artnlight

My mom maintains that once kids start reading, they are no trouble. That's cause my sis & I were always holed in our story books & my granny loved to complain that if half of the time time we spent reading stories we spent on our text books, we'd do really well. I always began feeling a little sad as I approached the last few pages of a book. The fatter the book, the happier I would be- 'great, this will take a long time by the time i'm done.' Reading covertly at nights because I JUST COULDN'T put down that book, after my parents were asleep is one of the main culprits in making me a night person.
As I grew up books became the only things I would listen to. Advice worked for me as long as a person wasn't doling it out to me. Then art college happened and a whole new world of books and a world view opened up to me. I was-am a person who can't put a scissor to a book easily & I had to unlearn a lot of that in college, but this remains one of the main deterrents to scrap booking & journaling for me. But one lives & learns & this year I REALLY want to try some fun stuff.
For the rest of us, here is a blog dedicated to bookshelves. Yes, you heard right. A blog that is only about book shelves, called Books at home. Check it out.

"egg-crate cases" by Hugh Newell Jacobsen

Collapsible Shelving

Eiermann shelvingFront & back shelving

The penguin donkey(what a name!) by isokon

A modern version of The penguin donkey by isokon

Ok. What has never happened on this blog is about to. What's the harm in creating some needless suspense :) The announcement: I am going to post DAILY. (Vineeta, take a deep breath, for courage.) This is a month-long project I have undertaken so I can prove to myself that I can be disciplined. So this month of March, each day on 'artnlight' there will be something new. Each month till date I promised myself 'next month' I will post more often. New year came and went, nothing changed, feb came & went, nothing changed. I kept thinking work load will reduce, I will post, I will go on vacation & be free & then post. Nothing happened. So this is it. I'm not waiting anymore. There is enough work in my life in terms of office work load & personal committments, but I have decided. I need to know I can do this. Wish me luck guys .

"Long before I discovered in the Alhambra an affinity with the Moors in the regular division of the plane, I had recognized this interest in myself. At first I had no idea at all of the possibility of building up my figures. I did not know any "ground rules" and tried, almost without knowing what I was doing, to fit together congruent shapes that I attempted to give the form of animals.... The dynamic equilibrium between the motifs... has led to the creation of numerous prints. It is here that the representation of opposites of all kinds arises. For is not one led naturally to a subject such as Day and Night by the double function of the black and the white motifs? It is night when the white, as an object, shows up against the black as a background, and the day when the black figures show up against the white."

Here, too, we have the components diminishing in size as they move outwards. The six largest (three white angels and three black devils) are arranged about the centre and radiate from it. The disc is divided into six sections in which, turn and turn about, the angels on a black background and then the devils on a white one, gain the upper hand. In this way, heaven and hell change places six times. In the intermediate, "earthly" stages, tbey are equivalent.

On the uniformly gray surface of a strip of paper that is being unrolled, a simultaneous development in form and contrast is taking place. Triangles, at first scarcely visible, change into more complicated figures, whilst the colour contrast between them increases. In the middle they are transformed into white and black birds, and from there fly off into the world as independent creatures. And so the strip of paper on which they were drawn disappears.

lizards

Faces.
I found this very fascinating. Look carefully. I love the many different faces coming together.
And do check out World of Escher where we get kinds of Escher cool maal(stuff).
Silk ties

Tshirts & stationery.

I've long been a fan of Jessica Gonacha's art and blog 'treasuring' & now she's gone & done the most brilliant thing possible. In these times when people are loosing their jobs and worrying about finances and future, Jess's new blog 'Pecannoot' is all about Abundance. Here she puts up abundance related designs & visuals that help bring more of it in each of our lives. In Jess's own words-

"we think in pictures. we all have desires and dreams. we all feel discouraged sometimes. what better way to lift our spirits and bring our dreams into being than through pictures? this blog is for that. it's for me and for you, so we can paint and draw and photograph and collage our abundant reality!"

Some of Jess's illustrations you will see on 'Pecannoot' A girl with a halo of "YES" around her head. How much more we would end up doing if we said more yes's in our life.

This one is my absolute absolute favourite. Please click on the image to see a larger version of it. It says "There is more than enough for us all" and the little chits in the overflowing basket read "for you" "and you" "for her" "for him" "yes her too" "for me".

This one reads "Why don't you just go for it? (Don't listen to the answer that comes. Its just an excuse)"
"You are perfect just the way you are"

Don't these pieces speak straight to your heart? And you know the best bit? She is inviting artists to submit, I just did & am so so so happy to be featured. This is very close to my heart. Design that makes me feel better/helps me and does the same for the person who sees it is important to me.


Good news 2 is that Jess also has an Etsy shop filled with all manner of her beautiful art. Click here to take a look. I love her colours and her style.
"i am a firm believer that as our thoughts go, so goes our life. what if we only had thoughts of things like diamond trees? wouldn't that create such a world of abundance?!"



"it seems to me like we're all trying to reach the same destination in life: happiness. it also seems like there are infinite paths to get there, and no two paths are the same. we each have to find our own way to it. this print is a visual interpretation of that idea."

She sells pretty 2009 Calenders, Its not too late to get yourselves these little pretties.
Beautiful hand-drawn scrap book paper pack.
And aren't these buttons to die for?
I respect Jess cause she is prolific & consistently produces beautiful work. I have been following her blog treasuring & she updates it often & puts up her work week after week. She is at it all the time. I don't see how 2009 will not bring her an abundance of abundance. Like they say "The harder you work, the luckier you get"

You've seen Dithi's work & now here is her beautiful cozy home in Geneva. She carries India's spirit with her & this is very evident in the following pictures. From the Ganeshas' statue to the Tibetan scrolls to her Rajasthani puppets to her framed Goan Mario Miranda tiles, India is everywhere. And all of this is set off beautifully in her all-white home. Her living room holds her Ganesha along with a pretty mirror worked cushion.

I love the 'paduka's" or traditional Indian footwear on her pretty runner.

"Ganeshji was brought home from Mr. Suryani (a wonderfully warm person and now, friend)'s factory in Mysore with my first salary."

"We picked the Mario Miranda Tiles from a place called the ''Big Foot'' at Lotoulim or Ancestral Goa. I am a big Mario fan and given a chance, would love to have the Cafe Mondegar walls in my kitchen."
Dithi's love for interesting jars is evident here.

And she has quite a collection of them, from different parts of India, by different artists.

Diti's parrot makes an appearance in her home :)

"I have grown up watching Ma and my sisters add beauty and personality to home spaces. My eldest sister Ankhi is my mentor so far as decor and design is concerned. The puppet that hangs from my curtain channel in a far-east rendition of Lord 'Rama', gifted to us by her and my brother-in-law!

I loved this touch. She's beautifully lined the top of her floor length mirror with colourful cowheads. "The cow heads are from Kochin, they are said to be traditionally used by farmers as an auspicious symbol for great harvest!"

Dithi and Arnab are clearly book lovers and her home is chock full of them. When you have a lot of books they can be turned into an effective element of decor & this Diti knows well. I love the way the books & cds are all lined in an organised way.

And I don't know why but this pic HAS TO BE my fav picture of all of this eyecandy that she sent. Just look at this! Row upon row of books, stationary, lovingly collected little artefacts, all find place and add beauty in these white shelves. And here are the neatly arranged artists tools in interesting mugs (more Mario here)...

...in her work space. Appropriately under Goddess Saraswathi's benevolent gaze. That's her blog 'Deezden' that is seen on her laptop.