Warrior Goddess- Durga

I recently had the pleasure of designing and painting a 'Goddess Durga'- the warrior Goddess,  teapot for a client for the upcoming Navratri festival celebrated across India. Goddess Durga the very versatile and multi-faceted  is one of the most revered, Goddess in Hinduism. She symbolises female strength and power and worshiped during a nine day festival- 'Navratri' which culminates on the ten day with the Dussera festival, where an effigy of Ravana is burnt, which is symbolic of the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana -good over evil.

This particular commissioned work had its fair share of challenges but I'm very happy with the final result!

Babushka love

The Matryoshka dolls were born from the creative belly of  Sergey Malyutin a very talented artist, illustrator and designer, with the help of Vasily Zvyozdochkin a doll maker and artist in 1890, carved out of wood these beautiful nesting dolls have since stolen the hearts and sparked the imagination of many an artist and designer. You can still find the authentic Russian Babushka dolls in the Sergiyev Posad,Semyonov,Polkhovsky Maidan and Kirov regions in Russia. These dolls are commonly referred to as Babushka dolls, the word "babushka means 'grandmother' or an 'elderly woman'

With the growing love for these adorable dolls, artists and designers across the world have creatively adapted these dolls to reflect various styles of art  and elements of their region or country. Today you can find contemporary artists painting theme based artwork like floral, Christmas, Easter, animals or even portraits and caricatures of famous politicians and celebrities.

Christmas themed Babushka dolls

Politician themed Babushka dolls

Superhero themed Babushka dolls

The Babushka doll is one of my all time favourite designs to paint. I remember as a little girl a relative of mine returning from Russia, had gifted me a set of these adorable nesting dolls and I was instantly awe stuck by the intricate and elaborate artwork on each piece, my personal favourite was the tiniest one! Every time I paint a  Babushka doll teapot it takes me  down memory lane, to the many days spent playing my Babushka set of nesting dolls, though I must confess, for all my love for the little baby doll, I did manage to misplace the little baby, guess I wasn't the most careful of kids. Oopssiiieee...

Bombay to Bangkok

Here's a customised piece for someone who is looking at gifting this kettle to a friend who is relocating from Mumbai to Bangkok.She wanted to incorporate elements of Mumbai,the adorable rickshaw being one and the BEST bus being the other,with little personalised messages for her friend.I personally love doing customised pieces,it in a small way allows you to contribute towards something heartfelt that one person is doing for another.Also in this fast paced world I really appreciate people who invest in relationships and take the time to personalise gifts for their loved ones.