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

I did this a while back, just didn’t get around to posting it.

This animation is 1.3Mb {your patience is appreciated }

My husband thinks that in this portrait my expression is a little mocking. He prefers this one. I like them both, they are just different moods of me.

It’s wonderful to see so much that is ‘ Hand Made’ again.

The other day sitting at home with my husband, I was feeling a little unfulfilled and dissatisfied with life, when there was actually no reason to be. We got to talking about what makes us content as human beings. The answer was actually very simple. Working with our hands! For both of us, the tactile is very important.

We are cerebral souls with a  lifetime of working spent on that aspect of living. But, ever so often we both need to create something that not only fulfills the soul, nurtures the intellect but also lets one ‘touch’. My painting/art gives me all of that. The reason I felt low and lost was because I had not painted in a while… I am happy to say- I have rectified the situation!!

This month, my work got featured in the India Today Magazine supplement called ‘Home’. It’s a feature that celebrates everything Handmade

You can read the article here.

I also want to share with you a wonderful interactive poster by Roland Tiangco.

While removing the poster from it’s envelope, you can’t help but get your hands dirty. The back of the page is covered in ink As the unfolded poster is felt, touched, handled, the text becomes visible: “The future belongs to the few of us still willing to get our hands dirty.”

Brilliantly done.

Simple, yet effective.

I also don’t want to give you the impression that only creating a tactile object of some kind will give me/you that satisfied/ fulfilled feeling. It’s I think, the willingness to put yourself out there, in thought, word and deed. On that note I want to leave you with two more links on what some friends are doing to highlight issues they feel strongly about.

- www.theuglyindian.com
On Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ugly-Indian/123459791046618

- www.strays.in 
On Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/strays.in

 Both are completely voluntary in nature. They are willing to get their hands dirty ( quite literally) for a cause they believe in. 

Are you?

Thank you Siddharath Baruah of Lx- World for this wonderful write up.

You can click here to read the entire article which features my work along with that of Play Clan.

In their own words Lx-World.com brings you Life’s Little Luxuries!
It offers its customers a 360-degree experience of Luxury through its different sections: And my work got featured in Lx-Report this month

Lx-World.com is an online media and e-commerce portal dedicated to serving the exponentially growing segment of consumers of luxury products and services in emerging markets. It plans to become the destination of choice of these emerging Internet savvy customers of Luxury. And is available to it’s customers in English and Mandarin with Spanish and Bahasa versions scheduled for launch soon.

A very big thank you to Rekha Nambiar, Anjali and Aparna for the delightful spread on my work. I am indeed grateful for the chance to be able to speak at length about my inspiration and thought.

See the interactive version here  ( pages 162-171)

I would like to thank the team at ‘What*s up Banglore’ for featuring my work, always a pleasure.

How cool is that?!!

Kehte hain- Daane daane par likha hain khaane wale ka naam. ( It is said- Every morsel has the name of the person who is going to eat it, inscribed on it).
My husband now says- Har ketli par likha hain paane wale ka naam. ( Every kettle already has a patron somewhere in this world).

Oh! and both the kettle and I made it to the pages of Deccan Chronicle on 21st Aug 2011.

 

I started this kettle on Thursday, it was ready by Friday, got lacquered Saturday morning and went to Freedom park Saturday afternoon. And on Sunday it was with Anna!!

Mr. Tom, that is!

So on Aug 5th, 2009. I get an email from one Mr.Tom who works in the Visual Team at The Future Laboratory.

This is what he had to say-

“I am contacting you from The Future Laboratory, a leading trends and insights consultancy. We are interested in featuring some of your designs in a report we are writing studying global trends. The Future Laboratory is a well-respected trend forecasting company which produces several industry related publications: THE magazine, Viewpoint magazine, LS:N and quarterly futures books focusing in on the future of specific industries such as food, luxury and retail. I have attached some additional information about Viewpoint magazine, and our website LS:N Global. I am wondering if you could send us a small selection of high res images of your work (300 dpi) please  including  your Chequered Past Kettle……”

So as you can imagine, I scrambled and did the needful and promptly forgot about it!! 

Yeah…I know, daft of me to forget. But…

Now, turns out that Mr.  Tom has moved to greener pastures and the company takes out multiple reports every month/year. So they have to trawl through all that data to find my report. And the task is harder as they don’t know what keywords it’s referenced under.

So I can’t actually post the report or even a picture from it just yet….but I can share this little nugget of news with you

Update- Oh! and as I just found out…some of their reports are licensed at about 2500 pounds each !! So I don’t think they will allow me to post the report after all !!!!!!

I got an email on Jan 15 this year asking me for images of  some of my work for inclusion into a guide book on India. They asked where my work was available and so on…. Well, I am happy to say, Art by Aarohi available at the Maximum Store  in New Delhi made it to the Fodor’s Essential India  guide to Offbeat buys in Delhi.

How cool is that?!! I know, it’s but a mention. But I got my work in a must visit/see/buy guide book on India. I love it

Oh! and this is the address  for those in Delhi wanting to have a dekho at the store.

Maximum Store Pvt. Ltd.,
5-J/1, Ground floor, Shahpur Jat,
New Delhi – 110049
t: +91 11 26493150, 46168026m: +91 98183 18196
e: communicate@themaximumstore.com