arth and nitya

2012-01-12T20:27:00.004+01:00

The driver nodded and took the money. "Would you like a reciept?"

"No need. And keep the change."

"Thanks very much," he said. "Be careful, it looks windy out there. Don't slip."

"I'll be careful," Aomame said.

"And also," the driver said, facing the mirror, "please remember : things are not what they seem."

Things are not what they seem, Aomame repeated mentally. "What do you mean by that?" she asked with knitted brows.

The driver chose his words carefully : "it's just that you're about to do something out of the ordinary. Am i right? People do not ordinarily climb down the emergency stairs of the Metropolitan Expressway in the middle of the day - especially women."

"I suppose you are right."

"Right. And after you do something like that, the everyday look of things might seem to change a little. Things may look different to you than they did before. I've had that experience myself. But don't let appearances fool you. There's always only one reality."

--1Q84 Mr.Haruki Murakami.

Our time stops here. It has been a whirlwind year (2011) for us at Arth and Nitya, lots of changes but not one single regret. Changes i believe make you face yourself, forces you to go deep within your soul only to learn and grow.
We would like to thank each one of you for following and sharing your smiles with us. We still believe in magic and the little things in life, because in the end its only those little things that matter the most.
We will be blogging at sim sala bim. (still in its premature stage, hoping it grows into something meaningful) Till then keep creating, make mistakes to learn and move ahead (how else do you make new discoveries?), take pictures, enjoy those childlike silly/insane moments, be human, binge on cake (once in a while), be true to yourself and cherish your friends.

"non je ne regrette rien"
: )

Move.

2011-12-05T08:57:00.002+01:00

Arth and Nitya is moving to a new blogging space. More info to follow soon.

have a beautiful december.

: )

time out.

2011-11-30T22:01:00.000+01:00

mama drawn by nitya.

gonna take a little break.

so ta ta for now.

change...

2011-11-29T12:38:00.001+01:00

All that you touch, you change.

All that you change, changes you.

even 'Blub' changes.

The only lasting truth is change.

brunch with Otark Breakfast Club.

2011-11-27T14:38:00.001+01:00

brunch in De Roscam with Otark Breakfast Club.

four pictures/today.

2011-11-26T12:35:00.000+01:00

found this shoe on the pavement, a little doll has lost her shoe : (

he flew to me.

cuppa.

: )

2011-11-26T08:03:00.000+01:00

i like apples.

blub.

2011-11-18T13:28:00.002+01:00

Grew my first Hippeastrum.
I call him 'blub'.
Blub grew from an autumn bulb.
Not a fussy guy,
he does not need much,
a little light,
room temperature,
only not too much water, blub does not like wet feet and yes,
that tad bit of love.

; )

only waiting for him to flower now.

hope your weekend is bluby good.

brrrrrrrrr

2011-11-14T17:27:00.000+01:00

jan yoors.

2011-11-08T08:46:00.001+01:00

Jan was 12 when he ran away from home.

And lived with a gypsy tribe for the next ten years.

He painted, drew and took photos.

This Belgian artist is brilliant.

click me.

**

2011-11-05T19:11:00.000+01:00

"There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again to say "it is yet more difficult than you thought." This is the muse of form. It may be then that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction, to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings."

- Wendell Berry.

grow.

2011-11-04T17:08:00.001+01:00

"I feel like a wet seed, wild, in the hot blind earth" -- Faulkner.

having fun...

2011-11-02T00:34:00.001+01:00

..and no other song would fit perfectly with this post.

happy november : )

seven o'clock becomes six o'clock.

2011-10-30T08:47:00.001+01:00

beautiful b&w's from Ralph Gibson.

Arth has posted some new drawings here.

In this part of the world time changes, we step one hour behind.

when nothing else helps, certain poems do.

2011-10-28T09:11:00.002+02:00

today.....

2011-10-26T15:26:00.003+02:00

best words i heard today, "you have the power to deliver, so let it flow."

have a Happy Diwali : )

earth & silica.

2011-10-25T13:18:00.001+02:00

pics of work from school. experimenting with glazes/textures.

slip casted milk can and wannabe tin beakers.(all casted with slip in plaster moulds)

tea & talk

2011-10-20T23:48:00.008+02:00

"paint" she said.

