Tribal Art

A city can be famous for various industries which thrive in it - be it fashion, finance, films, food, the people, tourism - so on and so forth. But in India, in the state of Karnataka, there lies a city known as Channapatna which is solely on the map for its wooden toys! This city's toys are so famous that indeed there would be no child in Karnataka who has grown up without playing with these toys :) The toys are wooden, completely non-toxic, even the colors are vegetable dyes. You can find more information here and here.

 

Equally famous is the tribal art known as Warli Paintings from central India. These paintings are very attractive and can light up any wall or room.  I purchased a cute looking time piece inspired by this art.

Closer home, my Little Miss has been very busy painting on her own. A first of sorts, a look at her collection :)



What fun we will have if she also gets creative with time and age!

I also have been quite happy with my hooky progress made on the granny stripe blanket. Have completed 48 stripes that it 96 rows and colorfully, happily, hookily smiling at it :))

Here's my "on-his-own" infant, who was just soo recently not even able to sit. Now he is almost walking all over the house, climbing, pulling and being as active as a bee!! Here he is in various stages of pulling off the blanket for himself ;)

This is when i actually get some time, when the little ones are sleeping and time is still with me. The Me time. A rarity in this part of the world. But hey! no complains - I am enjoying every minute of this journey with all the wonderful art and hook to keep me company....

Past Forward - Part 2

Its been a busy week with visiting friends and family. Having a great time, eating yummy home food, long talks with people who really mean to me. Blissful holiday i must say!!

Coming back to my previous paintings, the below one is "Fall Wonder" in which I have tried to capture the colors of Fall through my favorite Maple leaves.

The best part of this painting is the paper on which it is done, handmade recycled white sheet. We get a lot of such fantastic paper in Bangalore, India and at a very good price.

 

Glass painting also had captured my attention for a while. Would love to resume it. Only thing is glass painting is not a good choice for people with small children. If your painting drops the whole house is covered in glass shreds!!

 

At this stage i really truly am missing my Nikon. What a click it would have been with it!!! Sigh!!!

Quilling also is a really fun thing to do. Best part of this is it gets over real quick. You can make amazing things with it like photo frames, pen stands, wall decor, scrap booking, cards and the list is endless..

My crochet hook has been busy with my granny-stripe blanket. Am on my 34th stripe now. I am waiting to reach the end as i have a good plan for the border ;)

Today me and my girl are visiting the local craft market. Will be back with loads of snaps and hopefully some good stash!!

Past Forward - Part 1

Good old school and collage days! One is without the constant worries of raising children, without the need to attend to daily household chores, without the hassles of an income providing job. Yes, you do have exams and competition to live with, but i would trade them any day for my terrible two's darling :) But life does go on, does not stop at any stage or at any person. It is in the present that one must live because only then will you give your 100% to each day.

Well as i am in my mom's house i thought of capturing all the art and craft i have done. These pieces were done when i was a stranger to the Internet and when i had ample free time. When everything was taken care of by my parents and the only thing i had to do was study/eat/play and any other thing which kept me out of trouble!!

This is done using simle satin stitches. The only thing it needs is patience. I was quite fond of this and did it with lot of attentioning to details. Feel good and relaxed when I look at it.

Modern art had caught my fancy for a very brief while. The below painting is of Lord Ganesha, who is considered the giver of Knowledge and Wisdom. His trademark sweet offerings is also visible. The flowers used to worship Him are done using Block Printing from blocks i had picked up on a visit to Mount Abu in Rajasthan.

Red poppies are one of my favourite flowers. This painting was done one random night when i was totally bored and needed some color to brighten up my mood.

 It now adorns a wall in my parents house :)

Another painting or rather a sketch is the Trees below. I had real fun doing this one.

Seeing all these paintings makes me want to take up a brush and paints again. It is immensely relaxing and calming to paint. With every stroke of the brush magic can be created.

Comming back to my current crochet project, a few updates here. I have followed Lucy's Granny Stripe Blanket. The pattern is here. I am having loads of fun chosing the colors for this. Every new stripe gives me the a new color rush - literally. Since this is a gift i am not putting up the entire piece here but just a teaser ;)

A happy Sunday to all and hoping that everyone's life is very colorful!

More paintings and art work in my comming posts :)))