The second exhibition by my little artists...

Volatile Melancholy

There are so many things in life that I choose not to think about in whole...but when I actually do think about them I get so melancholic that often packing them away in the out-of-reach, out-of-sight, top-most shelf seems to be the best way to go. 

Baba has very willingly stayed back a few extra weeks to take care of I while he waits for school to start so that M and me could go back to work after the Christmas break. Yes you heard right. School! Little I starts 'big-boys' school this year. Time flies. Just the other day Ma was down in Chicago to help me out for the first few weeks after I was born! And now as if with a blink that little fellow is getting ready for school. In no time he will be off to Uni and then will be off to his own place, pursuing his own life and we will be Empty Nesters like Ma and Baba.

And when I come to think of it, Baba got the time to stay back and spend some extra time with us because he has voluntarily retired! But I almost wish he didn't. Not because the extra years of service would be of some financial gain to him or it would keep him busy or anything like that...just because the selfish me would still get to live with the comfort of knowing that my parents are still young and far away from being 'OLD'. Being old has so many different meanings at so many different levels...I don't even want to go there! 

And then when I actually pack these thoughts away it does not look so bleak and forlorn anymore. I is growing up (fast) to be the perfect 'son' that everybody hopes to have. And he is lucky to get to spend this time with his grand-dad. It is that special time of his life which he will probably remember only snippets of, but they sure will be fond memories of a summer well spent! And Baba is able to spend this time with him only because he does not have to go back to his 9am-5pm life and I am sure he will agree that this 'job' is far more exciting and rewarding at the same time.

 

I was lost in these thoughts when I was working on this painting of mine. The sudden bright golds and the foggy silver envelope the tall weeds as if entwining my fleeting thoughts and ephemeral melancholy and capturing them forever liberating me to spring back to my normal joyous self!

 

 



Volatile Melancholy by Dita



What's your resolution for 2013?

I read the following somewhere...

A small truth to make our Life 100% successful

If A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is equal to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Then:
H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K­ = 8+1+18+4+23+15+­18+11 = 98 (%)

K+N+O+W+L+E+D+G­+E = 11+14+15+23+12+­5+4+7+5 = 96%

L+O+V+E=12+15+22+5=54%

L+U+C+K =12+21+3+11 = 47%

None of them make 100% Then what makes 100% ?

Is it Money? NO!

Leadership? NO!

Every problem has a solution, only if we perhaps change our "ATTITUDE".

It is OUR ATTITUDE towards Life and Work that makes OUR Life 100% Successful..

A+T+T+I+T+U+D+E­ =1+20+20+9+20+21­+4+5 = 100%

...and it got me thinking...Isn't this so true?...The numbers and the calculations maybe just a complicated way of proving the point but the fact makes perfect sense...it is one's attitude that makes or breaks him...What I can do is what I believe I can do!

If I was to decide what colour defines ATTITUDE I dont think I would be able to do it as attitude to me is a relative term...How I tackle each situation that life throws at me varies...each mood significantly different...each conception distinct and each notion disparate! I have tried to capture this essence in this painting of mine...

ATTITUDE towards life by Dita

At the beginning of this new year I therefore resolve to continue with my 'can do' attitude and perhaps do more than I think I can...What is your most important resolution for 2013?

Apologies and some exciting news!

I have not written for a while...and nothing or nobody else is to be blamed but me...Although I have been caught -up with various end-of-year and Christmas activities and have been really busy with I&J there is no excuse for not showing up here and so I apologise to you :)

There are two really exciting things that I would like to mention to you today.

First, I have sucessfully completed my biggest commission of the season and I am so glad to say that the owner is so very happy with the outcome! This is what she had to say -

 "It certainly does speak to me.... You put a lot of effort into it. You have spent lots of hours working on it, but what impresses me is that when I look at it, I feel the passion and love of an artist.....

Now, we will have a piece of your soul in our bedroom!!!"

I was so happy and almost relieved when she said that she liked the painting! Have a look and let me know if you like it!

