A whale of a time!

Ever since I can remember I love making things out of paper, my good friend Gaurika will remember, once during our J.J days, we had gone to Sanjay Gandhi National Park to do landcape painting (ah! those were the days, were'nt they? hehe....)and the sun was really beating down on us, as a solution I took a sheet of newspaper and folded it this way and that, made a tear and made a quick hat for her....I hope memory has served me right.... :)

Which brings us now to origami, I was browsing the net once more to learn something new and I made this whale. I love creatures of the sea, must be something to do with my Piscean moon-sign :)

(I pasted the whale on white paper and painted few atmospheric strokes around it, you can learn to make it here)

I found some simple origami designs for children, in fact I wish to share this with Gaurika's little girl, maybe my neighbour's kids (if they haven't learnt it in school yet) and also some of my close friends (just to feel like children again :))

I was so happy to find some origami paper at the local student supplies store while out on my grocery errand yesterday. These are lovely solid colours, but I hope to find subtler shades too :)

If I question myself why I like doing these simple crafts, I don't know... maybe my art-practise is becoming quite research based, and maybe I read so much that I like to balance it with something that takes you to being a child...or perhaps I like the unpretentiousness of it....some years back I would even buy children's books and I have always enjoyed folk tales, myths, legends, creation stories, etc from around the world. I would collect these books for their beautiful illustrations and stories that got you dreaming :)

I will share more creatures of the paper soon as and when I fold them :)

Have a lovely weekend!
Keep cool :)

love + light!!

Origami Buddha by Takashi Hojyo

This perfectly folded stunning Buddha is by Takashi Hojyo, a contemporary Origami master living in Tokyo. Hojyo creates figures especially rich in texture and three-dimensionality, utilizing pleats and multiple layers of paper to build depth in his subjects with attention to pose and gesture.

Origami never fails to amaze me. I would love to make this Buddha, and have it amongst my 'soul-objects' of inspiration. Personally, I prefer designs that are more minimal and leaning towards the abstract. I hope I find instructions to make this beautiful design and try my hand at it :)

While I was looking on the web for an Origami Buddha, I also found the site of India's own Origami club! Origami Mitra . My friend Sarita had told me about them while I was working on the installation I did at the Kalaghoda arts festival, which used origami lotuses. I found them through my flickr page, they have a group where you can pool in origami pictures.

Sources: Robert Lang's Origami website

Hope you enjoyed the image.
Love + light!!

That Christmas-y feeling

I was at Chimanlal recently to pick up some handmade papers. While I waited for them to get the roll of papers I'd ordered, I happily looked around at the charming items on display when this delightful little angel caught my eye, (how close we are to Christmas!) Immediately I bought a few :)

Flat at first, the angel opens up like this to reveal an adorable silhouette :)

so minimal yet so delightful.......I plan to get some more to give my friends, to send positive angel energy :)

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Christmas lights on Hill Road.

This Sunday I was in Bandra to assist my teacher at a free Dance Yoga Workshop she gave as part of Celebrate Bandra Festival. The venue for the workshop was a quiet tucked away garden called Malla Park, off Pali Malla Road. For me, more than the workshop was the joy at discovering this little garden (even though it is called park!). To get there you have to take the lane just besides The Bagel Shop, on Pali Malla road which is near Rizvi College and enroute St.Anne's church. After the workshop ended I wound my way down from Pali market to Hill road and there I came across these colourful Christmas decorations :)

Honestly, my pictures don't do full justice. I remember it was much brighter.

Christmas is never as Christmas-y in any another part of the city, the little cribs on display, the winding narrow lanes, the old homes, the bakeries, the goan accent (what men!) I miss that... but what is there to miss, really! I'll just swing by and breathe in the ambience, take a stroll down Chimbai/memory lane :)

may everyone have a very warm Christmas...

love + light!