Art Expo

When we moved here more than a year ago, I didn't find a job as easily as I assumed I would. In the meantime, I merely concentrated on spending my time doing things I normally wouldn't have done. I spent my time painting, learning new styles and teaching. I got a chance to exhibit my paintings at the Alliance Francaise de San Francisco. They had never had one of their students exhibit (I completed my Advanced & Expert Levels in French there last year)  and definitely did not have an Indian artist display their work. I knew the standard of their gallery and the artists they had promoted in the past were award-winning ones and those with International acclaim. Starting March, I painted every day. I made a plan of how many I would display and according set about working on them.  Oh, you have no idea how hard it is to paint on a deadline. I am so used to painting at my own pace and this was no easy feat. I got some of my paintings shipped from Bangalore and by May, I had a total of 30 paintings. I completed 11 from March to May. The exhibit is on throughout June and we had an opening night reception on June 6th. Their gallery is part of the Polk Street Art Walk where art enthusiasts get to go gallery hopping and meet with the artists. The AF has the largest gallery among those and I was really happy to speak to several artists, curious students and well-wishers. Almost all of our friends here too came and I was quite touched as most of them drove from places not really near San Francisco. What's an art exhibit for an artist without an encouraging crowd!? 

I haven't been too active in the blogging circuit this year, however it never failed to cross my mind that it all started here. I first started displaying my paintings (very hesitantly) in my blog and spurred by your encouraging words, continued to expand my horizons. One of our friends and fellow-bloggers SG attended the opening night and blogged about it here. (click to read)  I loved what he wrote and felt very humbled by it. Thank you so much SG. You can see some of the paintings in his blog post. I surely intend to share all my paintings here ( I am waiting for the official photographs ).  

The styles I showcased were -

• Tanjore
• Mysore
• Pencil portraiture & sketches
• Rajasthani Mural using Mseal
• Kerala Mural
• Painting on Marble - Pot and slab
• Ceramic work on pot
• Contemporary Warli
• Oil on canvas using Palette knives
• Oil on canvas - Ravi Varma reproductions
• Tibetan Tangka
• Reverse glass painting
• Oil on porcelain plate

Thank you to all of you who have constantly encouraged me (you know who you are) and I will share my experiences , the inside details of planning an exhibition, the questions I was asked at the reception, my facebook page for paintings (under construction) and of course the paintings in the days to come. 

I don't know of any other blogger in the SF Bay Area, but if you have friends who would like to visit the gallery (till 30th June), here's the address:

Alliance Francaise de San Francisco

1345 Bush Street

San Francisco CA 94109

Impatient artist

Most people assume that people who dabble in art or paint have immense patience. True, but not entirely. I am quite patient when I am working on the faces or on intricate stone-work or gold-work. But there have been a few times when I have started a painting and then lost some enthusiasm along the way and it has taken me several months to finish it sometimes only by forcing myself to finish what I started. I give myself several deadlines but they all slip by and the painting looks far from finished. I'm working on one of those paintings right now and I hope to finish it by the end of this year. 

Last year, I started this painting with so much zest and managed to finish it in less than a month. But once it was done, I kept finding flaws and modifying everyday for another 2-3 weeks. Of course, it was a Raja Ravi Varma painting, what could one expect! 

S(w)inging for Obama

Indian sand artist Sudaran Pattnaik gives the final touches to his sand sculpture of re-elected US President Barack Obama at Golden Sea beach in Puri, about 65 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, on November 7, 2012.

Picture taken from The Atlantic. Click here.

What's not to love

I confess I love cooking!!

My journey from not caring about cooking to enjoying food is a boring, regular and predictable story. Very few really love cooking prior to marriage. I am no different. Once you step outside mom's kitchen and into your own frightening kitchen, you first yearn for mom's dishes that you took for granted, then you gingerly replicate some parts of it and hope for some miracle now and then. Granted, it takes time, but if you don't sweat about it, it just falls into place..once in a while ;-)

I used to cook like a scientist. Measure exactly and if the recipe calls for 1/4 tbsp garam masala, then not a pinch more. I hated the words 'salt to taste'!?! I mean when do I taste and how much do I add first before tasting. Needless to mention, I cooked many dishes needing a lot of salt adjustments, after tasting!! 

So what do I love about cooking, considering I am still a novice and don't eat such a lot. I like some specific things while cooking. Let me share just some of my favourite things.

* The smell and sight of onions frying in oil. Only when they are cut evenly. My knife-skills call for a separate post and I shall refrain for the moment. 

* The aroma of basmati rice (once cooked and ready to become a pulav/fried rice).

* Ghee! I have had many disasters with this one. Burnt ghee, undercooked ghee, caramel and still to come. But everytime I make this, I am hopeful this will the time I get it spot on! Just because I love to eat it. Spoonfuls of it! Spread on bread, roti or even biscuit.

* Mixing the ground idli/dosa batter. I learnt to make this only because we don't like the batter available in stores. Had many disasters with this one of course. But I don't regret it and grind batter every week as I love homemade dosa and tomato-onion chutney. It is easy now and once I grind the dal and rice and its time to mix them to allow for fermentation, I feel it is all worth it. Super fun. Ignore if I sound crazed. We have made kaima idly and even bought an abelskeiver pan to make kuzhi-paniyarams!