2011-10-18T13:40:00.009+02:00

°°

2011-10-14T12:14:00.017+02:00

"light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error. It is these mingled opposites which people our life, which make it pungent, intoxicating. We only exist in terms of this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash."

aragon l.

hold

2011-10-13T10:15:00.001+02:00

enzo mari

2011-09-13T14:19:00.004+02:00

lurve his work.

cheers

2011-09-11T10:15:00.005+02:00

"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it and think how different its course would have been. Pause, you who read this, and think for a long moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on that memorable day." - Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.

beginning of a fall

2011-09-06T11:40:00.005+02:00

means, its time to drink lots of hot chocolate.

to see the light

2011-09-04T13:00:00.007+02:00

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. - John the Evangelist.

(just trying some freak pictures)

mood board

2011-09-03T01:03:00.004+02:00

image courtesy monty

new school year, new project. theme: silence.

smile please : )

2011-08-31T12:46:00.009+02:00

Walking in the city i found this sunflower with a big smile on his face, 'why that big smile ?', i asked. 'Well its for the sun', he said, 'i am trying to please him, so that he would shine on us again'.

'keep up the good work, maybe i will do my bit too'.

(no, i haven't done that to the sunflower i found him like that, at the crossing of meir and opera)

gets a bit chillier everyday, autumn is just around the corner.

°

2011-08-30T21:03:00.006+02:00

'they spoke very little of their mutual feelings: pretty phrases and warm attentions being probably unnecessary between such tried friends'

(far from the madding crowd - Thomas Hardy)

photo (megha) : wall outside the print museum.

outside my window

2011-08-27T13:15:00.010+02:00

raindrops and sunlight at play : )

reading at the cafe.

2011-08-25T15:00:00.003+02:00

(the inside of the toilet door at de vagant, antwerp)

"what are you going to do with your life? In one way or another it seemed that people had been asking her this forever; teachers, her parents, friends at 3 in the mornin', but the question had never seemed this pressing & still she was no nearer an answer......... 'live each day as if it's your last', that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just was'nt practical. Better by far to be good & courageous & bold & to make difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately & fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance." - D Nicholls.

citroén 2cv

2011-08-24T07:05:00.008+02:00

also called "the goat".

days

2011-08-23T19:44:00.002+02:00

'what are days for?

Days are where we live.

They come,they wake us

Time and time over.

They are to be happy in:

Where can we live but days?

Ah, solving that question

Brings the priest and the doctor

In their long coats

Running over the fields.'

Philip Larkin.

feathers

2011-08-20T21:42:00.012+02:00

can i be one tiny feather in your wings?? then i'd

fly : )

poster

2011-08-20T10:36:00.003+02:00

a poster by Ben Shahn.

companions

2011-08-19T00:45:00.001+02:00

blurred

2011-07-30T21:34:00.001+02:00

lines from the sketch book

2011-06-14T13:33:00.007+02:00

"the simplest things are often the truest"- anon.

things that make me go mmm

2011-06-10T13:25:00.011+02:00

tea and only tea even if it is bloody hot.

wild flowers growing anywhere.

english magazines in antwerp.

work in progress (will show more once finished).

summer jackets, not the heavy winter ones.

cupcakes :)))).

wearing bright coloured pants to shock the mellow belgians.

textures, textures and more textures.

seed pods

2011-05-27T14:04:00.013+02:00

am still 'all pots'

2011-05-06T14:10:00.011+02:00

the image above shows my slip casted work in plaster moulds. i used an already existing form of the soap bottle or jerry can. these still have to be fired and glazed.

the ones below are thrown and glazed.

the brown fishnet pot is thrown by steven.

have a super duper weekend.

a time for.........

2011-04-30T09:31:00.009+02:00

drawing and painting.

flowers and sandals.

sunlit breakfasts.

beastly attractions (for all ages ; )

little greens springing.

tulips : )

blue potato chips.

and the much awaited evening teas on the balcony.

sand

2011-04-18T22:15:00.010+02:00

for priya

2011-03-20T15:43:00.008+01:00

happy spring.

my love affair with clay.

