Surprise from my Kiln

I finally picked up all my pots from the kiln. I had about 12 pieces waiting. I am always amazed at the process. The clay gives structure and form to the pots, the first bisque fire prepares the pot, the glaze gives definition and the final firing brings it all together. As I follow this graceful shape through the days of drying, glazing and firing that would ultimately bring out its true beauty, when it finally emerges from the fire I am truly humbled!

The waiting is the hardest part for me but the process teaches me to be patient and let things take its own sweet time. Truly meditative in many ways ….

Here are some pieces to share …

A place I dream about ....

I saw a picture of this painting in Brenda Harris’s “Painting with Brenda Harris” book and immediately fell in love with it. How nice it would be to own a place like this near the sea and make Art. Here is my version of the painting from her book. This is acrylic on canvas.

I would definitely encourage you to try her book out if you are interested in painting. I love her quaint style and her use of colors. Her subjects are very inspiring and her choice of colors are brilliant. I particularly love the way she has simplified the lessons.

Fresh off the Potters's wheel

After a very long time I decided to go to the studio and throw some pots on the wheel. The last few months have been crazy busy with work and life that I hardly found the time to come to the studio. The best part about coming back was that I received a WARM welcome from my very dear potter friends. They had missed me as much as I had missed them. Love you guys!

I am always surprised by the meditative effects of working on the wheel. This is my Oasis of Calm for sure! The clay and the wheel never lets me down and I can always find peace here no matter how hard it gets. This is mindful meditation.

I have already started dreaming about the different kinds of glazes and the different ways I would be finishing these pots. Will keep you all posted but in the meantime here are some pictures to share:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ...

What’s an Art Journal without an Artsy Journal cover to go with it! I have been saving all those Trader Joe’s paper bags and thought it would be cool to cover up my sketchbooks and journals with these.

This is something I learnt from my Dad while I was growing up. My dad would diligently save up all those brown paper bags that he got from the grocery store and use it to cover my school notebooks and textbooks. Every start of the school year this would be a ritual in our house and we all would look forward to it. He would sit in one corner of the house and have about 20-30 notebooks in front of him to cover with an endless supply of hot tea and snacks constantly coming his way to keep him entertained and motivated.

First step, he will open up the paper bags and iron it flat with his hands many many times. This according to him was the most important step as this took away all the creases and wrinkles in the paper and provided him a good medium to work with. Then he would measure the notebooks, cut the paper and lovingly work on the folds, the miter corners, tuck in the edges and glue them in place which would eventually give these dry boring notebooks life and interest. For the final step – he would use his fine “Sheaffer” Fountain pen and in his beautiful handwriting write my name, my grade, subject and a little proverb or a saying on the cover of each these notebooks.

I really enjoyed having these and it became a big part of my life as I was growing up. Now my dad is no more but I still carry on this tradition and every time I see these inviting paper bags, I am tempted to recycle and create art out of them! Here’s to you Dad …

Art Journaling

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being could fight; and keep fighting."
~ E. E. Cummings
Tammy at Daisy Yellow has said it well:
Art journaling is about the creative process of pulling together color, words and images as you wish on a page. Unlike many other forms of art, it is not about the outcome. An art journal is basically a diary, but for artists. The only difference is how you use it. You can use it like a diary every day, like a comic book of your life, things that happened to you, or just do sketches of interesting or memorable moments from your day or week. As you all know by now - I am a BIGTIME fan of Danny Gregory and follow his advice very seriously. In his book “Everyday matters” Danny talks about creative art journaling as a way to reconnect with your inner creative energies. He encourages each one of us to sketch and draw every day. I have been diligently following his advice and have been filling up my journal pages with art, sketches and drawings. Believe it or not guys it is a meditative experience and it has tremendous powers to give you perspective and peace.


Here are some pictures from my Journal ...

From my easel ...

This is a picture of a scene from Provence, France. No, I have not been to Provence, but I have seen pictures which is what I have tried to reproduce here. This is acrylic on canvas.

