Day 4 - Oil Painting

Okay, so finally I have come to oil. After a few weeks of warm-up, the brushes are out and the tubes are being squeezed out. I had forgotten how hard it is to unscrew a paint cap after months of storage. It almost amazed me how much paint a brushstoke takes. After relishing these initial hiccups, I jumped right at the work.

It helps to plan, especially when making time is more than a luxury.

I chose a simple subject to paint. The work of the artist Patty Baker had been procured a while ago. I just copied one of her paintings. Looks good. She is very inspiring and her usage of cheery colors can brighten any room, and day!

Homework is done! I have a free weekend. :-)
 

Day 3 - Charcoal Portrait Finished

"Do something for 30 days and it becomes a habit." - Unknown

Keeping a log for thirty days seems like a good start. This is sort of bringing me to form a new habit. I am finally able to devise a course plan and trying to score good in it. Well, see the beauty of being your own boss!

You can get an A, when you like it. Oh, and it's easier said than done. Then again, we stick to the plan and see how it becomes a habit. So, with this on our side, we conquered day 3 and finished what we started last day.

• Gave finishing touches to the charcoal portrait. Realized, I need to work on values even more.
• The  suggestions for the likeness*, space usage , and proportions** were used.
• Finished it off with touch of fixative
• Good to have a homework

** Andrew Lumis

I realized it would help to push me better if I had some homework and assigned it to myself there and then. What's more, I even started to prepare for it too.

Day 2 - Charcoal Portrait Started

Not sure why my last post is missing from the blogosphere!

I can no longer recall exactly what was on that post. Ummm, that's not very effective! Okay so, let me take a moment and see.

I think, the last post was about the first day. Actually, that Isn't very brilliant given this post is titled Day 2. So, I guess, it was on what I did for that bigger goal. I read. And I am quite glad that finally I understood the theory behind the value, intensity, hue and temperature.

Reading counts.** But its the doing that impresses the understanding better. Its like, confirming by testing it yourself. So, that was something left for the next day.

I am convinced that if heart truly desires something, that thing inevitably becomes accessible .

• Define expectation clearly to see the outcome clearly.
•  Give it a timeline and work smart. Hard work is essential, naturally. 
•  Make sure you enjoy every part of the journey, otherwise its a chore. And this chore, in turn, makes the next step even a harder chore.

That was pretty much about the first day. getting back to day 2.

I practiced drawing. A charcoal pencil portrait. Worked good on marking the edges, its where the artistic eye comes handy. Worked on values.

 ** Margaret Kessler's Color Harmony

Ideas - the source of everything creative

"The hardest part of any journey is taking that first step." - Unknown

The First Step

While getting back to reading, writing, painting, or anything you love should not be hard, its easier said than done. I wish I could pinpoint the day or the time or the thought that held be from the corner of my shirt and made me stop in my track. Now that, I say it aloud here, I think I can backtrack the chain of events that made me realize the power of ideas. I mean, really what it is.

Is this the same wisdom that proverbially comes with age?

Or even at more profound level, called enlightenment. Whatever this is, its extremely pleasant. Like finding a hundred dollar bill in the inside pocket of the jacket that you so wear often but don't care to check. I mean it was there alright, but it made you happy when you finally owned it!

I know it may sound slightly disconnected at the time, but I have come to realize the timing is really the key between the good and truly refined!  And it is almost divine to have a combination of the life changing idea and the luxury of right timing to atleast jot it down for accomplishing that idea. If I could do that, I would consider it a huge success to get my first step in the right direction.

The Clarity of Thought
  
No matter how good your intentions are and how resourceful you may be, if you don't act at the right time, its all for nothing. As I progress here, unraveling the chain of thoughts, I am finding things more and more incoherent as opposed to what I initially had in mind. It has to go.

So, here is a start over. Some bullet points, some random ramblings and then getting back at ironing out the kinks of expressions and elaborating  for myself and whoever comes along for the ride. Fasten your seatbelts!

