Nits Arts and Crafts

My Wedding Mehandi

2011-12-19T05:56:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Hot

2011-07-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday - Green

2011-06-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday - Twist

2011-06-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday - Summer camp

2011-05-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday - Innovative Engineering

2011-05-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday - Leisure

2011-04-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday - Citizen

2011-04-12T23:48:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday - Young Man

2011-04-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

Just as ever, a little talk(plz excuse :P) - Young man Aryan is my best friend's little charm :) These were clicked during the second session of his portfolio that I did. He is my favorite model ;)

Ugadhi Kolam

2011-04-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

Wish you all a very happy Ugadhi :)

Wordless Wednesday - Bloggy Birthday

2011-03-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to my Food blog - www.4thsensecooking.com

Wordless Wednesday - Luxury (Burj Al Arab - Dubai)

2011-03-09T00:38:00.000-08:00

~~Wordless~~ Lot of words wednesday(rules are meant to be broken at times :P)

My visit to Burj Al Arab - The tallest hotel(1,053 ft) in the world is one the best experiences that I could have ever got in my life. Its sheer luxury :)

This hotel stands on a entirely man made island which is 280 mts out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure whose shape mimics the sail of a ship. I can definitely say its one of the most beautifully built and designed structure.

Al Muntaha meaning "ultimate or highest"(One in the above picture), is the suspended restaurant located 200 m above the Persial Gulf offering a view of Dubai. This restaurant is supported by a full Cantilever that extends 27m from either side of the mast and is accessed by a panoramic elevator.

This hotel has 60 floors and is said to be the first seven star hotel in the world :)

The interiors are classic and truly royal.

I was excited to have my breakfast there and was even more lucky to have got prior permissions to sight see the hotel which is otherwise prohibited.

The experience can be called much more than a day :)

Wordless Wednesday - Birthday :)

2011-03-03T00:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to myself ;)

I'm not aging! I'm marinating! ;)

Its a dark chocolate cake with vanilla fresh cream frosting and decorated with my favorite Ferrero Rocher and some Lindt shavings ;)

Checkout my "Perfect chocolate cake" post for the recipe.

Wordless Wednesday - At The Top (Burj Khalifa)

2011-02-23T03:12:00.001-08:00

~~Wordless~~ Few words wednesday(rules are meant to be broken at times :P) - These were clicked during my trip to Dubai few months back. Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, and is currently the tallest man-made structure ever built and is standing 828 meters tall with 160 floors.

Burj Khalifa bags a lot of records which includes "Tallest skyscraper, Tallest freestanding structure, Building with most floors, World's fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h etc etc..

I clicked the below pic from 124th floor of the tower and felt like standing on top of the world :)

Wordless Wednesday - Shy :)

2011-02-16T09:56:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - You and I in this beautiful world

2011-02-08T21:39:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Beauty & the Be(e)ast

2011-02-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Republic India

2011-01-25T23:16:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Swirl

2011-01-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Pongal Kolam

2011-01-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a very happy Pongal :)

Wordless Wednesday - Fun in the rain

2010-12-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Lonely

2010-12-22T09:47:00.001-08:00

Edible Art

2010-12-16T22:07:00.000-08:00

Art is not just drawing, painting, stitching etc... It can simply reflect in all what we do.

I see art everywhere and just love to put in a little creativity in all what I do. :)

Isnt it fun when food is presented artistically!!! :)

I still remember the days when my mom used to make me designer dosas to make me eat :)

Now its my turn to excite people and myself with food art :) Take a peep :)

Idly Cats! - I have used mini idlys for the body, pepper eyes, carrot mouth and spaghetti noodles for the mush :)
Ain't they cute?? :)

Fruit Rakhi - Used water melon, goa, apple & cherry

Tomato dosa peacock - Used tomatoes, red chilly and dosa.

Tortilla chips and Salsa Flower arrangement

Zoo zoo biscuits - My love for Zoo zoo ;)

Channa butterfly - Used channa, garlic & red chilly

Capsicum frogs :P

Bitter guard alligator ;)

Corn flower decorations :)

Carrot flowers

Apple butterfly :)

Apple flower box :)

Chow Chow Slippers :)

Beetroot rice flower vase - Carved the beetroot like flower & leaves and pressed down the rice with a bowl to make the vase. :)

You can find some more vegetable & fruit carvings in this post - http://nitsarts.blogspot.com/2009/05/fruit-and-vegetable-carving.html

Checkout the accompanying recipes at www.4thsensecooking.com

I am sending these to the Artsy-Craftsy-December 2010 event with the topic Edible art :)

I am also sending the vegetable & fruit carvings to "Create and Carve" event by Simply.food.

