Destination Bangalore......

So this month seems to be dominated with posts stemming from Bangalore. First there was this fabulous home-tour and now there are a couple more blog-worthy events that I have to update you on! First up is an artist who needs no introduction, at least not on this blog! You may remember our Über-talented friend, Aarohi, from this post. Well she's done it again---she's going to be holding an exhibition of her latest collection in Bangalore. So those of you who missed out on her earlier shows can catch up with her and hopefully take home a bit of her magic before it flies off the shelves! Check out a preview of her exhibition up here. I'm loving her new "nimbu-mirchi" series, and those "thaalis" are simply amazing! I love the way she created a plate wall to display them---what a fabulous idea! Granny chic goes global!

Aarohi's "anything but kitsch" art!

The Exhibition Details:

When- 25-28th Nov 2010

Where- Page Turners Bookstore, 89 Kannan Building, MG Road, Bangalore.

Time- 11am to 8 pm.

Now the second event is a fabulous giveaway over at Indya kaleidoscope. Preethi wants to know your favorite piece of Indian art/handicraft. Share your pictures with her and you might just win a handsome little elephant of your own!! Check out the deets here. Oh, and for my entry, I would pick this little pair of deer that I've had with me since my college days (a loooooooooong, long time ago, LOL!)...I love them because they've been through so much with me and also because they're so graceful.

Blogged here.

While I'm on the subject, you may have also noticed that I have been making noises about hosting another giveaway....well, I am. Check back tomorrow for the giveaway.....

And inspiration found him...: Mick Canning, an artist's journey.

I'm not sure what words to use to describe the artist I'm to introduce to you today. He is a man of many, varied, talents and I'm hesitant to label him solely as an artist. I chanced upon Mick Canning's work when I was searching for art covering Indian doorways. One look and I was hooked! I read on, and finally mustered up the courage to request an artist profile, because I simply had to share!!! Mick was kind enough to respond immediately and here's what I found out about him...

Not only is Mick a photographer and an artist, his day-job is that of an outdoor instructor --"work" involves climbing, canoeing, navigating, and he's hoping to set something up in Ladakh one day!!!  I also suspect that there's a writer lurking somewhere underneath as well. I'm sure you've all read "Seven Years in Tibet" and "Three cups of Tea", now just imagine what happens when you send an artist (he didn't know he was one till he got there!) to the roof of the world. Here's how the forces shaped him and how his art emerged.....

 

"Ladakhi Door".

Mick, on inspiration: " I developed my artistic style as a response to my first visit to India over 20 years ago. I was so knocked out by the place that I was trying to find some way of expressing my feelings, which neither poetry or prose managed to do.


I have had a little formal training since then, but am largely self-taught. The semi-abstract style that I use was developed to attempt to depict my impressions of first India and then Nepal. I now use photography more and more, as I learn more about it."

"Swayambunath".

That's pretty amazing for a self-taught artist don't you think?

"The Mists of Time".

  

"Monsoon". This has to be one of my favorites..I love how he's captured the downpour here....beautiful!!

"India".

"Gaya Street".

 I love how he turns the ordinary into something so beautiful!

He is also a professional photographer...his photographs are a work of art in themselves; This is how he views the world, probably the reason his paintings are so evocative....

Gompa, just below Leh palace, in Leh.

and this breathtaking view.......

"Roof of the World".

His description of the plane ride to Ladakh had me in splits (it sounds very much like the ride described to me by my dad...he had served in Leh when he was younger.)

"Prayer Flags". Darjeeling.

Monastery at Darjeeling.

