The Moonlit Night

Yesterday, as I was watching TV late into the night my area experienced a power cut, quite out of the blues. The power cuts are few and far between since quite a few years now. Usually, the power cut is in a particular lane leaving the rest of the area lit. So I was quite petrified when I could simply see NOTHING. What was this 'nothing'supposed to mean? Why wasn't any light whatsoever coming into my house so that I could at least find my way to the next room to get the torch? I was quite baffled!

I started groping in the dark, not sure where my mobile phone was. Finding my way would have been easier even with the dim light of the phone, in fact ANY light would have been a messiah to me in those moments of eerie darkness. I  groped my way to the cupboard(mercifully, without any head bangs =)) and after some more frantic efforts I did manage to find my 'priceless' torch. With the light from the torch leading my way, and my confidence back in place,  it was now time to assess the situation. I reached the room facing the main street and to my utter surprise it was a TOTAL BLACK OUT!!

Can you experience a total black out with only the silhouettes of the nearby buildings and trees in sights, and I am asking the city-souls? The day you do, bless your stars. The black out turned out to be the perfect backdrop for the full moon. I had almost forgotten the intensity of the moon light until I experienced it all over again yesterday. The soothing light filled the part of my room with radiance I had never experienced before in my own house. The black and white visuals of shade and ligth seemed almost surreal. I just sat there soaking in the radiance before the white of the moon would be replaced with the dim of the street lights. For the first time, even in the heat of the summer, I did not wish the lights to come back soon. I thanked God for keeping me awake to experience that moment =).  The eeriness of the night was quickly forgotten by the heavenly light from up above.

I often get reprimanded for staying up late. But it is these nights when God paints his canvas like never before that its all worth staying up for. And all I can say is....He is one hell of an artist!!!...the one who can evoke strong emotions with his 'black and whites'...

Preliminary Work

After a few glitches, I finally managed to get the right techniques on the right surface with the right mediums for the window mural to the delight of my friend(and hence, to mine too =)). Now, all we need to do is wait for the materials to arrive before we start our work.

There are always discussions and assumptions when we first try to paint new surfaces based on our past and visual experiences. However, the 'real' challenges only surface after the preliminary work.

Many a times, the 'assumed and imagined' challenges do not even exist. It is the ones that have not yet been conceived of  that leaves one baffled. And I wonder, isn't it the same with our own life experiences =)

What a start! =)

A few days back I visited my friend to collect a few pieces of scrap glass to get the feel of its surface and the play of colours on it. I was pretty excited and managed to select 3 pieces. We started cleaning the dusty surfaces before I could pack them away in my safe jute bag. By the time I neatly reached the last piece, I cut my thumb. What a razor sharp edge!! It did its job in a split of a second. With the stream of blood flowing away merrily, all I could think of was BAND AID!!!!

My friend being an expert at the job, we got through with it pretty quickly and I was just about OK. In the past I have managed to put back together the big toe of a man which had split into half while the rest of the people moved around in daze waiting for the medical help to arrive.  There have been a couple of other gory incidents too but I surprised myself this time when my hands started shaking at the thought of pressing down my wound with turmeric. Guess what, my friend had to do the job for me while all I could do was soothe and caress it to the amusement of everyone around me =)

When I did reach home finally, my mom aptly said..."What a start!!" ...and rightly so...and whats the take away from this experience?? ..Respect the mediums...=)...

Window Mural!

I recently got a call from a friend who wanted to paint her renovated room a little differently. She came up with the idea of painting murals on her windows leaving the walls white washed.. She obviously needed my help with that. I have never painted windows in my entire life, but I got all excited about it, because this was an opportunity to paint on a new medium alltogether. And God knows how much I have wanted to paint murals! =)

She wants to paint a series of sunrise and sunsets over 7 window panes lined up on one side of the wall. The room will be her workshop and the windows will break the usual monotony of the work space.

So the work is in progress. As we get the act together, will keep you'll posted on this wall. Keep coming back for more!

A passing thought...

I am still a toddler in this world of blogs =). But I can say I am quite impressed with the means now available to communicate with the world at large with the bare mininum of a computer, an internet connection and a decent keyboard. One of my dear friends, Gandha, asked me if I write daily and it struck me, why not?? I had started with the plan of writing the thoughts and stories that go behind each painting. But then, isnt everyday a journey, with or without a painting? Isn't the work-in-progress a journey in itself? One never know when a beautiful idea or a thought may strike. Doesnt it get better with sharing?

