The Band - Revisited

(Acrylic on Canvas) Its been close to two years since I painted the original Band. This new painting is just an experiment to see how the technique and color complexity has evolved over the years. Quite happy :-)

Light in the Dark

{Acrylic on Canvas]

We grow accustomed to the Dark
When light is put away
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Goodbye

A Moment -- We uncertain step
For newness of the night
Then fit our Vision to the Dark
And meet the Road -- erect

And so of larger -- Darkness
Those Evenings of the Brain
When not a Moon disclose a sign
Or Star -- come out -- within
The Bravest -- grope a little
And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead
But as they learn to see

Either the Darkness alters
Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight
And Life steps almost straight.

- Emily Dickinson

Citylights

(Acrylic on Canvas)

These city lights
They glisten on the horizon
Dance to the sounds of late night revellers
Drinking, carousing, vomiting between destinations
Each one of them signals life
Ordinary people watching tv,
Talking
Laughing
Crying
Sleeping
Their minds silent but for the dreams they see
They rest humming in the distance
And when I look at them
I think of what brought to this place
This cold, loud space built on dreams
Most broken, a few fulfilled
And I wonder what they hold for me
-Kojo (from the web)

Weeping Willow

[Oil on Canvas]

A willow of crystal, a poplar of water,
a pillar of fountain by the wind drawn over,
tree that is firmly rooted and that dances,
turning course of a river that goes curving,
advances and retreats, goes roundabout,
arriving forever:
the calm course of a star
or the spring, appearing without urgency,
water behind a stillness of closed eyelids
flowing all night and pouring out prophecies,
a single presence in the procession of waves
wave over wave until all is overlapped,
in a green sovereignty without decline
a bright hallucination of many wings
when they all open at the height of the sky,

course of a journey among the densities
of the days of the future and the fateful
brilliance of misery shining like a bird
that petrifies the forest with its singing
and the annunciations of happiness
among the branches which go disappearing,
hours of light even now pecked away by the birds,
omens which even now fly out of my hand...

(an extract of Sunstone by Octavio Paz)

My Sister Snigdha's Painting

Virgin and Child
[Oil on Canvas}

There is a little story on how I started painting. I am the youngest of 4 daughters and younger than my third sister by 8 years (clearly an accident that my parents will never admit to :-)) . My sisters however have a gap of a year or two amidst them and so would participate in the same painting competitions in school. Every year the competitions would by dominated by the three of them, with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes being shared between them, so much so that when I entered school, I was referred to as the "painting sisters' sister" :-)) Our house is filled with the prizes they have won over all the years and I always felt I could never live up to this hype in school :-) Even when I won some competitions, I secretly felt that it was only because our drawing sir, Vinay sir (who was very fond of all my sisters) was being partial to me. All of them had a wonderful portfolio of paintings done over the years. Wonderful bright colours, beautiful compositions. All done in water colours on TK Paper.

My second sister, Snigdha's paintings were selected for some international competitions that she won. I remember as a child, crawling up to the table where she used to paint and standing on a chair next to her's to watch her paint. She had a thing for female figures - beautiful eyes, hands, curves, clothes and colors. I think I modeled my own anatomy drawings on the basis of her take on people.

Over time, all of them got married and then children/ careers took over as the dominant aspect of their lives. Paintings stopped. Also, none of them went beyond water colours as a medium to paint. Now, after a gap of almost 10-15 years, my sister Snigdha has picked up the brushes again and is starting to paint with oils on canvas. Here is among the first of her paintings with the new medium. It is her favorite theme, mother and son, "Virgin and Child".

I must tell you that my parents (who had never painted ever) would buy us lots of painting books of the old masters, which we used to them try to recreate. We have all sketched our take of Da Vinci and Michalangelo since 3rd standard :)) My mona lisa sketch was done in the 4th standard vacation :-)), so our influence on early paintings have mostly been figures and people (as with the Renaissance era). We never tried anything contemporary such as cubist or modern art, which is why it is such a struggle for me to break out into anything abstract. Virgin and child is a prominent motif of that era and there are about 5-6,000 paintings done on this, at display on most major museums. My sister has a lovely son now called Hari and this is perhaps the dominant role in her life now,

You will find that her paintings have a melancoly quality to them, I used to often feel sad looking at them. I am glad to see that the expressive quality of the characters still remains and the emotions transcend the paint.

The photo does not do any justice to the paintings as she is taking them on her camera phone and I'm bluetoothing it onto the blog.

Chache, please keep painting lots and lots ..will put them all up here. Love you.

The Band

[Acrylic on Paper]

The Band

Atomic Love

[Acrylic on Paper]

Rajasthani Women

My sister saw the previous painting and wanted one in a larger canvas for her dinning room. So I have done the same painting again, with more detail and jewellery on a much bigger canvas. Really enjoyed this one. Chache, for you, with all my love :-).

[Acrylic on Canvas]

Colors of India

[Acrylic on Board]

Phir lauta hai khurshid-e-jahaantaab safar se
Phir noor-e-sahar dast-o-garebaan hai sahar se.
Phir aag bharakne lagi har saaz-e-tarab mein
Phir sholay lapakne lage har deeda-e-tar se.
-Faiz Ahmed Faiz

A translation :)
Again the sun returns, bathing the world in its journey,
Again the morning light goes hand in glove with the sky.
Again the fire roars in every merry song,
Again the flames leap from every weeping eye.

Coming Back to Life

Having fun with acrylic after a long time...15 years!!
(Acrylic on Canvas)

Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And I headed straight..into the shining sun
- David Gilmour, Pink Floyd