For all you art aficionados and travel buffs, his website covers travel and art from all over India, Nepal and Oman; I just chose to focus on his Indian paintings. When you have the time, I would strongly recommend that you grab your favorite cuppa and head on over to his website and really read the entries in his online journal......you'll see what I'm talking about!! I'm going to leave you with an excerpt from his website, describing how Ladakh moved him (I'm sure this will have you clicking on over faster than I can say "interwebs"...:) )

"Later, I’m walking around the market. How strange to go around market stalls and shops in India, not getting pressured and hassled at all. Even by the Kashmiris! At times it seems almost unreal. You wonder whether suddenly it’s all going to crash around you and normal India will be resumed as soon as possible. The longer that you spend here, the more laid back you become. I don’t think you can help it! Everyone strolls around smiling and Julay-ing you and each other. I know that Ladakhis consider it the height of bad manners ever to lose one’s temper, but it really does seem unreal. I think it would be easy to just sink into the ambiance of it all and find you’d suddenly missed your flight out and had overstayed by weeks, or months…

Andrew Harvey said, and I’ll have to paraphrase because I can’t remember the exact quote, ‘The wonder of Leh is that there is absolutely nothing to do. Nothing to do except slow down, switch off and just observe. Just be.’ I understand that, now. I realise that that is what I have been doing the last few days without realising it. It was only three mornings ago that I was feeling jaded, by golly!"

All pictures courtesy of, and copyrighted to, Mick Canning. Mick is based out of Tunbridge Wells in the UK. Several of the paintings featured above have already been sold, but a few are still up for grabs; at his website, you will also find links to a series of greeting cards featuring his art.

Mick, Thank You for sharing your world with us!!

An artist's journey.........

Labor. of. Love.

These were the first words that came to mind when I stumbled across "The Dollhouse Diaries: My Maharaja's Palace". Followed by "oh, that's pretty", "wow", "she made this??!!!", you get the picture!!...I couldn't  scroll down fast enough.........picture after picture, room after room conceived and lovingly recreated in miniature. Behind the scenes, I could just  picture her, researching each plot (because it is not enough for her to just build a room, often from the ground up,....there are stories to be told as well!) 

Miniature "charpai" with a lovely bedspread!!

Such a pretty window!

I'd like to take you on a journey with me, to wonderful Singapore, to meet Susan or Sans! as she is affectionately called. Sans!' art is unique as she works in the world of miniatures...she casts her spell on empty-shell dollhouses to recreate palaces and huts filled with beautifully detailed interiors. Each room is populated with little people, with intriguing stories of their own to share...........

"Pillows on bed".

Handcrafted "juttis" for her little people........

I had put a few questions to her, curious to know of her journey.... She writes:

"My focus is Indian culture which is a bit of an obsession with me at the moment. As I research more for my dollhouses, I am beginning to really appreciate how much of an influence India and its culture has over the rest of the world. Even today, I am amazed at how much of what people use in their daily lives across the universe, were actually handmade in India :)."

Handmade "toran".

Read on..............................

GB:  How/when did you start designing dollhouses?

Sans!:  It was Christmas 2008 when my housemate, who owned (still does) an events company, held a "Home For Christmas" themed event at a huge mall in Singapore. The event featured 4 dollhouses especially flown in from the States together with furniture. I was roped in to help decorate the houses over a very short time. I stayed up sleepless for 48 houses doing up the Queen Anne, the biggest dollhouse and completed it. Looking back, I see now that the work that I did then was really amateurish. :) and I would never again attempt to decorate a house of that scale in such a short time! :). You can view them here :) .  . Quite awful really. :) Anyway, that was when I was hooked.

It was in Jan 2009 that I made my 1st miniature , a set of silver goblets that have fallen apart since..haha! That month I also made a book on miniature Indian painting :).- Maybe someone can finally tell me whether the Sanskrit words are correctly placed..haha! I thought it was "interesting" to make a miniature book on miniature paintings :). I have to shamefully confess that that was also the 1st time in my life I crafted since primary school when it was part of schoolwork.

