artnlight

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

I was browsing Pinterest - the creative worlds new inspiration black book - to see if there is something inspirational that I can post on the Artnlight Fb page. A quote that speaks to me. something that will give someone a push or a quiet hand - or just an insight - when I saw this - wham!

I read this & saw how beautifully it is done & it took me right back to when I started art college and when I started my 1st years in advertising as a visualiser. I felt everyone around me was way more talented than me as far as art was concerned.

Words came to me easier than art did. The moment I got a brief I thought of words and lines and ideas 1st. And here I was hired and paid to do the visual thinking. I felt like a complete fraud. I tried and tried and I kept seeing artists work & working harder at honing what I had chosen as my vocation. When I look back the initial years still feel like a mass of yearning and yearning and struggling to do something that I wasn't naturally great at - good or decent maybe - but certainly not awesome. It was not an easy spot to be in - to not be at peace with the quality of your work. 

Sometimes I feel as a creative person, the goal post keeps shifting & that's the way your work grows. You keep seeing work that inspires you to push yourself harder and that is the cycle. 

So this is what I want to tell everyone out there who is working on getting better. Do yourself a favour. Stop judging yourself & instead do more work. Just keep creating. You need not share it with people if you are uncomfortable. But don't stop creating. 

Creative people are naturally very sensitive. Don't let your sensitivity become fear, don't let it stop you from creating. So yes, you feel your work has a long way to go? That's perfectly ok. We are not all born brilliant. Can you grow talent? Yes. Keep walking the path and keep creating. Set yourself deadlines to complete things. Say one new artwork a week. One article a day. One complete painting in 2 weeks. 

That is the ONLY way to get better. To work and to complete. Repeat.

And for all the people who are curious about the beautiful typography in this post - it is created by 

Casey Ligon. And guess what, there are videos that show us how she creates her gorgeous hand-drawn typography - right here.

I had mentioned the gorgeous studio where we shot for the lookbook of Nisha Sainani's Spring Summer 2014 Collection, for which I designed signature prints. Please meet Tanvi Mehra's Tangerine Arts Studio which is a beautiful open airy place with a contemporary international vibe. Chalkboard art and typography is trending right now and it was so cool to walk in and see such justice done to it in this studio.
Tangerine Arts Studio is so much more than a Yoga and dance studio. Tanvi Mehra whose space it is, is an enthusiast who is looking forward to new and innovative ways of keeping this space rocking. Right now, apart from Yoga classes, there is Bollywood dance, Zumba Fitness, Belly Dance, Salsa and the very exciting Chai Community, which brings together entrepreneurs, and opportunities to interact with young professionals who walk the path less taken. If you are in Bandra, this is one space that has a lot to give. 

 Nisha's photographer was Roshini Lalwani of Svaha Photography.

 (image from Tangerine Arts Studio - clicked by Sheena Dabholkar)
Do you see the glass overlooking the greens on the right? That's where we shot the Party Table for Nisha Sainani's Look Book. 

Many of the pretty accessories that you see on this table is from MarryMe the Store, curated by Candice Pereira & Jarret D’Abreo.

Do read this really inspiring interview of her @ the Great Discontent.