In my blood is colour and design

I may sound like some lunatic or a madcap here, but then all artists are some what eccentric at some level. Isn't it? After overcoming the pain of my Humpty Dumpty fall, I underwent a tooth extraction. That precisely was the reason I was travelling to my home town Surat. 

So it's the wisdom tooth which was bothering me for some time now. I know it sounds weird to have wisdom tooth at this age, but I didn't decide to get married to Gautam till common sense didn't prevailed in me. And yes, Gautam gave credit to this tooth for my decision to marry him.

Anyway, so I underwent the painful procedure of getting the tooth sliced first and then extracted. I believe I have lost bucket full of blood after this. Gautam says it is not a big loss, as the blood lost was his, which I have been sucking for last seven years now. To avoid the pain, I was asked to pop some pills. Some which I didn't like, one which I loved. 

Now trust me this isn't about the flavour of the pills. So what makes me say some I didn't like, one I liked. Yes, the creative juices inside me analysed the design, colour and fonts used on the pills too. And believe me you, I endured the pain but only had one I liked (picture below). 

Amazing colour with classy fonts used

Now this pill or capsule to be precise may look like many others you, me or people around may have consumed. But the colour is just so attractive. I don't know if anyone actually bothers checking out the colours of their pills, but I do. And have been doing for as long as I realised I wanted to be a creative person.

For the record, the above pictured medicine contains the active ingredient Amoxicillin, which is an antibiotic and it's used to treat various types of infections. But does it matter to me? Not really. I liked the colour, design and fonts on it. And trust me, I have almost overcome the pain, no more blood leaking from my tooth extracted area.

All other pills are hidden inside my cupboard. Only Mox 500 is in my system, in my blood for its colour and design. 

My Humpty Dumpty Moment

Humpty Dumpty

"Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the kings horses and all the king's men,
could not put Humpty Dumpty together again."

This nursery rhyme immediately gives all of us a recollection of that round and cute poetry character and of course those carefree days of our lives. These four lines are visually also very strong, in the sense, one can easily imagine what exactly happened to Humpty Dumpty. Yes, it is the beauty of writing.

But I had one such moment which reminded me and my fiancé of our childhood this Sunday. On my way to take a train to Surat from Andheri station, I slipped a good three stair cases while walking down the entrance of Andheri station. Their were hardly eight or nine stair cases to climb down and I went down on three of them on my bum and back with my MacBook Pro in tow.

And yes, it hurt me, and how. A not so badly bruised elbow, a heavy strain on my back, eventual swelling on my wrists and acute shoulder pain. But the initial reaction of my fiancé kept the pain at bay till I reached Surat. As soon as I fell down, for a moment I felt he would take out his iPhone and click my picture, but he was decent enough to offer me a hand to get up. 

Realising I was about to weep, he immediately cracked the Humpty Dumpty joke on me. And rechristened me as his Humpty Dumpty, changed my name on his mobile phones and kept singing Humpty Dumpty rhyme till I boarded my train. I was in pain, and wanted to cry. But he didn't let me for one bit. 

Even after the fall, we climbed up the bridge, changed platforms, walked down till my compartment, with my eyes welling up and Gautam singing Humpty Dumpty. I told him not to tease me, but inside I knew if he would not do that, I will break down. He knew the moment I fell that there was no point of cajoling me and giving false promises that the pain will subside, so he continued his stupid Humpty Dumpty...

Only when I completed my four hour journey in the train and 15 minutes in an Auto I realised that I was in bad pain. My parents immediately swung in action and applied ointment and ice package on affected areas. But somewhere I was humming Humpty Dumpty in my head. I realised this was the Humpty Dumpty moment of my life. 

Some things you learn in your childhood don't leave you. I think Humpty Dumpty is that thing in my life now, and I am sure my fiancé won't let it go away from me.   

Finally, life's coming a full circle

Nothing gives more pleasure to a creative person than his/ her work in a good shape, and of course appreciated. The ultimate result is a combination of right skills, religious practice and of course right equipments to support. Rotis I would bake more often than not took shapes of maps of various continents and countries, as I had mentioned in my previous post 'Wish MacBook could make Rotis'. 