Tiny pewter tumblers, on an adorable red console (I'll take it IRL!!) :)

I had already decided shortly after the events that I wanted to build a Maharajah's Palace with all the intricate carvings etc. That's why I started the blog, to record my journey to the building of this palace. The very 1st post was about how the idea of building an Indian palace came about - I wanted my palace to be spectacular ! :):) My sister Susie, came up with an artist's impression of what my palace should look like :)

It never crossed my mind to build it myself. I had looked to India for artisans to help me build one.There are really wonderful model makers who can do exactly what I want except they may not be familiar with the building of a dollhouse (layout, opening, assembly details are different from just a model) Here's some examples of their work. I actually went to India to visit Agra's Fatepur Sikri and the Taj in Jan 09 ..yea, I know I am crazy that way :). My sister was going there for work and it was free lodging :).

Plans for the grand palace!

That was before my housemate told me the 4 dollhouses they used in the exhibition would be mine if I wanted them! I recorded that day here :- !  Can you imagine how thrilled I was? Dollhouses are not sold here in Singapore. It was either I build one from scratch or the closest for me to get one was from Indonesia (you can see the one I wanted to get from Indonesia is on the Day 1 post. And I am not even talking about the palace ! Just the run of the mill dollhouses that people in the West take for granted. That halted the plans for my palace for a while because I needed to "convert" these Victorian houses into Indian lodgings PLUS I just got a quote for USD10k from the model maker in India to build me my palace (without looking at plans- they may be quoting a high fee to be on the safe side or maybe they were really NOT interested in building my dollhouse! LOL)

Thanks to being so new to crafting, I did everything else except work on the houses for more than 1 year :). I made a tree, even " built" a temple which was easy because it was from a S$2.00 kit made in China (USD1.25?)  and many many more Indian (mixed with Persian , Mughal etc) artifacts and accessories including hookahs, Indian side tables , pillows etc . I even started stitching Oriental Miniature rugs and I have never sewn in my life-- even during primary school :). Everything except working on the 4 houses because I really could not decide what to do and then how to do it!

After some research , I fell in love with the Bhungha  and havelis and I decided ( I did not know how then) that that is exactly what I would convert the 4 Victorian houses into . And the era must be during the times of the Maharajah. I picked British India , late 18th to early 19th century. As you can see, I  always dream big 1st and then worry later :).

To welcome the "guests"...

Finally in April this year, I "bashed" the smallest of the 1st house (attacked by termites :) ) and created the tribal house :). Not a bhunga because try as I might, I could not make the house circular :):)

Little house.

Gorgeous "antique" door! Read the post to see how she did it.

It is July already, and I have only finished 2 rooms. I hope to finish one more , the artists' workroom this weekend . I was making paint brushes just before I replied to this email :). My artists will paint ganjifa cards :) amongst others.


GB:  Tell us about your inspiration for the maharaja palaces (your trip to Pakistan, India?)

Sans!:  As you know, I have been to India and hope to make a trip there at least once a year. In the meantime, I research almost every item I make . I have loads of books on India, be it craft, ID , Mughal art , palaces or forts and history. I join blogs on Indian culture and decor and at the moment, because I am building a tribal village house that is to be a home for artisans , I am especially interested in the subject matter of handicrafts of India and the traditional method of building anything from charpai to baskets, carpets to jutti.

"Charpai"

A spot of tea, anyone?

Treasure chests!!!

Another important factor influencing my direction and motivations are the friends I've made since I started the blog. I am the recipient of much generosity and often have miniaturists just send me their creations specially made for my palace, sometimes out of the blue. It is just an amazing community here. So I started writing stories about these gifts and friends, creating characters from Indian dolls I have and naming these dolls after my friends. I have in my possession almost 200 polyresin Indian dolls :). The tribal house is one I am building for a family of Banjaran gypsies who are very creative with their hands and are entertainers :). Rosanna, the Italian friend will be visiting me in Singapore this coming Monday :):). Yes she is flying down here to spend some time with me and to see Bali and Malaysia :).

These are some of the characters I have created :

Eva, the lady peddlar  after a friend , Eva in Spain


Tallulah, the flower girl after Jayne in US who makes miniature flowers


Rollas- the Banjaran gypsies- , my friends, Rosanna and Walter and Rosanna's dad :). Rosanna is a whiz at embroidery


2 mothers.


Hassan.