That next exciting news is that I have finally set-up my Dream Studio. Ma and Baba are arriving in Melbourne day after tomorrow and they will do the honour of 'Opening' the Studio to public. That is when I hope to click pictures to share it with you. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am! It has been a very interesting journey so far...and I cannot wait to see where this Dream of mine takes me!

Glee...

           After all the anxiety, tension and nervousness...I am finally content and happy...actually really elated and humbled at the same time...The Exhibition and Fundraiser was excellent! I have sold a few paintings and quite a few greeting cards and have raised a reasonable amount of money for the cause....but more than anything else... I have done what I have dreamt of doing for a long long time...something that is very close to my heart...and that gives me a feeling of euphoria... I really held infinity in the palm of my hand for a second and made a promise to myself...a promise that this is just the beginning....the beginning of me defining my life and making a difference to others...one step at a time!

 

Image by Reshmi Mazumdar



I have also learnt a few life lessons while organising this event...some good, others not that great...and I not going to bore you with the details but will definitely share something with you...I knew that Ma, Baba, M, I, J, Bonuram... love me a lot and will always be there to support me but now I know something more...something much much more...there are a whole lot of people...some of whom I have been close with...some with whom I have lost touch and others who I barely know...also think of me and brace my endeavours...3 cheers to all of you who made this day possible and a special thanks to R for being there to share the joys! I just thought of spreading the cheer further by sharing this bright painting of mine.



Image by Dita



Prep!



I am not sure if I have told you earlier, but I am hosting my first solo Art Exhibition Fundraiser on the 14th of Sept and have been really busy over the weekend to conclude all the prep for that! Although my checklists and notes say that I am ready for Friday I can’t seem to get rid of the “I am missing something” feeling from my head...I am nervous and excited at the same time...puzzled yet resolved!



Prep for the exhibition! - Image by Dita

I am not sure which colour represents this whirlpool of emotions...but it seems as if all the colours of the world are being churned in my head...but for whatever reason they are not being mixed into a muddy brown and that makes me happy!!!

Whirlpool of Emotions!..Image from Google

Following is the poster for my Fundraiser. The initiative “Rainbow Children” is a concept that was conceived and nurtured by the “Daughters of the Cross” a religious congregation under the Roman Catholic Church. Over the years the nuns have been rendering untiring and determined service and effort to improve the state of the downtrodden in the vicinity of the convent. As a student of St. Agnes’s Convent School Howrah, I was involved in the ‘feed and read’ program where we used to spend time teaching the children from the slums close to our school and also provide them with one meal for the day. Today, when I realise how much my school has done for me I feel that this is only a small way that I can do something in return....when I see how fortunate I am not having to worry about the necessities of life I feel the need to think and do my little bit for the ones who are not as fortunate as I am...

The Banner - Image by Dita

I have named my collection of paintings ‘The Rainbow’ in honour of The Rainbow Children. There will be 7 paintings exhibited one of each colour of the rainbow and you have actaully seen all of them in my previous posts. I have also got some Greeting Cards designed from my paintings that I will be selling at the exhibition. I am actually working towards hosting the exhibition online afterwards and will update you as soon as I am ready. I do need your support to make that a success ! Let me see if I can use my passion for colours to broaden the smiles of these children….

Hemming and Hawing between Indigo and Orange

This week for me is going to be very much like the painting below and I will tell you today what makes me think so...



Painting by Dita



M is away for the whole week on a business trip and I have I&J only to myself...I am not overly good at whining but I literally have the home, work, drop-offs, pick-ups, cooking, cleaning all to myself...and I really wouldn’t mind all of that if I had M beside me...but alas he isn’t!...and to add to all of that, every time I tune into the online radio...all that the whole world is listening to seems to be Romantic Songs!

