Folksy Figures

These last few months I have been trying out a new style of work inspired by European folk art, with a focus on the figurative. This style is reminiscent of the many picture-laden books that formed my childhood library collection, and adapts well to storytelling.

Artist at work 

 

Painting and collage elements come together to create this mixed media style. It allows me to let my imagination take me places, as I introduce or remove elements as per my whims and fancy.

Amidst the cherry blossoms 

I am enjoying the freedom that comes with this style of painting, and looking forward to creating more pieces.

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.

The Lepidoptera Artist Book

 

This month I'd like to bring you my 'Moths and Butterflies' handmade journal, prepared from scratch by recycling common materials around the house. Click here to see a process video of how you can also make a junk journal or artist book of your own.

Pages from the Moths and Butterflies journal

In my artist book, I am trying to capture all the pretty Lepidoptera (species of insects) seen around the area I am located in. 

Close up of the hand-painted images

Being in the midst of green open spaces, we are lucky to have a wide variety of beautiful insects not commonly seen in urban settings. There is a wide range of butterflies, right from the tiny grass ones to large beautiful swallowtails and tigers. The moths here are also larger and include hawkmoths, strikingly colourful and positively exotic.

Given the way climate change is creeping upon us, I'd like to capture the beauty of these Lepidoptera for posterity so that future generations aren't deprived of the pleasure of knowing about them.

Still Life Compositions

 

Sharing with you all a few of my still life compositions and tablescapes - some old and some new, some real and some imagined.

These two were painted earlier this year in summer.

Snake Plant in Green Teacup

Milk and Wine Lilies

While these two were painted almost ten years back and were sold recently.

White Petunias - 2

Red Hibiscus in Orange Can

Can you find any changes through the years? It is good to revisit old work as that gives one a sense of how much progress has been made over time. The one thing that I find has remained constant in my work through the years - my bright and bold style. 

Write to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com to purchase my work.

Making Handmade Journals In Lockdown

 

Since the pandemic is going to be around in some part of the world or the other till the entire population gets vaccinated, random lockdowns are going to be a way of life that we will have to get used to. Those of you wondering why I am rambling about all this on an art post, here's the reason. These frequent and often long spells of lockdown can get extremely frustrating. And no better way of dealing with that than creating things out of the simple, everyday things available at home. For art is healing.... so this post focuses on how to make handmade journals with the limited materials on hand.

Handmade junk journals are called so because they are made out of recycled materials. And there are no rules - you can choose whatever you want to play around with. You can also use your journal for varied purposes - sketching, collaging, gluing pictures, writing, even painting and mixed media artwork. Mini-journals are even better as they are easy to carry around and finish up quickly.

So here's a quick video of mine that shows how an ordinary flyer can be turned into a folding mini-journal. 

In case you don't have flyers, use old newspaper pages folded up twice or thrice to make them sturdy. Just glue everything down and you are good to go. Once your journal base is ready, use paint dabs, printed papers from magazines, and even old book papers to make up the background.

I used this mini-journal (that you see in the video above) for sketching and botanical drawings, some of which you can see below.

By changing your paper folds, you can turn out different kinds of journals. 

The one above and below is an accordion-fold journal I used for painting. It was created out of an elongated strip of card stock, simply by folding it in a zigzag.

The junk journal video in my last post was made from sticking random papers in a folded cardboard cover. Yes, it is that simple and yet the results can be amazing!

Most of all, journaling is a good hobby as it calms the mind, and gives us some very valuable me-time. Find a journaling practice that fits your personality. It is indeed a wonderful way of keeping your mind positively engaged in these pandemic times.

And in case of any queries, feel free to mail me at  creativerumblings@gmail.com or connect with me on Instagram (@creativerumblings) or Facebook. Happy journaling, everyone!

Junk Journal Flip-through

 

Some posts don't need too many words; this is one of them. Presenting a flip-through of my first junk journal that I put together from scratch. 

Suffice to say that working on and with this #junkjournal helped me survive the winter months and the pandemic madness, and helped me stay focussed on the art and away from negativity.

I will share the process of making these junk journals with you in future posts. Hope you enjoy the video.

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.

Mixed Media Outings

 

Happy 2021, dear readers! Hope you all had a wonderful start to the new year, and here's wishing you all a healthy year ahead.

Like every other year, my output has been impacted by the season. And my postings have dwindled since last month. I'm taking things slow, catching up on my reading, baking, and other random pursuits.

Meanwhile, here's bringing you a compilation of some mixed media pieces done over the last couple of months.

These were all previously published on my Instagram account. (Follow, follow.... don't wait till tomorrow.)

Most of these pieces are part of a junk journal that I'm currently working on, while the one below was inspired by a picture posted by a friend.

Hopefully I will pick up the pace in this new year, and will soon share more pending projects that I complete later this month.

Hair-Raising Tales: Part 2

 

Remember the Hair-Raising Tales I posted in September? Illustrations inspired by my daughter's crazy wild hair that drew a lot of laughs! Well, the hair-raising tales are back on popular demand. This time I was inspired by lockdown hair.

