Wheeling!

India Art Journal Sept 2 2012 By Meera Rao

 

 

India Art Journal Sept 3 2012 By Meera Rao

 

The idea is transportation whether it is an old man trying to move his wares on a bicycle or shiny two wheelers on sale, waiting to catch someone's fancy!  I am always in awe as to how many different kinds of vehicles share the road in India from fancy cars, various size trucks, buses, a fleet of all different kind two wheelers from bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, three wheel autorikshas, bullock carts, horse carriages and a few ingenious transformations of some kind of a motorized or other vehicles :) It is indeed a wonder the traffic moves at all!!! 

 

And a closer look at a tropical fruit and and a vegetable sketches from july that didn't get individual attention earlier :)  

 

 

India Art Journal July 7 2012 by Meera Rao

India Art Journal July 8 by Meera Rao  

I am having trouble cropping, sizing or otherwise editing my posts on the very moody computer here in India. Hope to correct a few of these quirkes when I get back to my own computer later in the month. Right now I am happy to be able to find the time to sketch and  share whatever I can of my adventures :)  

Moving slow But Changing Fast

India Art Jornal Aug 30 by Meera Rao

 

It is not unusual to see cars and cattle sharing the road. The bullock carts have been around since ancient times and still used to transport people or cargo when modern vehicles are too expensive or even not supported by the existing roadways. Googling I discovered these are called as carretas in Costa Rica, and Mexico.  Check out this clip of Punjabi style bullock cart racing or read a delightful little story here :)  There are even schemes "Rent a Bullock cart" for farmers who can not afford a cart  but do have live stock to pull them. 

 

 

India Art Journal aug 29 by Meera Rao

 

There are some grand old houses in the neighbourhood with beautiful ornate wood decorations on the varanda rooflines, pillars, doors and window awnings. This particular house is very elegant and was undergoing renovations when I first saw it. Now it has been somewhat hastily but not completely  restored and convereted to a young boys hostel.  The blue boxes are the newly retrofitted electrical fuse boxes and did you notice a switch between the door and the window?

 

 

Below are the full journal page look at the sketches from Aug 27,28.29.30 : 

 

 

India Art Journal Aug 27,28,29, 30 by Meera Rao

 

 And one more page: ( my ancient computer here has decided it won't justify the margins nor give me a bigger size of the photo below.... sigh!  but then its letting me post :)

 

India Art Journal Aug 23,24,25,26 by Meera Rao

Energy Sources

India Art Journal Aug 27 by Meera Rao

 

India Art Journal July 2, by Meera Rao

 

My most favorite part of staying in India for the past three months has been the variety of tropical fruits I get to savor :)  Sita Phala- Sugar Apple, Pomegranates, Mangoes, Jackfruits, mini bananas, guava, sugar cane, papaya, musambi, etc. etc -- the list is endless with each fruit unique in its taste, texture, aroma, size and color :)  Check out this link if you would llike to look at some photographs of exotic tropical fruits :) 

 

India Art Journal Aug 28, by Meera Rao

 

This interesting looking contraption is UPS or Universal Power Supply - that is an essential backup for power failures which unfortunately happens many times a day. It is a must for computers if  you can't afford to loose data and usage. It supplies temporary power for an essential light bulb or two or more may be even a TV! The UPS charges when the power supply is on for use when the electricity supply fails. Most shops, malls, apartment complexes in addition to UPS also have back up generators. More and more individual houses also depend on one.  Earlier in the year,  there was a major power grid breakdown in all of northern India that dominated the news media's attention. I guess its the price to pay for growth and demand when both outpaces planning and supply. I had to sketch the UPS at our place and immortalize it for all the work it does quietly ( well, it beeps once to let us know when it comes on or goes off!)

 

The following two sketches are once again from the very beginning of my journal getting their primetime spot all by themselves.  You may click on this and this to read about them. 

 

India Art Journal July 3 by Meera Rao

India Art Journal July 4 by Meera Rao

Consuming Passions

India art Journal July 6,7,8,& 9  By Meera Rao 

"Food to a large extent is what holds a society together and eating is closely linked to deep spiritual experiences." Peter Farb and George Armelagos
'Consuming Passions: The Anthropology of Eating'

The first few days (and actually throughout the stay!) in India are always about eating and enjoying the delicasies. The food seems to taste different and of course better - especially when my family cooks special dishes for me :)

My Uncle and his family came to visit me soon after I left my parents' place and went to stay with my M-I-L.  Being very generous and extremely considerate, he came with catered food for all ! The food was even served traditional style- on banana leaves - again environmentally friendly with no dishes to wash! And let me tell you, everything tastes superb when served that way :) The next day I had to sketch the tiffin carriers and pails as they sat empty and shiny in the hallway waiting for the caterer. So much variety and leftovers that suffice it to say I did not have to cook for almost a week! The Jackfruit was also one of the many things he brought from his farm :)

Sketches in watercolor and Pilot G-2 pen

Daily Vignettes

India Art Journal June 30-July 2 by Meera Rao

"Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day,  for no matter how little it is, it will be well worthwhile, and it will do you a world of good."

~ Cennini

I am in India for next several months to take care of my M-I-L. I have decided to keep an art journal of sorts doing a vignette a day of my impressions/experience/observation etc during my time in India to force myself to set aside some painting/sketching time every day.

I have a Stathmore mixed media 5.5x8"  34 page 90 lb spiral bound visual journal. I am using Koi water color pocket field sketch box with a waterbrush, prismacolor fine line 8 marker set, pilot G-2 07 black pen and a #2 pencil for my sketching.  Dividing the paper into 4 sections and using a section a day (painting on one side only) has worked well for the past fifteen days. This way, if I keep up with my sketching I should have atleast one hundred little sketches  :)  I already feel a sense of freedom in my sketching. I am not going for perection, finished compositions, nor worry much about values.  The idea is to have a simple record of my time here, get some sketching practice and develop some discipline to sketch, draw and paint each day atleast for fifteen minutes! I hope to be able to do a few larger pieces too --please, wish me luck :)

The first page documents our dinner at the airport - vegetarian sushi, different documents used, an air line employee and finally our first happy purchase soon after reaching our destination - Fresh divine Mangoes :) I have to relearn the PC here and hope to post better photographs soon!

Fall Colors

Persimmon  watercolor sketch 3x5"

Persimmon another view watercolor sketch 3x5"

My neighbor has a persimmon tree that I can see from one of our windows.  Over the past few weeks, the persimmons turned deep juicy orange and now the leaves are gorgeous yellows and oranges.  She gave me four fruits last week and I really wanted to paint them.  I even took pictures to capture their fresh ripe colors. But before I realized, three disappeared as after dinner treats :) The leaves on last  remaining persimmon have dried and almost fallen off! So this morning I quickly sketched and painted the last remaining persimmon in my little sketch book with the  Aquaflow waterbrush pen and transparent colors (top) and a mix of transparent and opaque colors (bottom). 

I read that in Chinese culture when the persimmon appears as a symbol, it denotes an energy which would remove the obstacles and allow things to proceed smoothly.  I definitely need that energy now! I have not been painting much these past few weeks as we are getting the inside walls of our house painted (almost done!) We had to move furniture and other belongings from all the rooms, shifting them from one to another and back again. Now I am trying to wade through the 'stuff' we have accumulated over the years as I decide which ones should be put back. The plan is to cull clutter and give away as much as possible -- which I am finding out is a lot easier said than done. And I just added two more paintings to my stack!