The Collab Story

A couple of months back my cousin from Bangalore introduced me to a friend who had recently taken up woodworking. I contacted him and we decided to collaborate on a project. 

Last month I received two handmade boxes made by him using recycled pine wood. I sprinkled some of my creative splashes on them, and they transformed right before my eyes. From bland and boring beige, they turned into dazzling divas full of colours and whimsy, with a story hidden in the designs chosen for each box.

Here's taking you through the creative makeover of those two boxes. For more details on the makeover process, see my Instagram account @creativerumblings that carries more fun pictures and reels of the collaboration in my highlights.

For the first box that travelled back to Bangalore to its maker, I chose to paint pomegranates and lotus flowers as those motifs symbolize abundance and prosperity. 

This particular box had an unusual shape, and two small lids for its two compartments. So I chose to go with a quirky 'His and Her' depiction, painting faces on the lids.

The second box was mine to keep. Those of you who know me also know about how Nature inspires a lot of my work. So I wanted this box to be a tribute to trees, and to the ecosystem around them. After all, that is where the wood for the box came from in the first place! 

That is why all the side panels of the second box along with its hinged cover feature flora and fauna derived from my observation of trees, and the life around them.

All in all, the collab (short for 'collaboration' if you haven't figured out yet) was a fascinating experience that pushed me to try something beyond my regular painting practice. It also taught me to think of designs from a product perspective, basing my choices on the utility of the boxes. I loved how my colourful designs totally changed the look and feel of both the boxes. Looking forward to more such creative adventures!

New Series: Conversations

 

Bringing you this month my new ongoing series titled 'Conversations'. Set amidst urbanized nature, this series explores our interactions with our natural surroundings, and with other creatures of the planet. It presents my perspective on how the urban and the natural can harmoniously coexist.

Conversations - 1

This ongoing series is deeply inspired by real-life experiences. The first painting is an ode to our evening tea sessions on the terrace, where amidst the solidity of the surrounding trees and the fragility of the potted blooms, we interacted not only amidst ourselves but also with many feathered friends.

Conversations - 2

The second painting takes the interaction with the avian world a step further, focussing on a one-on-one conversation.

Both these paintings are acrylics on paper, and sized 11" x 7". Do write in at creativerumblings@gmail.com in case you wish to purchase or commission a painting.

Pond Herons At Sunset

 

I have been missing from this space for a while but I have been working in the shadows, almost through all of last month. And the results will be out for all to see soon.... there is an exciting announcement coming shortly, maybe later this month.

But for now, here's sharing the latest mixed media piece - a pond heron study I made using paper collage, some cut paper shapes, acrylic paints, and freehand pen drawing.

This piece was inspired after encountering a large bunch of pond herons while walking with the hubby at sunset one evening. That beautiful setting made me want to create an artwork to remember and revisit those moments.

Nature Journal 2020: November-December

 

January often gets to see some spillover projects from the previous year, and this year is no different. The Nature Journal 2020 project that I started last year, is finally complete. Here's a glimpse of the double spread for November-December.

November-December pages

Also, here's a quick look at the front and back covers of the Nature Journal 2020.

The front and back covers

That brings another year of nature journaling to a close. The next one will now happen in 2025! That seems so far away.... Meanwhile, hope you all enjoyed this edition. 

Click on the 'nature journal' label in the right scroll bar to see all the journal pages together (both this edition and the previous one). You can see a flip-through of Nature Journal 2020 on my Instagram.

#naturejournal2020

Nature Journal 2020: October

 

Since the Inktober challenge (see my last post) and other random things kept me occupied through last month, I had to put together the Nature Journal page for October in a rush at the end of the month.

October is the changeover season, when the summer staples are on their way out and winter seasonals are planted. In the midst of this, Shiuli or night-flowering jasmine stands out as the autumn staple.

I'm planning to do a double spread for the November-December pages of the Nature Journal. Let's see how that works out!