Wordless Wednesday - Motherhood

2010-12-14T21:39:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Fear vs Ferocious

2010-12-07T23:53:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Dew

2010-11-30T23:08:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Lighting the dark

2010-11-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

Kaarthigai Rangoli

2010-11-21T21:56:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a happy Kaarthigai Deepam :)

This is my rangoli for the festival. I tried my hands on colors this time :) Took almost an hour to complete it :)

The technique of this rangoli is to first sieve the colors in concentric circles using a tea strainer and then going ahead with the design using white kolam powder :)

Simple isn't it!!! :)

Wordless Wednesday - Sweety Pie :)

2010-11-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum

Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie Pie You're my Cuppycake, Gumdrop Snoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my Eye And I love you so and I want you to know That I'll always be right here And I love to sing sweet songs to you Because you are so dear :)

Couldn't stop writing for this post since he is my adorable sweety pie. Mr.A is the little son of my best buddy :)

Clicked his portfolio few weeks back ;) It was my first try as well :)

Wordless Wednesday - A busy man

2010-11-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

Few words about this column(exempted since its the first week :P) - Photography is an art on its own way and its my new born interest too :) Yupeeee I love to click :)

Hence wordless wednesday column will keep my blog alive every week with my photographic trials. :)

Hope you guys would enjoy it :)

Tiny Quilled Flower Pots

2010-10-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

Hi all!!! Its pretty long since I posted anything at all in this blog. But the much needed break was taken to get back with an art attack.

I should confess that I have been a bit busy, bit too lazy :P, touring and so on that I could not post much. :( Its time to get back to the art spree that I used to be in. So you will be able to see more updates soon :)

For the best get back, I put my foot into the quilling world and its truly exciting :)

These miniature quilled flower pots are too attractive and very simple to make :)

The double fringed flowers are easy breezy to make and look classic for these kinds of pots.

Inna's creations was the blog that inspired me too much to get into quilling. One should for sure peep into her site to see her amazing creations that made me awestruck.

The tutorial for the double fringed flower is right here.

I rolled the double fringed flower on a wooden toothpick and quilled a paper strip at the other end of the toothpick to make the pot. Last was the leaf, which is nothing but two tear drop pattern quilling stuck to the stem of the plant. :)

Simple isn't it??? :)

I made this bunch of flower pots and gifted them to my blogger friends during the bloggers meet few months back :)

Craft teachers wanted for vocational school

2010-07-16T03:59:00.000-07:00

A teacher affects eternity:
he can never tell where his influence stops.

Henry Adams

Hello buddies... Mrs.D, a friend of mine is planning to start a vocational school soon. The aim of the school is to get their students ready with skills that would help them earn their living. They would be targeting on students who have completed 12th and would like to start a small scale business on their own.

They are planning to train them on skills like carpet weaving, wood working/carpentry and other craft oriented subjects.

Isn't it a great idea to help such youngsters come up in life??!!! Yes, the school's dream of helping people would come true with the help of qualified teachers.

They are keenly looking out for such aspirant teachers who can join hands with them. It would be good if they are an expert in one craft(or more) provided that it results in a salable product. Kindly comment back to this post and also mail back to craftberg at gmail dot com if you know teachers who would be interested, or even if you would like to be a part of it.

Remember that, You too can influence someone's life! :)

Mehandi - to break the break :)

2010-06-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

It has been a really long gap since these hands ever did something creative.. aha.. why say so!!!! may be something on purely art side.

Yes... its really true. I have been a little too lazy and off mood for quite some time now. But I really need to break the break. So here is a small post of two mehandi designs that I did on my own hands.

The first one was a very quick try(hardly 10 mins) that I did last night out of sheer sleeplessness. Its a very simple Arabic design.

The one below was done months back when boredom struck me. A simple yet modern design. I love peacocks in mehandi. Very versatile bird that looks good how ever you try to depict it :)

Reading :)

2010-05-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body"

Given a chance to rewind twenty years of my life, the only practice that I would have liked to incorporate is reading. :)

I am not sure if I regret not reading. But may be I would have been wiser, brighter, more intellectual and so on..

I just thought if everyone loved reading, there are not enough books in the world and quit reading. (ha ha ha I'm just fishing for an excuse ;) )

I rather choose to scribble and now I know to draw ;)

Just realized that my food blog - "www.4thsensecooking.com" is being fed well while my art blog has been starving for quite some time. :(

So here is my little scribble done just to eat my time up and feed my passionate blog ;)

Hoorayyyyy I won it :)

2010-03-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

I won a contest!!!!!!!!!! Hoorayyyyyyyyyyyyyy.. I am jumping in joy.. :) :) :)

Its like more than a year since I won any art contest. Those are golden college days, when I used to participate in any kind of contest that comes up, just to keep up my spirit and of course won a few as well. :)

The latest and the best is the one I received now.

I took part in the "Arsty Craftsy Feb 2010" event conducted by Mindful Meanderings blog.

The contest topic was paper crafts - one of my favorite topics and I had sent a few entries to it, out of which My Tiny Paper Bags won the first place with highest votes. :)

Thanks a million for voting for me friends. I am so glad and encouraged by your gesture. Would surely keep up to your expectations and would post more. :)

Should I stop with that.. No way..

Shruti the blogger behind Mindful Meanderings, a very talented women I should say, was so sweet to pass on goodies to me for winning her contest.