GB:  Where do you get all the materials from? Do you make everything or do you modify stuff that exists?

Sans!:  As my subject matter is quite unusual, the objects I need are not widely available in dollhouse shops. I will either have to commission someone (and not very many of them will know how to do them well) to make specific things and I have (Kiva Atkinson for Indian food and Sumaiyah Mehreen for my 1st 4 dolls) or try building it myself. In any event, we also have no specialty toy stores here for dollhouse lovers. I am quite particular and although I find 100% realism boring (I am going to get shot for this remark..lol) I do want my items to be as close to "British India" as possible. So when I was in India, I went to the non tourist-y parts of Delhi to get their fabrics, trimmings and ribbons. I was quite overwhelmed by the beautiful and intricate bead work in a small strip of ribbon. There is no substitute really for these. I use these ribbons to make fabric items like cushions, the Banjaran valance and blanket etc . They are not exact mini replicas :). I am not built that way :) so they are made with liberal artistic licence .

Adorable little stool!

I am very lucky to be staying quite close to Little India in Singapore and I shop there for a lot of my little things. I bought some wonderful mini copper pots there.Whenever I am in Bangkok, I will go to their famous weekend market, JJ where they have a section devoted to excellent handmade miniatures that can be modified to look Indian, eg baskets etc. So yes, I modify a lot of existing stuff to look more Indian or old and distressed. I love it when I can change something so completely that it is unrecognisable from the original form (like Hassan ..lol) Sometimes, I do have to make things from scratch. Like all my hookahs . We have a wonderful bead shop in Singapore, small but comprehensive and for many of my little projects like hookahs, bowls etc, I used these beads. Common household items like buttons and clasp can also be used. I made this hookah from beads and buttons :

"Hookah" made of buttons!

I am always trying to improve on the old model The other thing I am going to keep making is the charpai. I hope to weave one properly . That goes for the stool too. I used oriental fans alot to make carved wooden boxes . The other great store is of course our $2 Japanese Store Daiso.

Casual "baithak"...

"Shoe shelves" made of ice-cream sticks and buttons!

GB: Have you ever held any exhibitions? Your art belongs in museums! If you do, do you have any scheduled- and where?

Sans!: You are too kind :):). I hope that one day, after I chalk up 10,000 hours practising my craft, I will have the opportunity to :).


GB: I love the stories you build around your characters..which comes first, the story or the setting?

Sans!: You have read what I said about me creating the characters so I won't repeat that part but it is almost always the setting 1st. Often my stories happen only when I start writing the post :) . My 1st story was Mahendran and the Roses of Misgivings - . It's really a silly story and completely disconnected like a lame limerick. But I took a lot of pictures arranging the flowers with this and that prop and the story just evolved when I starting to post about the flowers. Later on. I started mixing history with my story like The Indian History of Shoe Throwing . Another really silly tale.  I think it is only funny to me and the people who gave me those presents :). But I always like my characters to be strong, independent , clever and resourceful . The women especially are usually portrayed as very creative and smart business woman. Did you read the article on NY Times (Linked via.) ? Exactly like the lady in this article :). If you don't read anything else, you must read this amazing story. I love love love it!


You must visit her over at her blog. Drop in, say hi, linger and be sure to bookmark it...because there are waaayy too many pictures and stories, rich in details, research, and inspiration, for me to cover in one post!! I know the question that is now foremost in your minds is..."if that's her dollhouse...what's her home like??". Good question. Come back tomorrow to find out.......... ;)

Come fly away...

Are you up to taking a trip with me? Why don't we go visit an artist who paints in the colors of the rainbow....let's go meet Ronnie Biccard, in far-away South Africa. Let's see her art and hear the many stories it tells, of joy and heartbreak and of the inspiration that is born.......

Though Ronnie describes herself as an empty nester at the moment, her life is full of art and beauty. She works to music (woman after my own heart!) and many of her paintings portray movement and ceremony. She says "my paintings capture the essence of joy... joie de vive". Hold on to that thought and read on to experience it.....

