Monsoon Skies

The weather is beautiful these days - just the right amount of rain that turns things pleasant instead of throwing life out of gear, a moist and caressing breeze that plays with your hair every time you go out, and green spaces looking misty and welcoming.

The sunsets are awesome too; full of colour and changing every second. Vibrant hues melting into each other and filling your heart with joy at being fortunate enough to witness them.

Perhaps that explains what led to this abstract.... one fine morning I just had to get all the colours of the sky onto the canvas. Loved how the shades intermingled with each other, much like it happened on the bigger canvas up there!

Somehow my camera doesn't catch the hues of purple too well but nevertheless, this is one of those paintings that lift up your spirits instantly, thanks to all those joyous colours. Wishing my Indian readers a fabulous Independence Day!

Shaping The Snapple

Spent most of last week working on a commission, painting Morning Glory flowers all around a Snapple bottle.

Today I thought I'd share with you one of the biggest challenges of working on such bottles that proudly display their product logos. .....Nah, not just display, they have them firmly etched or engraved, in a particularly eye-catching part of the bottle. Just to make our work that much more challenging.... Phew!!! But therein lies the joy of having overcome something formidable.... :)


The following picture shows how the Snapple logo originally looks - a large 'S' bordered on either side by leaves. And it appears on both sides of the bottle.

And now, this is how the bottle looks after I finished working on it. Can you spot the logo anymore?

Now that is a job that is easier said than done. Creating the appropriate design that works around the logo takes a fair amount of thought, and quite a few trials. Sometimes the engraving makes the surface so uneven that it is difficult to make the paint adhere, or behave the way you want.

Remember, the idea here is to recycle; so anybody looking at the bottle should not be able to tell where it came from. So do you think I managed to achieve that? Will look forward to your comments on this one....

In The Wilderness

Pretty poppies bobbing their heads in the wild.... reminding me of stray fields of glorious colour I'd come across in the suburban area I stayed in earlier, or even the hillsides where such flowers pop up miraculously by the wayside when you least expect them.

Painted on gallery-wrapped canvas (12"x10") for the first time, and loved the experience. The pre-stretched fabric gave me the liberty to do a lot of texturing on the surface, as you can see from the close-ups below.

It was fun to paint around the edges - so you can approach the painting from any side and still get the same kind of view. Also, wrapping the flower petals and stems over the sides gave the piece a nice, realistic feel. Now I want to paint on a bigger size, at least a 36"x36" if not more. Would be such an exhilarating experience.... Any ideas where in Delhi I can get pre-stretched canvases of this size?

Sunbird On Hibiscus

An oblong-shaped glass panel, an out-of-the-blue design, and there you have it.... a sunbird perched on a hibiscus flower, flapping its wings as it sucks in the nectar through its long beak.

Did I tell you before that every time I work on glass, I'm transported to heaven! :) I've taken a fancy to doing birds on glass now. The other morning I spotted a family of Goldenback Woodpeckers on my morning walk, and want to try that one now. Would look awesome on a large panel.... what say?

Five Already!

The blog quietly turned five over the weekend. Quietly because unlike a lot of other bloggers, I'm not having a blog party or give-aways to celebrate.

Rather, I'm taken back to thinking of why I started the blog in the first place..... Five years back, as a tired but happy mommy I knew I had the creative bug in me, but with two small kids, managing a home and a full-time job, my hands were too full to indulge my creative self. Then I thought this blog could act as a catalyst to make we want to make new things, share my creative endeavours with the world, and create a repository for my kids (and other interested readers) in the process. That was the humble start.... Little did I know that as the kids grew, so would my hunger to create. With more time on my hands, I turned to painting bottles, and found appreciative patrons. I could never imagine folks actually wanted to buy my creations, but I made some fabulous new friends and shared wonderful experiences in the process.

Today, I feel thankful that I've come such a long way. I have had a wonderful journey.... And I know that this is one journey that won't end anytime soon. Every year I move on to a new bend in the road, a new vantage point, and more vistas open up. What can be better than such a satisfying trip!

Today, dear readers, let me share with you that I did have my periods of self-doubt. Low phases, down-in-the-dumps moments when I saw others steal ideas and forge ahead....but then creativity cannot be learnt or copied; it comes from within. Many promises were made and broken, many talks got stuck in paperwork and red tape, many a times deals with online shopping portals fell through..... but what is most important is that none of it made my creative outpourings stop. Or the appreciation of friends and patrons.... So, any of you out there looking for a steal on an original artwork for your home or office, or wanting a few quirky bottles to spice up the décor, just drop me a line at creativerumblings@gmail.com. And in the meanwhile, I'll just get back to doing what I love best.... making the world a little more colourful! :)

Seashell Paperweights

Remember that old tongue-twister that we all mumble at some point during our growing-up years: "She sells seashells on the seashore." Okay, now say that five times in quick succession before you read further! :)

Hah, no one sold us any shells but since we came back from a beach vacation, we brought along a bagful of pretty seashells. So naturally it was crafting time using our new-found treasures.... and we made these seashell paperweights, a reminder of our beachy vacation.

Good thing we got these done, for I always seem to have loads of loose paper strewn on my work desk. Finally, they won't keep flying off.... and maybe the hubby can be gifted one for his Father's Day gift.

Am planning to make more crafty things using our seashell collection. Meanwhile, for the how-to of this project, you can go here. Do drop in a comment if any of you try this out, and sharing pictures will be even more fun. You can find my email in the right sidebar. Hoping you all have a creative weekend!

The Final Outcome

The searing heat is getting too much to bear so am off on a vacation.... In the meanwhile, as promised last week, here is a peek into what that last sketch turned into.

I haven't named this one yet; any ideas from you all, dear readers?