Nature Journal 2020: July

Sharing with you all the July page of the Nature Journal 2020. The lack of rains in our part of the world for the first half of the month led to extremely hot and humid days. Thankfully, the rains arrived towards the end of July. 

However, this pattern of intense heat followed by equally intense downpours points to a greater issue, namely the impact of climate change. I believe it is surely creeping in upon us, and the pandemic is just one fallout of the same. What are your thoughts on this, dear readers?

#naturejournal2020

Revisiting Exhibition Memories

Five years back, today was a day of such excitement - my 3 day exhibition was to start, and I was literally living my dream. Presenting my handiwork in a large public forum at a prestigious mall; simply loved the experience and the exposure.

You can read in detail about the exhibition here, while these pictures are a happy reminder of the event.

Now given our present circumstances and the new normal that the virus has imposed on us, such events seem rather distant. No one can really predict how and when things will get normalized in the future. In the meantime, you can connect with us at creativerumblings@gmail.com for any related decor requirements. We will be happy to serve you via courier.

Mixed Media Squares

For today's post, we need to go back in time a bit. Let us revisit these previous posts of mine from February 2016 - Faces and Figures, and The Making of a Flower Girl. For a recap, those artworks were made in mixed media using a variety of techniques like stamping, collaging, and finally some intuitive mark making. 

I landed up making quite a few of these 10"x10" mixed media squares, and tucked them away in some corner of my supplies cupboard. Some personal upheavals later that year made me forget about these completely, and I did not post about them here. Till we moved houses and cities last year and I recently rediscovered them while searching for something else. 

Lined up together they looked so pretty that I decided to dedicate a much-deserved post to them finally. So I will not go into the details of the process (for that you can see the previous posts from February 2016), but let you feast your eyes.

Can you identify this singer? My hubby's favourite!

I simply love this cat portrait.

Here is another view of the ladies. They definitely brightened up our lockdown days. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Nature Journal 2020: Half Yearly Update

First, the good news - my Nature Journal for 2020 has finally started taking shape. Though this year the journal size is smaller but I'm glad I have lots of stuff to put in it, including specimens from my own garden.

Now, for the confession - I was so absorbed in enjoying my blossoming new garden at the beginning of the year, that I completely forgot to take samples or record observations for January and February. With over twenty varieties of flowers, those two months could have made for a separate flower journal. 

Meanwhile, this year's nature journal starts in March, alongside the Covid-induced lockdown. 

While the first 2 pages cover the months of March to May, there are month-wise individual pages from June onwards. Needless to say, many of this year's jottings include references to this unprecedented time in our lives, and to the impact of the pandemic.

Now hope to bring you a fresh post each month on the nature journal through the rest of the year.

#naturejournal2020

Creative Rumblings Now on Instagram

As June is our birthday month, we decided to gift ourselves an Instagram account.

Yes... yippee!! we are finally on Insta and loving it already. Now help us make our birthday more fun by following our Insta feed right away.

You'll find our feed to be a mixed bag - some old some new, some familiar some forgotten, some fresh and some faded. But isn't that what life is about!

So go on.... show us some love on Instagram. Our handle is 'creativerumblings' of course, as shown in the above screen grab!

Look forward to connecting with you all on this new platform.

The Great Chomper

In these last couple of months of lockdown and staying in, one has hardly had any human visitors. Just occasional interaction with the neighbours from a distance.

But one summer day we discovered someone new roaming in the neighbourhood. She came straight towards our giloy plant, plucking off all the fresh leaves at one go. After finishing chomping on the giloy, she made a beeline for the red hibiscus.

And thereby hangs the tale of how this painting was created and named. Our bovine visitor now comes by occasionally, and is always seen chomping on new varieties. Though the giloy remains her favourite.

Home & Safe

Here is the fourth and the last drawing from my illustration series Lockdown Freedom. This series features a creature (my signature bird in this case) who is free from the global lockdown, and leading a life doing what they please.

Even as the lockdown gets extended every few days, it is time to realise our responsibilities and minimize our outdoor adventures. For home is the best place to be; ask our birdie who finds her nest to be the coziest spot on the planet.

Since the lockdown is also about frugal living and using only the basics, this series has been painted using only the primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and their various combinations, along with just black and white.

Hope you all enjoyed this series, conceptualized and executed despite a lockdown. My takeaway from the series has been to turn crisis into something productive; to resolve to clutch on to the positives, inspite of all the negativity coming our way. For in the end, only hope floats!


#lockdownart