Henna design bottle

This has been a year with the spotlight on my hand-painted bottles. My unique form of bottle art has gone places, literally. So many pieces have found new homes, within the country and overseas. Sometimes I feel it has all been a dream.... such amazing exposure for my humble art.

I have a huge stock of bottles waiting to get done but am giving myself a break from bottle painting, as I explore other forms of art. Only occasionally playing around with a bottle; today I share one such creation. Most likely the last bottle to feature this year, this henna design bottle was made on commission for a friend.

I love how the pearl shades show up so well against the dark green background. Makes for a striking piece, in daylight or in artificial lighting.

As the year draws to a close soon, I am hoping the next year will be bigger and better for my distinct style of bottle art. Looking forward to another creatively satisfying year in 2016!

Nature Journal: November Nuances

November was a slow month, mostly because it was the fag end of the festive season (and I swear, between celebrating all the festivals, birthdays and anniversaries, I do get a tad tired by this time). But the collections for the journal were on track, and I finally compiled everything together on the last day of the month.

The owls at the local park kept us super occupied with their antics through the month. Playing peek-a-boo almost everyday, posing happily the days one didn't carry the camera and throwing royal tantrums on the days one did! Sometimes too sleepy to even care how close we crept to their cubby hole, all in all they were fun to watch. Now they are off for the winters.... not to any other place but snuggling deep into their tree-trunk home, in hibernation I guess.

We are keenly looking forward to having some organic peppers soon, planted by the kiddos! Other veggies growing in the garden include beans, tomatoes, chillies and spinach. Here is a  glimpse of the Oct-Nov double spread.

Feels strange to think there is only one more month to record in the Nature Journal, and then it'll be complete. I have already started working on the back cover pages and am really enjoying the process. In the meanwhile, if any of you did start a nature journal of your own, or are planning to, I'd love to hear from you! Do share your experiences in the comments section of this blog or write on my Facebook page.

Paper Beads Necklace

So I decided to take a detour into some jewellery making! Howzzat?!! Those of you who keep an eye on my Facebook page would know about the paper beads I had been making a couple of months back.

I posted pictures of the sheets of abstract art that me and my daughter created.... just random splashing of paint followed by equally arbitrary designs! No stress of creating art, this is just having fun with paints. And mostly we used the thick sheets that come in with the newspaper as advertisement inserts; their paper is glossy and thick enough to hold a decent amount of paint. So there, recycling was duly done.

These gorgeous sheets of painted paper were then cut into strips and rolled with pencils and toothpicks to form paper beads.... loads and loads of them, in all shapes and sizes. Well, finally we had enough beads to string together a long necklace. And just see how gorgeous it looks!

My daughter had a field day wearing this creation all through the festive season in the last couple of months. I just love the fact that it goes with any kind of attire - western or traditional. And between ourselves, we got a load of compliments for this unique paper bead necklace! :)

Nature Journal: October Observations

Bringing you the much-delayed October page of the Nature Journal. The changing season, the clamour of festivals, and a general lassitude kept me from finishing the page on time. Not that there has been any dearth of experiences to document....

That is the thing about Nature, I guess - there is never a day when you don't have moments to cherish. Sharing some of my October observations with you all....

Now that this year is drawing to a close, with just 2 more months left to document about in the Nature Journal, it seems like such a wondrous journey. Me and the kids love flipping through the previous months' pages, reading on our (often shared) experiences, and touching and feeling the specimens stuck in there.

As another year is soon to start, I again exhort you all to make a Nature Journal of your own. Not only will it discipline you to observe your natural surroundings, it will bring you immense pleasure once you have completed a whole year of recording your observations. Go ahead, try it! You will surely thank me if you do. :)

Happy Diwali

Serving Tray Makeover

So there was this old serving tray lying around the house. It had been gifted long back by some relative and though I hated its tacky looks right from the beginning, my mother refused to part with it. Sentimental reasons and all that mushy nonsense! It lay around in our shelves for years, getting used occasionally.

Till finally last weekend I gave it a much-deserved makeover. See the transformation yourself.... now the tray sports a Poppy theme, and looks (hopefully) more elegant.... at least to my eyes. 

I have used combined techniques of decoupaging, layering and sketching - using a photograph clicked by me and some newspapers - to give it the present look.



 

 

The last picture shows you a close-up of the tray surface, where decoupage and paint come together on a background of newspapers treated with gesso. I finished the tray with a generous layer of sealer so it could take spills and occasional washing.

Hope this post encourages you to try making over any such unused items lying around the house, giving them a fresh lease of life just in time for Diwali. Now tell me, which version of my tray do you like better -  the Before or the After?

Warli Bottles

I have been on a Warli bottle-making spree this last month, with some pending orders and some random pieces for my own stock.

Warli motifs are always great fun to work with. Even though they require a lot of precision, with their stick figures looking blotchy if the contours do not come out well. But Warli motifs are familiar territory for me now since I have done so many bottles with these designs.

Yet every time I make sure to introduce some new motif into each bottle - for my own creative satisfaction more than anything else. No wonder they are some of my hottest selling items! Want to gift one this festive season? Write to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com and set the ball rolling.