All that I do and don't

I know I let the ball drop on this one once again! I know, I had resolved to be more consistent but sometimes life just takes over... or may be I was being lazy. I will let you take a pick.
What was I doing? Having fun! A commission piece, Traveling, celebrating surviving the 7 year itch and being sick. 
They say a picture is worth a million words, so this blog post is going to have a few million words for you all to see/read.

© The Great Indian Ceremony, Mixed Media on Canvas, 18X24.

The first commission this year was a wedding gift from one friend to another. I love Love Stories and happily ever afters, so this painting was just double the fun. 

© Work in Progress, after about 4 layers.

I started off with first layering the canvas with some bits of party paper. And then I stained it with turmeric water, I absolutely love the rich yellow it leaves behind. And started building in layers of things synonymous to an Indian wedding. A palanquin in the background, layers of traditional patterns used in wedding cards, gold foil and more. I worked through around 7-8 layers, before I started painting the Bride and the Groom exchanging garlands in the Foreground. Finishing off with the names of the Bride and Groom the gift was meant for and a rich gold leaf border.

© The Gold Leaf Border

The timing of this painting was perfect, I was working on it as I was gearing up to celebrating our 7 year wedding anniversary. A fun event with friends and family and a week long of partying, home upgrades and more.

© Hari and Me, with our "Mini" Anniversary gift.

What next? The most exciting project of them all. Oil Drum Art! Yes, you got it my next canvas is a 55 Gallon oil drum and my inspiration is energy. 

Stay Tuned, I might be late but I am always back to post more. 

UN-CUT!

I opened the blogger site and looked at the top line and it hit me, my last post was a month back! Yes, I dropped the ball on this one. My intend for this year was to be consistent with my blog and share at least once a week, but life got in the way. 

Note to self: explore options of mobile blogging so that I can post on the go.

Me, hanging pieces right before the opening.

So this is what I have been up to this past month.

Hanging the show

Remember, in my last post I was excited about a Art show I was chairing, an Un-Juried/Un-Censored show for all members of Connecticut Women Artists. My intent for this show was accomplished! We had 130+ art pieces in all mediums from 65 participating artists!

Friends and fellow artists Rachel and Amy helping hang the show

The opening and closing receptions both well attended, good media coverage, seamless flow of drop-off, hanging, gallery sitting and pick-up. Some old friends and some very inspiring new friendships helped along the way. The result a true representation of the collective work of this very inspiring and powerful group of artists.

Opening Reception

But like any project an art show involves a feasibility study, careful planning, stating requirements, identifying resources, delegation of work, implementation, deployment and maintenance. And as a chair you are a project manager who has to be in absolute control of all the steps, on top of things and be ready with a viable Plan B. In short a lot of work!! 

On Opening Reception

The show opened on the 14th of January and closed with a closing reception on the 27th. We had sitters who volunteered to keep the gallery open for viewers to come in and see the art in between. Part of the proceeds from this show was donated to the Warm Shelter for women in Hartford, My Sisters Place.
Our donation as an organization encouraged a lot of attendees to donate more. And we were able to raise around $1000 for the cause. 

Live Drummers in the closing reception

And must say we all had a lot of fun in the process, good artwork, good conversations, some drumming, some dancing and a lot of laughter. Can't wait to do it again next year!

Hello 2012!!

© Morning Raaga_16X20_Oil on Canvas

With all the partying, all the countdowns, with a a lot of cheer we said our goodbyes to 2011.
The ball has dropped and 2012 is here! So what next?


I for one am very very excited about all the wonderful things coming up. Apart from my traveling plans of-course, can't blame a Sagittarian to constantly want to trot away!

© The Road Ahead

For starters I am chairing a Un-Juried, Un-Censored show for the first time. 
As the Vice-President of Connecticut Women Artist (CWA), I have been constantly inspired by the collective talent of this group. I figured it was only fair if all of us got to show-off our work together in one venue, without any selection/rejection process. A true representation of what this group is all about. The show is called "Un-Cut" and it will be at the magnificent Hartford ArtSpace Gallery. And yes it is the first ever Un-Juried show in the history of CWA. I am already thrilled with the amazing responses I have got from members and am looking forward to a show that will have walls full of paintings from the ceiling to the floor!

© The Door to Possibilities

I am beginning work on a entire new series inspired by growth and adventure and cannot wait to start sharing them with you all one by one. In addition my goal this year is to experiment with other mediums as well. I am looking forward to some classes in 3D mediums and putting it all together. 


This year I am also chairing the annual Regional Juried Show for the Artist Cooperative Gallery of Westerly (ACGOW) and am very excited about the awards and Jurors I have been able to get to curate the show. More on it in a later post.

Eileen and Me at the Opening Reception of ACGOW

As an Artist I have always believed that a key to growth and inspiration is being part of a community, a group which brings with it their experience, their learnings and their feedbacks. This belief of mine has been the reason behind me being an active member with ACGOW, CWA and Stonington Printmakers Society. This year I am taking a step forward and joining another such inspiring group, Norwich Art Council. I hope to learn and have fun being part of this group as much as I have with the others.


But most of all I look forward to blog, blog more and stay connected. 

Happy New Year!!