Dusk shadows

I visited an old haunt the other day, tucked away in this concrete jungle there are serene escapes for those who look hard enough. My little sanctuary- it's a lush paradise where the sound of crickets drowns out the drone of city life, where colourful frogs croaking in glee, as grey herons bicker over nest space and if you're lucky you can catch a glimpse of striped wild piglets go about their business with wanton abandon.

It's a place I would go to daily for an evening run- run fast, run hard, run till it feels like every muscle in your legs are on fire, your lungs feel like they are about to explode and the wind hits your face till your eyes tear up. It's a delightful cocktail of physical exhaustion and  feeling alive. It's also a place where you can either rummage through the clutter of thoughts in your head and hope to file them neatly or it's a place where you can choose to just don't need think - not a thought in your head or a worry on your mind.

What I also love about my green heaven are the old abandoned buildings, mere skeletons of what they once used to be and etched on their walls are the small telltale signs of the people who once called this place their home. Instead of window grills today all you can find are beautifully woven tapestries of creepers as nature reclaims what was once hers. Enormous trees, who I'm sure have a story to tell as their roots spread deep and far, untouched and left alone for decades. There's an indescribable beauty about this spot in the middle of a bustling city like Mumbai, it's pure and so rare.

Every time I visit this place, I have this urge to bottle up the smells, the sights and my emotions into a jar full of memories, just incase I might never get to experience them again. It's always bitter- sweet to walk away from a place I was once so familiar with.

My heaven- I promise we'll meet again and if I can help it, it will be much more often.

Moonbeams and star kissed dreams

"You need chaos in your life to give birth to a dancing star" - Friedrich Nietzsche

I've always believed my life is a bit of an organised chaos and I never felt it more over the last couple of days, with a hundred things to do, each one tugging hard in different directions. When every muscle in your body aches, it's a beautifully awesome ache, one I live for, one I cherish. It's in these small moments, when the world sleeps, I feel my world makes absolute sense and I make sense. So with guns a blazing it's time to crack it up a notch and take on the next task.

Here's a glimpse into one facet of my delightful chaos, they are almost ready to be packed with love and shipped to the United States, safe journey my pretty precious!

Orange lifeboats on choppy waters

Every once in a while there is this need, the itching of the skin, the flinching of muscles, the uncalled for palpitations... the need to break away from the norm, to do something impulsive.

Last night was one of those, the itching and twitching had been going on for about a week, all symptomatic of unrest, the want or need to create, in whichever way or form and the prolonged inability in doing so was driving me up the wall. There's always been this sense of almost excruciating unrest every time I decide to paint something new or write something, its become the norm, not taking away from the angst in the process. In these small hours I've realised its so important to surround yourself with people who inspire, encourage, motivate and fuel curiosity, the more you do that, the easier it is to find what you've been looking for all along.

Nothing clears the mind like a good old fashioned gust of cold wind to your soul, sometimes a bike ride in the middle of the night does the trick as well. Some brilliant company with whom conversation flows effortlessly- from common friends, life philosophies, trials and tribulations, to what we want to be doing in life and suddenly the paper weights we place on our thoughts disappear.

These are my kind of crazy, the path breakers, the ones I treasure, the ones I love talking to, the ones I stand by, come hell or high water. These are the people I recognise as my tribe, the ones who go against grain and follow their heart. These are my people, my friends, my life force.

With every turbulent wave, we rise high and fall low but we will always know we have each other, my little orange lifeboats on a stormy sea.

Have you been naughty or nice this year?

There's a delightful nip in the air, as the days get shorter and nights get longer. Winter is one of my most favourite seasons, not that we have much of a winter in Mumbai, nevertheless I guess it  has a lot to do with Christmas and the warm and fuzzy feeling the celebrations bring with it! From the looks of it, I've already been bitten by the festive bug, there's a batch of chocolate chunk cookies in the oven and I'm well stocked on hot chocolate and marshmallows!!

This year I'm super excited to showcase my lovely new range of 'Owlie hand-painted mason jars', these lil jars have been such a pleasure to paint, with a palette that's more pastel and not my usual bright bold colour choice and the water colour texturing, there's been a lot of experimenting that's gone into the making of this range and I must say I'm thrilled with the end products. With six spanking new, adorable owlets to choose from, these little babies are ready to spread the cheer!! So come and meet the gang!!!

On a more introspective note, there are so many new design ideas and products I have in mind it almost feels like  theres just not enough time to sketch and paint them! Watch this space for much much more!!