#naturejournal2020

Home & Safe

Here is the fourth and the last drawing from my illustration series Lockdown Freedom. This series features a creature (my signature bird in this case) who is free from the global lockdown, and leading a life doing what they please.

Even as the lockdown gets extended every few days, it is time to realise our responsibilities and minimize our outdoor adventures. For home is the best place to be; ask our birdie who finds her nest to be the coziest spot on the planet.

Since the lockdown is also about frugal living and using only the basics, this series has been painted using only the primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and their various combinations, along with just black and white.

Hope you all enjoyed this series, conceptualized and executed despite a lockdown. My takeaway from the series has been to turn crisis into something productive; to resolve to clutch on to the positives, inspite of all the negativity coming our way. For in the end, only hope floats!


#lockdownart

Over The Supermoon

This week I bring you the third painting from my new illustration series, appropriately called Lockdown Freedom. Yes, the name of the series is an oxymoron on purpose. This series features a creature (my signature bird/s in this case) who is free from the global lockdown, and leading a life doing what they please.

So did you all catch the pink supermoon last month? It was out on 07 April. Well, the moon wasn't really pink but more of a pale yellow, and hung really low on the horizon. Don't know about you but my birds definitely enjoyed it, getting soothed in its mellow yellow light. Even if you missed the last one, you can also equally enjoy the sighting of the supermoon; even in lockdown. There is another supermoon coming up on 07 May so watch out for it.

Since the lockdown is also about frugal living and using only the basics, this series has been painted using only the primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and their various combinations, along with just black and white. Watch out for subsequent paintings from the series in the coming weeks.

Stay home and stay safe. As we remain in lockdown, look for the silver lining behind the dark clouds. Appreciate being in the here and now, for the present is a gift to be cherished.

#lockdownart

Melody Central

Today being Earth Day, I had to share with you all my second painting from my new illustration series, appropriately called Lockdown Freedom. This series features a creature (my signature bird/s in this case) who is free from the global lockdown, and leading a life doing what they please. Like singing their hearts out to their own tunes.

Have you tuned in to this new music channel - Melody Central? Listen closely.... and you'll find it playing across most cities around the world. As multiple news reports have confirmed, birdsong has returned to our cities and lives, ever since the lockdown started. Well, we can also equally participate in the joy of the bird. Even in lockdown. Tune in to the nearest tree and you'll find Melody Central playing.... sometimes solo, and sometimes in orchestra!

Music being food for the soul, why not indulge in our favourite melodies during these depressing days. What better way to transport ourselves to a sweet and soothing state of mind. Since the lockdown is also about frugal living and using only the basics, this series has been painted using only the primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and their various combinations, along with just black and white.

Watch out for subsequent paintings from the series in the coming weeks. Stay home, stay safe....and stay happy! We might just be on the verge of a brand new Earth.

#lockdownart

Spring Vibes

Bringing you all the first painting from my new illustration series, appropriately called Lockdown Freedom. Yes, the name of the series is an oxymoron on purpose. This series will feature a creature (my signature bird/s in this case) who is free from the global lockdown, and leading a life doing what they please. Also, now that humans are under lockdown, these creatures definitely have more freedom.

But look carefully.... and you'll find that we can also equally participate in the joy of the bird. Even in lockdown. By celebrating the beautiful blooms of Spring amidst the clear blue skies, thanks to zero pollution.

Since the lockdown is also about frugal living and using only the basics, this series has been painted using only the primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and their various combinations, along with just black and white. Watch out for subsequent paintings from the series in the coming weeks.

Stay home and stay safe. Participate in the lockdown in the right spirit. C'mon, dear readers, let us choose to focus on the positives during this period of crisis. And yes, turn to creativity to break the monotony of the lockdown.

#lockdownart

Little Miss Sunshine

When the sun plays rookie and the chill freezes your bones, this is how folks like me warm up....

Meet 'Little Miss Sunshine' who is full of beans and frolicking under the warm sun. :)

Hope seeing her warms the cockles of your heart, as creating her warmed up mine!

