Happy Ugadi - an opportunity knocked my door...

Ugadi - Telugu New Year, an exclusive done for a

Telugu Magazine - TANA Patrika

When TANA Patrika's new in-charge Gorthi Sai Bramhanandam Garu approached me on Facebook messenger and asked me "Can you do a Painting for a special magazine issue we are bringing for Ugadi, Telugu New Year?", my immediate reply was "Yes, I will". He then went on saying, "You have 10 days of time". Art is not my full-time job, it's only a hobby. I said, "Then, I only have one weekend to work on it in the next 10 days, I will do it".

That's nothing but an opportunity knocked my door. If I had said, I don't have time, the opportunity would have gone and knocked another door, also would never come back to knock my door. Instead, I opened the door and welcomed it, set my time aside for it, and gave my best efforts. The result was this very satisfying Painting. When you build a door for opportunities, the opportunities find the door,  stop by, and knock it.

It was a great honor to have my Painting go on the cover page of this very special Telugu New Year's issue, Ugadi Sanchika. Many Legendary Telugu Artists like Sri Vaddadi Papaiah, Sri Bapu and many more Telugu Artists' Paintings took TANA magazines' cover pages. It's been a great feeling to have my Painting also made to that spot.

Many thanks to Gorthi Sai Bramhanandam Garu for the trust & belief in me and on my Art.

Here is the Link to the Magazine: http://patrika.tana.org/March2018/mobile/index.html. Page 15 has brief details about me and my Art.

The cover page with my Painting:

About me and my Art in the Magazine:

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." - Milton Berle

Details
Title: Ugadi - Telugu New year...
Mediums: Watercolors on Paper
Inspiration: An opportunity knocked my door...

Size: 16" x 20" (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm)

Surface: Fabriano Extra White, Cold Press, 140lb/300 GSM Watercolor Paper

Accept Challenges in Life...

Watercolors on Paper - Live Painting in 30 minutes

What a great experience and challenge it was to do a Live Painting when different forms of Indian folk dances were going on back to back with no pause in between for 30 minutes. From start to finish all I had was just 30 minites to do a live painting in front of all. It was very intense, but hey...at the end it was an Art event done for a charity. Thanks to the buyer and the money raised 100% went to a charity! Enjoyed the event fully! Thanks to Ruma Neogy and Chitro Neogy from Calcutta Club USA for having me in this year's Live Painting challenge!

The most fulfilling memory was when the very first group of girls who started Garba Indian Folk dance and one of whose flash moments I had to capture in my mind in the very first minute and get going the rest of the 29 minute session, approached me at the end of the session and asked me "Who is the Girl among us you picked?". My answer was- "All of you, doesn't she look like each one of you?". The Girls were very happy to take a picture with me and the Painting.

I was also honored to share the stage with a humble and very talented young high school girl Meera Singh who accepted the challenge and performed Live Painting at the same time. The outcome was a fantastic painting. At her age, she is talented than many adult Artists around us.

A memorable experience to cherish!

"Success is due to our stretching to the challenge;lenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them." - John C. Maxwell

Details
Title: Indian Folk Dance...
Mediums: Watercolors on Paper
Inspiration: A challenge accepted to do Live Painting...

Size: 16" x 20" (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm)

Surface: Fabriano Extra White, Cold Press, 140lb/300 GSM Watercolor Paper

My Tribute to Legendary Talent of Indian Silver Screen - Sridevi...

Deeply saddened by the news about Tollywood and Bollywood Actress Sridevi. I never thought I would share my Pencil sketches of Sridevi on the news like this.

This is my tribute to one of the great Legendary Talents of Indian Silver Screen!

Keep Playing...

Girl Playing Saxophone

Keep playing the music of life with the rhythm of love and your passion to forget the world around you. Often times it is necessary for your soul to go out and play it's own music in it's own world.

"Music in the soul can be heard by the universe." - Lao Tzu

Keep Playing the music of your Soul!
Happy Painting!!

Details
Title: Girl playing Saxophone...
Mediums: Watercolors on Paper
Inspiration: Passion for Arts...

Size: 9" x 12" (22.9 cm x 30.5 cm)

Surface: Strathmore 400 Series, 140lb Watercolor Paper, Cold Press

Easy to miss...

Watercolors on Paper

Don't know why I let four weekends pass by without being with my soul. It's easy to miss something in life. The only way to be faithful to your soul is to be with it. Don't miss your soul at least!

"Be faithful to that which exists within yourself." - Andre Gide

Happy Painting!