Inhale... Exhale... Paint...  and Repeat :)

Lulu

CLICK TO BUY

Cleo

CLICK TO BUY

Bailey

CLICK TO BUY

Maggie

CLICK TO BUY

Oscar

CLICK TO BUY

Sasha

CLICK TO BUY

Gypsy heart women and windswept souls

A sketch to celebrate all the wild and wonderful women I know, the gypsy hearts, the free spirits, the fierce and inspiring women who have forever left their footprints on my soul!

Ode -Arthur O' Shaughnessy

We are the music makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams;—

World-losers and world-forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams:

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world for ever, it seems.

Inner child

A beautiful poem I chanced upon today. it's worth the read.

 I feel bad for those who lost their inner child. 

The world needs more adults with young heart, a brave heart, one that's excited and enthusiastic about the wonders of our magnificent world. 

People who believe in miracles, who believe they can make them happen too. 
People who can stomach the horrors they witness everyday and give love even when they are never the recipients. 
People who are kind enough to forgive everyone around them and forgive themselves too when it's the hardest to do so. People who are crazy enough to want to make a difference, even crazier to work for it.


-- Dana Hindi

A sea of Elephant Gods and a trip to paradise

As a city is overtaken by a sea of  Elephant Gods, the sounding of drums beckons me to escape this chaos, I took refuge in my home away from home - 'my little slice of paradise' this weekend. A place where my terrace garden comes alive with luscious green foliage, grey herons sit perched precariously on nests filled with hungry fledglings, I feel one with nature and so blissfully unaware of the religious fervour that grips the city.

I packed my paints, canvases and art supplies and spent a delightfully refreshing weekend slowly soaking in what nature has to offer. With hot cups of tea to fuel the engine, I sat on my terrace under a pale blue sky with only butterflies as a welcome distraction. What would have otherwise been a stressful weekend turned into paradise and a very fruitful exercise indeed.


Later that evening I took a stroll down memory lane, a large isolated, greenery filled patch known to only a hand few, where the sound of crickets and the croaking of frogs filled the fresh rain kissed air. Have you ever heard the crackle of electric wires?- as they sway like swings abandoned by impatient children, it's a surreal feeling walking below them, so much power just waiting to be unleashed, to light up homes and lives...

Feel like an electric wire today as I sway to the rhythm of life, careless, unabashed at the stares shot my way at this display of arrogant oblivion.

Holding my dreams close to my heart I swing higher and higher to the point of tipping over! Dreams that come alive when the world sleeps and the mind wanders into the wonderful unknown. Where magic takes over and reality is but a distant blur. In the twilight I sit with arms stretched out in the hopes of touching delicate candy floss clouds, I catch myself thinking silly thoughts - How wonderful would it be,to be able to take a ride on a wispy white cloud?!

Love the crackling electric wires for weaving dreams built on webs of futures untold. Love that I took the time to create a space where I could work and relax at the same time.

Brush strokes into bliss

Wish every Saturday afternoon could be like this, in seventh heaven!!! With some Eddie Vedder in the background and a myriad of colours to paint with I couldn't ask of more!! Here's to many more paint filled, blissful afternoons!!

Clenched soul

Have you ever felt like the universe every once in a while, conspires in ways that might be inexplicable! I got to dip my feet in the pool of this 'universal conspiracy' today. What was a run of mill meeting with a close friend of mine which is heady mix of inane conversation, laughter, short walks and long conversation about the things we do best, break down life into little superficial formulae that we both know don't hold true in reality.

Down to the brass tacks and what baffles me and sends a shiver down my spine - I picked up a bunch of books she had recently picked up, one of which was Pablo Neruda's- Twenty love poems and a song  of despair. I knew the second I laid eyes on it, it was a book I'd read and picked up a few months ago. It might be a weird thing, to do, but I like to randomly open a page of a book of poems and let destiny take its course.

This is me some hours ago at my friends place, I randomly landed on the poem titled -Clenched soul, as usual curiosity always gets the better of me, so I made my way back home and decided to revisit my copy of  Pablo Neruda's Twenty love poems and a song  of despair, as I randomly flipped through the pages  I happened to land smack dab at Clenched soul once again.

Let's just leave it at something inexplicable, because I can't explain or comprehend how every line in the poem means something to me at this very moment in time, let alone how I flipped through the same book twice in one day and landed on the same poem!

