Happy Thanksgiving!

Finally it is here.... that day of the year when we need to pause in our tracks, and bow our heads to a bigger force. Call it anything you want - God, Destiny, Luck, and what have you - but the most beautiful part of Thanksgiving Day is the gratitude associated with it. Gratitude for what life offered you. Gratitude for whatever came your way, big or small. Gratitude for giving you the wisdom to accept it all positively, and rejoice in the happiness it brought.

So today I want to thank each and every one of my patrons, friends, well-wishers and followers for making Creative Rumblings what it is. For giving me the love, confidence and encouragement to carry on with my creative endeavours. For touching my life in a positive way, leaving a smile on my face, and a song in my heart!

Sharing with you all these pictures that say it all...

The bottles bring smiles, and the smiles make my day!

Bottles proudly displayed amongst other favourites at another patron's home!

Thank you all, once again, and may the love and creative interactions grow!

The Watermelon Seller

The festivities are finally over and we are settling back into a saner life. Been a long time since any work got done.... hope that changes now as we fall back into a regular routine.

Winter has definitely arrived, and the woollies are out. But bang in the middle of this I'm reminded of peak summertime, and watermelons. Weird, to say the least.

This was the sight that greeted me everyday in the summers as I walked down to pick my kiddo from the hobby class. Searing noon time heat, sun blazing, washing everything in a piercing yellow-white glare. And suddenly these pops of colour would appear at the turn of the road. Circles of green with occasional reds, and of course, the blue of the tarpaulin. Made for an interesting subject!

Folk Motif Bottles

Dancing peacocks, regal elephants, twittering birdies.... they are all there! Presenting bottles hand-painted with folk motifs and embellished with a dash of glitter for the festive season.

To stock up, write to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com. And better hurry up, for I only have a few pieces of these. To see a close-up of the picture above, visit our Facebook page.

Goats And Other Cares

October has been a strange month. Oscillating between caring for sick children and celebrating festivals, to coping with disappointing false starts at work. One of those months where you can't put a finger on where time flew. And on the last day you realise, that even though you tried your best, you haven't achieved much to show! Sometimes the background settings take longer than you realize...

Anyhow, sharing with you this drawing I created a couple of months back. Inspired by goats grazing in an open field in front of our house, tended by shepherds in Rajasthani garb, with bright red turbans.

The Room Amidst The Trees

Tried working on a watercolor after the longest time, and was pleasantly surprised. A medium that requires a lot of patience and relies pretty heavily on technique, watercolors were definitely not my preferred mode. But somehow I wanted to try out this scene using watercolors.... call it inexplicable instinct!

I walk past this room, which is in pretty dilapidated condition, everyday on my way to fetch the kids from school. It is surrounded by trees on all sides, and you really need to look closely else you might miss it amidst all the foliage. The discoloured, half-broken brickwork looks so attractive that I found the scene immensely paint-worthy.

When I chose to depict the scene using watercolors, I realized that sustained efforts do yield some results. Even though I have been painting in acrylics for the past year (or maybe more), all that effort had somehow paid off. Well, at least some bit because my control over watercolors had increased considerably. And I found a new level of comfort in handling this medium.

Don't know if I'll stay in this mode or go back to acrylics.... but for sure, every new piece is a new experiment! What do you say, dear readers?

Morning Glory Flowers Again

Things have had a slow start this month. First, the exams and then, the flu. School functions added to the chaos. Finally we are limping back to some sanity so I picked up pace by doing another bottle with one of my favourite flowers - morning glory.

Blue-purple hues popping out from between the greens - a sight for sore eyes! Lately, a lot of butterflies have been flitting around our garden, and so I had to add a black one on the bottle.

Sometimes the simplest of things bring us so much pleasure; like chasing butterflies with the kids and then appreciating the brilliant hues translated on to a bottle!

Orange On Brown

As the sun becomes stronger and the morning breeze turns cooler, you know autumn is right round the corner. Perhaps the reason why I have been steering towards a lot of orange on brown combos these days.

Yes, the subconscious effect can be seen across various media, as you can make out from the picture above.

Have also got an interesting project lined up for home; will share details with you when it is through. The exciting bit - if it works out right, it could mean a completely new medium to play around with! :)

Meanwhile, Blogger has gone and changed its entire look and feel, at least in the background bits. So don't be surprised if one fine day, you see some posts looking wonky.... Hate it when they do this, but can't say we weren't warned. Only too tied up to check out the new features. So now the new deal is upon us, and there is no running away. Phew, another peak to cross....