Since the answers are in the affirmative to all the questions I have asked myself, I intend to write as often as it comes to me, if not daily =)

Many thanks to my dear friend. We live in the web of ideas, constantly moving in and around them, some catch us, some simply drift away making space for new ones. As they say, the ideas and possibilities are infinite. I have somewhere doubted that, but then I call it 'lack of experience'. Thousands of years of history of creation and evolution only affirms it. There is a lot to be experienced yet =)

Sathya Sai Baba - A tribute to my Guruji

This is the sketch of Sathya Sai baba as most of us would know of him. He resides in Puttaparthy. This sketch was given away with love and respect to my Guruji who decoded the Bhagwad Gita for me. I also had the priviledge of listening to various other texts which would have been nearly impossible for me to have understood had it not been for his efforts.

When I could continue no longer, it was time to offer my Guru-dakshina as the tradition goes in Guru-Shishya parampara. He would not accept any token of gratitude in kind so I decided to sketch him a picture of  baba. He has faith in him and hence I could not think of anything  better than this to thank him with.

He was pleaased with the sketch but he mistook it for a photograph. On being told it was sketch, in almost disbelief he took a closer look(perhaps, a critical one =)). To my relief he could relate to all of the fine details of baba's facial features and was pleased with the work. The best compliment comes when people can identify  for eg. 'the small cut on the upper lip' or 'a minor scar on the right brow' of the people they have known and loved. He brought those details to my notice and I thanked God for not having missed out any =)

That day I realised the importance of every small details that goes to make the face of the person. Not just from the technical point of view but the character it adds to the face and the way their near and dear ones ralate to it.

So, that was the story behind this sketch. God bless my Guruji for his immense love and blessings that he has always showered upon me on my spiritual journey. For showing the faith in me at the time when I had none in myself to understand our great texts. For not discriminating against a fresher like me with no substantial background in the scriptures and allowing me to enjoy the journey. Without their interpretations those scriptures would remain simply in archives.

Ocean

This is one of my favourite paintings. This also happens to be painting with acrylic paints. This medium challenges me the most when it comes to blending different shades for realistic rendering of the subject. But this medium also helps to complete paintings in the shortest possible time with better practice.

I love beaches and they hold a very special place in my heart. They invariably soothe tense nerves and make happy moments more happier to say the least. Since I have lived closer to beach all my life I cannot even begin to imagine my life without it.

This painting sat proudly in my dining room, after I framed it, for a short while to gather some reactions from the visitors to my place. It was the first one to welcome anyone into my house staring at them as soon as they made way into the living room. I have used oil paper for its base which invariably made people think that it was a framed poster and they passed by without saying a word. In that lied the compliment for my work =). I enjoyed their reactions the most when they realised that it was indeed a painting. Those were truly my good moments!

Every medium and base has its own beauty!!

Ganpati

This painting was a commission too for the same friend for the same reasons. For this painting I had the reference of a beautiful greeting card. I changed the colour scheme to my liking and went about completing it within the deadline.

This was a completely new style for me and hence challenging. The textures, the bold strokes almost forced me to be more confident while working on this subject. Every painting challenges me to live upto its true worth. And each time there is something new to learn from it.

It can be said without exaggerating that learning is a never ending process.

Mahatma Gandhi

This painting was a commission for one of my dear friends. He wanted to gift it to his professor from the university where he completed his masters. It was to be a token of love and respect and something beautifully 'Indian'. And he suggested I sketch him Mahatma Gandhi whose influence is anything but restricted to India.

I had the task to complete the sketch at a very short notice. The reference I had to work with was pretty dark and the contours of his right eye were nothing but the dark hollows. With limited time I decided to simply move on and face the challenge along the way(thats pretty much my philosophy for life!!..not necessarily the best one). As the sketch developed I gave shape to his right eye based on my understanding of how it could have been. The sketch was completed, appreciated and given away. With the passage of time I came upon a clearer picture of Mahatma Gandhi and was tempted to match it up to my work. And to my utter amazement it was pretty much what I had sketched. It made me happy.

I recenlty read an aritcle by English author Jad Adams. One of the lines that stayed with me went something like this.... "Every peace protest anywhere in the world owes its debt to Gandhi "...now who can argue with that.