 
Here goes

• Write down the ideas. All of them. 
• Smile
•  Be yourself. You are you, because of your past. Accept it and try to make the best out of it for the future 
• Every day is not just a new day. It may be the beginning of something special, so treat it with respect. Please, don't waste a single moment.
• Keep the thoughts in the right prioritized manner. What good is a genius idea that is left unexpressed.
• Work with focus, determination, and with the expectation of the best.
• Just do it, when you know, you can!   

Have Maturity, Display It 

Know what you want. Write it down.
How would you know what you want if you haven't known. Like, how would you know strawberry is your favorite fruit unless you have eaten it! 

Ummmm, wrong metaphor?


Wait, here is what I am trying to say. If you don't know where you want to go, how would you reach there? Okay, this is better. 

Ask Yourself

• What do you want to accomplish in 5 years, 1 year, 6 months, 1 month, a week, a day. Right now?
• If not now, when
• Are different dreams mutually exclusive?  I hope not, otherwise, its gonna be hard, if not downright infeasible.

Label of the New Post

As I start off the new dream, which has to be shared here sometime soon, I have chosen to keep the progress log public. By baring, I hope to keep myself motivated and energized. Also, I hope this will take me an inch closer to my goal everyday.

 

Running running and more running

Ever woke up with an idea and the excitement to do something with it, mostly on the lines of accomplishing what you just had in mind?

I do. Everyday. Except there is not just a single light bulb, its always a chandelier of bulbs, something similar to the builders' grade chandelier. Or like a tangled web of threads, with some ends hanging loose, others just barely showing in knots here and there. Or more like a flood! A dozen or so ideas hit me, each one fighting for attention for the day.

To be continued...

Knitter Quitter

I almost not knit anymore.

But a very lucky friend chose to delight us with the best news of the year. She was going to have a baby!

Opportunity of baby knit knocked! So, let's just say, I quit knitting but knitting didn't let me. Grabbed me and didn't let me go until I finished that baby clothing - sweater, booties and hat. So, I told myself I was done.

And as any knitter would tell you, you just can't stop at one. That's almost unethical in the religion of knitting. So flew my needles and there was one more! Yes, the whole set - sweater, booties and hat.


Well, I forced myself to stop there. Really! But there was this last skein of stash left in the bag. And you can't be heartless to leave it there without turning it into a wearable. Think about the poor yarn. So. I had to crochet a scarf. I didn't even try but it got made. Like a miracle.

I tell you, I am finally done for this season. Until next project!

Eggless Banana Raisin Cake

Ingredients

AP flour 2 c
B Soda   1.5 tsp
Salt         1/2 tsp
Sugar       1 c
Oil            1/4 c
Bananas   4 (ripe, mashed well)
Milk         1/4 c
Cardamom 4 - 6 ground
Raisin      handful

Method

1. Mix AP flour, baking soda and salt
2. Mix rest of the ingredients together
3. Mix 1 and 2 above
4. Grease the baking dish and pour the mixture
5. Bake as per your oven setting
6. Let it cool for 20 minutes and enjoy!

Cardamom Cinnamon Eggless Cake

All set to start

  

 Ingredients:

AP flour 1.5 c

Yogurt    1c

Sugar      3/4 c

B soda     .5 tsp

B powder 1.25 tsp

Oil            1/2 c

Cardamom 3-4

Cinnamon powder 1/4 tsp

Mix sugar and yogurt
Add b. soda and  b. powder to above mixture

Remove peels and make the powder of the cardamom seeds

Cardamom powder

Cinnamon powder

Add flour, oil & both powders
Mix everything well

Grease the baking dish and pour the mixture in it

Set the oven at 250 and bake for 35 min

The cake is ready when the tester inserted in the middle comes off clean.
Let it cool for atleast 20 minutes.
Cut into pieces and enjoy.

Janmashtami

This day we celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna.

The day also marks the unofficial beginning of the festivals of the Fall and Winter.

Happy Rakhi

May the bond grow thicker for all those celebrating.

