Sunday 17 November 2013

Every year, go some place you have never gone before - The Dalai Lama

Hi Friends...Very excited today as we're going on a tour of the major cities of eastern Europe in 3 days time..I had to use all my persuasion powers to persuade dear hubby for this trip, but it'll be worth it in the end. The only slight problem is that it has become mighty cold in the last week...temps nearing freezing point..so it will be a trip in full winter gear...heavy jackets, boots, caps, the works..Going to Krakow, Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good trip!
                          I'm planning on doing some doodling/sketching on the places I see, so watch out for a lot of travel related stuff in the next couple of posts. In the meantime, saying goodbye on a positive note...


Sunday 10 November 2013

Celebrating Fall

Even though fall is almost over and winter is beginning now, I am sharing these painted leaves that I did last month and have been meaning to post them. Finally got around to doing it today. This is an easy fall-DIY to welcome the season.





Maybe one day I'll paint enough of these to make a small wreath!

Wednesday 30 October 2013

A watercolor.

Painted a watercolor few days back. I was waiting for it to dry before posting it here.


Here it is...


Tuesday 29 October 2013

Happy Halloween

There is a definite nip in the air,
 October and November are my favourite months of the year,
And sandwiched in between,
Is Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all my friends and visitors! May all of you have a real scary Halloween!


I love this holiday...Halloween is not celebrated in India yet (except for a few parties in big cities), as people are not aware of it. But I really wish that it would catch on, because I just love the whole idea of dressing up as weird creatures. I would really love to dress up as a witch with a pointy hat, pointy shoes, pointy nose and pointy chin...not to forget the all important BRR-OOM..! and a cauldron! and a wand! 
But alas! I've never yet attended a Halloween party!
What would you like to dress up as? 

Tuesday 22 October 2013

"Miracles" doodle

During the last week, I've attended two super swank dinner parties at super swank places with super swank people ( hubby's official parties). It was a good change from the daily monotony...I was reassured that life does exist outside the confines of my four walls! The food was yummy and I must have gained a couple of kilos..Time to hit the gym! Hoping for a miracle!


Wednesday 16 October 2013

Pisces



Hello everyone...summer is over and fall is here with its beautiful warm colours. Living in a cold country for two years has given me the chance to see the beauty of autumn; and I am quite bedazzled by it. All those lovely shades of yellow, pink, maroon and orange on the trees! We equatorial people are used to seeing only two colours of  leaves - green and brown. So it is quite a pleasant surprise when the whole world turns orange and pink! Actually I realize that I am babbling now (out of excitement)...I do not have the words to describe such beauty as I see every time I go out these days. 
So, without further ado, I'll just upload the picture I wanted to show here today. It is a line drawing depicting the Pisces star sign...






Wednesday 9 October 2013

Zenspirations 'J'

Its been a cold cold October so far. The temperature dipped to near 0 degree celsius one particular day and we even had a little bit of snow. Just imagine..snow in October! So depressing! Thank the god almighty that the temperature has risen to a comfortable 12 degrees in the last couple of days.
    Anyway, I have been working on several lettering projects. Here is one of them...

Happy October!

Sunday 22 September 2013

Zenspirations dangles

Hi friends, inspired by Ms Joanne Fink's general style and her dangle designs, I created a couple of pages with some alphabets. I am not yet completely satisfied with these two...I would like to add a pastel colored background, but I could not wait to upload these two. Here they are -







Briony is a very unusual name...in fact, in real life, I haven't ever heard of anyone called Briony. The name came to my mind when I was thinking what name to write and decorate. Briony was the name of a fairy in an Enid Blyton story that I used to read as a kid. Her stories used to weave beautiful magic and transport me into myriad lands of fairies, pixies and gnomes where anything was possible...I guess I still carry themagic within me.

Friday 13 September 2013

Hearts and Bubbles..!

My new doodle...coloured in this time.


Coloured in with pencils

The original sketch

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Odessa Through My Lens.....

Here is the promised post about Odessa. The city is known as The Pearl of the Black Sea and the name is absolutely justified. It is a beautiful town rich with history. I'll now let the pics do the talking.

Here is the pedestrian street Deribasovskaya, a cobbled street which is closed to traffic and has only sidewalk cafes and beautiful buildings on both sides.



This is the colonnade of Vorontsov palace - a favourite haunt of newly-weds for their wedding photos.


The Odessa passage - a hub of trading activity in earlier times, now a market. The architecture is beautiful.


Some of the beautiful sculptures inside the passage.


The Potemkin stairs- a famous landmark of Odessa, these stairs incorporate an optical illusion. Seen from the bottom, one can see only the steps and not the landings, whereas,  looking from the top, one can only seen the landings and not the steps. A famous movie, The Battleship Potemkin, from the silent films era was filmed in Odessa and one of the most famous scenes from the movie was filmed right here on the steps of Odessa.



Odessa's beautiful opera theater.


City park on Deribasovskaya street where locals and as well as tourists gather to enjoy the pleasant weather, beautiful flowers and wonderful music. Music is played on weekends by a band inside the gazebo and people are dancing about outside....music, dance, beauty, good weather....what more could one want on a holiday..!

The calm waters of Odessa harbour...perfect for people like me who don't like big waves crashing on them.