2011-01-30T16:16:00.024+01:00

here are some of my works from 'art school'. they have been thrown on the wheel with a stoneware body. glazes have been made by me and i have concentrated here on textures.

i have used nylon fishnet socks to get some of the textures.

cold compositions

2010-12-25T23:25:00.013+01:00

from my sketchbook

2010-11-27T11:39:00.007+01:00

magical mushrooms

2010-10-24T12:06:00.015+02:00

gone camping

2010-08-07T20:48:00.002+02:00

see you guys in a bit :)

life's little pleasures

2010-07-27T09:15:00.011+02:00

priya from the plum tree 2 was a big inspiration for this post.

this is what we both have in common, we are both bonkers about seedpods.

few of my drawings.

my latest find.

our pottery studio in B&W

2010-07-22T20:57:00.010+02:00

an ancient weighing scale.

ceramic stamps i made for decoration.

"its official", says arth "this is our pottery studio".

thrown on the wheel.

recycled clay.

tools.

the "m" of my potters signature.

its nice to have a creative space.

'missy the mussel'

2010-07-14T11:51:00.023+02:00

here's the latest book i made and wrote for Arth & Nitya. it is based on a true life story, in fact it is an ode to missy the mussel.

i used a pair of mussel shells as covers for the book and bound it like a normal book with string and cloth (as shown on the picture above).

we picked the most interesting pair of shells to make the book, one's with barnacles even a few cracks, it made the story even more interesting.

arth's lines & mornin' light

2010-07-08T15:16:00.007+02:00

for those who don't know arth is my 8 year old boy. when he brought these drawings home from his art school i was most amazed with his strokes.

the one above he says is a rough sketch, which led him to the one below.

"its a fisherman", he says, a photograph of whom he saw in a national geographic.

taken at 4 o'clock in the morning, its too hot to sleep.

my experiments with raku

2010-06-30T13:28:00.020+02:00

here they are, my raku pieces with their details.

this texture shown above was created by bubblewrap sheets.

this on was dipped in 3 different raku glazes.

my potters signature 'mmmmmm'.

raku

2010-06-28T22:10:00.017+02:00

the last weekend we did raku firing at my art school.

Raku is a japanese method of firing glazes. here is a link for those who are interested in its history and details.

what you see above are pots and tea cups we made by hand and biscuit fired them first before glazing them with special raku glazes.

when you fire a normal glazed pot in an oven it takes more or less two days to build the temperature required for the glaze to melt and then cool down before we can open the kiln.

but raku is different it is a faster process which gives you result in around half an hour (that is if your pot is fired and glaze applied).

the images here below are the process we followed to get the result we wanted to.

this is the kiln specially built for raku firing.

it is fired by gas.

it is a top opening kiln, which makes it easier to load and unload the wares.

the loading of the wares.

the temperature meter. we need 1000° for the glazes to reach the melting point.

open the super hot oven once the temperature required is met.

unload the red hot ware with long tongs soon as the oven is opened.

but them in buckets filled with wood shavings (this helps in the reduction and effects on the glazed pots).

throw some more straw over it.

and close the bin tight for about 5 to 10 minutes. then we removed them and put them in cold water.

wait for it to cool down a bit then we took scrubs and scrubbed the pots with 'vim' to remove all the ashes.

look at that gorgeous effect.

(next post: my raku pots)

a smoothie and a split

2010-06-08T20:33:00.009+02:00

looooove homemade smoothies.

here's the recipe...............(for this one shown above)

°two slices yellow watermelon

°a whole pot of strawberrys (keep some aside to decorate the glass)

°yogurt

°soya milk

°the secret ingredient a teeny piece of ginger

°honey

pop them all into a blender till it's all smooothy

and drink :)

and here's the split. i had mentioned my incomplete slab constructed work here, well its complete and the colours are just how i wanted but it split into two at the end of the third firing.

if you look well you will find the words "think green" thats the name i gave the piece. i have written "think green" in transparent glaze on the matt background of the work.

i think its quite ironic for it to split right across the green.

i kind of like the break.

what do you think???????

apples

2010-06-04T09:18:00.007+02:00

Have got this thing for apples recently, not the fruit particularly, but the form and colours. The image above is a part of our logo i designed for our food place.

and these are by ENZO MARI, i love his work.

had quite a week, lots of work its almost end of schoolyear here in belgium so its a busy time for all. Plus the sun is shining and suddenly you see everyone on the streets again.

the slab constructed vase i showed in my last post broke in two halves exactly in the center, but the colours i wanted for the glazes are beautiful (breaking is a part and parcel in ceramics), will still take photos and post them.