Feathered Friends

This post is totally dedicated to the feathered friends who have been visiting our garden, and keeping us engaged with their antics and birdsong.

Since the days are scorching, we put out a bird bath for our little visitors. That has only added to our joy, and theirs.... as they drink, take dips, and splash around. I can never tire of seeing them, hopping all over and chirping away melodiously, even on the hottest days.

And then they inspire such artwork. Line drawing on collaged background is how I started, but every creative piece takes on a life of its own, and before you know it, one lands up adding other elements. Really like the end result. Hope you do too, dear readers.

So how are you spending the summer? Do remember to put out some water bowls for our feathered friends.

Indian Summer Series

As the cuckoos return to herald summer, enchanting us with their dulcet calls, here is bringing you my second series of paintings.... inspired by and named after, the Indian Summer.

This series celebrates the associations I have made with the summer season over the years - a riot of red gulmohars, competing with the bright yellow of perfumed laburnums; a flurry of activity amongst all our avian friends as they woo their mates, build new nests, and raise a brood; occasional dark clouds overhead as sudden gusts of wind bring in some much needed rain to soak the parched earth. These are the images I have tried to capture in this series.

My daily walks in the park made me observe the little details - like the cuckoos and crows chasing each other all over during the nesting season, the sudden appearance of the grey hornbills as their shrill calls caught our attention. Since all these activities came alive right before my eyes, so naturally they flowed out on to my artwork.

The series is still a work-in-progress, as I add more pieces to the story. However, since my pace is slow, I thought of sharing the outcomes midway.

Right now I'm finishing up the cuckoos and gulmohars, and plan to move to the hornbills and laburnums. So do keep checking back for the updated artworks.

By God's grace, two of my pieces from the series are already adorning a dear client's walls.

In sharing this series with you, I am also celebrating another achievement - of marking 10 years of this blog - a huge personal milestone for me. When I tentatively started writing Creative Rumblings, it was only meant to be an online journal of the teeny-weeny arty efforts I made around the house. But it is with nothing less than amazement that I see how it has grown over all these years.... Not only has it turned me into an artist, but it has given me the wings and the confidence to display, showcase, and sell my artwork.

So a big Thank You to all my readers, followers, and well-wishers. Your encouragement has brought me this far, and I know your good wishes will take me further. If anything from the Indian Summer series interests you, or you would like to commission something special, write to me at  creativerumblings@gmail.com and we can work up some magic together!

Birds In The Bush

Remember the painting and printing experiments I was doing a couple of months back? You can read about them here. Well, today I'll share with you the best outcome of those experiments. Something that emerged out of my random printmaking attempts and came together so beautifully. Presenting the birds in the bush...

I love how various techniques of mark-making combined to create a story of their own — right from monoprinting to stamping and masking. Love the dappled look on the bird at the top. Remember that many a times the best art comes out of what initially starts off as a mistake, but with a dash of creativity one can turn it around to something pretty.

I am now tempted to do an entire print series based on this, and already have ideas floating in my head. My instinct says this would make a great series to work on. Watch this space for updates! And write to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com if you want to own this piece or book some upcoming ones.

Avian Tales - Part 3

Remember my earlier posts on how the birds around me were getting me to whip up these little rhymes on them? You can read those posts here and here. Well, here comes more of the same...

Only this time the focus is on these creatures we discovered in our local park a few years back, and totally fell in love with. We have managed to follow their annual rituals (read hibernation and welcoming newborns), zeroed in on their favourite perches, and known how to spot them amidst dense foliage because of our sheer joy on seeing their antics.

So presenting to you all the owlie family :)

Sitting on a tree
Wild and free
We spotted these 3


Stopping by to rest
We glanced at their nest
And Junior said,
"My daddy strongest!"









Hope to bring you more tales on these feathery fellows in the coming months. 

#aviantales

Birds Don't Need Trains

Didn't I tell you I was besotted by birds? Well, here is some more avian love... My little birdie poem has been prompted by the very interesting materials that went into making the background of these mixed media pieces. Can you guess what all is in there? Read on to discover....





