In these days of instant communication with whatsapp, skype, google duo and many such similar technologies that make our lives so much easier, we've all but forgotten the charms of receiving a handwritten postcard, from another state, from a different country, from a pen-pal, from a cousin, a friend, a lover, a parent. How we waited for the postman and how much excitement an inland or a handwritten letter brought. I remember when I was studying here in Bombay, during my school and college days, I used to write to my family almost everyday, little anecdotes, what happened in class, what the teacher said, my latest sketch or skit, the idiosyncrasies of a close friend, everything described vividly, and at the end of the week, I would staple it all and mail it to my family. I imagined them laughing over it. I come from a generation when I was given a small amount of pocket money and an std call across states was not something to be indulged in daily. So after a week of posting my latest "mini book" the next call was about cracking up about the written letter and its contents. Always with one eye on the little meter in the booth that told you how much your call is costing you.

This design is dedicated to all those letters and postcards and slow mail which we lovingly wrote to our loved ones. It is dedicated to all those letters that will remain unwritten, it is dedicated to the act of handwriting and to the craft of writing, it is dedicated to the lovers of long hand and old school and fountain pens. It is dedicated to a time when communication merited the time and effort taken to write, then stamp and post, to the long lines in post offices, to the lost red postboxes.

Welcome to the Art&Light Post Card Crockery Series.

 Snack platters

 Dinner Plates

 Snack Platter

 Coffee Mugs, green tea mugs, whatever you choose to call it

For the longest time now there has been a silent love affair going on between me and ceramics. My work till date has been all about colour and design. I love chroma and maximalism and that has been my comfort zone in a way. While exploring executable possibilities of how i could extend Art&Light's range of products to include ceramics, it became clear early on, due to technicalities of the medium that I will need to think differently to work with ceramics. Simplicity in design and colour would be necessity. No layering, textures, all the things that I normally love would not work here. People who have been following my work might know of my love for typography. So got back to the drawing board and after many rounds of sampling between 2 states and improvisations,  here is the 1st  of the two designs. 

What I especially love about this series is that nothing is perfect. There are irregularities. Little specs scattered on the plates and crockery, not evenly.  The edge of the plate has an hand-drawn outline. It is irregular. Because the products are handmade - there are slight variations and imperfections piece to piece.

  "Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." ~ Chaim Potok

 “It's just like when you've got some coffee that's too black, which means it's too strong. What do you do? You integrate it with cream, you make it weak. But if you pour too much cream in it, you won't even know you ever had coffee. It used to be hot, it becomes cool. It used to be strong, it becomes weak. It used to wake you up, now it puts you to sleep.”

― Malcolm X

 

 "There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."~ Henry James

 ""There is no sincerer love than the love of food."~ George Bernard Shaw

Indigo. Blues. There is a poetry in this palette that loyalists will vouch for. I know of people who wear only this colour, Whose homes are a study in blues. I have seen friends try and buy something else and give up and buy one more blue because nothing else is as good. Cooling, soothing classy. I have been dying to do blues and always stopped myself because it was so done. I finally gave in and here is the Artnlight Indigo Blue Collection. Ready to shop on the Art&Light online shop. 

Introducing small Boxes for the 1st time. At 5x5x2 inches, these are small hold your jewellery and make for great gifts.

Indigo Circular Trays

New Small Trays 9x6 inches + Medium & Large trays in the Indigo series

Shop all this and a lot more on the art&light online store

Wishing all of you a cool, calm, peaceful and happy 2016.

 For the very 1st time I got Art&Light Tshirts printed and my guys wore them at the stall. Amit on the left is my stocking and logistics guy & the ever dependable Jiten does everything from making my products to my packaging. This guy never says a no and is one of the most gracious people I have ever known.

 This angel was a gift sent to me by a very close friend Karishma Birdy - this has to be one of the most photographed images of my stall. 

 The circular trays were a hit. And they will soon be launched on the www.artnlight.in website

 The Peacock circular tray was a hotseller. And we had to literally make them as they got sold & restock them. 

 And look who was at the stall all the time. Dithi gifted me this Krishna when I went to Kolkatta. He is special indeed :)

The super popular Famous names b/w acrylic coasters. I got sold out on these in no time. The discussions these sparked off among the buyers were entertaining to say the least.

 The much loved and coveted 3 drawer unit. People just could not resist opening & closing these drawers and checking the price. 

 My predilection for vintage illustrations gets carried over to these newly launched Mugs

Late, but better than never. I talk of the exhibition which was so much more than that and true to its word, it was really a Celebration of Design, Art & Culture. When I look back at the 3 days in Delhi, I'm filled with wistfullness, because that time won't come again. Why do I miss it so much? The pure adrenalin, the rush, the anticipation of how well an event will go, the unpacking and setting up - which we could do at leaisure. How beautiful Serendipity looked. When I think back the one visual that is dear to me will be the continual sweeping of the floors with Khus scented water, to cool the place down. And Bhavna diligently dropping fragrance into the huge marigold decorated pots at Serendipity. It was another world, so different from Bombay, so differently paced. And yet once the exhibition began it was business as usual. I have been at exhibitions where business has been so slow that I have had enough and more time to shoot, to hang out and socialise with fellow exhibitors. I had prayed that this should not be such an exhibition - yes I had wished that I be so busy selling that there was no time to hang out and chill. And yet when my wish was granted, I found myself wishing for a few moments of rest when I could relax and catch a relaxed bite at the beautiful terrace at Serendipity which I only could discover at the very fag end of day 1 of the exhibition. Sharing a few pics from that day - when we shot before the people came in and work began.

Delhi was so much warmth, of people who came in - so many told me "we've been readers of your blog for so many years & finally you are here" Meeting one of my 1st few buyers Vani Kurup, hearing that she still uses my products & that they are going strong, were special moments.

 Leehkin and

Tejinder Singh

 Catch Thiru S's monumental work at his website

 Rugberry

Anais Basu of  Tia Pakhi and Thiru S in a relaxed moment - before the madness began :)

 If anything is as good looking as their work it is the power girls themselves. Flag bearers of the exceptional Ek Karkhana & Miraas Jewellery

All set for the fabulous Hindustani Music by Vidya Shah, who transported the listeners to another era. And what better setting than the beautiously lit  Serendipity.
Stay tuned for one more post where you get to see close ups at the Art&Light room and better dekkos at Tia Pakhi and Leekhin.
Image credits: Vineeta Nair, Serendipity, Anaam