Crane Spotting at the Pond

Last week I worked on a bottle again. After 6 long months!.... Yes, if you scroll down this blog, you'll see the last bottle I did was back in November last year. I wasn't even sure I'd pull this one through but once I started, there was no stopping me.

This time I thought of extending my bottle design oeuvre, and worked on a large water bird motif, painting a scene that any birdwatching enthusiast would identify with.

A crane or egret walking slowly with its long legs, amidst lotus blossoms and reeds in a pond, searching for food. A slight sound, and it looks up, startled for a bit. Then, assuring itself that all is well, the bird goes back to its search. Yes, that is what I tried to capture - all on a round bottle.

The finished bottle is one of my personal favourites. And I'm sure all birdwatchers will enjoy this one! The bottle has a broad mouth, and will work very well as a centrepiece on a table. Use it simply as a vase or to hold straws at the next dinner party. Heck! you could even prop up tissues in it. 

Meanwhile, I'm already dreaming of the next bird I want to put on my bottles....

Creative Rumblings Bags a Baggout Award

Can't believe it is June already! Where did the months go?!?

But June brings some wonderful news - Creative Rumblings features at number 10 on the Top 14 Socially Active Art Blogs list by Baggout.



What an honour! You'll find a new badge in the blog sidebar to announce the new award.



Big thanks to the Baggout team for featuring the blog, and to Priyanka Jain for coordinating this so beautifully.

Now, dear readers, please spread the word about Creative Rumblings and my work to push our page views, likes and engagement levels a few notches higher.

Dancing the happy dance! :)

Nature Journal: M for... Mulberries in March

M is for March, and for mulberries! Though we are well into May (another M there), I thought of sharing the March page from the Nature Journal.

And a significant part of our March experience was devoted to mulberries....  Picking the fruit right off the numerous trees in the park as they hung, red and ripe. Shaking the trees and catching the fruit before they hit the ground. Collecting them gingerly in our palms so as not to squish them. And finally, washing them at home and biting into their luscious sweetness.

March also meant the advent of my favourite season, Spring. A time when our little terrace garden breaks into multi-hued splendour. Unexpected rains meant an extended blooming time for our beauties. And of course, this month I discovered the gorgeous Kachnar flowers; totally fell for the bright mauve-pink blossoms covering the tree and the ground underneath. Same for the Semul or Silk Cotton flowers; they literally make the term 'red carpet' come alive.

Doodle Mania - Part 2

Just a quick post to tell you how seriously I'm taking my doodling. Last weekend I met up with a dear friend amidst running household errands. Now these meet-ups are something I really look forward to because they help throw up new ideas and clear your head. And since my friend is also creatively inclined, we give each other a much-needed boost to follow our hearts and our dreams.

So as we sat chatting our hearts out at the cafe, and I was telling her how difficult it is for me to find time for my creative pursuits, it suddenly dawned on me that I could use some of this relaxing time to draw out something. And yes, bang in the middle of our conversations, I went so far as to doodle behind the coffee bill. Go figure!!!! :)

Thankfully, my friend is a sport and was rather amused by my antics.And I loved that I could capture her smile so well.... Just look at the picture; don't the smiles match perfectly? :)

It is not for nothing that we are told to value our friendships. Not only do friends love us despite our quirks, they even help stir creative sparks in us!

Tete-a tete with Doodles

Hello there! Enjoying your Sunday, I hope.... I am sure most of my regular readers would have noticed that the blog has been operating in snooze mode for a while. No post in over a month!!! 

While I started the year with a lot of aplomb, the only creative output so far seems to have been the Nature Journal. Every month I diligently post a picture of the completed page from my journal.... and return to snoozing. Okay, let us not be so harsh.... so most of the last 3 months have seen at least two blog posts in a month and hey, that is not so bad. But it isn't as good as I want!

What I am trying to say here is that despite all my goal setting at the start of the year, I haven't been able to achieve the creative output I was wanting. Part of the reason is my having picked up a full-time day job, and that too miles away from where I live. The commute and work pressure leave me feeling tired and listless, unable to focus on anything creative. And of course, where is the time? Weekends are packed with household to-do lists and even before I know, I am staring at Monday and a new work week.

But the other day, the clouds parted and I saw some sun. As I was surfing through some arty blogs, I came upon folks mentioning doodling. And I decided to doodle.... as often as I can, wherever, whenever, and on whatever I could lay my hands on!! Who knows, maybe this process will help me get back on my feet creatively. If nothing else, I'll have a bunch of doodles to play around with..... like this one below. Guess what it is?

Yes, it is me waiting for my Eureka! moment. :D Don't they say art and creativity is all about attitude? 

Expect to see more doodles on my April page when I post it along with the March page (I missed that one) soon. I'm also working on a couple of other paintings that I'll share in the coming weeks. 

In the meanwhile, happy doodling! Do leave a link in the comments so I can see some of your doodles.

Nature Journal: February

Can you believe that half of February was already past, and my nature journal page had still not started taking shape. Nah! in fact I started work on it on the last day of the month.... and I have no one to blame but myself. Not that there had been any dearth of experiences.

On a particularly warm morning, when a pleasant breeze caressed my cheeks as I enjoyed the sun during my walk in the park, I rediscovered a pair of spotted owls. Little balls of white fur, they were back after their hibernation, and enjoying the spring morning as much as I was.

Then another day in the park, the hubby found a pretty yellow-green parakeet feather. We brought it home, of course. And now it rests with other bird feathers in a painted glass holder. Then the day the kids picked up yellow, green and red leaves, all beautifully dappled, and all fallen from the same tree. The small miracles that make nature journaling such a pleasure.... and immensely satisfying!

Now some of these experiences are captured in my February page, frozen for posterity. Did I tell you I am loving it?!!

Elephant Trio

Another brush-less attempt at capturing figures.... this time an elephant family gently ambling through the grasslands.

Made this sometime last year and really enjoyed doing it because despite not using a brush, I could depict the form and movement that this piece demanded. Hope you like it too!