Vegetarian Pizza

Using Rupi's recipe with some changes -

1 c       whole wheat flour
2 t       baking powder
3-4 t    butter
1 t        sugar
1 t        flaxseed powder
3/4 c     milk
pinch of salt

Method

Mix all ingredients, knead into a soft dough
Spread it in a circle on the pizza stone
Heat the oven
Apply pasta sauce, sprinkle shredded cheese and toppings of your choice and bake in hot oven (400 F) for 10-15 min

Knitting Season Coming to a Close with 70 FOs

Yes, its Spring! 

Spring has such defining effect on everyone - its but natural to let loose and allow oneself to be one with the nature. Birds, buds, flora and us - we all love saying goodbyes to the chilly winter mornings and open our arms and hearts to the pinkness of the warm Sun.

Its that time of the season when the knitter inside me starts to put down the tools of the trade, wraps up and hands over the keys to the painter in the waiting.  Spring also calls for the review of the knitting season before its over for the year!


I am quite happy to have finished the fiber projects that I started this year. The numbers are higher than last year, which keeps me hopeful for better for the next time. My Rave account shows 70 projects so far, which is reassuring for a season knitter and I say,  just a beginning for more handknits in the future.


How do you celebrate this season?

Here is my first plein air painting that we did in the early fall last year. The weather was warm, the light was perfect and the quiet of the area was inviting.

"Mission Hills" 14 x 11 oil on canvas

Until I did this one, I haven't had the courage or the inspiration to draw or paint from the nature directly. Sure, I had heard about it and had seen those people doing it but to actually experience it was an awesome experience. The instructor thought that it would be a good idea to get outside the classroom and give it a try. I wasn't all that excited in the beginning. Why leave the classroom setting to go out, carrying all the stuff?

Finally the day came. I got lost on my way to this foothill park where we were supposed to meet with our classmates. But that was a different story. I finally made it. After the instructor's demo, we set up our easels and took out the paints and other supplies.

For me, it was a long gap before I picked up my paint & brush and it was quite obvious as the caps of my paint-tubes were jammed. I tried my best to open it but a few refused completely. I took it to the instructor and he tried his best too before giving up. What must he be thinking!
The Sun started to come down slowly and that's the fun of on-the-spot painting- the light begins to change! It makes you understand the sense of urgency. So, I decided to borrow some paints from the classmates and get to it. I narrowed down the wide landscape for the canvas and set off.

Within an hour or so, the light was totally different and we had to wrap up the work. We came back at the time of next class. Its amazing how different the same hill looked now just after two days. So I chose to not add much to the work and started off another painting. That made this one an alla prima but not to the real sense as I did touch it a bit this time around as well.

Overall, I loved the experience. Everyone should try it atleast once. It makes you one with the nature in a very spiritual sense, no matter what your beliefs are. Give it a try, if you can!

Here is a painting to celebrate Halloween -

Martini Glass, 11 x 14, Oil on canvas

This is the classwork from the Art class on Oil painting. I entered this to the student show.

A Beginner Baker

Chocolate Cake

This is one of the first attempts at making cake. Being eggless, it did not rise as much but tastes great.

From the kitchengarden

Corn removed from cob

This is the soup in making from the corns in the backyard. In three easy steps delicious and healthy soup is ready to serve!

Coming back to blogging...

Oh. My. God. I haven't visited my own blog in past so many months. I check and re-check. That's right. I didn't post anything on it since March. That's like eternity in blog years.

I am almost embarrassed to have abandoned it at that. Let me think why that happened. Thinking aloud always unfogs my mind. There had been tons of posts waiting to be published but didn't happen as I didn't put those into words typed or otherwise :-( Bad blogger!

Okay, have to have some sort of discipline or this never happens. Know that "someday" is a very dangerous word (Thanks Tom Cruise who enlightened us in Knight and Day), its a synonym for "never".

So, here is a promise. To myself. To share what you are creating. Its possible. Its doable only if you do it.

Green Baby Sweater Set

Landscape

The first part of the class is dedicated to the plein air. And I tried alla prima. The result is somewhat this.

Are you ready for Halloween?