Starting from very sombre dark blue (Indigo) the colours of the painting slowly blend into brighter shades of magenta, red, orange and even yellow...very much like what I am feeling now and what I think I will be feeling when the end of this week approaches... It’s as if my normal cheerful self is being unobtrusive, meek and modest anxious to break free to the sunlit patches of happiness but hemming and hawing with the prospect...like being apprehensive yet composed at the same time...

I wonder if Ma felt the same when Baba had to go on his week-long sometimes month-long work tours. Did she also have to deal with this forlorn uneasiness but still stay happy for us? When the much awaited phone call from Baba came every evening (there were no mobile phones then) ... did her feelings burst into orange and red?



Painting by Jean Baptiste Santerre (1650 – 1717, French)



Or for that matter, how did Thamma (grand-mother) deal with the pain of separation when Dada had to go to the States for several months in the 1950’s....she had no access to phones or emails and all she had to rely on was hand-written letters, the receipt of which was at the mercy of the turbulent times...I close my eyes and think....maybe after a hard day’s work...when everybody else was in bed, she would light up a candle and read those letters from Dada, shrouding herself in the aura of bright reds and oranges...coming out of her sombre, soft pedalled self and dreaming of  breaking free into the world of emphatic happiness...

 I am thankful to the modern world for SMS’, emails, face-times, webchats and all the other means of communication that makes separation so much more bearable...although the romance of hand-written letters is lost, I still feel the tinge of Orange, Pink or Red within me when I get an email or when I spend the train journey to office SMS-ing M.

How do you feel when you or your loved one has to be away on business? How do you deal with it? Do your feelings also vary between deep dark Indigo to bright Magenta and Orange?

Saffron, White and Green

The 3 colours that dominate all sphere's on this special day, in the life of an Indian are Saffron, White and Green...yes I am talking about the Indian Independence Day...and this year we are celebrating 65 years of Independence...

Wikipedia defines Independence as a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over the territory. To me however this term now means much, much more than this! I can’t help but quote Rabindranath Tagore here as what I feel cannot be put in better words than his own...



Image from Google



Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.



I get goose bumps every time I read those words...my eyes fill up and I experience this immense overwhelming emotion within that I cannot describe in words...but if I were to put colours to those thoughts they would definitely be Saffron, White and Green!...

They remind me of one special journey back home with my grandfather (DADA) on the eve of Independence Day back in 1997. There were events planned in all the Community Centres, Schools, Institutions, and Colleges...everywhere... Everybody was celebrating 50 yrs of Indian Independence. Even I was very excited about all the festivities that were to happen at school the next day...Dada, like his normal self was also very thrilled about all that was happening around us...but suddenly the smile faded a little and he seemed to be lost in thoughts...on being asked what happened he said to me that he could see in front of him the same day in 1947 as if it happened just yesterday...He did not say any further! Today I realise what he meant by that...I can now, while madly punching at my keyboard, see the events of 1997 happening right in front of me....I can see the bright eyes of the teenager at school all excited about the events, proud to be the flag-bearer...happy, joyfull and full of dreams! And what makes me glad today is that I am still the dreamer that I was 15 yrs back...

Work-in-Progress Painting by Dita

Absorb a moment of happiness with ORANGE!



Photo and Painting by Dita



 A friend came back from a trip to Door Country with such beautiful pictures of ‘Fall’...a time when all the leaves turn into flowers... And then in one of the pictures, like magic, the colour on the leaves seemed to have escaped to colour the sky behind them....the Sun was setting in the horizon shrouding the trees with eternal mystery...and the darkness was slowly engulfing the branches one steady step at a time...that’s what I tried to capture in this painting of mine...

What colour do you see when you close your eyes to absorb a moment of happiness? I see Orange! The cheerful, stimulating and charming ORANGE! The colour that has this undefined warmth without being aggressive...the colour that is exciting and engaging...the colour that stimulates the fire within you and encourages you to reach the heights without pushing you over the edge! Orange to me relates to the warm fuzzy feeling within me...whether it is what I feel when I&J give me their tightest hug ever or when M makes me a cup of tea on a lazy Sunday morning or when Ma sends me a message saying “Proud of you Buru”!

