Love Birds String Art

There were only 2 things that always came to my mind when someone said Love Birds

1. My mom singing this age-old tamizh song everytime we play anthakshari and she gets stuck with the letter 'l' to start her next song

2. The 1996 ARR album that had a few gems !

This weekend, after spending hours on Pinterest and Etsy - I have a third item that will come to mind when someone says Love Birds. This one -

Love Birds String Art

What you need - Spare plywood, Strings, Nails and a Hammer.

The original idea - http://www.pinterest.com/pin/198791771027487898/
"Pinspired" has got to become a real word and get added to the oxford dictionary soon.

Here's a step by step on the DIY process

Step 1 - Draw out your idea on a magazine paper and cut it out. Use a pencil, and draw a light outline on the wood. Use nails ( 3/4" ) and a hammer to pin the outline on the wood. Make sure that the nails are level (more or less)

Step 2 - The outline looks as below. I tried to keep the nails about 1 cm apart from each other so that the outline is clear and the shape is visible.

Step 3 - Use a twine / rope or string that will wind around nails easily to begin your string art.
Start at one of the nails and tie a simple knot to hold your twine in position. Then, start wrapping it around nails one by one to make your outline. Make sure to push the string down to the bottom of the nail to allow room to the nail head.

 

Step 4 - Continue winding to make intricate patterns as you please. It was quite therapeutic to wind this string from corner to corner and see the patterns create themselves. If you are not happy with what you weaved, retracing your steps and redoing it is quite simple - just wind back in reverse! Once done, put a fine know around one of the nails and tuck the loose end into the weave.

This way, you can create your own simple, mess free String Art !

Put those old cabinet doors to good use now, will you?

Golu Padi | Navrathri Steps

Navrathri or Golu brings back very special memories from my childhood. A festival that spans 9 days, with friends & family making it a point to visit each other , displaying dolls that have been handed down generations and setting the space to a theme. Add to that the little gifts for all guests and delicious 'sundal' every evening. Ah, it's beautiful.

The men are tasked with climbing up the attic & picking out the dolls from locked away trunks that come alive every season. 

The dolls are to be displayed in a shelf with odd number of steps (3/5/7/9 etc...) Back home (home is Chennai, India) one has the luxury of using steel frames that can be screwed in to position. I remember being my dad's little handy girl & slowly graduating to his apprentice over the years. I have to give him a lot of credit for not stereo typing the role of the woman and disregarding the occasional remark from my old fashioned grandmother that would go something like 'pon kozhandhai ta en sutheel kudukareL?' (Why hand a hammer to a girl child?).

Anyhow, appa dearest taught me to use the tools n made me take pride in building things. I enjoy woodwork, handy girl jobs & doing odd jobs around the house. 

Now, in our new home I have enough space in the garage and a workbench to take on bigger projects. Thus came along my fall project - the 5 step golu padi!

Here's what it entails

In one trip to Home Depot, get

1. 5 step stair stringer (2), ensure it's level when you buy ( pocket spirit level helps)

2. 2x2x8 furring rod cut in four to measure up to the height of the stair's 5th step & 3rd step

3. Two/Three Wood planks cut to make horizontal support bars, cut length to be as wide as you want your steps. Make sure they can get it through the main door after assembly

4. Wood board cut to size to place on stairs to make the 5 steps

5. Cordless drill. I have black & decker.

6. 3 inch nails & a suitable drill bit

7. Spirit Level

To start, find a place where the ground is level. As first step - fix the furring rod legs to either side of stair stringer.

Use 2 screws to attach the pole to the top edge of the step. Understand that the pole needs to be flush to the top so that your plank can sit without wobbling or the need to be screwed in place.

Similarly fit it flush to the side.

Tip : I found it easier to drill a small but deep hole to mark my position n then drill the nail through. It gets easier after the first trial.

Repeat the same for the other side so both legs are attached to the inside edge.

Next, find a way to balance these legs and begin attaching the horizontal board to determine width of step

I had decided on 32" so it fits comfortably through my main door. I leaned one side on the wall, n the other on a cardboard box as below n screwed the horizontal board in place.

I drove the nails from behind into the furring rod. 

Beginner's error : the 3 inch screw was too long for this combination of board n rod. But it was workable as the tip of the screw is on the inside.

Once this is done. Repeat for the bottom stair to provide base support

Now you can remove the cardboard box n the frame will stand by itself. You can test to check how sturdy the stairs are, n provide additional leg support from the third step if required. I was prepared to do it, but didn't seem necessary.

Place pre-cut planks on top n voila, your own customized golu padi is ready!

 

Simply dismantle the stairs by unscrewing the 2 support boards. That collapses the construction to store and reuse next year.

It's really simple n just about anyone with a basic vision can achieve it. I'd say - if you can assemble ikea furniture - you can build your own steps.

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 -