Christmas 2010

I love making these Notebooks and Christmas cards around this time of the year. They are perfect to give as Art gifts to friends, family, co-workers, teachers and to anybody and everybody. My favorites are these mini notebooks. In the past few weeks I must have made about 72 notebooks (ie: 6 packs and each pack contains 12 pads) so that is a total of 72 notebooks. I buy these little 4 by 6 scratch pads from Office Depot and cover them with decorative paper and Art that pleases me. I sold most of them at the couple of Art fairs that I participated in and the rest I gave away as gifts to frineds.

I also bought some gift boxes at Paper & Co and decorated them with art. To go with these boxes, I made these gift tags from some recycled corrugated paper I found in one of the packaging from some stuff I ordered online. Loved how these turned out !

Lochmere Art and Craft Fair

This past weekend I participated in the neighborhood Art and Craft fair. This is the very first time I have participated in anything like this, and the response I got was terrific!!! Not only was I amongst all these wonderful artists selling my art work but I also got to meet and talk to so many different kinds of people with varied interests. I am all cleaned out guys and I could sell most of my art work. Believe me, nothing is more satisfying to an artist than to see people appreciate what they have created. My wheel thrown pots and the little notebooks were the first to go. Now this has motivated me to create even more art work. I should also mention that now I have enough money to buy some more art supplies and that macro lens I have been dreaming about.

In all the business of getting ready for the event, I totally forgot to take my Nikon (Big mistake!!!) so I do not have any pictures except these taken with my BB. Not good but you get the idea ….

Since I was also a newbie – I was missing a few items such as a canopy, extra table, loose change, bags, business cards etc etc. Oh well … I will be better prepared next time.

One other thing: Remember the “Jodhpur Collection” of Pots that I had blogged about a while back. A lady and her husband bought the entire set as a gift for their son who has recently returned from a long spiritual visit to India.

School Themed Notebooks

Here is a quick post for my dear friends. I have been busy making these adorable little notebooks to give out as gifts to teachers or that very special person who has made a difference in your child’s life.

I absolutely love the school themed paper by October afternoon and it is super cute! And check out the mini clips I have used on these notebooks - I got them at Archivers and they go perfectly well with my school themed notebooks. I made about 12 of these and already they are gone! My daughters took 3 each to give them as gifts to their teachers. But you know what, they are super easy and fun to make, so I will make a dozen more to give away. Let me know if you like them ...

Designer Hand Bags

Fall is here and I love it! I am not sure about you all, but Fall is my favorite season of the year. Something about Fall though, I feel like I am at my creative best. So….o I have been busy the past few days experimenting with some Indian styled handbags. My friends love it and have suggested that I make more of these and sell them. I am also participating in a craft fair in November so I plan to have these there. Here are the pictures for you to view and please do let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you.

Screen Printed Cards

I love the effect of screen printing on card stock. The process is very complicated and quiet painful as it requires precision and cleanliness in order to get that absolutely perfect print on your cards. But the end result is nothing short of spectacular. Here I have tried some Indian colors since the print I was using was from India. What do you think?



I have used handmade rustic card stock for these:

Sanjay Patel’s Ramayana: Divine Loophole

Recently a good friend of mine introduced me to this book by Sanjay Patel called “Ramayana the divine loophole” Sanjay Patel is an animator and storyboard artist for Pixar Animation Studios, where he has worked on numerous films, including Monsters, Inc.; A Bug's Life; Toy Story 2; Ratatouille; The Incredibles; and Toy Story 3. Sanjay Patel's take on the classic Sanskrit epic is refreshing and engaging. Adapted and written in a lighter prose, the book is inviting to any readers who want learn more about the tale. The story is fascinating and gets increasingly so towards the end, with lots of nice surprises.

Sanjay is an awesome artist and a superb illustrator and this book is his testament. His illustrations and his ingenious use of color, graphics and animation are phenomenal which brings all the characters to life. As a Hindu growing up in India I have heard and read the Ramayana many many times, yet this book had something new and exciting to offer. I especially liked the last few pages where Sanjay shares his rough sketches and the process that he used to create the art work. Quite inspiring!

His advice to his readers is as follows:
Keep Drawing; the art will reveal itself. It’s inevitable; just trust the process. Draw, Draw, and Draw some more ….