weekend was a wonderful surprise, my cousin and his family visited us and out of the blue my best friend from bombay came to visit me. such a great feeling :)

nitya's art

2010-05-22T13:18:00.006+02:00

i am just discovering more of nitya's creative side, here are some images i would like to share of her work. one blogging friend from antwerp called Mieke had some time back a children's workshop. it was a book workshop and nitya had taken part in it. Mieke has a lovely blog, do have a look.

these have been made on scribbler on the comp.

home after a days work :)

2010-05-19T18:44:00.015+02:00

it nice to be home after a days work.

check your mails,

empty your shopping bags, (here you can see i have just returned from the chinese part of town)

make tea, and slowly start cooking,

in between all that keep your children busy with homework or something creative,

and don't forget that music.

its good to be home :)

croc in my studio

2010-01-23T11:17:00.009+01:00

i had mentioned earlier that i was working around the theme 'beastly' as a project for school.I worked around the teeth of a crocodile and came out with this as one of my final pieces.

here it is not yet fired, he is waiting in the oven to be fired.

some more work i made in the studio and details.

making ceramic colours.

feeling like alice

2010-01-15T09:39:00.007+01:00

feel like alice in this quote. don't really like this period after christmas and new year and all that jazz. i can't seem to shake off this chill that hangs around the atmosphere. summer seems sooooooo faaaaaaaar away. everything is frozen, i mean why can't we also hibernate like animals do in winter???

ok, so i am being a bit negetive and so what? thats what i feel like. i tried to create my own seed pods with chocolate balls in them (fig shown here under), but they don't really exist do they?

now thats quite an impossible thing to think about ain't it? it would be lovely to walk into the woods pluck some pods and eat the chocolate balls in them wud'nt it??

or eat all these pies,muffins,cakes whatever you wanna call them without gaining an inch, feeling guilty or sick.

or that it would snow without it getting cold, had a wand like harry potter, be in two places at the same time, or your cup of tea would never get empty and blah blah blah....... ok megha shut up!

BUT if i ever got in touch with that queen, i sure would like to have a serious discussion with her..... and hope that arth and nitya don't read this post.

that felt good :)

nitya's dolls

2010-01-03T13:12:00.006+01:00

arth has also posted some new work on his site, do have a look.

have a wonderful christmas :)

2009-12-24T14:23:00.009+01:00

merry christmas to all our readers. it snowed quite a bit this week and here are some pictures of our snow laden city.

enjoy your holidays with your families and loved ones.

hey!! i hear the bells jingling, gotta go... :)

school trip

2009-12-12T19:47:00.025+01:00

we had a schooltrip today to the 'Royal Museum of Fine Arts and Art History' in Brussels.

here are pictures of the ceramic section in the museum. most of the works are made by well known ceramic artists from belgium.

such a great source of inspiration.

some more pinched pots.

2009-12-05T16:23:00.008+01:00

all this of pot & potter -

tell me then,

who is the potter, pray & who the pot ?

-- Omar Khayyam.

:) :) :)

pinched pots and a new project

2009-11-27T13:23:00.007+01:00

in school we started with the very first basics in pottery, the pinched pots.

i love the fact that i am starting from basics again.

pinched pots are made from small balls of kneaded clay, pinched to a certain form.

the clay i have used here is red earthenware.

fired once and then smoked, hence the dark colour.

the new project we are beginning is based on a theme called 'beastly' or 'beestig bezig' in flemish language.

its a theme project of this year for all the art schools and academies in belgium.

here is my inspiration board.

(images of the collage courtesy the internet and some of my work.)

back to art school

2009-11-21T12:14:00.010+01:00

as i have already mentioned earlier, i am enrolled in art school, studying ceramics.

as a part of our programme we are required to study drawing.

here are some sketches from my sketch book.

postcards for arth and nitya.

2009-11-14T14:34:00.012+01:00

found these postcards which i had made for the children in a shoebox.

such a pleasure to find them again.

they are mostly collages of images from old magazines and some i painted.

saturday market in antwerp

2009-11-11T20:53:00.019+01:00

diwali

2009-11-04T17:07:00.010+01:00

This year i celebrated diwali in india after 9 years.

here are some pictures of diwali in a village.

i came across this little home and asked if i could take pics, i just love the way they have decorated their habitat.

hope you had a wonderful diwali.

a pottery party

2009-10-03T19:40:00.017+02:00

it is arth's birthday today and we celebrated it in our friend's pottery studio.

following are the pics of the day.

the work done by children both big and small.

steven teaching arth how to throw on the wheel.

enjoying the last few sunny days........