Birds don't need trains
Only wings
Somewhat like planes....
But birds are living things!



They choose and decide
Where to fly
And don't need schedules
Or maps to go by...










Well, the lovely background includes train schedules printed in the daily newspaper, bits of a world map from somewhere, tea-stained scrunched tissue papers, and some regular handmade paper torn from an invite.

#aviantales

Happy Thanksgiving

India has been making news globally but not always for good things. Earlier this month, the episode of the horrendous Delhi pollution that left us choked and coughing, covered in a blanket of yellow-grey smog, really made me worried about the planet we are leaving behind for the generations to come.

This is not the Earth we inherited.... then why are we ruining and vandalizing it? Do we have no responsibility towards our children; how will they survive when the very air they breathe is poisonous! 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am grateful for we still have much to be thankful for - the rising sun, the spells of rain, the growing greens, the chirping birds, and everything else that is bestowed upon us by Mother Nature.

Only, we have to learn to respect, preserve and nurture these gifts. Especially in a day and age when our kids are getting pollution holidays....

Hope you liked this gratitude postcard. You can see some of my earlier ones here.

Avian Tales - Part 1

For some inexplicable reason I'm besotted by birds and can't help drawing them endlessly. Here are some of my birdies, with their stories to boot. Hope you enjoy these....

Since I am

A thorough gentleman,

I will always carry

Flowers for my beloved.

A baby magpie

Came home one night

And slept in a shoe box

Till next morning

When it learnt to fly

And reunited with its folks.

#aviantales

Birdie Drawings

When you are open to the beauty in your surroundings, you can see magic in the smallest of things.

My bird drawings come from that place of magic and beauty.

Can you identify any of the birds? And which one is your fav?
 

Lotus Pond Series

Finally I get to bring you my first painting series - 'Life in a Lotus Pond'.... Started in the summer of 2016, this is the first time I attempted a series. What is the big deal in painting a series, you may ask.... Making paintings in a series is just meant to be an opportunity for the artist to show how one can play around with an idea, and bring it to form in different ways, while keeping the essential elements intact.

I had been wanting to paint a lotus pond for a long time but not in your usual realistic style - there were already too many of those out there. So I tried a process of layering and detailing, trying to see if I could make it all work together. I didn't want the painting to look noisy and crowded, but I was a little unsure when I started as I had not done something like this before.

As my lotus flowers progressed, I placed an owl on one of the lotus leaves.... and that is where the idea for the series took off!! I wanted to have images of lotus flowers interspersed with the various creatures that one could find in a pond.

It was meant to be a fun series, and I am so happy that that is exactly how it turned out. And then, within an year, something magical happened! I showed my paintings to a dear client-turned-friend and she immediately picked up the first 2 pieces. Next I knew, she commissioned 2 more! I was on a roll... :D

So while I am juggling some more ideas and will be working on more paintings for this series, right now 4 paintings have already found a new home...

...Even as 3 finished paintings are ready and waiting for a wall.

Do let me know how you feel about this first series of mine. There is also another series waiting in the wings but more about that in a later post. In the meanwhile, if you are keen to commission anything on these lines or pick up the available pieces, write in to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com and we can discuss options.

Flashback!

This month, last year.... was such a super busy time. I was in the midst of preparing for my very first exhibition (you can read about that here) and neck-deep in work.

As the rains poured outside, I poured out my creative designs inside. :) Here are some moments capturing the action behind-the-scenes.

Yes, that is yours truly working on multiple bottles simultaneously. Half-finished bottles and glass pieces lay strewn around on all tables at home for a whole month.... LOL. That isn't a mean feat when you have 2 kids at home!

But when we finally lined up the finished bottles together, how gorgeous they looked...

 

As did the glass paintings...



So happy that most of my creations found new homes, and are now bringing joy and adding colour to the lives of so many others. Feel immensely grateful to have been gifted with a creative mind and an artisan's hands!

As I relive last year's journey, here is to many more to come!