DIY tutorials always excite me. So I was happy to give tips to Komal Sharma of HT Mint for just such a project for their Diwali issue. Read on to see ways to convert an old trunk into a swanky new avatar.

Thanks Komal

Click to see detail

This is my second time in Femina. A very big thank you to Meghna Kothari for a delightfully written piece.

(Click the images for a larger view)

This is in my studio right now.

I first had the pleasure of interacting with Poornima during my exhibition last year in November at the Page Turners Book Store. She really liked the ’ India Khiladi Table‘ but by the time she decided on it, it had already been sold. And she wanted me to paint another one. But I was in no mood to do any more painting for a while.  So she waited!!

I am happy to say, I just completed a custom commission table for her This table is to be a gift from her to her friends, ( Meera Naidu and Prashant Rao) who have just recently got married. Strangely, I had already started work on this table when she wrote asking if I could incorporate a motif from their wedding card into the table somehow.  The motif was a pair of parrots in a circle. And I of course said ” Sure, no problem”. I had already been working on the parrot motif on the table not knowing this connection!!!

I hope  Meera and Prashant enjoy much joy and happiness in their lives together.

It took a lot of time and effort to do these two trunks. But it was well worth it in the end. They are painted a dull gold on the inside and are absolutely divine. Even if I say so myself
Here are some in- progress shots.

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!!

If you in Whitefield, Bangalore…then come on over.

Mohit and Reena recently shifted from their Diamond District home in Bangalore to a new place in Delhi. They asked me to make a Khiladi table that would also serve to remind them of the fun times they had here in Bangalore.
I decided to make a table based on the  rough architectural plan of Diamond District (DD). The central core has chess and snakes & ladders. The Main game is based around the walking path at DD.  The penalties and rewards of the game are based on various parties that they attended or hosted and also on the personalities of their friends and neighbours.  There is also a built in ‘?’ mark based game for their four year old daughter.
The flip side to this table has a complete felt base with four pockets to play a modified game of snooker/pool!
The pictures are a representation of  just a small slice of their memories…

The Memory Table

Work in progress...

I recently had the pleasure of spending an entire day at Ramya and Bhupender’s place on the outskirts of Bangalore. As you can imagine, I could not have left without taking a picture of the table and the wardrobe!!

The Khiladi Table

Tanya's Wardrobe in her room

After an exhausting 10 days, many sleepless nights… it’s finally done! I hope Tanya likes it

Tanys's Wardrobe