Zoom…..the new way to go.

 The new order of Zoom…..online lessons, Show n tell, and more. The Art community in general is flourishing and active these days, with online workshops, demos, lessons and exhibitions galore. In fact, I find myself more busy than ever, sending in jpegs of my Art to online exhibitions. 

Only last week I sent in 8 of my pieces to the Arts Council of Conejo Valley in Thousand Oaks. This particular event invitation was a complete surprise to me and came to me via a phone call from the gallery directly from the curators there, requesting me to send in my Art pieces!

Few weeks before that, Thousand Oaks Art Assoc. held their “Greatest Hits Show”, as a Juried online show. I had three paintings juried in it. Here is one of the entries.

An old classic”…. Watercolor 

“Vista Del Mar Restaurant “, Majorca, Spain…. watercolor 

Meanwhile MANA artists have been keeping busy creating Art in their favorite mediums. Recently, we had a “Show n tell”, showcasing all artist members’ art.

Also, we had an opportunity to take a trial class from Artist & teacher, Leena Joshi, a follower of the famous Milind Mulick. She teaches his style of painting watercolors (with his blessings, as I understand). I availed myself of this chance to pick up some tips and came away very pleased. A few years ago I had taken a few classes from the great Master himself and had to check out Leena’s class.

Anyway, we all love any opportunities like these and I for one am always ready!

Currently, I am happy to report that I got a pleasant surprise with a call from the curator of the gallery from our local Conejo Valley Arts Council, who invited me to send 8 of my paintings’ jpegs for hanging in the gallery, for their show, “For the love of Nature”. Of course, I am thrilled to part of this show which will open on July 23, and run through until Nov. 8, at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts, (403 West Hillcrest Dr, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360). Reception for the artists to be held on Sept. 18, 2021, from 3 - 5 pm).

Finally, I leave you with this artistic thought .

     According to Ukraine native and LA area artist, Alexey Steele, the most derogatory comment that a Russian Academy professor could direct at his students was that they were just copying.

Here are a couple of my paintings from the upcoming “Love of Nature” Show.

“Peace”….watercolor 

“ A waterfall”…..watercolor 

 

MANA Artists conducted Online Watercolor Workshop

Our MANA group had a fantastic opportunity to conduct an online Watercolor Workshop on the occasion of Holi. The workshop was to be conducted across North America for BMM (Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal Uttarrang team). 

Avinash Sadhu, one of our Founder Member, made us aware of this event and we all got into action. Since the number of participants was expected to be quite high, we split up into 3 groups - check us out on the Flyer below. 

We decided to choose a floral theme, since it is spring time. Medha Atre Kulkarni came up with the design and we all got into action to prepare ourselves to conduct the workshop. 

It was a very fulfilling experience!! See few of our photos below:

Our Flyer Designed by Ashlesha Kelkar

Artist: Medha Atre Kulkarni and Aparna Deshpande Session:

Medha's Design

Participants Paintings

Participants Paintings

Artist: Dhanashri Bapat and Chaitali Nadkarni:

Dhanashri's Demo Project

Dhanashri's Demo in Progress...

Participants Paintings

Participants Paintings

Participants Paintings

Artist: Prerana Kulkarni and Alka Vaidya Session:

Prerana's Demo Project

Prerana's Demo Project

Prerana's Demo in Progress...

Participants Paintings

Dare we dance a little now?

 DANCE....uplifting the human spirit!

     

Here we are, into spring time with more people getting vaccinated and moving toward normalcy slowly. 

Secretly, we’re all now seeing that flicker of hope. Not quite dancing in the streets yet, but I for one actually wanted to do a little jig around the room after I got my second dose of vaccination. A great sense of liberation engulfed me momentarily, but only momentarily, and then in that moment, I made my first appointment in the longest time, to see my hair dresser, finally! 

Of course, we have a long way to go as a society.

Anyway, our Art has been flourishing quietly in our art rooms. I know from my own experience, that I’ve been learning a lot through UTube videos, online shows and just grabbing every opportunity of expressing our love of Art. Being shut in has its own advantages I suppose. There’s our silver lining.

Luckily for me, my involvement with the Thousand Oaks Art Association has also kept me busy, with writing their monthly newsletters and viewing Zoom studio tours of some of our talented artists.

 

 Here’s a tidbit for Art history lovers. In the early Christian church,  opinions were divided about whether the human form should be portrayed in art. Generally, it was thought that such depiction especially in statues would be undesirable. Paintings however, were different. In the sixth century, Pope Gregory declared  that they were the most useful way of telling Bible stories. This declaration was to have a profound impact on the development of European art from the Middle Ages onwards.

 I leave you now with the following artistic thought and meanwhile let’s keep those creative juices flowing.

“Life and Art begin at the end of your comfort zone”........author unknown.

Mangala Tata

The birth of a new order

“Hope against the Pandemic”....Alcohol Inks, 2nd place in TOAA Member Show

Hello MANA Friends!

 January 2019! Joyous celebration everywhere around the world, to welcome the new year. January went into February with people getting used to the idea of saying 2020. But unknown to the world, a new world was about to be born. It was not a joyful event, but an ominous monster that was lurking somewhere. It had connotations of disease and even death!

Late into February the world started to wake up to CORONA VIRUS! The dreaded virus which threatened lives all over the world and soon shrouded it in its vile sheath. Curfews, quarantines, social distancing and face masks became household names. We were in a pandemic!

Through this all came about a change in the life styles of all human beings on earth. Work places changed from offices to homes, online schooling a common practice everywhere. Shopping habits changed drastically and even Mother Earth seemed to be rejuvenating. And a “New” order began to unfold, albeit slowly.

Yet, some good did come also. People became more introspective and kinder or not so sometimes. New qualities were discovered in people.

Some of us found more time to spend time with family and sometimes we were kept 

apart from loved ones because of the quarantine.

We artists....aah yes! We who always yearn for time to pursue our passion, we finally found time to do just that. So, even with all the restrictions and the fears of COVID, its mutations/vaccine availability etc. we artists find our peace in our little pursuits of Art.

I have been so lucky to be involved with the Thousand Oaks Art Association, here in S. California. We meet regularly (not in person),  but on Zoom and hold our board meetings to discuss different ways we could interact as artists in this new reality of COVID 19. We hold online Member Shows as well as Open Juried shows, and keep the members informed through monthly newsletters, which I’m in charge of, and we hold virtual tours of different artists of various artistic skills. We hope to resume our Plein Air outings once restrictions relax a little. Once people get vaccinated we can all hope to resume such outdoor activities.

Anyway, this being my outlet for artistic pursuit, in our last Member Show my painting, “ Hope”, won a second prize in Alcohol Inks.

Recently, one of my paintings got juried into the TOAA Open Show, “My backyard family”.

Anyway, let’s keep creating and thus make ourselves happy and seeing the level of Art coming from such wonderful artists of MANA, I get more inspiration and sheer joy seeing the works of these very talented and professionally trained artists. 

I just received a photo from Pune from my brother. It’s Someshwar temple near Baner. I was so inspired by it that I had to create a painting.

Someshwar Temple, near Baner, Pune

So friends, let’s keep those creative juices flowing always.

Stay safe as I leave you with an artistic thought:

“If you feel safe in the area that you’re working in, then you’re not working in the right area”—-David Bowie