Here it goes. A lovely hand made card that she did for me, made my day :)

Not just that, she had also sent me a Windmill moving model book that I just LOVED to make. :) I know its meant for kids, but its good to turn into a kid once in a while and I did it now. :)

Perhaps, its really not that easy to make. It needs a lot of patience to make it. I took two days to complete it and I am loving the outcome.

The windmill is occupying a lovely place in my showcase now. :)

Thanks a million Shruti for giving me such a cute gift. :) Its encouraging me to work more for your forthcoming projects and contests. :)

Since I have been flaunting about the prize that I won recently, I just thought I would share with you all a picture of the awards that I had got during my college days :)

Click on the pic to get a bigger and better view if you are interested ;)

I won those trophies in various genres of contests.

I used to love to go blah blah on stage forever, so lots of them are my winnings in talk shows, debates and adzap event. Then of course many in art contests.

Hey ppl... did I tell you that I leant Classical music for 10 long years!!!! ;) if not, let me convey that now. :) Since I know to sing, I won few prizes in light music as well.

Some in paper presentations and quiz contests etc... :)

I was awarded as the "Best Outgoing Student" for my Bachelors as well as Masters ;) and was awarded as the "Best Entrepreneur" for the stall that I had put in my college bazaar. :)

Friends, a humble request. The voting for the next challege is up in Mindful Meanderings. Kindly take a look at this post and vote for your favorite puppet. :)

The last entry - " Cat Puppet " is my entry for the event. Vote for me if you like the entry. :) Thank you in Advance. :)

Cat Hand Puppet - For Artsy Craftsy Challenge Mar 2010

2010-03-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

I love puppets and puppet shows. I remember enjoying them so much when I was a kid. I do have two cute ready made hand puppets at home which I play with even now. :)

But I guess this is the first time I have made one by myself and I was happy with the outcome even thought it was in a total hurry. When this cute challenge was open by Mindful Meanderings(Shruti), I was just wondering if I could really make one and was actually too lazy to think of it too.

But you know, participation matters and winning the last challenge gave me enough motivation to go ahead with it in the last minute.

Here is my 'Kitty' the cat - hand puppet made with just few items and few minutes in hand. :)

Its absolutely easy and can be made and played by kids from the age of 1- n ;) Yup I enjoyed playing. :)

Was trying to dub for cat's voice and was talking to mom through Kitty. :) That was FUNNNN :)

Things you need - A square sheet of paper, a cat face drawn on a sheet or just a printout of a cat face, scissors and some glue.

How to do? - You all would have come across a paper folding called "4 cups" otherwise know as the "Fortune teller". Its a simple folding technique that results in a mouth like opening in the front and cute 4 cups connected to each other on the reverse.

If you know it, just make one with a square sheet. Else just follow the instructions in the below picture to make the folding. I bet its damn simple to make and any kid from the age of 4 could understand the folding technique easily.

Now stick the top two cups together with some glue and also stick the bottom two cups together. Now you will be able to see a mouth like opening in the front and 4 cups to insert your fingers at the back.

Once done, draw a cat face on a plain sheet of paper or just take a print of a cat face on a paper. Now cut out the face cleanly using a scissors, removing all the white portions of the paper.

The tricky part comes here. Slowly cut out the lower jaw of the cat out separately. Now your cat face would be in two halves with the major face portion on top and the bottom portion would have just the lower jaw.

Now stick the top portion of the face on the top 2 cups and the jaw portion in the bottom two cups.

Your puppet is almost done. Just cut off the remaining white portions of the cups leaving just the cat face.

Now you will be able to open the mouth of the cat by just holding your fingers in the 4 cups at the back.

Finally draw and color the tongue and mouth portion.

Your cat hand puppet is done :)

'Kitty' the cat (Front view)

(Back View)

I am really happy to send this as an entry to the Artsy Craftsy Challenge conducted by Mindful Meanderings. There is a lot to entertain your kid in her site. Do visit and have fun. :)

Sparrows - Pencil Sketch

2010-03-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

I still remember the days when mom used to show me sparrows in the backyard to make me eat. I still remember the cute look of the little ones. I still remember their sweet voice.

But all that we could do is to remember them and keep their pics as mobile screen savers!!!!!

March 20, 2010 will be observed as World House Sparrow Day (WHSD) to focus on raising awareness about the decline of the common House Sparrow and to throw light on the problems faced by the House Sparrow in its daily fight for survival.

I am sending my sparrow pencil sketch for the "Cute Sparrow Crafts event '10" conducted by Shama Nagarajan of "My Handicrafts" blog.

A Little boy - Pencil Sketching

2010-03-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

Innocence is to see a world in a grain of sand, a heaven in a wild flower, to hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.

I have always hesitated to draw humanbeing because it has a lot of details that need to look like what they are suppose to look like.. And that was a BIG difficulty for me.

