THE MYSTIC SHIVA

After working on the colourful antique cloth hanger, its vibes seems to catch up everyone who admires it!
So was Samyucktha, trapped by its positive vibes.
A good friend of mine , she wanted me to paint her  old book rack in the same way as the cloth hanger.
At first i had no idea what it would be like, but when i saw the book rack it totally kickstarted my creativity.
It had its own features and great wooden carved designs.
In a single word "ETHNIC"




















I was so conscious starting up with it, as it had its own beautiful designs and carvings.
Anything that we work on it shouldn't spoil its earlier grace.
And so, i asked her about her interests and that's when the interest evolved to an concept.
As her family has a common passion for books and reading, she also fell under that branch.
At  that time,her favourite book series was the "SHIVA TRILOGY" by Amish.

So the bell ringed at my heart !!!
I started the work by reading the series completely and yes i travelled into the deep tales of Mahadev becoming enlightened.
The idea was to put the storyline onto the bookrack.
There were two flaps that can be folded when needed, and the base can be slided enough to create the length needed.
Perfectly designed in wood and flexible.
The book rack was conceptualized as a book within itself.
According to the plot of the series the main characters are,
Shiva , Sati , Ganesha and Kali.
The front flaps was dedicated to Shiva and Sati while the rear side was adorned with Ganesha and Kali.

Each of the sides took a lot of thinking and many elements were needed to describe the character.

One of the best part that i loved was finding some appropriate verses from the book

and wrote it in the silhouette of the character describing it as Sati!

I depicted the silhouette as Sati praying on Mahadev filled with water world and peacocks on either side.

Next was Lord Shiva the NEELKANTH!
I conceptualized him with a blue  shimmering silhouette, at the backdrop of handwritten book verses.
Beneath him is the Ganga matha flowing under the lord's glory, serpents around.
The majestic mystic symbol Aum on both the sides,which plays the most important role in the book.
And never can one forget Nandi dev and he adornes the bottom edge.

What took me by awe is the way the flaps were carved and the way the elements matched perfectly to it!

The ganges, elephants and the serpents looked as though it was meant to come up on this bookrack.

Kali matha, the most powerful goddess was conceptualized with the iconic silhouette of four hands and skulls  beaded around her neck.
It represents the dark world of Nagas according to the plot.
Serpents and heads of humans fitted perfect onto the design.
Abstract tiger at her feet and the powerful mantra, OM NAMA SHIVAYA at the end completes it.

Ganesha the saviour , with the elephant head and a human body was conceptualized abstract with his vehicle mouse.
Elephants adorning him with flowers, he showers his blessings!!!

The base of the book rack was designed with the important landmark Meluha.
Map of meluha on one side  and the symbols and artifacts collected  from the Indus valley civilization
covers the rest of the base.

 Here is the completed book rack fitted all together ready to tell its story.

This was one of the detailed and large scale handpainted wooden antique i had the blessing to work on!!
Not without the Neelkanth's blessings.
OM NAMA SHIVAYA!!!!

Love and lights to all!!!

THE KRISHNA SERIES- THE UNCONSCIOUS BEGINNING

 “ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT”

My next commissioned work was a classic beautiful cloth hanger.

It had its own artistic designs of elephants as its hooks and was around 60years old.

Initial process took a lot of effort,as it had a strong old green paint all over it.

When the cloth hanger was made into a new canvas ready to work on,finding a concept was the next step.

I bumped upon my old books once,and when i was looking at a  book called "FESTIVALS"which  had been given as an award during my fifth grade, a clear spark ignited the concept.

It was LORD JAGANNATH, LORD SUBHADRA AND LORD  BALRAM.

The energy inside them paved the creation of the cloth hanger's concept.

LORD JAGANNATH,SUBHADRA AND BALRAM  IN THE CENTRE DEPICTING THE SHRINE

VASUDAIVA KUDUMBAKAM - world is my family

I wanted to paint the whole cloth hanger with a twist of contemporary elements embedded within the traditional setup of the cloth hanger.

 So, the centre of the wooden cloth hanger was visualized as the shrine filled with light and divinity.

Left side of the hanger was visualized as a common man house filled with elements of celebration and joy.

Right side of the wooden cloth hanger was visualized by scenic potrayal of the city overflowing with divinity and search for blessings -Puri, Orissa

As a whole,it depicts Celebration, Joy , Happiness and purity metaphored by Lord Jagannath's 

identity

The elephants were given a contemporary twist,one of the faces had pop art,while the other side of the face was designed traditional.

Lanterns, lamps,decorated pots,flowers,thoranas make a common man's soul lighted and happy

The city flourishes by the energy of the god and people climb towards  the ladder of divinity through unity amongst themselves.

Even the back side of tthe cloth hanger was adorned with motifs and represents the same colourful theme.

The whole gratitude of this work goes to Lord Jagannath!!
Let this world be the place of light and happiness!
Love and light to all!!!

Here is the Rapunzel.....

Doll making is an another great creative field of interest to me that i accidentally bumped upon!
It so happened , i got some air dry clay and was experimenting to make a memorable gift for my lovely best buddy.
From our childhood, we believed in fairy tales and yes even now we do!
She was theoretically called as rapunzel and so,i wanted to make a rapunzel doll for her.
Here are the few advantages and precautions while using air dry clay.
Air dry clay is super easy to work upon, you can mould to any shapes and work on details.
You  just need to bind it with water and let it dry!
No kiln process needed,which is definitely a boon.
Only precaution is to never leave your left over airdry clay exposed to air.
It becomes super hardened when exposed to air!!

                                       After hardening,the princess is ready for the day!!

                               
                                               Here is the Rapunzel ,all set for the ball

Basking out in the sun!!!

In the castle!!!

So folks,experiment with all you can!!!

And ofcourse my rapunzel loved her avatar the most!!!

Love and lights to all!!!

WOOD AWESOMENESS!!!

My first commissioned work was the true opportunity that invented my passion for art,to pursue it as a part of my life.

When working for an social history project, the architect whom i was working for was shifting her house. 

Once when i saw her wooden decor items, i expressed my dream of painting those and giving a new life to it.

She gave the most welcoming smile and handed me those treasurous wooden items.

I had butterflies in my stomach and was equally excited to do it.

I stared at the wooden ink stand for few nights and was researching on ways to work on the medium.

I just sat with her and got all the history buried inside it.

It was a very emotional and valuable antique wooden decor used by her grandfather and was used before 85 years.

The initial process of making the wooden ink stand ready for the makeover!

As it was very old,it had to be dismantled carefully and dusted enough and rubbed enough with sandpaper to  remove the old varnish.

This was the final finished product binding all the qualities of her grandfather with the vinatge look.

An illusion of pens was created on the base of the stand

                                        Signature of the person was embedded with the date

Base of the wooden ink stand was conceptualized with putting the coined tamil words of her grandfather.

                      Inside was the added vintage look,with letters, address and the stamps

 Thus,the tale of wood started!!!
Love and light to all!!