The Lemon Tree Studies

 

This month I'm bringing you my lemon tree studies. But first, the back story: so we have a lemon tree right in the middle of the backyard, planted by the previous residents. It has a uniquely shaped crooked stem and gives fruits aplenty in season. Though I wish the fruits would turn yellow sooner.... they remain a vibrant green for weeks, and take forever to ripen. 

But I'm grateful for the lemon tree and its bounties anyway. So I tried painting it using acrylics at different times of the day. The aim was to capture the changing light, and the various moods of our crooked lemon tree.

The Crooked Lemon Tree

The first study focusses on the unique crooked shape of the tree, and how the leaves light up in direct sunshine. Maybe we need more chairs in the shade to enjoy the balmy weather! Who all want to join me? 😃

The View from the Bedroom

This next study keeps the lemon tree as the central focus but also attempts to capture its pretty neighbours - a flowering vine, a herb, and a fruit tree. This study is my favourite of the three lemon tree studies I painted, as I enjoyed its complexity. 

In the Evening Light

The last study is an attempt to catch the fading evening light falling on the lemon tree, where some parts of it are in the direct light while some others are in a pinkish reflected haze.

Hope you enjoyed this foray into my backyard, and the various moods and shades of the lemon tree. Do let me know in the comments if any of you would like prints of these lemon tree studies.

Summer Outfits Galore In Our Redbubble Store

 

Midsummer has just gone by, and are you still looking for a fresh wardrobe for summer? Then stop right here and check out our designs on summer garments at our Redbubble online store.

Click on the link below to visit the shop.

Redbubble shop link: https://www.redbubble.com/people/MadChat/shop

Dresses and T-shirts in over a dozen designs are available at the click of a finger.

Cool clothing in comfortable styles and pastel, summery shades to ensure a cool summer for you!

So what's stopping you?.... Spread the word amongst your friends and enjoy a unique shopping experience.

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

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

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!

Ode To Laburnums

Today as I walked in the park, the sweet fragrance of flowering Laburnums (also called Amaltas) filled the air. So many trees, all covered in yellow, swaying in the breeze. That reminded me of a little poem I wrote last year.... and thought I'd share with you today.

Yellow butterflies

Fluttering in the breeze

Land on my lap

For a moment I freeze;

Till  I realise

That the yellow shower

Are but petals

Of the Laburnum flower.

The wind picks up

More petals flutter down;

On the grass, in my hair,

Covering the ground.

For the children who laugh and play

Beside the blooming tree:

Remain like the Laburnum -

Bright, fragrant and carefree!

© Madhurima Mathur

Circa 2016

The accompanying painting was also made last year, around the same time that I wrote the poem. Hope you enjoyed both. Laburnums always remain one of my choicest associations of summer.