Diwali

Colour and lots of hand made fun this diwali

Quick post about Diwali prep at home. This year, we have tried to reuse things we have at home,  add more colour and have loads of fun  in anticipation of the day!

The kids having a go at painting the diyas, which are soaked, washed and primed with offwhite paint first.

For many years now, I have refused to throw my used earthen diyas away. Just so long as they  are not chipped and cracked, we wash dry and repaint them using bio-safe acrylics giving them a new lease of life.

This year, we are making story- stools to prop the Diyas on too. All manner of old chowkis and peedhas,  have been sanded down and painted in vibrant colours. Some featuring motifs and scenes from my kids favourite traditional Indian stories.

Painted and finished..together with a bunch of yellow and orange foot stools  to house them on.

The stools make bright little spots- ideal to brighten up the house for Diwali. These will get used in the house easily later, as tiny study desks,  table top accents, to store books and ofcourse just normal stools to sit on. 

Since they  can be painted over easily, the activity allows for maximum fun..something my kids too have had a liberal hand in. Unabashedly playing with paint, leaving the finer details from me to tweak later  ;).

The Bull from heaven.

The stool pictured above is based on a lively  Buddhist story chosen by my son.

 A word about the illustration: I  have based the drawing in good part on a drawing by illustrator Linda Edwards, from a children's book called ~Stories from India~ published by Usborne. 

Hope to comeback with yet another Diwali post, provided I can make the time to tend to the blog while so much is going on around.

Have a good one folks !

Tagged

I have been tagged... Its been a month since blogger buddies, Dithi and  Jagriti  urged me to put down six things about me  before I could pass on the pickle to another six people.

Although it sounds easy, I have taken my time with this one. If  there are only six things to say, like only six things mattered, what would one say and what would one leave out? 

Instead of spending too much time procrastinating about what it will be and why, I'll post pictures of six things I made at pottery class a few years ago.

What is important about these six things is  that they are really bad, quite the opposite of the magnificent artistic game plan with which I approached them. Please understand that these misadventures in amateurish shapes and awful glazes are more about the love than success.

Despite my perseverance and complete dedication, I never graduated beyond hand-building. The few sessions I spent in the studio were usually a complete waste of time, but how I enjoyed myself!

Beating mounds of hardened clay down to smooth malleability, the squish and slurp of slurry.. the hours of contemplating singular shapes, the intense meditation it is possible to achieve and the labour of it all.. Sometimes after the class, the only thing that would bring me back from the pure state of zen I'd achieve in the preceding two hours was the sight of the monstrosity staring back at me from the work table.

So it is with a lot of courage and apprehension that I will unveil if only for the sake of the tag, six terrifying signs of a failed potter... again and again,  you are urged to look on only at the love. 

Now for the six people who I am going to pass the tag on to,

Priya from tHe pluM tRee

Prashant from Chai ki dukan  

Shireena from Masala Chai 

Vineeta from Artnlight  

Ashwiny from the window seat design 

and

Rachel from buttons magee 

Rules

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

There guys, happy tagging and happier blogging.