But then something kept on telling me that practice makes one better and that instinct has been working on me for quite some time now. So here is my try on drawing a little boy. :)

Of course I always play safe. I don't know who he is and if he really exist or not. ;)

I am really excited to receive this Best Blog award from a super mom called Shruthi who owns the lovely site Mindful Meandering. If you are a mom and have not been to her space, do visit now. She has got loads of things to entertain your kids.

Thanks buddy for acknowledging my blog as the best blog. I am so honored and happy. :)

All is well ! - A pencil sketch

2010-02-12T21:28:00.000-08:00

3 Idiots is one of the best movie that I saw lately. It left a great impact in me. Started loving Amir Khan for his amazing acting skills and stunning looks. He is a legend.

Here is my try on his pic. Yes I know I have not brought out his looks perfectly.. But all that I can say is "All is Well"!!!!. :) :) :)

Pencil Drawing - Little Village

2010-02-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

Touching my pencils after a year. Its making me feel fresh and nice again. :)

This is a little village that came to my mind when I thought of sketching. Used Microtip pencil for the dark outlines and 6B pencil to do the light shadings. :)

Pongalo Pongal - Thai Thirunal Celebration! :)

2010-01-14T01:47:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a very happy Pongal!!!! :)

Thai Thirunal Valzhtukkal!!

Miniature of traditional pongal setting that I did

Pongal is a very traditional and interesting festival that we love to celebrate. This year, just as ever we had a lot of fun.

The extra fun that I had this year was to decorate a miniature mockup of the ethnic pongal celebration. :) hey of course the pongal in it is true and edible. :)

The pic above is a set of small earthen pots that I got from Valluvar kotam. I pained it to make it look more special and ethnic. :) Loved making the sand base and miniature kolam too. :)

The entire scene setting is just within half feet measure. :)

It was hard to balance the sugarcanes that way. But I loved this pic :)

And yeah.. Kolam is one other thing that becomes mandatory for any traditional celebration. :)

Here is my first try on color kolam. I enjoyed doing it though it was a little time consuming. :) Yet to master the tricks of using color in kolam. :)

My Interview on webneetech.com :)

2010-01-08T09:37:00.001-08:00

All smiles again!!!!

Little happenings add loads of josh to our life, that too I get all the more excited when it is on a weekend eve :) :) :)

I have been featured on webneetech.com.

One fine day, got a mail from the technical department of the site saying that they were really impressed with my blogs and they wanted to feature me in their site. I was of course very much excited about it. This interview was on a lighter side and I enjoyed answering their questions.

Take a peep into it :)

http://webneetech.com/2010/01/08/a-foodie-and-an-artist-blogger-nithya/

Wish you all a happy and leisure weekend :)

Hugs,

Kolam Contest

2010-01-04T06:05:00.000-08:00

Kolam is my favorite art as you all know. :) But I have never been to a contest of this kind before.

Few days back, when I was gazing at the local news paper I found a column reading as

"Kolam Contest"
Lions club and Exnora sports club conducts a mega kolam contest at 10 Am on 3rd January, at Kasi Vishwanathar Temple, West Mambalam.

I was kind of tempted to participate but was equally scared too. Was wondering if I can really make a competitive one and make it finally. But I always had the courage to give it a try. So registered for it and my mom was a constant support for me always. She encouraged me so much and gave me ideas too.

The competition started at 10am and the given duration was 1 1/2 hours. They had allowed every participant to bring along a helper who can help them to complete the kolam.

But since I put in my own creativity in my kolam, I did not take my mom's help rather she participated as a contestant opposing me too :) That added little more josh and made it more interesting for me to do a better job than mom. :) :) :)

So now here it is...... This is the kolam that I did for the contest. Its absolutely an abstract well designed free hand kolam. :)

Contestant no.28 - Nithya's Kolam :)

A side view :)

Mom did a great job too. I loved this peacock kolam of her's and she was flawless in her attempt at the contest too.

Mom's peacock kolam :)

There were around 43 contestants and all of them did a great job. Infact most of them used colors and made it really attractive. :)

here is a long preview of the other entries for the contest.

Loads of hard work and group effort went on for an hour and a half.

Flowers, birds, symbols and so on....

Dark colors, light colors, jatang colors, dull colors and so on :)

Loads of people visited the show and enjoyed the tradition of Kolam :)

This was the practice session that I had attempted the day before the contest to check out my speed. :) I completed this one in 20 mins :)

Practice Kolam at home

And of course my hard work dint go waste.. I WON the contest too :) :) :)

All Smiles!!! :) :) :)

A Flash Back

2009-12-22T06:15:00.000-08:00

Long long ago.. so long ago... But I know how long ago!!

Yes 18 years back when she was a little too naught kid, who all thought would be just way too naughty and good for nothing, discovered something that can make her sit in a place for a while and fascinate her too. :)

The stunning interest was the love for color pencils. Though the first thing that interested her was to shave the pencils and play with the wooden shavings, later she realized that the pencils could be used on paper to make wonders too :)

Once she found that out, she never left a page on any book, news paper and even walls. Its said that zero was the discovery of Indians.. And I guess it was this little girl who could have done it decades back. This girl drew all sizes of zeros everywhere with color pencils.. :)

Hmmmmm.. that was when her parents came to know what she was going to be doing years later... aaaahaaaa ppl.. come on.. stop thinking.. their realization was not the fact that she was going to score those zeros in her academics but was her interest in art and crafts. ;)

Then on her parents and her favorite teacher Anni miss encouraged her to draw and color.