"Passion like this". From a series of commissioned art on South Africa.  

Given below are a few questions I had put to her along with her answers...... 

GB: What was the first piece of artwork you made that led you to realise that art was your calling?

RB: I remember I was sick and in bed-I always had tummy ups- and downs- sets as a child, I must have been about 5 or 6, when my dad came into the room to see how i was doing. He surprised me with a set of choki pens, thick colourful ones, and I remember drawing an Alladin's lamp, one colour next to the next. I remember and can easily connect with the delight I felt at the time. I wish my mom had kept it.

Goddess of water.

GB: When did you hold the first exhibition? How did It feel?

RB: I did Art for Matric and wanted to go to University to study teaching, I had no money nor did my dad so my sister( 20 years older than me) had all my school art framed, invited all her friends and had an exhibition for me in her house. They sold like hotcakes. I had enough money to go to college. In fact my sister still has some of those pictures hanging on her walls.

 On to Langebaan.

GB:  Any piece of art that (that you made) you have not and will never part with? (the family portrait?)

RB: Actually no, I am so willing to let my art go. I don't get sentimental about my work.

Flower sellers and chicks for sale.

GB: Do you tour? Any exhibition(s) scheduled out of the continent?

RB: I have exhibited in Naples Florida in 2000 when I lived and worked there. Other than that I have not exhibited out of South Africa. Having said that I have many collectors outside of SA- USA, Canada, Europe.

Travelling- yes, I have traveled extensively in my life, lately not, but that is about to change. We are relocating to the UK and the big world in nearer from there. I have visited the Far East-Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea. I have also been to Spain UK and US. In addition to that I have traveled up through Africa- Zimbabwe, Mocambique, Malawi , Tanzania , Zanzibar and Namibia. I've never been to South America, but that's on my list.

Anthony's blues.

I had mentioned her stories and inspiration..here's one that really gripped me... I'm lifting this verbatim from her blog....

" In december of 2007 we hired a movie called "Blood Diamonds" with Leonardo De Caprio. Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone. A violent movie which had a terrible impact on me. In January the following year I had a vision, a nightmarish one, where I saw civil war and violence in our own country(South Africa). A few months later we did have terrible violence, where xenophobia struck our country and people from other countries in Africa were displaced and brutally attacked.


Many white South Africans were once again leaving our beautiful country. I had thoughts of the same. For the next few months I was gripped in fear. Paralized by it in fact. I just didn't want to be in South Africa where we have all this crime and violence.


I had been a victim of an armed robbery the year before at a friends house, we weren't harmed at all, but the invasion on ones space and person is quite infuriating and humbling at the same time.


I suppose I didn't deal with the trauma at the time because I didn't feel traumatised at all. In fact it was quite a strange out of body feeling then- and I felt no fear. The reality of what could have happened struck me a year later when I saw the movie, had the vision and then the actual violence of the xenophobic attacks..


I went into a very dark space of feeling very very fearful, angry, hopeless and depressed.


I wanted to remove myself from this harsh experience.


I want to leave South Africa and relocate to Spain. I travelled to Spain about 10 years ago and loved it. This is where I started an escape from reality. I had and still have this romantic notion that it would be so beautiful, carefree and inspiring. AND SAFE. I started searching on the internet for properties to buy to renovate. They say artists live in a world of fantasy. Well thank goodness, it was my saviour. I definately escaped on a very creative and inspiring journey this time. I removed myself from and dealt with the fear that gripped me, I transmuted it into freedom. I didn't have to sell up and uproot. I was free to be the gypsy, I could escape and paint away the fear. I think I drove my husband and family crazy.


For me this experience was about dreaming, about imagining; in the day, in the night and in my creations...


Where in Spain I travelled to I don't know. I just know I found fabulous places and here "my little cortija in Spain on a Finca " dream came about."

And that's how beauty is born......it has to come from the heart, you see.

Little boxes. Triptych.

Cordoba.

Little village in the garden.

Can't wait to read more? You can visit Ronnie here. Many more pictures and her story on her Picasa Album.