* The moment I add the cooked and mashed tur dal to the boiling tamarind extract and the  consistency of the sambhar is perfect. I did not have any disasters here, thank God!

* Rasam. Period. Its my comfort food and I love rasam rice. But no rasam in the world tastes like my mom's rasam. 

* Fluffy rotis. It is not possible in a house with electric stove (our current one) , sigh!

I can add a lot more and I haven't even mentioned pastries and desserts. Simple rule I follow for cooking. Everything(veg) has to be tried once in my kitchen. If I don't like something cooked in another kitchen, it will definitely be cooked in mine. Same goes for when I love something too. Four months back when we visited folks here, they had made pine-apple rasam. I couldn't stop licking my fingers. Within a week, I tried it out. On the flip side, I had a terrible experience at this chaat place here where they served bhel puri with channa, sprouts and soggy tasteless chutneys. I have had a craving for good bhel puri, indo-chinese fried rice, bisibele bath, shahi paneer and more. Though its not rocket science, at the end of the day, everyone cooks for their palate so it does differ. I get a lot of support from my husband, both our parents and all our friends on whom I  regularly unleash my culinary trysts!!

p.s. - I do read recipes from popular chefs like Tarla Dalal, popular online sites like www.showmethecurry.com and www.joyofbaking.com. The regular stuff is from cookbooks by Meenakshi Ammal (5 volumes) and Mrs. Mallika Badrinath. I have an amazing foolproof baking 'bible' by Dorie Greenspan and I highly recommend it if you are a beginner. I also watch Food Network and sometimes its been informative. Have to mention I am always inspired when I watch Masterchef Australia, my favourite program on tv! 

            If you know of other sites/books , do share. One can never have enough of good food, isn't it!? 

Its November and its raining

As is obvious, I love rains. This morning when I woke up and heard the rain, I put on some music and realized with a start that it was already November and I have to tell you a story. 

For want of a hobby

Many moons ago, when I was in primary school, it was a big deal to have a cool hobby/interest. Most of my classmates were singing or dancing, the classical kind. They used to religiously go to these classes or have teachers visit them home. The boys were generally let off the hook and a select few learnt to play a musical instrument. I wistfully yearned to be able to learn classical dance or play the violin. I did learn classical music for a while, until my teacher told my grand-mom I wasn't showing interest. As for dancing, I started with a lot of enthusiasm at a summer camp but it all came to an abrupt end when we couldn't find a teacher once camp got over. So to all those people who asked me what my hobby was, I had the same answer - reading! I can't remember a time I didn't read. We had 3 library memberships, bought magazines regularly, exchanged books and I ended up devouring the age-appropriate novels with dedication. When I look back, I do remember I liked drawing too but then, most kids at that age like drawing/painting and generally being creative. Do you know anyone at all who bought greeting cards back then? I bet you are reminiscing about the times when we painstakingly made the most ingenious and creative cards to gift our friends for birthdays, exams, etc.

Many years after, when I was doing my engineering, my friends and I took part in a Personality contest. It was a fun thing and we had to write answers to a bunch of silly questions.From those, five would be selected to go onstage and answer many more silly questions. You are reading the blog of a sooper personality wonly, so let me tell you what happened when I went onstage. After some preliminary rounds, there was a final talent round. So while one guy sang, the 2 other ladies danced I think and another guy did some mimicking, I stood transfixed blinking and feeling every bit like a loser. I mumbled something about  an ancient Chinese story and trivia and literally jumped off the stage. It sure sounds funny and makes for a good story in my blog but when you are in your first year of college, the last thing you want to do is humiliate yourself in front of your classmates and seniors. I admire people who can perform for an audience but its just not my thing. 

Years later, only after I started working, I started formal painting classes. Seeing how much I was still into drawing and painting, my mom suggested I learn Tanjore painting when she saw a notice at the gate of a house in our neighbourhood. It began there and didn't stop. I experimented with so many styles and did not want to stop ever. It is now such a huge chunky part of who I am. My hobby (or what started as one to relieve work-related monotony, stress) has consumed me completely. I definitely am proud that I was able to teach Tanjore painting to many ladies in both Hyderabad and Bangalore, have kids come in for classes now, managed to sell a painting to a very nice fellow-blogger and his wife and even did a few paintings to order and portrait commissions.This is definitely not a post to declare my accomplishments, for they are much more than these but my hobby has helped me find a balance. For many people I know, what was once a hobby has transformed into a fulfilling profession. I can relate for I am sure it doesn't feel like 'work' even for a single moment. I still cannot sing or dance in a talent round and even today, when someone I meet for the first time asks me what I do in my free time, I invariably say 'I read a lot'. For you see, its a lot easier to discuss books and everyone usually reads something - even if its only news or Wikipedia!

My paintings have even eaten into my blog. I hardly post anything other than my art. Well, I intend to do something about that. Starting today, its gonna be raining posts here. I am not sure about everyday , but I shall post 2-3 times a week this month. I think this poor blog deserves some more attention! ;)