Yes!!!!! its my little history and this post is all about my kid time trials of art.:)

Today I was digging my treasures and found an old file with all these worn out art works of mine. So thought these deserve to go on my blog too.

Welcome to my KG collection.

All of them were drawn by me when I was between the age of 6-12. You will notice the improvement gradually. :)

This is the first star that I felt was good looking and preserved :) Guess I would have scratched the sketches till they said 'I am done' ;)

Boats have always been the easiest ever thing to draw.. :) Look at my perspective with the large one closer and small one at the end.

He he he I just wonder why that hot air balloon is trying to land there in the mid of the sea????

I always start off any picture with utmost enthusiasm, but it would just last for a while. This is one such. I would have planned to draw a garden of sunflowers, but got bored with just 7 of them and rushed up with a yellow background. :)

Do sunflowers have a pink center part?????

Pencil drawing :) I am still thinking hard to recollect what I was trying to draw??? was it ships??? or trying to transport buildings by boats??? ha ha ha.. not sure :)

A BIG decorative flower pot :) Symmetry is really difficult at any age..

Anni miss taught me to color within borders, but then I was dreaming of the lunch hour when I was doing the red portion :)

Ufffffff I am here with an eraser now.. :) It was fun to know that anything can be undone with a rubber.. ;) Anything?????!!!!!!

Look at the remark. That is the secret behind preserving it.. should have felt like being crowned :)

Paints into action. Camlin Water color tablets(orange box) used to be the best ever gift I would ever enjoy those days.

Spray paint was all the more interesting because at the end of the day I would look like a colorful dalmation dog with loads of spots on my white uniform :) Thats when we say "Kara Nalladhu" :)

I am growing up with colors :)This is called Chinese painting. I am proud of my neat work and the remark too. :)

My favorite pic. Me and my sis drew the same pic competing with each other. :)

There is something really funny with this pic.. Okay lets have a game out here..

GUESS WHAT IS WEIRD BUT FUNNY IN THE ABOVE ELEPHANT PIC???

Karthikai Kolam

2009-12-02T04:13:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a very happy Karthikai Deepam :)

Karthigai is essentially a festival of lamps. The lighted lamp is considered an auspicious symbol. You would surely see a long of cute lamps arranged in various styles in every house. :)

This year, as ever I made a nice big Kolam in the entrance and decorated it with lots of velaku. :)

Kolam with lamps

A row of lamps

Crepe Paper Rose - A Perfect Imitation :)

2009-11-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose!!! :)

This was a poetic line said in Gertrude Stein's poem Sacred Emily, written in 1913 and published in 1922.

I still don't understand how many interpretations that line has.

All that I want to say here is, a rose is a rose even if it is made out of paper. :) :) :) as simple as that!!!

And you know why I have posted this one today????

Today as it is childrens day which is Nehruji's Birth day, I wanted to dedicate his favorite roses to him :)

Happy childrens day to all!!! :)

My passion for paper art is still on its go.. :) Crepe paper is one versatile version of paper that best suits for making flowers.

I just gave it a try and was absolutely impressed with the outcome. Hope you all like it too.

Made this large bunch in a marathon stretch of 6 hours. :)

A closer look at the shy flowers :)

This pic alone was shot by my sis. :)

A welcome bunch of red roses :)

I love red and roses! :)

Royal Yellow Roses :)

Google is my guru for lot of my crafts and so is this one. Find the tutorial for this flower here.

I am happy to send this to the Arsty-Craftsy event.

Grandma - More than just an Inspiration !!

2009-10-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

For most of us our grandparents would have been a great source of inspiration or their love and affection would have kept us going to reach our goals. For me my grandma is really special in all ways.

Those days most of the ladies used to attend schooling only till their primary or at the max they would have reached the middle school. My grandma was born and brought up in a little village where none of them studied more than 7th class. They get married right away and their lives change drastically. All that they have to do at home is to cook and then spend their time doing some art work or so. No television to entertain and no time killing serials to cry over. So she used to tell me that each and every lady she knew in her place had learnt at least one fine art. :) Wow.. Thats interesting isn't it.

My Grandma is a super active person who always wants to keep her brain and hands busy. She learnt loads of fine arts and also created lot of artistic things herself. Remember its all with the minimal facilities that were available those days.

She is in her late seventies now and she is still active with her creativity. Thats exactly what amazes me always. I love her. :)

She is good at Crochet, Matty, Hand embroidery, Bead work, Wire work, Flower making, knitting etc... the list goes on..