Details
Title: Girl in Flowers
Mediums: Watercolors on Paper
Inspiration: Passion for Arts...

Size: 9" x 12" (23 cm x 30.5 cm)

Surface: Arches 140lb, Cold Press

Self Portrait...

Self Portrait
Watercolors on Paper

Every Artist must attempt self portrait at some point in time. Of course, it's hard and is not as easy as doing others' portraits.

"One is never satisfied with the portrait of a person that one knows."

- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Happy Painting!

Details
Title: Self Portrait
Mediums: Watercolors on Paper
Reference: Random Picture from my collection
Inspiration: Passion for Arts...

Size: 12" x 15" (30.5 cm x 38 cm)

Surface: Arches 140lb, Cold Press

Colors of Life...

Colors of Life - Watercolors on Paper

Life is colorful. It is filled with colorful experiences. Some are gone with the past, don't leave any impressions, completely erased with time, we won't even be able to recollect those and we are left with just blank. Some are gone with time but not fully erased yet, by leaving lighter impressions and when recollected they change their colors. Some never go into the past, leaving ever lasting but never changing impressions, unerasable, both dark and light, and don't change their colors at all.

Years come and go but experiences remain with us. Some fade out completely and disappear into the past. Some mix with others nicely and change their colors over a period of time. Some don't mix with any at all and remain as-is forever.

"Color comes to life when you add a little love." - Anthony T. Hincks

Happy and Colorful New Year!
Happy Painting!!

Details
Title: Colors of Life
Mediums: Watercolors on Paper
Inspiration: Passion for Arts...

Size: 9" x 12" (23 cm x 30.5 cm)

Surface: Arches 140lb, Cold Press

Looking Back - 2017...

Good Bye - 2017

As the time moves on, our journey with it leaves experiences. The last day of an year is the day we tag our year-long experiences and add them to our memories. My Artful journey with year 2017 is another heartfelt journey in my life.

I never thought I would ever get a chance to meet one of the greatest Telugu Artists of all time Sri Chandra Garu. It's been such a wonderful memory in my life meeting him and spending few hours of my time along with another two great Telugu Artists of this time Anwar Garu and Moshe Dayan Garu at Hyderabad, India when I went on vacation in January 2017.

All my time I had spent this year with Art on several quiet weekend-mornings, the encouraging responses I got from my friends when I shared my Art on my Art Blog, Facebook and Instagram, the Artful places I visited, the people I met who talked about Art with me, and the Artists I met at local Art shows... all these have made an impact and left memorable impressions in my heart.

Life is a journey with time. As we walk on the time-path, we meet many people along the way. Some inspire us, some get inspired from us, some travel with us only for a short period of time, and some continue to travel with us year-after-year for a long time. Each person we meet along this path creates an unique impression. While we travel on this time-path, when we get certain things done for which we otherwise don't find time to do, due to higher day-to-day-life priorities, we can consider ourselves fully lived in that time.

I have had many years passed in my life with no Art Tag put on any. I am happy, the year 2017 is not one such. Me and my-Art is my-Heart. When my heart walks back on this time-path, it meets again in memories, all those who made an Artful impact on my life along with my Art. As I tag my experiences on this last day of the year and add them to memories, I mark 2017 as one of my successful years that I lived up to my own expectations.

" I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and 

you're are not in this world to live up to mine. "  - Bruce Lee

Good Bye to 2017 and Welcome to 2018 !!
Happy Painting !!!

Practice...

Practice - Watercolors on Paper

When you don't know what to do, just practice and it will teach something new to you...

"Practice is the best master." - Latin Proverb

Details
Mediums: Ink Pen and Watercolors on Paper
Tools: Sakura Pigma Micron Pen 02 & 03, Watercolors from my Palette
Inspiration: Self Motivation and Passion for Arts, సాధన...

Size: 8 1/2" x 11" (21.5 cm x 28 cm)

Surface: Acid free Paper

Happy Birthday Bhuvan...

Portrait of my son - Bhuvan
Watercolors on Paper

This portrait of Bhuvan took my confidence level with Portraits to new heights. Never felt this happy in recent years with any of my Art works.

Born on the same day as my favorite Telugu Artist Sri. Bapu, he always makes me feel happy. He inherited my Art skill that I had inherited from my Dad. Hope he develops a passion for this skill and continues the legacy in the 3rd generation of our family!

