DIY TUTORIAL- KALI MAATHA

Here is my first DIY tutorial about airdry clay dolls.

I really don't want to give you all a big shopping list and steps listed out as one,two ..

Lets make the DIY creative rather making it as a blind instruction and so I hopefully believe  that at the end of the article I would have made your creative zest boosted up!!

BASIC MATERIALS

First and foremost grab on some airdry clay if you already have one or you can find it in the stores who sell art/craft supplies or just reserve it online.

This is the airdry clay I had been using for years together whenever am inclined to create a doll.

This costed Rs.150 and the usage depends on the size of the dolls. One can make around three or four smaller dolls or two bigger ones comfortably.

Go on a scavenger hunt and pick out some toothpicks,needles,tissues and anything you feel handy for your project.

CONCEPT

When I had the thought of making an air dry clay doll of Goddess Kali , abstract shapes flashed onto my inner mind.

So,I tried experimenting with shapes and combining them to characterize Maa Kali.

You can find the illustration below explaining the form of the concept.

THINKING HAT TASK 

What is your favourite character or anything that you longed to make it yourself ?

Is it the glossy superhero doll that you wanted to buy but walked away with a sad face!

Is it the Rapunzel doll you so badly wanted to have one for yourself!!

Or wondering to gift your loved ones something special!!

GO AHEAD!!NOTHING CAN STOP YOU!

HANDY TIP 1: While working on the airdry clay eventhough you dont need any other glue to stick the parts,it depends on the complexity of your doll.

• You can use toothpicks or pins to secure head onto the body and use one drop of  Feviquick/Flexiquick/Fevicol or anything that sticks firm onto the surface that has to be joined.
• If your airdry clay has dried out,dont panic!! Get a bowl of water and put the clay inside it for a night or a full day.
• For working on finer details you can use anything that your comfortable with; such as toothpicks,bell pins,safety pins or any sharp tools etc

After the Kali maa had dried out completely, I added some colours to her avatar.

Bright primary colours with a tinge of gold made her body glow.

I abstracted the lion completely with yellow and blue combo!

As kali maa's unique identity is her face and the blue shaded fierce body I painted them as such.

THOUGHTFUL TIP 1 :Whatever geometrical avatar you had chosen to work on, remember to incorporate the elements properly without distorting the cultural/social identity of the selected theme.

For eg, Kali maa need not necessarily be slender and fierce, so I abstracted her body and face but the elements like lion,objects in her hands,colour of the skin etc should not be forgotten.

HANDY TIP 2: While working on details like hair its better to paint them separately and attach them later because if u paint it aftermath it creates a mess onto the other areas.

You also get coloured air dry clay wherein you can mix them or use them directly without painting.

Now my Kali maa seems to be ready shining at her best!!!

I used toothpick to work on the eyes and mouth but as mentioned earlier you can use anything that you are comfortable and confident on working with !

I added some stones to decorate her dress and throne which adds more bliss to it.

After completing her final looks I varnished her completely and here is the Divine Goddess Kali Maa!!!

So what are you waiting for!!

Shoot up your imagination wild and create your happiness!

Please do post your pictures of the doll here and also drop in your queries anytime here.

Love and Lights to all!!!!

NAVRATHRI FESTIVE GALA - LAKSHMI MATHA

Navrathri festive is on!!!
Nine days of tribute and dedication to the divine goddess,celebrating the happiness and igniting our souls with the divine energy happens with the flow.
As a part of adding some creative energy to the eve,I wanted to create the Goddess Lakshmi in a new avatar.
Getting back the materials on board I started with the framework.

After browsing on many pictures of Lakshmi matha I decided to make her abstract and rest her golden feets on the divine lotus.

The final finished posture of the divine goddess with the symbolic golden coins flooding over the lotus petals.

As she was bored with her classic saree I decided to give her a retro makeover with a pulled back ponytail adorned with the golden throne.

Here we go, presenting the Goddess of Wealth and prosperity "LAKSHMI MATHA" blessing you all straight from your computer screen
Make a wish and chant,
                       "Om Hrim Shrim Lakshmibhyo Namah"
                                           

Have a blissful Navrathri!!!Love and lights to all :)

THE KRISHNA SERIES- PART 2

The spiritual journey isn't so difficult,until you fall in love with it and express it through the forms u love to! 

It seeks you,indeed its true.

Today am gonna share with you one such experience,on my creative spiritual journey.

As a part of the exhibition,I had to make some time to do more products and also creative ones.

I bought some wooden sticks of about 10cms long and stared blindly for many days to start with it.

Finally sticking onto one idea,I decided to create three themes.

The common factor in all the themes,who remains unchanged  is Lord Krishna.

After the initial works with the wooden pieces ,each of the sides were designed to be aesthetically flexible.

One side had a mischevious Krishna with Sudhama, godly presence with  Meerabhai and the romantic lover with  Radha in each of the sticks.

Each of the sticks had a appropriate handwritten quote taken from Srimad Bhagavatham along with a peacock feather on one side.

So the choices can be made easy!

Pick one for your friend,you have Krishna and Sudhama.

It can be used in multiple ways.

Hang it up inside your car, your house niches or walls or the most simpler you can use it as a bookmark or just place it on your desk.

Go by your heart,place it wherever it needs to.

With so much hopes and high spirits I reached the exhibition venue after the busy college.

Like a small kid I remember showing my products and explaining it to all my lovely colleagues enthralled by the vibes.

It was an amazing event and before us were many other stalls selling jewellery,clothes and obviously food. 

Me and my friend arranged all our Krishna products, books and some goodies.

After a couple of shutterbugs :p we got in some visitors.

We had all kind of visitors mainly kids.

The only surprising visitor was a ten year old kid who inspected all my products with grace.

He asked me too many questions even an elder wouldn't ask.

What is it, what is the meaning,where is the quote from...!!

Very sweet of him to read out each tiny quotes and asked me the meaning.

The best compliment I got ever was from that tiny kido,saying me its very nice and very meaningful.

It became nearly late and close to the end of the function, and still none turned out to buy any of our products,not even a small frisbee of cost Rs.20 that attracted many kids.

Turning to my side I could see my friend equally disappointed,incase she had bought boxes of books and goodies.

End of the day we realized few things!!!

My friend gave out a spiritual perspective stating that  Krishna wanted her to experience even non-devotees .

When I saw the Krishna smiling in my wooden sticks,I felt greater peace and enlightment thinking of the kid's compliment which is harder to earn.

Yes Krishna even comes in a disguised form to compliment my work!!!

Love and lights to all :)