Invitation by Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery

Monsoon 2011 – an art event by the Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery – Mumbai, is a series of group exhibitions by various artists from all over India.

Paintings and sculpture in various media by established and budding artists from the corners of the country, is exhibited in a phased manner. My painting, Yellow Summer is also a part of the show.

The exhibition is divided in 4 sessions to cover the range of works contributed by artists from all over the country.

Three sessions are over. The fourth session of Monsoon Show 2011 is to commence on 4th August, 2011.

Artists and Art Lovers in Mumbai, please visit the gallery to see the artworks in person at:
Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery,
Bajaj Bhavan, Ground Floor,
226, Nariman Point, Opp. INOX Cr2,
Mumbai – 400021
India
Phone: +91 9820019264

Monsoon 2011 Group Artists Show

After three weeks of colors, strokes and wings, The Wandering Mist Art Camp 2011, has come to an end. This update comes a tad too late as I am still reeling and assimilating this wonderful experience I had. I am exhausted, exhilarated, nostalgic and happy that everything went well. The biggest success of this camp is a lovely group of budding artists and art enthusiasts who will be painting or viewing art in a new light.

Dream it. Desire it. And that becomes your destiny.
Right from the germ of an idea of having a hands-on art camp, to its fruition with all the campers saying fond goodbyes, this has been one creative journey undertaken to teach, and we all ended up learning more.

From day one there has been a flurry of activity. The idea lived, breathed slept, woke-up with me. It had all the elements of inception, brains storming, feasibility, check lists, costing, marketing and what not. It never seemed like work. You are always on a high. It was a classic case of the more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.

When you really enjoy your work, the less work it seems for your mind is active, thinking, imagining and trying your best to recreate it in reality. Like managing any project, it had to balance schedule, time, cost and effort, with no compromise on quality. But the pivotal element that made it all happen was the unconditional love and support of family and friends. Pity, they don’t teach that in Project Management classes ?

Developing good in-depth content, providing best art material and incorporating plenty of practice time into the schedule was the crux of the activity. I kept asking myself that if I were a student, what I would like it to be? What would really make me upbeat? Will it make me want to come to class every single day? It took a long time to figure that out in a structured manner. Quality is the element I never compromise upon. The group size was small enough for personal interaction and discussions, at all times.

The Art Camp Facility
Having envisioned a art camp facility that should be simple, comfortable, inspiring and eco-friendly, setting it up was the easiest part. From natural plants, handmade papers, hand-woven weed mats, recycled accents, and of course paintings & art books, the set up was ready in serene surroundings with abundant natural light and fresh air. The end product was inspiring enough for me to paint.

The Budding Artists Bond at the Fine Arts Camp
The camp participants were an interesting mix of adults, teens and kids. Each one was a different kind of a person – be it age, height, interest, attitude or level of exposure to paintings. Varied ideas, perspectives, attitudes and approach brought in a multitude of dimensions to the art camp. This beautiful give-and-take of three weeks kept us beaming, motivated, and gung-ho about creating. It always felt great to watch them mix colors, transfer and watch their intense concentration in everything.

Week One
The first week was focused on getting the basics right. Elements, design principles, colors theory, composition, perspective etc.. were the ruling topics. From steadying their shaky hands with pages and pages of drawing lines with pencil and brushes, sketching, shading to the importance to colors and textures in perspective, I guess the first week seemed the longest one.

Week One - Basics of Painting - Theory and Practice

But nevertheless, a painting was created everyday incorporating the lessons learnt along the way.

Week Two
Second week started with full painting compositions with instruction and tutorials. Having spent a week with water colors, their graduation to acrylics was enthusiastic with brighter colors, bigger palette, et al. In spite of the aprons, they ruined their clothes. And so did I.

Week Two - Exploring painting styles, movements, and more

This bunch of eager and enthusiastic painters created paintings every day, in a structured manner. By making mistakes and realizing them, they learnt their lessons better. On the other hand it were those gross errors that made their artworks unusual and beautiful, which I love and cherish the most.

Week Three
Third week saw them paint every day, but with better command over their works, media and presentation. I saw them planning, composing and creating their paintings on their own, with minimal intervention. It’s a delight to watch each creation come alive. The subject was the same but each ones individual approach to it makes it so much colorful in content and presentation.