2009-09-27T17:29:00.023+02:00

a feather,little fins,a pair of wings,some shells and lots of green.

2009-07-26T15:33:00.016+02:00

these are a few of my favourite things.

the feather was given to me by arth,"look mama how lovely! will you draw it?"

i obeyed and here is the result.

our neighbour came to us one day with a bowl of guppies(kind of warm water fish), and an empty aquarium. the children were obviously jumping with joy so we went to the animal shop and got all the requirements. so now we have a fish tank with lots of guppies and two window cleaning fish.

for more pictures click here.(they were not easy to click)

shells we collected by the seaside.

steven found these dragonfly wings on the floor of a park where we were walking.

love the details of these beauties.

weeds are beautiful.i don't understand why people pull them out.

these beauties were collected by nitya in the park.

such wonderful gifts are these. they put a big smile on my face.

from my sketch book --4

2009-07-06T19:34:00.019+02:00

some sketches from NID days. Found them in an ancient diary.

they are not just sketches they are memories. Like the one above is made during the famous kite festival in Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is known for her kite festival known as Makar Sankranti. i have not seen such beautiful hand made kites like the ones made in Ahmedabad.

kaka's chai stand, our hourly chai provider.

divi if you are reading this, do you recognise yourself ?

tin trunks were our cupboards and hold all.

at leopold's in mumbai, this foreigner had a deep tan and her nose was not so bad as it was sketched, maybe it was the beer ;)

i have started a new blog for all my twinings tea house pages called,

m's tea houses.

most you have seen but i will keep adding other pages as i make them.

doors,locks and handles

2009-07-01T21:41:00.013+02:00

found these in my photo files.

(babulnath temple,mumbai)

a light burns somewhere....

2009-06-30T23:04:00.004+02:00

remember the long ago when we lay together

in a pain of tenderness and counted

our dreams: long summer afternoons

when the whistling-thrush released

a deep sweet secret on the trembling air;

blackbird on the wing, bird of the forest shadows,

black rose in the long ago summer,

this was your song:

it is'nt time that's passing by,

its you and i.

-- ruskin bond.

i like

2009-06-25T22:01:00.010+02:00

every piece a masterpiece, Ernst Haeckel

(click on the images to enjoy the details)

tea houses and a new book

2009-06-19T13:13:00.005+02:00

this one says.....

''It is a specially fragrant night. The deep blue sky is filled with the passion fruit moon and angels of peach''.

and a beginning of a new tea house book.

have a lovely weekend :)

a sunny picnic and (going) tomatoes.

2009-06-14T23:32:00.024+02:00

wanted to share some more pictures of our sunny days and luscious fruits when one picture led to another, like this one led to the one below......

which led me to the picture of this tomato below (called brandywine tomato).....

i was quite awed by the tomato and had to put it on paper

and all this tomato business led me to find other images of tomatoes which i had taken at some point of time.

which leads me to direct you to priya's big fat brekkie, where in her latest post she has posted tomatoes too.

why i love summer?

2009-06-09T20:27:00.017+02:00

apart from ice-creams and finally being able to wear sandals, i love the way all plants and fruits spring to bright colours.

i love the fact that i can sit outside and paint and draw nature from life (which you can't do in winter unless you wanna freeze)

so out comes my paint box and sketch book, here are a few pics of things that make me smile.

enjoy

project 1

2009-05-28T18:46:00.001+02:00

it was lena's (my niece) 2nd communion last week.a month back i asked her if i could take her photo's for her communion card and make the card too.

so here are the photos and the final layout of the card.

she asked me if i could put her blue lion and her basket ball in the card to make it more personal. i think she was quite happy with her card, and i enjoyed doing the project.

have a super weekend.

thank god for long weekends :)

2009-05-21T14:31:00.011+02:00

this week we have a long weekend, starting from today. the weather is excellent and the weekends are busy. here are some pictures of the last weekend and today.

last weekend we attended two school parties and a flea market.

and today we decided to start with colours and spend all morning doing some lovely shibori.i do miss spending time drawing and water colouring and have promised myself to spend more time doing creative things.

so here goes, this is a start.

at the flea market. if i could i would buy it all.