But as of today, I feel I don't need MacBooks for perfect round Rotis. I changed my belan (rolling pin) and the result was, dhantananan an almost perfect round Roti. Yes, I did it just a couple of hours back while making lunch for my brother in law. And my fiancé, my biggest critic, approved of the shape and said he is proud of me. Well, does he have a choice. 

Round Roti, finally. ;)

So when he saw this picture, first thing he told me is if I used the scissor lying around the flat plate. But then it was just a coincidence. How can someone cut a Roti in shape with a scissor? It may be no big deal for many of you to get a Roti in the right shape. And some day when I read this post, may be five years later, I too would feel why I made it such a big deal. 

But as I said, nothing gives a creative person more pleasure than his work in right shape and appreciated. Little joys of life I would say.!!!

My love for bags, bling and art

Photo courtesy: Unitedworld Institute of Design

The moment I saw this my heart stopped and I could not stop sending this image to my fiancé. I could imagine the expression on his face, a resigned look hoping I don't find this bag in some shop some day to buy it for sure.

But the best part of this work is that it's a combination of three things I can't live without; bags, bling and art. And if this combines into one, how can I not drool over it. The bag or a piece of art whatever you want to call is nothing less than stunning.

It was Unitedworld Institute of Design's Facebook page where I found this and immediately fell in love. But outside for my obsession for the three things I mentioned, this really looks very beautiful to say the least. It needs a lot of creative juices, patience and perseverance to all flow together for a product like this to come out. 

And mind you, every creative person's ultimate goal is to have a product which ultimately is drool worthy and this one does make one feel so. Not sure how many men would like this particular bag, but would be surprised if any of my girl friends or blog readers would agree any less with me on this. 

And by the way, my fiancé has no where to go if this comes up for sale. He better buy me this. Gautam are you reading this?

Ganpati Bappa Moryaa.. Mangal Murti Morya

He is my favourite God. I am sure he is favourite of many of you'll too. This post today is dedicated to one of my most intricate hand paintings done ever in my lifetime. And let me assure you, I haven't done anything like this ever and will surely never do it again. A good 11 years ago, in the month of December 2002, it was mission Ganpati Bappa painting for me.

It was more of a dedication than an assignment or something that would give me bragging rights. What started on December 7, 2002 ended exactly on December 15, 2002. Yes, I spent more than one week behind making this painting of Lord Ganesh. And for the same, I changed my dining table and kitchen platform into a war room for a good nine to eleven hours a day.

Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!

Yes, it was war room. I joined my 4ft x 2ft sized dining table with the kitchen platform for a month to ensure that this remains to be the best piece of hand made art work ever done. And yes it was worth it. For a month, my mother was forced out of her place of work, the kitchen. And no one was allowed to do anything around without my permission. 

My parents put up with my passion, expectedly and the result of this was stupendous, at least that's what my cousins told me. My cousin Ishita and Pinal both demanded that this 'close to my heart' work adorn the walls of their home. I complied for the two are my favourite cousins. So I went through the motions again, with same enthusiasm but this time took some more time. 

And to make it look different, what I did was a very precise cut out of the work and pasted it on a black chart paper, framed it and gifted them (Below).

My work on the walls of Ishita & Pinal's home

Till date, I haven't honestly worked so hard for any piece of work. Like today I want to lose a bit of flab, and if I had to do make this again, I would easily lose a kilo or two doing this. But I now believe there are better ways than making a painting of Lord Ganesh to lose weight. Why not walk to Siddhivinayak every Tuesday. I will get his blessings as well as lose some weight too. Bolo Ganpati Bappa Morya, Mangal Murti Morya!!!

Wish MacBook could make Rotis

Life has become so digital and dependent on gadgets these days that even making a Roti has become a monumental effort. And trust me, I wish Apple had a Roti maker, I would have bought it. With a blindfold on, I can make a perfect circle on my Adobe softwares on my MacBook, but with a belan (rolling pin) and chakla (plate to flatten the dough), I end up making maps of the world. 

