
.... two months later, a few pounds lighter and with a new found respect for each other's talent and patience, we were lovingly polishing our completed, very modern and classy looking, 6x11ft + 2 trees,black and grey mural that will hopefully be around for the next 200 years! It was great to start our careers by doing a little something for God who has, well, given us more than just a little something.
What was our biggest reward? While on a break overhearing a little boy stop to gaze in amazement and say "Wow, it must have a million pieces!".... hmm sure did feel like it!

Pop Portrait

Portrait of my sister, done in 2006 for her birthday, of course I feel I can do it better now, but I do like how it turned out, it has a 'hard' modern look and I really like how striking black and white can be and I know she likes black and white a lot as well, it really stands out against her orange wall! I do appreciate realistic portraits but I personally feel that an artistic twist on reality adds to the uniqueness of the piece, the artist's style should show through. So, this above is my acrylic Pop art version of my gorgeous sister, below is the reference photo.
I think she likes how it turned out as well!

This gets me going creatively..

I really find this so helpful. It really helps to read quotes and words that you believe in. Adding an artistic touch like just a splash of colour makes it look even more pleasing. I love collecting quotes that motivate me or just making my own quotes for things I strongly believe.
The first quote I found and I feel it gives me lisence to play artistically as sometimes I want things to turn out just so perfect as I see in my head (even though it's just for me) that I end up not being creative at all. I have learnt now that most times 'imperfection is perfection'!
The second is a quote I made for myself to help me workwise. I am my worst critic and so this helps me fine tune my work till i'm pleased..instead of wasting time thinking "should I, shouldn't i" i just do it, otherwise it's like a small itch that never seems to go away!

Art Journal peeks..

Art Journaling has really become the foundation from where I create all my other artwork. It is so freeing to be able to let go, not care what anyone thinks, make a mess with colour and be totally satisfied at the end of it. It's all about the process of creating, playing. It's so rewarding to go back to these pages for inspiration (colour combinations, layout, medium, technique). It is so therapeutic and enriching after a stressful day. I don't think you need to be an artist to art journal. There's no one to judge you here. I think everyone should try it. Even just filling pages with words that mean something to you with a stoke of colour or bits of gift wrap paper. It really opens your mind and frees your soul.

Texture and Colour..delicious!

A peek at what I'm working on currently.

Soul Art

I want my artwork to speak to your soul. My intention is to create art that makes you think. Deep thoughts and emotion reflect in each piece. My depictions are mainly people centered. I love combining unusual patterns and texture. I use mediums like pastels, crayons, thick acrylic paint. I love the impact of black and white for some images as much as I love bold colours for others.

My inspiration is drawn from the journey of life, experiences and reactions to it, be it spiritual, personal or worldly. The end result is Truth painted on a canvas that speaks to the soul; very often it is an unexpected result which teaches me something new. I obsess over anything artistic, creative and unique. My prayer is for God to use my hands as His paintbrushes to create art that serves a purpose, as I strongly believe art is good for the soul!