Thursday 29 August 2013

Ile-de-France

I'm off to Odessa tomorrow...super-excited! Its a port city on the southern border of Ukraine. All these European cities are teeming with history and beautiful architecture. Its such a joy to see those cobbled streets and road side cafes with baskets of overflowing Petunias...ahhhh! Not to forget the clear blue skies and the crisp wind...I can hardly wait!!
                                                My next post is going to be 'Odessa through my lens'.
In the meantime, I'm uploading a doodle that I did after visiting Paris.


Tuesday 27 August 2013

Completed "H"

I have finally finished the 'H' drawing with the border around it. Showing it here -


Linking it to the earlier post.
I might put some colour in it next. let's see how it turns out.

Friday 23 August 2013

I have been working on a watercolour. Have finally finished it. Not that it was very complicated; I finished it in 5 sittings.
            The design is not my original, saw it on the net...it was free to download and print. But I drew it by hand as I don't have a printer and it was simple enough. Here I am showing different stages of the painting. I really enjoyed doing it...hope you enjoy looking at it -


This is the third session I think where I painted some of the leaves. Watercolours are very interesting to mix and play around with.

This is the next session where I painted some more leaves.

and this is the finished result with the background all done. Sorry for the quality of the picture. I do not have a good camera either. Lost mine on a holiday.

The shadow on the right lower corner is a jar I placed to hold the corner flat. Couldn't get rid of it.

Monday 12 August 2013

The Letter 'H'

I am a lazy blogger...agreed! But I am only lazy in posting...behind the scenes I am working on some project or another. Here comes the latest one...It still needs a border to to go around it...Will post again after completing the border. This one is in henna style, rather than the classical zentangle style.






You can still see the pencil lines for the border.

Tuesday 30 July 2013

'C' is for cat..

I do a lot of net surfing these days. I've started working out at a gym; and after the workout, am just too exhausted to do anything else. So,while surfing today, I found this awesome blog of a very talented lady, Cathe Holden. She showcases a lot of interesting and easy DIY projects with step by step instructions. Its quite interesting to see an ordinary object turned into a work of art. Do check out her work here.
                                                                       In the meantime, check out my latest patterned letter.


Wednesday 24 July 2013

A flower to cheer me up!

Its cold, windy, breezy and grey outside..I doodled a flower to cheer myself up..It would look even better if I colour it..maybe later..








Wednesday 17 July 2013

Flower doodle

Had a looooong visit from
some relatives .......exhausted..craving for some freedom and privacy.

Here's my flower doodle.



For some strange reason, the image has been inverted upside down. Don't know why.

Monday 15 July 2013

Today's Work..

Worked on two more patterned letters today. Inspired by the beautiful artwork of Joanne Fink.






There is a lot of room for improvement here..am just not in the best frame of mind these days....sigh...

Sunday 14 July 2013

I've been distracted...I've ignored my page for a long time. But I've not been idle...just not posting. I wish I could be more regular. I'm sharing here today,my patterned letters..






Saturday 16 February 2013

A Royal Elephant.

Homesick (for my hubby), desperately wanting to go back home...but visa requirements necessitate staying for some more time....ahh well!!
                                          In the meantime, trying to keep busy. Here goes..


     

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Vonderful Valentines

I'm an internet addict and can spend hours looking at other peoples' gorgeous creations. In this post, I am compiling some unusual love-themed art work. Hope visitors to this post will get inspired and surprise their special someone with a lovely valentine gift !

Here is one of the most beautiful, yummiest and easiest things to do on Valentine's Day. Simply dip some strawberries half in chocolate and enjoy with your sweetheart. (Strawberries really do look like little hearts!)

How to Temper Chocolate for a Valentine's Treat - What would Valentines Day be without chocolate? Candy and chocolate are often exchanged come Valentines Day. Though store-bought confections might be popular, such gifts can easily be made at home as well. Chocolate satisfies a sweet tooth, and some researchers believe chocolate is...


Here's a heart shaped terrarium for a plant lover-
Terrariums & Plants



Soap that smells like beer - the perfect gift for him...





Classy and stylish phone/ipod stand -




Japanese love candle, great for mood lighting at home -

            



Oh-so-cute frame-able art (I'd love to receive this...)

Awww.....


Driftwood heart - Awwwsome...

We love the way driftwood can bring texture to a room. This heart-shaped wall art would be lovely over a mantel or in a small space. #vday #valentines
The list is too big to complete in one post really....Might do another one on interesting Valentine Gifts.




All pictures are from  etsy.com

Sunday 3 February 2013

Fantasy Creatures: Mermaid

Mermaids have fascinated mankind ever since man first ventured out in the oceans. I wonder who first described a mermaid and what made him (I am assuming it was a man who saw gorgeous fish-women in the waves; a woman seafarer would definitely have seen a handsome merman) imagine a woman who was half fish. Perhaps he had been a long time at sea and was lost in the thoughts of his young lady and that made his imagination run riot, perhaps it was some trick of the sun on waves or it is possible that he really saw a mermaid.

             Mermaids may even have been friendly to humans initially, but they came to know the humans too well after only a short while; and very wisely, they decided to retreat to deeper waters and not show themselves anymore to humans. Hmmm....



Here's Miss Mermaid with a Trident.

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Fantasy Creatures : Dragon

Here is one version of the dragon. Another one is in the making. Will be complete soon.



Monday 7 January 2013

Peacock

       Made a peacock in henna style...ink on paper. This is not the final version. I want to finish the image in photoshop and add an off white background before getting it printed, but I don't know how to do that in photoshop yet (I'm a little technologically handicapped).
           Meanwhile, I have to be satisfied with pen and paper.



                                                                         

Also working on a series of fantasy creatures...coming up next..