Well, that's the story of all first timers. But for last 100 times, my first time hasn't ended. From maps of various countries, I have progressed to ovals, perfect round is a rare occurrence. And that's my ultimate goal. Not that I complain and neither does my fiancé have a choice. But as a graphic designer who knows her shapes, colours and designs, not having a perfect circle in any form is a matter of shame.

But as some say, life comes a perfect circle and so will my Roti come some day. Till then wishful thinking could be 'If MacBook could make Rotis' ;-) 

In laws in love

My fiancé is a fashionably late when it comes to giving gifts. He loves to give them, but just not on time more often than not. And even if it is his parents' 30th wedding anniversary. Though he celebrated the day with a lovely lunch at Barbeque Nation, but he had nothing to gift them. I mean 30 years is like an achievement to say the least. But he was clueless.

He didn't want to give something bought with a Mastercard, but something personalised, something that strikes a chord and not only awe. And that's when he realised that his fiancée is the solution, like she was five years ago too. About five years ago, during their 25th wedding anniversary, he thought of making a photo book for them.

The concept was conceptualised on my laptop. A mix of dedications written by their families with photos from their childhood to jawaani to wedding to being parents were mixed and matched with sweet dedications from their families. Five years back I was just his chick. Today a step away from being his woman. 

Time passed and circa 2013 we decided to make a photo collage with 30 as a theme. We developed something for final approval is when my brains vomited another idea. This was of a suspended photo hanging. Idea was approved in less than 30 seconds and executed in less than a week. But the key to all of it was the rings that would hold the 24 pictures front and back in a 3inch by 3inch size.

The rings took time to come but when everything was assembled on a fine Saturday. The result was splendid and personal. Yes, my father in law, in a child-like enthusiasm started remembering dates and moments the pictures were clicked. Maa-in-law was pleasantly surprised seeing the concept. And I got a nod of approval from both and my fiancé kept a distance from this moment. He tends to become emotional seeing his parents' happiness. 

You want to get it done, call me or email me when you want to also strike a chord with your someone special.

The photo hanging suspended from the
roof of their bedroom

Myself with my recent creation ;)

A satisfied client with the designer ;)

Do, undo, redo

How many times I must have re-done this

Deserts are difficult to deal with. Some of the most enduring human journeys have been the ones through these endless stretches of sand. Even my journey through one was such. But mine was while making a painting in low key high key colour scheme. 

This one painting tested my patience to infinity. A stickler for perfection, the final product seen above is after rejecting four ones made previously. Yes. I made the same painting four times, and finally achieved what I wanted in the fifth attempt.

Sometimes the colours weren't right, sometimes, the edges weren't sharp. Once the sun wasn't bright and once I was just irritated. But after finding some inner peace, I started again and the result of four rejections, some 30 hours of dabbling with my colours, brushes and papers and bedsheet, I finally made this.

And since then I have suffered from this Do-undo-redo syndrome in almost every work. That's the way most artists are, isn't it. ;-)

Once upon a time...

Some time back in a previous post, I did mention that only a lucky few get those hands which are gift of God. Hands that can imagine and create anything. While it also has to come naturally, once upon a time I trained to have such hands. Those were the days. And after seeing the work I did during my Commercial Arts days, I feel if I had continued relying on my hands, today I surely would have been a decent artist, sans Mac.

An art work of this minute detail (colour scheme painting) I had done last during my commercial arts days (Below). Since then, the inclination towards graphic designing drove me to use MacBook Pro and magic mouse. Nostalgia one may call this, but for me the work is my prized collection. For my grand children to know that their granny was a decent artist, if not good. 

Yes, it's www.gopisstudio.com

I found a site, I grabbed it like land grabbers. The foundation stone has been laid and the construction has begun in full swing. Gopi's Studio will be live very soon, provided the requisite permission, clearance and authorisation is given ;-). Just kidding. The target is end of this month, but my fiancee is too difficult to handle, very fussy. Actually particular.

So yes, the day this is launched, there will be Samosa, Pastry, Cold Drink and Potato Wafers party for sure. So next time when you see pictures of the above mentioned things in my blog post, remember, the entire Gopi's Studio will be wired, live and for everyone's consumption. Till then, let me get back to work, ooppss, lunch time also closing by.

CIAO. You may go to www.gopisstudio.com and see the construction work yourself.