the morning today started with folds and colours.

some of the shibori we did.

nitya is quite good at it.

will be back next week with one of my photo shoot projects i did for my niece from steven's side.

till then enjoy your weekend to the utmost.

arth has posted many new drawings in his blog here is the link. do have a look.

let the sun shine :)

thank you twinings :)

2009-05-12T10:08:00.005+02:00

a month or so ago i recieved an email from Mark Nicholls from the twinings shop in london,saying how interesting he found my twinings tea houses.

he has also linked me to the twinings website ,here is the link.

and last week i recieved a whole carton full of twinings tea,all different kinds.

thank you Mark.

every cup of tea is going to be extra special.

here are the links to my twinings tea houses.

images from the past few days

2009-04-16T10:45:00.011+02:00

a note,some flowers and photoshop.

2009-03-28T09:26:00.017+01:00

here are few sketches i found,which i had made some summer.
the weather is getting so much better here,its lovely to see the sun everyday.
life is busy as usual and i kinda like the busy routine.

an old photo of a butterfly resting on a leaf blade.

these are few projects i have been working on.
the image below is a card i designed for a shop.

photoshop exercises required at school.

and a page of twinings tea house.

the sun peeps through

2009-03-24T21:10:00.015+01:00

some more tea houses.

2009-03-19T19:42:00.008+01:00

don't know how life suddenly got so busy,but it sure did.all i can say is that i am happy to be back.i won't be blogging as often as i did earlier but will try atleast once a week.

peanut(ty)

2009-02-20T14:31:00.012+01:00

if you guys remember the walnut book i made,well this book is a part of the series of the nutty books i make.
the image above is a peanut plant i graphically worked on the comp.
here are the images of the book.

the book tied up with string.

a few details.

the backside of the book.

to all the fellow bloggers i apologise for not being able to visit your spaces and leaving comments,the fact being that i am so busy working,following courses and taking care of the household that i dont have the time to breathe.will get back to you guys as soon as i can.

have a great weekend :)

twinings tea house pages.

2009-02-03T19:21:00.004+01:00

few more pages from the twinings tea house book.

to the market...........

2009-02-01T13:13:00.017+01:00

.......and back with DIFFERENT food.
went to the wholesale market this saturday,like we do every week for our shop.and picked up many different things to taste.
here are some pictures.

goat butter (tastes alot like goat cheese)

tamarind(imli),we were talking about it last week and the kids said they wanted to taste it and i replied next time we go to india,but i was lucky to find it in the market.

some kind of potato from france.

these are fingerlimes from australia,the rind tastes like the peel of the normal lime.
used as decoration on deserts.here is a link.

mushrooms,this variety is called eryngii.

enoki

turkish chilies.

this is we made yesterday from the mushrooms and the potatoes.

baked french potatoes in olive oil in the oven,
mushrooms sauteed in cooking butter,
sole fish fried,
boiled broccoli,
belgian endives in cream sauce.

some flowers and a twinings tea house.

2009-01-30T12:12:00.014+01:00

i have been having a ball with my camera,here is a b&w photo of our hyacinth,growing so beautifully.

one more page of the twinings tea house book.
it is called pink poetry.yesterday was poetry day here in belgium,where all the schools,universities,institutes etc. participate and have poetry workshops.
talking about poetry priya from the plum tree has posted a beautiful poem by william blake accompanied by her superb artwork.

have a fantastic weekend :)

tagged,and a page of twinings.

2009-01-22T10:44:00.006+01:00

i am tagged by madhumita from i,me,myself....this young talent has one more amazing blog called aadab hyderabad,which is my favourite.her passion for photography shows in her work.
being tagged means revealing seven things about me,so here goes.

i am a chocolate addict,thats maybe one reason i like being in belgium. because belgium is a country famous for its chocolates.

if i was'nt a creative person,i would have been an archeologist or an activist.

lately i can't sleep without music,have to put music on, next to my bed.

i invented the yogurt(dahi) sandwich in my family,at which my father used to make jokes about :)

i can write with both my hands,but mostly i am lefthanded.drink soup with left hand and eat food with the fork and knife like all right handed people do.also cut with the right hand.so i can use both my hands.

if i could have an love affair with a voice,it would be gulzar's voice.

i have a small nose,when i was small, my family told me the train went over it and i believed it.