They were free to choose the elements, composition, colors, expression, brush work, etc. Having spent most of the days working on paper, they graduated to canvas panels with good results.

Week Three - Exploring, Creating and Expressing - Independantly

Though there was one model to emulate, each one came up with a different looking painting. Each painting had a stamp of the budding artist who decided what it should look like, what elements to include and exclude. Each person’s brush work was unique.

It was here that I could really see them use the basics right. They mixed their own colors to get the shade they were looking for, applied design and composition principles. And most importantly, when they made a mistake or could not proceed with the model, they took their own flight of fancy, modified the concept with what seemed right… and came up with a painting that was truly theirs. That was the day I would call it the success of my art camp.

Teach! And you shall Learn
Along with memories of this art camp, I am left with some good lessons for life. Be it about loving what you do, risk taking, preparing for the worst, or simply managing, it was a great opportunity to learn it in action.

It is indeed true that you really learn when you teach. Every single person had opened within me a new dimension of thought and approach. With their learning, I have learnt too. Even their mistakes were so beautiful that I was always left with a pleasant after-thought.

While the art creations happened by the day, Irving Stone’s book on Michelangelo, The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo, kept me awake at night. To be surrounded with so much inspiration, night and day, was like living a dream.

The song has ended, but the melody lingers on.
Time flew faster than time. It was hard for all of us to believe the camp came to an end. It was a sudden realization and all of us wished that it had not ended so soon. But like all good things, this too came to an end… but with a promise of a better experience next time.

We all got-together with our family and friends to celebrate our last day. Certificate of completion were awarded, all students displayed their works to an art loving audience, happy conversations between home-made hors-de-vours, recollecting happy-sad memoirs and more ensued throughout the evening. Like a ritual, all participants left their hand prints behind in their favorite colors.

A Trip Down the Colorful Lane:

The lovely evening ended. The art campers bid adieu. But these lovely memories stay on. I could not be more happy and to share this.

Yes, it was and still is tiring. An experience, one-of-its-kind for me, is taking a long time to sink in. It is time for me to lay low for I have absorbed a lot of thought and colour. It is about time that I see what I make of myself with this wonderful experience I am having. So I take a break. And be back in a better avatar.

For those who want to get into this camp, buddy, you have to wait for your next vacation.

But if you cant wait, lets talk

I am happy to share that my long simmering wish has finally come true. HealthOpine is another website of mine which focuses on the healthcare system of India. I had earlier written about my goals for this year, and HealthOpine was one of them. Please click on the logo link to reach the new website.

Having lived in hospitals and healthcare institutions since birth, it is but natural for me to consider them as a part of my life. I pursued healthcare profession by choice and it will always be a significant part of me.

For me, hospitals are powerful places. People are born there. People die there. People get better. People get worse. And so much more. There is no place on earth where you get to witness and understand the miracle of birth, the absoluteness of death, the purity of pain, the meaning of life, struggles, battles, hope, faith, love… And to be able to witness this, in all its purity… is a life transforming and humbling experience.

In the same breath, I would also say that hospitals are painful places and don’t conjure up good memories for most people. I have had my share too.

My love for hospitals and healthcare is deep rooted in my childhood, wherein I spent most of my growing years in hospitals, healthcare institutions, nursing colleges, hospital wards, etc., by virtue of my mother’s profession (a healthcare educationist) as well as my late uncle’s deteriorating health condition (which necessitated numerous hospital visits and stays). From a child’s innocent gaze to hardcore professional analysis, I have grown with this industry and witnesses it growth and development.

And I had always felt the need to document this. Write more on things that were so close to my heart. That I could express and that someone somewhere could read. As a student, I could never find quality information on Indian healthcare. There was plethora of info on healthcare in developed countries. I longed to read more about my country and understand where it stood.

HealthOpine is that place for me… where I can write and share my thoughts on our system of healthcare. But this is not my lone journey. This is a website for anyone who cares to express, strongly opinionate, or bring about a change somewhere.

I wish this launch happened few years back and that a lot could have been done by now. But like they say, that there is a time and place for everything. And that those things happen when you are really ready to take it to the next level. So, there is no better time than now.

