City Lights

Painted a smaller piece (8" x 11") after a long time. Came across a picture in the papers that caught my eye, especially the juxtapostion of the brightly lit buildings against a deep blue sky. And that is how this painting came about.

Probably one of the last pieces of this year. Wish I could paint more frequently and quickly, but try as I might I never seem to paint as often as I want to. Hope the next year changes that a little!

By the way, have you all noticed that the Creative Rumblings Facebook page gets some extra art-related posts while this blog continues to focus on my personal journey in the world of colours. Well, to catch up on those additional updates, visit the page and click on the Like button now. That'll ensure you never miss out on any of the news!

Sending Some Winter Warmth

The best way to enjoy a foggy winter day? A mug of steaming hot strong coffee... ...and blobs of bright paint on my brushes.

Always brings a warm fuzzy glow to my heart.

Enjoy this bunch of flowers that are part of a painting I finished last month. And have a great weekend, everyone!

Portrait Trials

Last weekend I tried my hand at portraits despite having zero training on this. Just picked up a newspaper, opened a random page, and attempted a few mugshots from it.

Managed to get some degree of likeness with the actual pictures but eyes do seem to be a tough area. It is not for nothing that they say that eyes define a person's face. You get them right, and almost everything else will fall in place.

As my dear hubby rightly says, portraiture is all about lines. You have to know which ones to use and which ones to skip.

With one of my favourite Bollywood icons, the inimitable Dev Anand passing on last weekend, I just have to try sketching him now.

Beat The Gloomy Greys

Winters are here, and so are the blooms. So what are you waiting for? Follow these quick steps to add some colour to your rooms in this grey weather.

1. Pluck a bunch of hardy flowers (chrysanthemums, gladioli, gerberas and tuberoses work very well), or pick a bunch from the florist. Needn't be a huge number; just a couple of sticks work fine.


2. Fill a matching bottle vase with water, and pop the flowers right in.


3. Display and enjoy.

And take a bow when the room looks all perked up, and the compliments come your way! The button chrysanthemums in the orange hibiscus bottle fetched me quite a few. :)

The Process

Thought today I'd share with you a glimpse of the process.... that whole journey of turning my imagination into reality.

First I doodle around on a paper till I finally have a design I am satisfied with.

Then I translate the design into reality with paints, making changes along the way depending on the shape and size of the bottle.

Currently working on this fun bottle that tells a story.... Got any owl stories to share yourselves? :)

New Warli On The Block

Had to move on with my work despite the unpleasantness of the plagiarism episode. So there is a fresh Warli motif bottle hot off the studio table....

And it goes very well with the books at the bedside. What say?

Love the flying bird on this one!

Plagiarised!!

Yes, dear readers, I discovered earlier this month that my work (that you have been seeing on this blog for the last 3 years) is now actually good enough to be copied! What a shocker it was to unearth this.

A certain lady from the southern parts of our dear nation has lifted ideas, terms, and phrases right off my pages and created her own little virtual space. Of course, she came into being (I mean her online presence) only recently.... as recently as July 2011. And not just my blog, I can see stuff she has used from other popular art and design blogs too. Combining all stolen ideas, she thinks she is creating some magic masala!! It sucks, really.

Now copying is not right, whichever way you look at it. And the only reason I'm treating this issue with a dash of humour is because my anger won't hurt the plagiarist at all. Rather it would wreak havoc on my sense of well-being and balance, upset my flow of ideas, and obstruct my imagination.

So, dear sneaky lady (since you will come back to read this), thanks for the left-handed compliment. You have only proved with your actions that my work is good enough to be copied! And you perhaps kick yourself for not having such inspired thoughts yourself.

So while I'm looking for how best to deal with Ms. Plagiarist, you better make sure you get your stuff (especially the bottles) right here. Else you'll only land up with a second-hand imitation, and that too at higher prices!