I am presenting few of her creations here for you to take a look. Most of them are around 50 years old. :)

Wire and Bead work

Wire flower vase and flowers

Bead work on a glass vase and cloth flowers

Bead table mat(I really wonder how good she was in mathematics)

Suitcase covered with beads (This is an amazing piece for sure)

Purses and Bags

Those days there was this fashion of carrying matching bags and purses. Here is my mom's collection that grandma made. :) I preserve them as my treasures.

Pinky bead purse :) ( I don't think you would ever get one of this kind now)

Woolen purse

Bead purse again (Too much of fashion trends those days na!!)

One more Bead purse ( I can't dare to try all these! )

Bright red bead purse

One more (A very cool combination and looks so neat isn't it!)

One other master piece ( Detailed designing)

A hand bag made of wire

Crochet and Knitting

Woolen Table mat

Crochet Sweater set(oops got to learn patience from her!)

Crochet frocks and sweaters (Some are that I wore when I was a kid and others are for my kids)

Crochet table spreads

Matty work

Matty work incorporating beads for the parrot

Matty bedspread(I remember her teaching me all the items in the spread when I was a kid :) )

Miscellaneous Creations

Aarathi plates that she made for my sister's wedding

Bride and groom decorated by grandma :)

Ufffff.. This is just a sample of her creations.. There are loads more of mom's and grandma's works.. Would surely collect more pictures and feature them later. :p

My MOM - My Inspiration

2009-10-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

Quite commonly I used to face some questions when people see my art works.

They simply ask, who inspires you??? Who taught you all this??? How did you get these talents and interest???

The answer is simple.... My Mom is my inspiration!, followed by my Grandma :) Yeah!!! you are right the interest in art flows through my blood for generations.

But one astonishing point is that, we have never established ourselves in what the other one did. Meaning, my major interests was not on the works that my mom did and my mom's major interest was not on the works that my grandma did. :) Interesting na!!!!

Mom is an expert in Fabric painting, Metal sheet carving, Crochet, Hand embroidery, Machine embroidery, Kolam, Cross stitch, Glass painting and so on......

Thought of featuring some of my Mom's work in my blog too. Come on.. she is part of my life and why not part of this blog too ;)

Fabric Painting

She loves to do Fabric painting and can be called a master of it too. She started working on it around 30 years back. It should be the time when fabric paints had been introduced in South India. The most appealing and astonishing point is that she learnt it all by herself, without any guidance. She tried the concept of shading, color mixing etc. Here are few such samples. I will try to post more of her paintings soon.

This is a painting of Lord Krishna as Ratha Sarathi, done on fabric and framed as a wall hanging.

Click on the pic to get a detailed view. This one was done in a bed spread. I have done a collage of the pics here.

This one is the cute game of 'ring a roses' on my kurtha.

Metal sheet carving

Metal sheet carving is an art where pointed tools are used to carve outlines of a picture on a sheet of metal. I would tell you that it isn't as easy as I could say. It needs a lot of concentration and strength to do it. One slip of the hand can spoil the whole art. So I always appreciate mom for her patience in doing such detailed and pretty work. This is one of the many carvings that she did. She did lot of such pictures and had an exhibition and sale in Victoria technical institute, Chennai. She has gifted so many such pictures to our relatives. So will try to get more pics of her metal sheet carving soon. :) Keep waiting.

This is a pic of cute Krishna and Balaram as kids eating their favorite butter :)

Crochet

Mom learnt crochet from her mom who was a major expert it in. Both mom and grandma have done loads of stuff in crochet. This is one art that I really cant get into my head ;)

This is one of my favorite round table crochet that mom designed.

Square table crochet spread

Woolen shawl

A designer tops for kids

A crochet thambulam set

Crochet fruits

Closer look at the mango and pineapple

A baby cap

Crochet coffee! :)

An open banana

This is just a sample of all her talents. Will post more now and then.

Want to know who was my Mom's Inspiration??????? Wait for the next post!!! :)

Paper Lotus

2009-09-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

I have still not lost interest in folding papers. :)

Here is my next one.

I loved the tiny ones too :)

Approximately 1 pink and 1 green a4 sheet is required for making this one.

You can find the tutorial here.

Paper Daisies

2009-09-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

The next of my tries with paper is these cute little Daisies. I fondly call them fan flowers.

They are pretty easy to make.. The only challenge lies in sticking it to a wire. It took time for me to do that. Otherwise its a cake walk to make it.

I love the pattern so much, the cuteness lies in the quilled center part. :)

My favorite bunch :)

A location change ;)

Guess what??? I used a pepper pot as a vase for these flowers. I've Put each of them in one hole of the pot :)

Do take a look at this link for the tutorial: Paper Daisies

Fresh On Floor :)

2009-08-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

I just love the art of kolam and here are few that I did recently.

This one was done on Vinayagar Chathurthi day to decorate the entrance.

I guess I was too happy on that day :):)

This one was for Naga chathurthi celebration. Notice the corners with the snake look.

