Think Pink

Okay, I'll admit it. I have been ignoring the blog for a while.... first it was exam time at the kids' school, and then I got caught up doing other stuff. But lately I notice I'm veering towards a lot of pink.

Pink shaded flowers are dominating my bottles, and here is a sneak preview of a half-finished number to prove my point.

The rains are finally here so maybe I'll get more work done now. You know what they say about the rains whetting the creative appetite!

Another 'Found' Beauty

Picked up another 'found' beauty.... on my walk, one rainy morning last week.

Probably the dried-up leftover stalk after the flowers got blown away by the wind. Or maybe the flowers blossomed, then dried up, and the petals disintegrated.

But the remnants look like flowers on their own! And go especially well with the flowers on my Portulaca bottle.

This arrangement now brightens up a corner of my bedroom. The joys of Nature are free, you only need to keep those eyes open! :)

Morning Glory

When my client wanted me to dress up a fat, stout bottle with an interesting shape, I racked my brains for a new design. Flipping through my old pictures one day, I spotted the flower that seemed to be the perfect fit for the bottle.


Morning glory flowers with their deep purple-blue hues, so abundant once the rains arrive, peeping out of nooks and crannies... yes, that is what I covered the bottle with.


And to add to the drama and bring in visual relief, I added a butterfly, a dragonfly, and a ladybird for further effect.


What a colourful vista it turned into.... Just looking at this bottle, you can imagine the insects float and fly past, playing hide-n-seek with the morning glory flowers. And if you are lucky, you may even hear their distinct hum... Bbbbzzzzzzz!:)

An Early Autumn

The rains haven't arrived yet, and even as we grapple with a searing summer, my work table is sporting Fall colors.

An early autumn has descended on my workspace, with reds, rusts, and golds amidst glimmers of green. As I work on another commission.

This beauty will brighten up a friend's room very soon. Are you listening, D??!! :)

Some Old, Some New

The blog turns four this weekend, and what a journey it has been! I thought the time was appropriate to share with you all that one painting which started it all....

Yes, this was the first glass painting I created, when my first-born was a few months old. And then, as I got hooked to the beauty of the medium, there was no looking back. This painting now hangs in my kids' room and I recently created a fishy, underwater-themed pencil holder to match with it.

Pencil holder by day, and if you feel so, can turn into a lamp by night!

The kids loved the double surprise, of course. What better way to celebrate! :)

For The Olympic Truce

I was recently invited to a group called the Olympic Truce started by Don Mc Burney -Director, A Ray of Hope - UNESCO Youth Ambassador for the Culture of Peace. It promotes the United Nations call for the traditional age-old truce to be observed during this summer’s Olympics in London, urging warring parties around the world to lay down their arms as the Games’ ancient Greek founders did some 2,700 years ago.

The group offers a unique platform to showcase our personal art interpreting the portrayal of peace. I have decided to submit two pieces to this platform. Both represent the flight of birds, which to me is a compelling image of peace and freedom.


The first one is my tribute to the Mumbai massacre, done in pen and acrylic. Here the flight of the birds represents our ability to rise above the anguish and bloodshed unleashed by a terror attack. Read more about this here.


The second one represents the graceful flight of the gulls above a serene sea, their large wings flapping rhythmically. This one is glass painting on a bottle. For the entire artwork, see here.

Hope you all like these different portrayals of peace.

Purple Sunbird On Gulmohar

After seeing trees laden with Gulmohar (Flame of the forest) flowers on my daily walks all through spring, I had to paint them again. The bright red and orange flowers with their pretty leaves were transferred on to a bottle earlier this month.

But this time I added a new element - the purple sunbird. That little blue bird with a long curved beak that sucks nectar out of spring flowers.

Every morning as I sat under the shade of the Gulmohar, the sweet call of the purple sunbird was sure to reach my ears. Turning to look up, I could see it flitting from branch to branch, and flower to flower.

So now when you spot a flash of blue in between the red and green of the Gulmohar, you'll know the purple sunbird visited you! :)