°°°°°°°°
here's one more page from the twinings tea house book.

the paper weave, which is the tree is made by arth.

hope you have an insightful weekend.
:)

Twinings Tea House

2009-01-18T21:18:00.011+01:00

this weekend was a lazy one, late breakfasts, staying home, drinking lots of tea and spending time with the kids.
talking about tea,this post is about my new crazy project called the twinings tea house. i love the brand twinings, the flavors,the infusions, and of course the packaging.
so i made a book called the 'twinings tea house'.

the book cover, made out of felt with a cloth teacup out of which hangs the twining label.

the details.

i collected many different teabag covers and stuck them in the book.

and decided to draw an illustration or make a collage around the tea bag covers.like you have seen previously in my blog,here.
but this time the challenge to myself was to do them quickly in the spur of the moment.the reason being that it was the only way to complete the book.
here are two pages from the book.

will post more as i keep doing them.

the one below was an indian painting taken from a brochure and made into the ' indian chai twinings tea house'

apart from this we made wishing lotuses that arth learnt in school.to see our wishing flowers visit his blog 'A'for art(h).

experiments with my camera.

2009-01-13T21:03:00.018+01:00

the weekend last,we did many things.
went to the woods to capture snow,
to the dinosaur museum in brussels,where we saw many dino's and fossils.
to see amazing fossil pictures that we took in the museum click here.
and saw two mr.bean movies.(i love the bugger)
:)

snow,shibori & lots of chai.

2009-01-02T22:25:00.012+01:00

its freezing in this part of the world.
the temperature today is -8°
in the nights it touches -14°
the streets have a layer of ice, on which they throw salt so people don't slip.
still getting the hang of my new camera.
did some more shibori,to cheer me up.
made lots and lots of ginger chai,to warm me up.

new years eve

2009-01-02T20:56:00.036+01:00

we spend the new years eve at my friend sanja's home.her son and arth were in the same school and thats how i met her few years back.we spend many new years eve at home with the children and thats how we like it the best,spending it quietly instead of being out in the noise and crowds.

i am glad we accepted the invitation because the children had a friend to play with and it was a lovely evening.

a few days earlier sanja and me made the decorations.all sanja had at home was japanese paper so we decided to shibori dye it.and the dyes we made with turmeric and saffron powder mixed in warm water.we came out with some amazing results.she later cut them in rectangles and hung them all over her cieling.

on 31st we were still working in our shop till 6,and were happy to be closed as we still had preparations to make for the evening.it was a freezing -1° outside and when we arrived,their house was warm and inviting with the beautiful decorations.

and there were candles everywhere.

ofcourse the first thing the children wanted to do was exchange gifts,so it was present time,with beautifully decorated gifts.

nitya and arth got the most amazing handmade animal puppets.

nitya posing with her wooden puppets.

we made all the food together and set the table, for the rest i am going to let the pictures speak.

the children wanted to see the fireworks at 12 in antwerp,so at 11.40 we caught a tram to the center and saw the fireworks.it was so cold that i did not take pictures as my hands were freezing.we walked all the way back to her home to have the well deserved tea and desert.
it was a beautiful evening,am happy to share it with you :)

2nd january,my birthday.
we stayed home,did'nt do much,did'nt even get cake because there were so many parties we attended that we were happy to be home,and not stuff ourselves too much.
so i got some cookies instead.

(had to take a close up of the angel cookie with the silver bustline) ;)

and i got the most amazing gift ever from my family, a canon 450D SLR.
was thrilled to bits,can't wait to start shooting with it.but i still have alot to study,where this camera is concerned.

will leave you with one of my favourite songs.

sanja musa and jovan, if you are reading this, thank you.

arthropods

2008-12-30T20:30:00.000+01:00

arthropods ~ in other word insects.

i have a fascination for insects,not that i would love one creeping up my leg but they are beautiful to look at.
nitya was very scared of them, she would start bawling if she even saw one so i decided to teach the brats that they are actually not that bad.

so i got some little wooden beatles,and pulled out one of the kitschy indian charts of insects so they could play with, and study the creepy crawlies.

in winter we dont see many insects,so i took them to the zoo in antwerp where they have a section only for insects.arth absolutely loved it.

nitya's colouring book.

here are our drawings of insects.

drawn by arth

drawn by me.

the best part of this "insect study" was that nitya got more tolerant towards them.

so sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite ;)