Even nature associates the colour Orange with wholesomeness and desirability. Different nourishing and delicious foods are orange, like squashes, pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes and citrus fruits.  In fact, in the English language, the word ‘orange’ dates to the introduction of the fruit which gave the colour its name. Before then, the colour had been known as ‘geoluhread’, or yellow-red!

Photo Courtsey: dimensionsinfo.com

Orange or more specifically Deep Saffron is the most used colour in Hinduism historically and culturally. It is the most commonly worn colour for religious ceremonies and has been so for more than 2000 yrs. The colour signifies courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation and was therefore my obvious choice for the background of the painting below. I will talk all about this favourite patchwork painting of mine in another post because like all other paintings of mine, this one also has a story which is very close to my heart!


Painting and Photo by Dita



Blue...

On our several drives up the Great Ocean Road, I often tried to capture the brilliance of the blue seas through my lenses....but every time I laid down on my stomach on the edge of a jutting cliff to click away, I always ended up with bits of wild foliage sticking into the frame. This painting is a celebration of the mirth of those dancing leaves and branches which were often times just weeds in the crazy sea wind...

Photo By: Dita

Blue was a latecomer among colours used in art and decoration. Warm earthy colours like reds, browns, and ochres are found even in Paleolithic cave paintings but not blue. Even when man started to dye fabrics, blue was the last colour to be introduced. This is probably due to the difficulty of making good blue dyes and pigments. The earliest known blue dyes were made from plants like woad in Europe and indigo in Asia and Africa. Blue pigments on the other hand were made from expensive minerals like lapis lazuli or azurite. It therefore slowly became a luxury colour and was used sparingly until synthetic ways of creating the colour was introduced. Oriental vases, with their beautiful blue scroll work, are by far my most favourite bit of tangible history that features the colour blue.

Photo Courtesy: Chinese-treasures.net

Artists recognised the emotional power of blue and often made it the central element of paintings.  Washed out shades of it, is often used to create a melancholic mood along with green with no warm tones at all. I wonder if this has any link to the etymology of the phrase ‘Monday Morning Blues’!

I however, do not believe in washed out shades, neither do I dwell in melancholy! Blue to me is the brilliance of the sea in the sun, the depth of the sky on a perfect day...it is the sense of ‘ahhh’ that I feel when I look out of the window of my car in a road trip and I remember, when we were little and Ma Baba used to take us to the city in the local train...I used to sit by the window, gaze out into the open sky and get lost in my world of imagination...it was this blue! ...the brilliant blue that still gives me a sense of comfort and makes it easy for me to quickly forget the mundane day to day and get lost in my world....the world that is always bright, happy and NOW brimming with memories...



Photo Courtesy: Aurobindo Banerjee



The Rainbow

The Rainbow has always been a thing of mystery and awe!...To some it is the path made by a messenger from heaven to earth, to others it is a slit in the sky sealed by a goddess. Whatever the belief is, the rainbow always seems to connect the known to the unknown, the real to the unreal. And, the end of the rainbow is a secret hiding place for the pot of gold. A place that is impossible to reach...


Photo Courtesy: Zazzle.com

My passion for colours and painting is my secret hiding place of my ever-bursting emotions. It is where I make the in-tangible tangible, the unknown known...it is where I can say that orange is the pure sense of joy that I feel when I&J give me a warm hug, it is where I can say that red is the love I feel for M when he unloads the dishwasher, it is where I say that purple is the secret desire of my heart and blue is the the fresh scent of spring!



THE RAINBOW COLLECTION Photo By: Dita

I am not in search of the end of the rainbow...I am here to enjoy the journey. The journey of life which I prefer to see through rainbow lenses. And I will share with you every colour of life, the ups and downs, the goods and the bads, the defined and the abstract!

In tune with all of this I have named my first ever formal collection of paintings - The Rainbow Collection. On the left is a sneak peek of what is to follow in my next posts.