One more line art kolam :)

Bunch of flowers

A welcome bouquet

Paper Lilly

2009-08-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

Back again with papers. This time I badly wanted to beg, borrow or steal origami papers to make flowers. But thank God.. I could some how find a shop in Chennai that sells these papers. :)

Got loads of colors and now folding all the time :) Absolutely obsessed :)

Here is the result of it

My paper lilies

The whole smiling bunch of lilies

4 colors, 6 papers and 12 flowers :)

Side look

Could not stop liking this pic :)

Here you go for the video tutorial to make these pretty flowers :)

Paper Wallet

2009-07-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

Paper is again my favorite tool to make new things. This time it was a wallet for me. :)

It was so simple to make and its absolutely comfortable to carry. But next time I make one, I should see to that I get a nice water proof paper. ;)

I have done a pen drawing butterfly on the wallet to make it look interesting.

This would be the front side of the wallet.

It can easily hold a lot of money and cards too. :)

A one fold paper wallet :)

You can find a youtube video tutorial of it here.

Tiny Paper Bags

2009-07-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Saw a simple tutorial for making small paper bag.. Tried my hand over it. :)

Kay the cutest rabbit of mine in a paper bag. :)

You can find the tutorial at: http://www.origamimommy.org/2009/06/tiny-origami-basket-tutorial.html

Swan

2009-07-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

I just love origami. Its so much fun to create things with paper. This is one of my favorite work of mine. I enjoyed doing it. Saw this tutorial on a tv show and was so thrilled about it. Took two days to complete.

It took around 32 A4 sheets and 260 foldings to complete this one. :)

The elegant swan

Just found a video tutorial for making this swan. Take a look and happy making too. :)

I am sending this to the creative craft event conducted by Kavitha of Kalalayaa art club. :)

Crepe paper flowers

2009-05-31T00:10:00.000-07:00

Crepe paper is another easy to use paper that can be used to make a lot of origami flowers. I made few for my vase. :)

The whole bunch before I could arrange them. :)

A closer look at my favorite ones. :)

Crepe roses

I just found an online tutorial for making these crepe roses. Do take a look and happy making.
The other flowers in this bunch were my own creation, hence I have to make a tutorial on my own and post it here. So kindly give me some time to present it to you.

I am happy to send this to the Arsty-Craftsy event.

Tissue Flowers

2009-05-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Tissue paper is the most convenient paper to make flowers since it is really flexible. I used toilet tissues to make these. :)

A very photography look of the flowers :)

Used white and yellow tissues for making these sweet ones. :)

Summer is for the flowers too.. :)

This is a little different version of the previous one. :)

Check out for the tutorial here.

Cookie paper flowers

2009-05-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

These are waste paper made into pretty flowers.

As you all know muffins and cookies come with a butter paper below it packed neatly.. This paper is the one that I have used here to make these flowers. :)

This is my try of the idea inspired from my cousin Pavithra. :)

Paper Art

2009-05-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

Paper art is my latest craze. :)

This one is a mere inspirational work from a great creator. Sorry i really don't know the origin though.

A spider crawled away from the paper ;)

Butterfly.. :)

Butterflies arising from a sheet of paper :)

One more snap of it :)

Fruit and Vegetable carving

2009-05-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

This was for a contest at college culturals too.

The topic that was given to us was 'Yaathra' meaning 'The Journey'.

A cucumber boat :)

A yam train :)

A snake guard bridge with the entire scenery around :)

Apple swans that I made :)

Bag It

2009-05-30T23:22:00.001-07:00

Bag it was a contest again at college.

They gave me 1 meter cloth, 1 day to stitch bags to my taste, 1 hour on spot to design the bags. :)

This was my outcome.

I stitched totally 6 bags in the given 1 meter cloth.

One hand bag that i stitched with the given material. Decorated it with kundhan stones and 3d designer outlining.

Mobile pouch, a accessory pouch and a wallet all having matching patterns with kundhan stones and 3d outliner designing.

A stylish college back bag.

The topic for designing was Nakshtra(zodiac). So I used just two colors the black(sky) and white(stars) to design it.

Creative Kolam

2009-05-30T23:19:00.001-07:00

I did this for a contest at college. A creative kolam on glass. I used the beetle leaves, agarbathi, turmeric and beetle nut for designing the peacock feathers. :)

Tanjore Art

2009-05-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Tanjore art is one of the most traditional art form of South India. This needs a lot of dedication, time and cost.

The paintings are notable for their adornment in the form of semi-precious stones, pearls, glass pieces and gold. The rich vibrant colors, dashes of gold, semi-precious stones and fine artistic work are characteristics of these paintings. They add beauty and culture to a variety of surroundings and décor. The paintings are mostly of Gods and Goddesses.

This is Ashtabuja Ganapathi(Eight hands) that I tried.

Water color and Oil pastels Art

2009-05-30T22:11:00.000-07:00

Water colors are the first kind of paints anyone would have used. My school introduced those tablet shaped water based paints to me when I was in 2nd grade. :) I still love to use them.. they are fun and easy to work with. :)

A Simple mud house street.

Beach view houses :)

oil pastels are one exaggerated version of our own crayons.. :) This is a little more oily and smooth to use..

