This is a table base for my friend Divya Sharan. She is into alternative systems of healing – Reiki, Angel, Pranic and so on. She wanted something that she could use for her Tarot readings. The only request she had, was that it needed to have a lot of blue if possible and angels.

This is what I came up with. I hope she likes it. It will have gold tassels on the four corners and hopefully a blue-green hued brocade table cloth to go under the main piece. This Canvas is approx. 36″ by 36″.

Oh! and this was done as payment for a Tarot reading she did for me. Everything she said would happen, is happening…

Suzzane – Jasmine’s cousin is the one who commissioned me to make this trunk. She is going to fill it up with stuff and give it as a parting gift. It’s a keep sake, full of their memories – memories that they created here during a two year stint in Bangalore. They go back to Canada in a couple of days.
It’s the fastest piece of work that I have done in quite a while- three days of concentrated work.

I asked Suzie to give me a detailed account with descriptions of the people involved as well as their likes and dislikes. And their special memories and milestones while they were here. The top of the trunk shows the major ‘players’ involved.

The front depicts the traffic snarls and the general population on the roads with signage that has special significance for the family. The monkeys shown are special friends that Manav made while watching them play in his balcony.

The back depicts two cows fighting with conversation typical of Vinay, along with two sardars, Bhangra dancers, ‘Ek Onkar’ and a ‘Khanda’. The title “Singh is King” not only reflects the fact that Jasmine is a sardarni, but also that this was the first song that little Manav learnt to sing. It is also an off-take on the two ‘singhs- ( horns)’ fighting.

One side depicts the love for butter chicken that a certain family member has ( I am not saying who)… but this love always turns into heartache with a violently upset stomach!! The chicken is shown squawking ‘khao khao’- words continuously expressed by the two nani’s.

The other side depicts the multiple trips that Vinay has made between Canada and India, the computer and finance related business that they are in. As well as the part Face book plays in keeping their relationship alive and kicking.

My friends Awanish and Divya wanted me to ”do something” on a 30 year old table they had lying in the house. I decided to truly jazz it up.

I happened to be watching TV while mulling over what to do. I realized that most people today would spend time mindlessly watching ‘dhin chak’ items songs but would probably not sit through a serious classical dance performance. And the Item Bomb table was born. It depicts pictures of Bollywood actresses in snazzy item song snapshots in the center while the periphery is made up of a string of traditional dancers. Dancers who have been sidelined, so to speak.

This was done almost two years ago. Dug up the pictures to show you. Not the best picture quality… I have been asked to make table lamps on the same theme!!

A big thank you to Gagan over at ‘Of Peacocks and Paisleys’ for doing a very generous post on me and my work. It was absolutely wonderful chatting with you Gagan. You ( my readers) can see that post here.

I also wanted to take this time to ask everyone who has covered my work in the past to please send the links to me. I would like to thank you for your generosity and to put your website links on my site. I know some, some seem to have slipped under the radar…. I will be putting this up shortly. I am currently in the middle of two commissions that have VERY tight deadlines! 

Will post the new work and the ‘thank you’ list soon.Wait for it.