Im happy to share the news of HealthOpine launch and will try to improve it over a period of time with quality content and independent views. As ever, I always look forward to your suggestions, ideas and criticism to help me take it to the next level. I also invite people from different walks of life to join this journey and to express what is needed and what is true.

Good luck to all!

CD Jewel Case Cover Design for Christian Devotional Songs Album

“All things are possible – with God” says Prince Solomon and Ummal Ahum – his solo Christian devotional songs album re-iterates that.

Here is my design memoir of his CD and jewel case artwork. It was an interesting project as I had never designed a CD jewel case graphic before. With no design brief or sample ideas, my dear friend gave me the best set of words to start work – “do whatever you want”. And I did whatever I liked.

From image search, artwork, content layout to spell check, it was great fun all along. My most happiest moment was when the CDs and jewel cases were ready. The results were excellent. And it meant a lot for me to get it right, the first time. The hidden lesson in this was to – keep following your heart.

Prince had toiled hard to put this album together. He wrote, composed and sang the holy songs in Tamil. I was more than happy to have him take the next step in his efforts. My lack of Tamil knowledge had me loggerheads with him for I could not understand the depth of the songs, nor could select the Tamil font for placing it appropriately. Thanks to his patience and perseverance, that hurdle was crossed.

The biggest challenge was to find or create an appropriate graphic for this album which could convey emotion. I wanted it devoid of symbols and the usual trappings that make it look like a typical hymn CD which is so prevalent in India. The album had to give the buyer a sense of peace and higher purpose. When I conveyed him my idea of a devotional album, he was not sure what to expect – but still kept his faith in me. Thank you for that, Prince.

Not many images came close to the theme of the album and we did not want it to look like a typical hymn CD.  The image had to convey serenity, peace, understanding, strenght and inner joy. Budgetary restrictions led us to a free image website where John Nyberg had a beautiful image – a portion of which was used to get that required look and feel. Thank you, John for this wonderful imagery.

Indeed it is hard to satisfy oneself before submitting self-approved work. Here are some of the swatches of the design options that I experimented with before settling for the sunset design.

Design Options for CD Jewel Case Design

Excitement@work paid off. After a brief waiting time the CDs and covers came through though I could not get to see them for a long time. Before Prince left India, he handed over to me a discreet cover. Those were the bunch of CDs and I could not have been happier. The outcome was beautiful. The CD case and the CDs came through as per the specs. The printing on case and CD was of good quality which made the image stand out well.

Jewel Case - Front, Back and CD with Sunset Design

A job well done. Pat on the back. And like he said – all things are possible with God.

Another round of photo shoot this month for some distinctive home decor accents ranging from decorative pots, pans to plates. The theme was earth –  decor pieces fashioned out of  earth, modelled with hands and blasted through fire.

Exotic Brass Plates - Fading into Zen Oblivion

I cant help but admire the zen-like simplicity of this fiery picture with brass plates. It does have an earthy feel to it though fire element would be a better suitor. Simple arrangement against a plain background brings out the simplicity of the piece, making this photo of the entire shoot, my favorite one.

Spectacular Natural Design Formations on Ceramic Pot

This sole pot is a beauty that needed to props or other pots to come into the picture. And I loved the shadows though they are a no-no when it comes to product photos.

Fashion the pot, painting it while letting the paint take course, fire it while letting the fire create its own fire-scape on the pot. Left to nature to take control, we will always be delighted with the results. These pottery accents show – what surrender to elements can do. These ceramics truly unique and ‘yours only’ as these natural patterns cannot be repeated.

Lone Pot - A Natural Stunner

Another pot but a bigger one. A natural stunner against a floral Sanganeri/ Gudari print backdrop. The black was used to break the overpowering printed backdrop and to focus more on the pot. The earthy colors of the pot and its rotund shape reminds one of childhood kitchen but is also high on contemporary glam quotient.

Ceramic Teapot with Calssy Bowl in Natural Earth Colors and Hues

This photo needed no props. But experimented with a bit of Gaussian Blur to give it a dazed background, while ensuring that the detail on the bowl is well highlighted.

These are simple pieces of pottery that seem more like poetry. It must be quite an effort to decide if these should stay on the dining glass-shelf or should be put to daily use. These photos are for an upcoming website for Aesthetics Boutique, Chennai.