"Someday when the pages of my life end, I know that you will be one of it's most beautiful chapters." - Unknown

Happy Birthday Bhuvan!
Love you!!

Details
Title: Portrait of my son, Bhuvan...
Mediums: Watercolors on Paper
Inspiration: Passion for Arts...

Size: 9" x 12" (22.9 cm x 30.5 cm)

Surface: Strathmore 400 Series, 140lb Watercolor Paper, Cold Press

Let your works be your memories...

Krishna with Flute
Watercolors on Paper

Days just come and go. What we do each day which is close to our heart is the one that becomes a memory. A diary is nothing but a record of memories. For an Artist, his memories are his Art.

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary." - Pablo Picasso

Happy Painting!

Details
Title: Krishna with Flute...
Mediums: Watercolors on Paper
Inspiration: Passion for Arts...

Size: 9" x 12" (22.9 cm x 30.5 cm)

Surface: Strathmore 400 Series, 140lb Watercolor Paper, Cold Press

A Dream come true...

Nātyānjali - My Tribute to Indian Classical Dance
Oil on Canvas, 22" x 28" (56 cm x 71 cm)

Oil Painting had been the longest dream of my life. It had begun in my high school with the good collection of Art books and magazines that we had access to in our School Library. Also, there were quite a few wonderful Oil Paintings seen on the walls of classrooms and dormitories in the school campus done by our then Art Teacher Sri. M. Venkateswar Rao. Once an year, we would get bookshop on the truck into our school campus and we would get class wide turns to step inside, explore and buy books of our interest. Much of the books were of Soviet Union, Moscow publications/prints with top-notch paper and some were with full of amazing Oil Paintings.

My dream of Oil Painting continued through my Engineering college-years in Vijayawada, India, wherein the college library had a good collection of foreign Art Books and Magazines exclusively on Oil Painting. I was probably one of very few Engineering Students to flip all pages of every single Art book found in that library. I even bought a Soviet publication book of Russian Artists Oil Paintings, the one and only one book I could find in a book shop which was as expensive as our Singapore edition of Computer Programming books priced in Dollars but sold in converted Indian currency. My search for Oil Painting books & magazines even went on and on along the foot-paths(side-walks) in front of Alankar Theatre in Vijayawada on Sunday evening book sales. I could hardly find any though. My search for Oil Painting Books continued in Sunday book market on the side walks in Koti, Hyderabad after I graduated and started working. There I found several small 20 page Art Magazines on Oil Painting and bought several of those.

Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad probably was the very first place where I had seen any framed original Oil Paintings the very first time in my life. I visited this museum few times when I was working in Hyderabad exclusively for Painting & Sculpture Galleries.

I still remember the day I went straight from the Railway station to and spent few hours of my time at Raja Ravi Varma Art Gallery in Mysore, India when I reached Mysore about 8 hours before the scheduled pickup time for my very first job interview for Air Force, India. That is still one of my sweetest memories to recover on any given day.

My first overseas visit on my professional job to London, UK, left me with few full-weekends of unforgettable memories filled with just me staring in front of wonderful original Oil Paintings by renowned Artists fount at Tate Gallery, National Gallery and British Museum in London. The countless hours that I spent at the The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago downtown are still fresh in my heart where I used to go every Tuesday evening after office-hours to spend my time sketching & studying by sitting on the floor in front of selected paintings and sculptures. My quest for Oil Painting continued in Chicago and pushed me into an Oil Painting course at a Community College which helped me more on learning how to study Paintings of Masters rather than Oil Painting itself. I attempted few oil paintings during this course but none of them I claim that I finished.

My dream of Oil Painting continued to haunt me from time-to-time and finally in 2015 I made it come true with this very first painting that I claim as my very first-ever finished Oil Painting forever. As my dream took such a long time to come true, framing it took quite sometime and finally I think I found a perfect frame for it. It now appears in our family traditional Dining room and makes me feel proud every single day.

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney

Put your Heart into work and get it done which should make you feel proud of yourself when you look back!
Happy Painting!!

Details
Mediums: Oil on Canvas
Title: Nātyānjali - My Tribute to Indian Classical Dance
Category: Portraits
Inspiration: My dream wish-list and random pictures

Size: 22" x 28" (56 cm x 71 cm)

Toolkit
Surface: Artist's Loft Gallery Wrapped Traditional Canvas
Paints: Rembrandt Artist's quality Oil Paints
Brushes: No 1, 5 and 8 filbert, No. 1 rounded
Other Media: Winsor & Newton Liquin Original