Stay tuned.....what? don't you want to see an artist's space?...just FYI, her many homes have been featured (several times) in leading South African decor mags.... nothing contrived in her space(s)....all as free-flowing and colorful as her art........... 

All images copyrighted to Ronnie Biccard.

Interview and artist profile: Aarohi Singh

Hello! and are you ready for the long weekend? I wanted to leave you with a meaty post, loaded with pictures and a story...I know many of you know of, and have visited Aarohi, but some stories need to be revisited every once in a while, because they evolve and mature into classics over time. Aarohi is probably best known for her kitsch series of paintings- the bright colors just seem to grab you and pull you in.... However, she defies classification, as she dabbles in and masters several other mediums as well....and I guess that's the hallmark of a true artist! So anyway, time for me to grab my cuppa and hand the stage over to her......

GB: How did the first “kitsch” project come into being?

Aarohi: I have been doodling these kitschy images for a quite a while. I happened to see some hand painted Mexican art on an earthenware plate while surfing the web. And the rest as they say is history...

GB:  When you started with your kitsch line, whom did you share it with first (i.e. family, friends??) What was their reaction? When you launched it- what kind of reception did it get from the public- did you make any sales right away?

Aarohi: My first piece was a kettle that was painted while my husband was away in the USA. It showed two people about to kiss and I shared that with him and my friends with whom he was staying at the time over the net with a web cam. The second piece was a letterbox. This too had a couple on it with hearts and the like!! It was made in response to my husband travelling and how technology had changed everything. Snail mail was gone to be replaced with email. It was a piece of romantic fluff of an older less fast paced time.

I exhibited my first kitsch collection at the Cha Bar-Leela Palace Hotel in Bangalore in Nov 2008. I had about 35 pieces in all with five paintings and the one khiladi table. And it all flew off the shelves. I sold almost 80% of the stuff in the first two days of the three day exhibition. In fact, after that day I have never had that kind of stock again. Touch wood, it sells before I can get that many pieces together :-). you can see both on the exhibition page.

GB: When you hold exhibitions, it must be interesting to meet your fans face-to-face. Who buys your art? Any lasting impressions/memorable statements that have stayed with you?

Aarohi: I have all sorts of people buy my art. I have even had college students buy art from me. A friend and fellow artist likened my painting on kettles and buckets as a further extension of my being an artist and mother. He felt although I had taken a break from painting while raising my kids, the art never left me. And which is why I choose to paint on "stuff- (buckets and kadhais and kettles)" that had become a part of my daily life.

GB: New projects? What excites you? Any particular inspiration?

Aarohi: I am currently working on a series of portraits. I will always be into figurative art. Abstract is not for me.

GB:  You have such an amazing range of styles- which one is most “you”?

Aarohi: That is an unfair question, it's like asking which one of my children I like best. All of them ( styles) have different and distinct identities for me. They all come to me instinctively. I don't have to labour over them. It just needs a mind shift.

GB:  Which piece of art will you never part with (your personal fave?)

Aarohi: There aren't any pieces that I have kept specifically for me. In fact my favourite pieces have usually been the first ones to go.

GB: Do you travel a lot? Any new exhibitions coming up in the next couple of years?

Aarohi: I would love to travel but now with two kids and their school schedules...it's difficult to say the least. But, I have travelled extensively. I am an Indian Air Force Officer's daughter, and have travelled the length and breath of this country and then some.

I certainly hope to have another major exhibition sometime this year.

GB:  Do you/where do you retail?

Aarohi: Directly from my home studio. And sometimes from Stores like Levitate in Bangalore and Maximum in Delhi. As and when I have my stock in other places, I will update the information on to my site. I am currently looking to tie up with a store in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Calcutta. Lets see how it pans out.

GB: Well, we certainly hope that you manage to reach a wider audience and wish you all the best. Aarohi, thank you so much for sharing your work with us.....It was a pleasure having you on P&P!!

Want to read more? Go visit Aarohi at.