On my art table: Urban jungle

An abstract urban landscape painting and a prose poem

What a miracle you are
sweet little pea
pushing your way resolutely up
through that sidewalk crack.

There’s no one quite like you
in close vicinity —
you look around you
at all the sidewalks
and all the sidewalk cracks
as far as your eye can see.

You realize that you’re all alone
oh no, not alone — unique
swaying with the slight breeze
that swirls around your tiny leaves
beaming up at the sun
as it kisses your tiny petals
at the dog who walks around you
wondering at this tiny, fragile thing
that stands there so sure
so delighted at the simple joy
of being here
of being alive
of just being

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Beat stress with art: intuitive painting

When I wrote about adult coloring books last month, it generated a lot of interesting comments and discussions. Chief among them was the argument that coloring is a fun, easy and quick way to beat the stress.

My argument is that the best way to beat the stress is with art.

Well, what if I told you that over a period of about a month, maybe even less, you could have a painted canvas ready to hang on your wall? You need no prior art background, you don’t really need to know how to draw, and all it will take is 5-10 minutes a day. The set-up and clean up is also super easy and very quick.

Painting this canvas will also help you to be mindful, it will help you to beat the stress while creating a piece of original art, and maybe even help you to experience a bit of art therapy.

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The Red Thread

Chinese-legend-myth-of-red-thread There’s something magical that I’ve been noticing in my life recently. It his to do with art. With learning, teaching, and living an artistic life.

When I started down this path, I was quite a babe in the woods – clueless about where I was going, what I was doing, and why I was doing it. All I recognized was a calling… a yearning to create – to pick paints and paper, glue and pictures, with no idea of what to do with them, how to mold them into something that was pleasing to the eye.

I stumbled upon a few teachers – wonderful people who shared their art, tips, and techniques online for free on YouTube. I picked up a few tips here, an idea for a technique there. But very often, these free videos were disappointing. They were either timelapsed and so fast that I had no idea what or how the person was doing what they were doing. Often, they were product demonstrations – and said products were not necessarily available in India. But I persevered.Continue reading→