Feeling Blue

Blue is the dominant color in my wardrobe. They go well with whites, blacks, greys & yellow. It makes sense to even pair a denim blue with a sky blue. 

I never understood the well accepted 'girls are pink' and 'boys are blue' notion. Recently, I came across this video that makes a hard hitting point.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-truth-behind-mens-body-wash-and-womens-body-wash-will-make-you-feel-dirty?c=ufb1

Anyhow. I love blue, and if I could design something someday - it would be a short cap-sleeved v-neck free flowing summer dress in the prettiest of them blues!

Remembering Old San Juan

In Spring 2012, in advance of our wedding anniversary - S&I decided to explore Puerto Rico by ourselves. S did much of the planning & logistics, and I sat back and enjoyed every little thing he had planned for us. It was beautiful. 

Old San Juan was one of the first spots we visited... Cobblestone streets so narrow that cars had so little wriggle room. Roads would intersect at 6 way junctions.. Coffee shops spilled onto the streets, every third shop was a flea market and tender coconut vendors were aplenty! Every street was lined with colorful houses equipped with a mock balcony that had flowering plants in full bloom. It was surreal and so bloody beautiful.

We loaded up on plantains and pina coladas. Swam with the fish and touched mini coral reefs... Kayaked through dense mangroves past sunset and spent the night under the moonlit skies amidst bio luminous algae ! Ah, what a trip!

It's been a few years since the trip, but the memories are top of mind. So I put it onto a canvas as best as I could - here's something to remember that by. 

Remembering Old San Juan...

Oil & Acrylic on canvas.

Designs - Peplums & Ankle Jean

Doodles & sketches of fashion figures are two things that framed every notebook I ever owned. There was something so liberating about drawing elongated necks and narrow waist lines - I can't quite explain it. A small stroke in the right angle can make that sketch infinitely more pretty. I spent years yearning to be a designer of some sort.

Fast forward a few years, I did engineering and loved Engineering Graphics. I did a course in Print & Audio visual advertising and absolutely enjoyed doing it. I dabbled in Analytics and found my passion. I work at the junction where Fashion meets Math, where art does a tango with the sciences. And I love it.

Enough about me, and here's one of my first sketches that wasn't in a science notebook.

I learnt how to create the depth effect for the peplum top and happy with my reproduction !

In search of water

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts, and/or demonstrating an art.

That's wiki's definition of the word 'Artist'. As a child growing up in a school the encouraged the arts as much as it emphasized the sciences - I feel incredibly blessed to have had parents that let me find myself through experiments.

There was a period between grades 4 and 7 when I attended more classes than I had the time for. Veena, Classical Music, Art, Piano, Sanskrit and Bharatanatyam. That's 6 classes in a 7 day week. You can do the math.

Was I burnt out? May be a bit. But this variety made me a half assed artist in all but dance. I went on to take dance more seriously, and was performing fairly regularly (until I relocated to the US). As much as I like perfection in dance, I enjoy seeking it in the other art forms. Every time I pull a canvas out - I have a vision which doesn't quite translate the exact same way. I fight with impatience, disappointment and the lack of technique to take something to completion.

But the moment I finish one, I am longing to do the next. May be - that quality should be what defines an artist.

Here's a look at one of my firsts

Amateurish - yet my husbands favorite of all my canvases.

Frames

No family can have too many frames! It's kind of sad that in this digital era - not many people print pictures anymore. 

I still remember how all my childhood pictures, every summer vacation, every event was filed away as individual albums  that filled two entire chests of drawers. 

While that is no longer the case, every house has plenty of frames lying around. It's the most common gift item, the easiest decorative element. Just change the frame and build a new look !

Keeping with that theme - I hand painted a couple of frames that I purchased for under $3 from Michael's clearance aisle. 

I used oil n let them dry. I ve had these for 2 years now and the color is as bright as it was on day 1. Step by step pics below -

 

Summer Spice

I write this after napping for 5 hours on a Sunday afternoon. Afternoon naps are side effects of partying too hard and staying hydrated on tequila drinks!

We just had our first summer party in the new home. Hosting a crowd of fun loving, sweet and creative friends dressed as B/Kollywood characters is so much fun. To say the truth, I was a bit skeptical about a dress up party.. I wasn't sure if I was paining the guests or if it would be something that folks actually enjoy. Turned out - I had nothing to be worried about !!

No party is complete without some fresh cocktails and plenty of beer / whiskey and wine! Here's a recipe to something I made - Summer Spice. This is a fresh juice cocktail made with watermelons and jalapeno's!  

Chop up watermelon to yield 8 cups of watermelon juice

Side note: Cuisinart hand-blender is an amazing invention ! Blend and wash just the blade attachment.

 Strain using a strainer to remove pulp and seeds. Chop up the jalapenos thinly. I used 2 jalapenos.

 Mix the following:
8 cups watermelon juice
1.5 cups of silver tequila
0.5 cups of triple-sec or any orange liquor
0.25 cups of simple syrup
0.5 cups of fresh squeezed lime juice

Stir and serve !

Conserve Water ! Have a Margarita instead :)