A hot sunny day!

Mehandi desings

2009-05-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

I had passion for different things and they were very seasonal ones..

This was the season when I was crazing for mehandi the art of drawing on hand with henna.. :) Here are few clicks I could find in my large collection of pics.

Thats my hand with the detailed design of traditional mehandi :)

A larger view of the same design

The do was for my sisters engagement.. Could not find the front view pic :(

Mehandi

2009-05-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Arabic Mehandi on my hand :)

My friend's engagement mehandi :)

A holiday time pass on my hand :)

One other friend's engagement Arabic mehandi :)

Simply a do on my cousin's hand :)

Glass Painting

2009-05-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Glass painting was my first time pass. :) Did these when I completed my schooling.

Modern art girl :)

Peacock. was so unfortunate with this. It broke the moment I completed it. :(

Special Occations Kolam

2009-05-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of passion for drawing and so for kolam too.

I always feel nothing should limit out creativity, and the same implies for kolam for me. I generally don't prefer to draw between dots. Free hand is my style. :)

Here are few outcomes of my passion. :)

New year kolam.

This is one of my most naughtiest ones. ;)

As I am a Telugu girl, this occasion is a special one for me.

A rainy day at Chennai. :) Hey that is definitely a special occasion for us. :)

Thai thirunal special one :)

What is next??? Maatu pongal special :)

Onam special :)

A very leisure day at home :)

Kaarthigai special Velaku kolam :)

Isn't this a special occasion?!.. YES it is.. Jai Ho ARR!

Independence day special :)

I respect friendship. :)

Diwali is the most enjoyable festival. A special one for that day :)

I love Chennai.. :) (August 22nd)

Peacock Series

2009-05-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

Peacocks are one best species that suits Kolam a lot. They are my favorite bird in all sense. Here are few of my innovation of this beautiful bird. :) I used to organize kolams as weeks. Most of it here are from my peacock series week.

Larger version of a peacock done for my Uncle's 60th Birthday function

I incorporate a lot of mehandi designs in my kolam.

This is my all time favorite version of a peacock. :)

Mehandi peacock on my kolam.

One of my favorites :)

A simple peacock

Kolam - My special ones

2009-05-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

A design from a wedding card

Annaparavai - Pothys kaaviya kadhal pattu design

Queen on my kolam

King on my kolam too :)

A Parrot

An Eagle.. with a wild face.. :)

A simple flower

My family pic as a kolam :)

Yet another design :)

One more design of mine :)

Pen Drawing

2009-05-28T07:38:00.001-07:00

Pen has been another interesting tool for me.But the challenge is that rubbing is not really easy.. At times tat adds to the fun. The first take would be the last take too.. ;)

Pen drawing doggy - used a normal micro tip pen.

A scenery in pen :)

A marker pen doggy :)

You know what... In reality I am damn scared of dogs. ;) But love to draw them.

A butterfly... :)

Color Pencil Art

2009-05-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

Color pencils have always fascinated me so much. Love to use them.

Dad used to remind me the days when he got me the first pack and I very naughtily ruined the the walls by drawing all sized zeros :) ;) .

Many people have been my inspiration, lots of drawings have been my models.

So here are few that I tried and wanted to share.

Loose control... what more to say..Rang De Basanti poster by my hands :)

Villages are more interesting for me when it comes to drawing :)

More of Color Pencil Art

2009-05-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

Into reality of colors... a difficult job perhaps.. my try wit colour pencils. ;)

Friendship is beyond species!! :)

Peacock is my favorite bird :)

Flowers... for the first time took a photo as a model to draw from. :)

Ha ha ha no comments on this one.. :)

Sketches

2009-05-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

I love to draw and this interest has been there in me right from my childhood. I could not preserve much of my kid time art works but I have the ones I did last year. I am projecting them here for the expert as well as novice comments. After all the small effort of yours as comments would help me to improve in large extent. :)

Wood house... wish to own one... ;)

Wildddddddd.....

A beautiful village

My first and last portrait. I really dunno who she is.. :)

Pencil Drawings

2009-05-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

village :)

A Simple Flower

Swans.. Friendship is beyond color.. :)

Gauthama Buddha

Yet another pencil scenery

Drawings

2009-05-28T06:25:00.001-07:00

Little birds sit like this on a windy day.. :)

Macaw parrot on my sketch :)

Crane flying high

Sacrificing myself for u!!!!! :( dedicated to the flu affected ones...

Parrot :)

Pencil Sketching

2009-05-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

Village alarm on my sketch... ;)

African elephants off to quench their thirst :)

Hey don’t shoot me.. Its not so prestigious these days..Beware u will be Sentenced..

Pongal special.... village scene on my sketch of the day.. ;)

Hippo is not a bad looking animal at least in my sketch :)

Kusudama - My try

2009-05-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

The Japanese kusudama is a paper ball made out of multiple identical origami shapes glued together. This is my try of it. :)

Before it all could be rolled into a ball :)

The final Kusudama :)

A Closer look!