A Brush with Paper

Hi friends,    It so happened that once I made the first set of Mandalas,I just couldn't stop. I took a small break from making Warli sketches and started doodling  mandala after Mandala. Posting the first set of Mandalas here.Will post the others one by one. These have been made on handmade paper with black markers and framed later. Hope you like them. Thanks, Avanti.

Hi all,    As you must have noted by now, I love gifting handmade things to my friends and family when they are shifting to a new home or new city or a new country. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that this post is about a gift as well. My cousin sister was back for a short break from London for the other cousin's wedding(where I gifted the warli frame previously posted). She had completed her Masters and I wanted to make something for her. I had the orange handmade paper left after the wedding gift in the previous post. So I made some pretty mandalas on them. It was a trial and error attempt and i had decided to make something else for her just in case it didn't turn out well. But the result was decent and my mom and artist cousin approved of it. So got these framed and gave them to her. She liked these a lot. These two mandalas were made in about 2 hours on a Thursday , given for framing that very evening, collected on Friday and gifted on Saturday morning because sh

Hi friends,     So my cousin was getting married and I had promised her a warli frame as a wedding gift. And I completely forgot about till about 3 days before the wedding. I went and bought the materials on Wednesday night,cut it into the desired size. Friday all day was spent on completing it.I gave it for getting it framed that evening. My other cousin collected it from the store on Saturday evening. And I gifted it to my cousin sister on Sunday!!!!!! I've realised I love doing jobs when I'm pressed for time. It helps me focus and gets my creative juices flowing. I didn't use a compass to draw the circles and used a ruler only to draw the margins.     She loved it as did the rest of my family. And her husband is going to put it up on the drawing room wall of their new home. There is a different type of happiness in gifting your near and dear ones something handmade and customised. And I feel grateful to be able to experience that. Until next time, Avanti

Hi all,    Following is a set of frames portraying celebrations of Ganeshotsav, Holi and Laxmiji ka rath. I cannot elaborate on this because I don't know enough of how the Warli people celebrate these festivals. I will edit this post when I find out or maybe make a different festival painting and post the information with it. They've been made on handmade paper with black paint. Until next time, Avanti.

Hello friends,    This is another set of frames I made depicting how the Warli people spend their time according to the ongoing season. During summer, it is hot and dry and they depend on berry picking as an occupation and for sustenance. With the arrival of the monsoons, farming starts. I love painting bullocks the Warli way. They seem stronger but more elegant than any actual bullocks that I've come across. Until next time, Avanti.

Hello,    The depiction of trees in warli painting has always fascinated me.I absolutely love painting trees.Painting the tiny leaves one by one is really relaxing.Here are three basic trees I painted.I'll get to the intricate ones soon.These have been made with white poster paint on maroon handmade paper. Until next time, Avanti.

Hi,    This is a quilled monogram I made for my friend's son,Arnav. I had just watched Finding Nemo and wanted to try an aquatic themed quilled frame and this was it. There is a starfish, a gleeful octopus, a quirky crab(who reminds me of Sebastian from Little mermaid), a cute squid, a happy dolphin, a sea weed and a far-away boat. These tiny pieces took a lot of time to make.I was thrilled when I made this about 4 years ago,but now when I see the pictures,I think the tiny details need a lot more finesse.    Coincidentally,this kid grew up liking Finding Nemo and I gifted him a Nemo puzzle on his second Birthday!!! That's all for now, Bye, Avanti.

Hello,   I was meeting a friend from college after almost 7 years at her new home and couldn't decide what gift to buy her.So,I made these instead and fortunately it went well with the turquoise blue and white colour scheme of her drawing room.These have been made on handmade paper with markers and measure 6*6 inches each. Excuse the poor picture quality,they've been taken on an old mobile phone camera. Cheers, Avanti.

Hello    This is a set of paintings I made a couple of years ago and forgot to post about. It has been made on handmade paper with black paint. I gifted this to my cousin and his wife for their first Diwali together. These now hang on their drawing room wall. Until next time, Avanti.

Hi all,   After looking (ogling more like it) at the beautiful quilled monograms and nameplates on the internet ,I decided to make one for my cousin sister when she was shifting cities(also because I didn't know what other gift to get her).  So here it is.The first quilled nameplate I made.It measures 6*9 inches and has been made with 3 mm paper strips.My favorite part are the small flowers. She loved it as did her husband. Hope you all like it too. Avanti

Hi all,  Since I first learnt the basics of warli painting,my aunt had been asking me to paint a warli scene on the entrance wall to her home.But I took so long getting around to it that she had potted plants placed against the bare wall.This shamed me about my a-little-too-complacent approach towards my hobbies,and I got back to the painting with a zeal.    It measures 12*18 inches and has been made on handmade paper with white paint.The sketching took me about an hour and then the design gathered dust for about 6 months till I got to painting it which took about 3.5-4 hours.This is now hung on her drawing room wall. Until next time, Avanti.

Hi all,      I've been away for a really long time. But now I'm back and I promise to post as regularly as I can. I learnt to make crepe paper and sola wood flowers last year and I might post about some of those too. I also started a page on instagram @abrushwithpaper where I post pictures of all my artwork. Do have a look.       I only made this because I wanted to.No purpose and no person to gift it to.It has been made with white paint on maroon handmade paper.The first scene depicts a farm at night time.I love painting the swaying crops.The second scene is a village scene depicting activities during the day. I have made more of these sets which depict different activities during different seasons or different occupations or the type of trees. I'll continue to post those as and when I manage to take decent pictures of them. Hope you all liked this one. Cheers, Avanti