Ohhhh you brilliantly beautiful and ever surprising life!!

At my friends place

At home

Dancing in the rain!

" And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music"- Friedrich Nietzsche

One of my favorite quotes by Nietzche!
This hand-painted peacock is a birthday gift for one of the nicest people I know, a beautiful soul!! Here's to many a dance in the rain in the years to come! Was an absolute pleasure painting this for you!

A whisper in the wind

via GIPHY

There's something about the warm summer breeze blowing in from the sea that has a soothing effect on me. While most people might huff and puff at the sweltering heat, I guess having the luxury of working from an indoor studio makes summers for me a little more blissful. Celebrating life, beauty ,growth and abundance I've painted a delicately detailed pair of shoes that complement the feelings of free abandon I feel.

Introducing one more to the Funky Feet range of shoes - Orchids in Bloom

Anyone up for an awesome cuddle!?

via GIPHY

Canvas painting have become an indulgence off late, with finishing off orders and all the other paraphernalia that surrounds running an art  studio I feel I haven't been able to dedicate time to the things I want to do. Well last week, despite a heavy work load I took a couple of days off to just paint! Paint the stuff I wanted to, irrespective of orders or other work commitments! 

This lil Panda was a result of cutting off from the grind and just indulging in what I wanted to do!! So much more to come! watch this space for more indulgences.

Creativity at it's best-by Tanya Munshi

The lovely Tanya Munshi has some really nice things to say about Pyjama Party, do check out her blog and get to know a little bit more about Pyjama Party, the story so far!

http://www.tanyamunshi.com/travel/people-culture/pyjama-party-creativity-at-is-best/

For the love of owls!!

Another just for fun owliee! If you haven't figured it out already I kinda do have a lil owl obsession every once in a while!

Where the light hits the bottle just right!

Hola!

The Mexican theme project I've been working on  for the spanking new Mexican restaurant in Bandra,over the last couple of months has been a total blast. Not only do I love Mexican art but the bright colours fit in perfectly with my style and choice of colours!

It's always a delight to see your artwork clicked by good photographers,here are some of my personal favourite bottle art pics from Uba Tuba.

The Day of The Dead!

I love Mexican culture, the vibrant colour palette, everything from their decor, their clothes and even their food!! One of my favourite Mexican themes is the 'Day of the Dead' or 'El Dia de los Muertos'. I guess I'm lucky enough to get to work on two things I have a strong connect with, one being music and the other

the Day of the Dead. Have been working on this beautiful guitar for a while, here's a pic of the work in progress,finished pics coming soon!! Can't wait to strum this baby once it's finished!

A picture paints a thousand words

Sometime last year I started a lil project called the 'Lyrics Project' where if you gave me a line of a song [preferably not the chorus] I'd illustrate it for you! Psssttt for free.This year I thought it's time to bring it back with a twist, it's not just song lyrics but any quote that strikes a chord with you. Let's just call it the 'A picture speaks a thousand words"

So drop me a line via the contact me form with the quote/ lyrics and I'll do the needful!

Here are some of the artworks I've done so far, the bottle is a customised request by a friend ,with his own personal quote!

KEITH URBAN | YOU'LL THINK OF ME

Doodle me!!

Finally finished this customised pair of hand-painted doodle sneakers! I love to doodle and scribble!! I land up doing almost anytime I'm idle, the dearth of paper clearly has never stopped the doodler in me. Every once in a while  I subject a unsuspecting friends body part to the wrath of a ink pen as you can see.

At the stroke of midnight!

New personal project for the new year! So this one's a tad bit ambitious, I hope to follow through with it for the whole year. Since this blog is mostly about all the things I like, the things that inspire me, the trials and tribulations in the life of an artist, I thought it would be a good idea to paint little artworks that hopefully capture some of the things that make me who I am, it could be the things I love or hate, my feelings and experiences, I have no clue what this project will reveal to be honest.

I've decided to call it 'At the stroke of mid-night' because honestly, it's only once the sun sets and I'm done with all the work for the day, do I get the time to indulge in the things I love to do for my own jollies.

Drum roll please, this one's the first, of hopefully many: Hot Chocolate Sundays!!

Hot Chocolate Sundays

For anyone who doesn't know me I'm addicted to chocolate, in any form, shape or size. It's one of the few things I'd much rather look the other way than share, so it's only befitting to end a lovely week, filled with new designs, new challenges and new ideas with a piping hot cup of my true love 

"Le Chocolat"