Yes, that time in our lives when the salons were closed, and our hair grew and grew.... totally wild and free. Here's presenting a couple of hair-dos that many of you may identify with. Only that I added my own funny spin to them.

Presenting the bun-cushion.... when there is so much hair on our heads that our beehive buns could double up as a cushion!

And this second drawing represents jungalow hair.... so much hair that it is as dense as a jungle out there! 

Hope you enjoy these illustrations as much as you enjoyed the last batch of hair-raising tales.

Hair-Raising Tales: Part 1

Let me declare right at the outset that this post is dedicated to the darling daughter. For this is her special month.

But more importantly, she and her crazy wild hair, have been the inspiration behind each of the hair-related illustrations that I came up with. 

This is one post a lot of women should identify with. Especially since we all are familiar with bad hair days, and how they affect our moods. 

Heck, one can hold bad-hair episodes directly responsible for all our off-colour, grumpy days! :D

Hope you enjoy these illustrations. Do let me know which ones are your favourite.

Update: See Hair-Raising Tales: Part 2 

More Journal Snippets

As an artist, I find myself using journals to express myself very often. A journal is like a diary, only more visual. You are already seeing pages from my Nature Journal every month. So thought of sharing a few pages from my Transition Journal that I finished earlier this month.

The above picture is the front cover, and the picture below features an amalgamation of some individual pages along with the back cover.

In these difficult days when our world is in the grip of the pandemic, maintaining a daily/weekly/fortnightly or even monthly journal is a good way to release some pent up stress, sadness and frustration. Try it, dear readers!

Mixed Media Squares

For today's post, we need to go back in time a bit. Let us revisit these previous posts of mine from February 2016 - Faces and Figures, and The Making of a Flower Girl. For a recap, those artworks were made in mixed media using a variety of techniques like stamping, collaging, and finally some intuitive mark making. 

I landed up making quite a few of these 10"x10" mixed media squares, and tucked them away in some corner of my supplies cupboard. Some personal upheavals later that year made me forget about these completely, and I did not post about them here. Till we moved houses and cities last year and I recently rediscovered them while searching for something else. 

Lined up together they looked so pretty that I decided to dedicate a much-deserved post to them finally. So I will not go into the details of the process (for that you can see the previous posts from February 2016), but let you feast your eyes.

Can you identify this singer? My hubby's favourite!

I simply love this cat portrait.

Here is another view of the ladies. They definitely brightened up our lockdown days. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The Great Chomper

In these last couple of months of lockdown and staying in, one has hardly had any human visitors. Just occasional interaction with the neighbours from a distance.

But one summer day we discovered someone new roaming in the neighbourhood. She came straight towards our giloy plant, plucking off all the fresh leaves at one go. After finishing chomping on the giloy, she made a beeline for the red hibiscus.

And thereby hangs the tale of how this painting was created and named. Our bovine visitor now comes by occasionally, and is always seen chomping on new varieties. Though the giloy remains her favourite.

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

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!

Vibrant Vines

I have said this before - inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. To reiterate that sentiment, the artwork I'm sharing here is inspired by bottle gourd vines in my garden! Imagine.... of all the things on the face of this Earth, how can a vegetable growth be an inspiration?!? :D But the vines look so lush, with their rounded leaves and delicate flowers, that I couldn't help capturing them in a sketch.

 

Line drawing on a collaged background, in the style of artist Robert Kushner, one of my favourites on Pinterest.

Remember the cut-up page I mentioned in my last post? This sketch was made on the reverse side of that cut-up page. The top picture shows how the sketch looks against a plain background while the bottom picture shows how the sketch actually looks as a page in my journal.

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.

Welcoming Change

Hola there! Hope you all have been doing great, and having fun. All of you who missed me here for the last couple of months, I have some news for you.

Huge changes are lined up (not related to this blog or work), and I need both time and energy to deal with those. So chances are that my appearances here will remain sporadic for the remaining part of this year, and some part of next year.

While I know that I will keep coming back to the creative life for recharging my batteries, but I can't see any major projects underway for a bit. But I'm sure you'll probably get to see some journal pages that I make in the middle of my chaos, as I transition to a calmer and more joyful state.

Hope you all hang in there with me, and keep the creative spirit alive!

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

Weekend Evenings

I live for the weekend.... well, who doesn't? I love the relaxed, laid-back vibes that a weekend brings, without any tensions of waking up early or following a homework schedule. The clock takes a back seat as each of us indulges in their own favourite pastimes. Painting, crafting and music fills up our home on weekends.

While weekends give us valued family time, they are also ideal to celebrate the journey that we are together on. So many a weekend is spent with a glass of red wine, nibbling on smoked cheese and olives, with some great music playing in the background.

This collage, like its companion Mornings, is made up of handmade paper, teabag paper and newspaper scraps. In fact, as I was putting together this collage, I actually managed to include an old favourite number in the visuals (Hint: It is an English song from the late 60s). Can any of you guess which one it is? :)