She's just a devil woman.....

Dear Friends,

           I am posting my latest effort here today. I must admit that it is not my original idea. I saw this work on another artist's site and was totally inspired to try it. I am not too ashamed of it as I am an amateur and students of art have always copied other, more experienced artists' work. Its practically a tradition, so......:)

She's just a devil woman, with evil on her mind..
Beware the devil woman, she's gonna get you...

Please see the original work by the other artist here

One more doodle..flowers and leaves

                                                   

I seem to have fallen in love with doodling. All I want to do these days is draw on a crisp white paper with a black ink pen. There is something magical and mysterious about the combination of black and white that is kind of lost if you colour it in....Anyhow, that's how I feel at present. Tomorrow, who knows...I might find magic in colours. Until then, its black on white for me. I had a wonderful time creating it and hope you enjoy looking at it.

Happy doodling!

Hello friends!
 Our world has turned white. Kiev had its first snowfall yesterday, and I had my first fall in the snow today

(ouch!) Not daring to go out again, just sat in front of the TV and doodled away. Happy and safe winter to

all...

                     

Hello all ! Its been quite a while since my last post (close to a year, I think). Blame it on the massive change in shifting countries and moving home and hearth to a new country - a beautiful country called Ukraine with beautiful people, beautiful flowers and strange weather (strange to me!). I long to write about all I've seen and experienced here but that is another story, for another time.
       Meanwhile, I've been staying mostly at home and exploring many new art forms. The one that I've discovered most recently is an old tradition from my own country, India. It is the tradition of applying mehndi or henna. Mehndi is traditionally applied to the palms of a girl just before her marriage. There are all sorts of stories and beliefs associated with it, such as the darker the colour of mehndi on a girl's palm, the more love she receives from her husband/mother-in-law and many others.
                  Apart from being a sweet tradition, the designs and patterns of mehndi are simply beautiful. Literally, they are simple and very beautiful. Most of the designs consist of repetition of simple loops, swirls, dots and paisleys. Peacocks are a common motif seen in most designs, as are bride and bridegroom. I tried a few mehndi designs on my sketchbook and was happy with the results. In this post I am showing two of my earliest attempts. More will follow in later posts. 

Paisleys in myriad sizes.

                                     
                                           A henna tattoo design.

Unusual canvases

This is another post in the series of unusual canvases (see the first one here).
         I'm always instantly attracted to any form of art, it doesn't have to be on paper or canvas. In fact, I have this fetish for unusual canvases which encouraged me to do a whole series on this subject. Today I'm writing about an art form which most of you will be tempted to try out once you've seen how simple and attractive it is.
                           Feast your eyes on these -

 What better way to celebrate fall than to have autumn leaves painted on your nails ....!!

 A Halloween design here....sure to grab many eyeballs and make you feel like a diva...

 Colourful gypsy nails anyone?
                                       All these beautiful designs are done by Robin Moses, a talented nail artist. Check out her blog. She does designs to suit every mood, season and holiday.
                                                    All the above designs are by a talented professional. However, one can try some simple nail designs at home...like the ones below -

 This one here can be done by just applying a coat of pink nail paint (or any other colour) and then applying polka dots with a contrasting colour. Apply the polka dots with the end of a toothpick.

This is another simple but attractive design - clear nail paint as base and coloured rhinestones stuck on in flower shape. I would like to try this with a pastel coloured base.

 This is a beautiful lattice work. The diagonal lines are drawn on the nails with beige nail polish on the end of a toothpick. How attractive ...reminds me of the top of a cherry pie..
                                                           So, next time you're going out and want to add a little flair to your dressing up, try some of these simple nail art designs and trust me, you'll end up being the center of attention.
Source of images : here, here, here

Diwali Lights..

Happy Diwali to all..! I am sharing various corners of my home decorated for diwali ...
(P.S. - We live in a govt. house, so please excuse the shabby state of walls and floor....)
P.P.S.- This post is heavy on pictures..


This is rangoli made on my side-board in the dining room...the diyas waiting to be lighted in the evening..

A close up view.....

Rangoli made on the entrance..I made this rangoli one day previously, and it met with a sad end when a stray dog made himself comfortable on it during the night. So next day I made another one, and took suitable anti-dog measures.

A closer view..

The new rangoli...

This one is not so detailed as the previous one..I just could not gather up the energy, plus I was still very angry at the dog...could not concentrate..

A corner of the living room here..the flower is made with a rangoli stencil available in the market in many different patterns..

Another corner in the living room...

The Bar...

My plants...

and the dining table...waiting to welcome visitors..

Diyas lighted at night...

There is something magical about the light of a diya...

The entrance..

The electric lights can never look as good as the twinkling light of a diya or a candle...

agree or disagree?

Hope your life is filled with the lights of Diwali forever..

Designers from Ancient India.

We recently took a trip to Khajuraho, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. It has beautiful temples carved out of stone, and the skill of the artisans has to be seen to be believed. It is as if the sculptor has drawn on stone with his chisel, and indeed many of us cannot draw half as well with a pencil on paper. Here I am posting some beautiful patterns and designs from ancient India -

My salute to those artisans of the old.