Friday, September 23

Covered in Stitches

From pen and ink to being covered in stitches.
Read all about it here.

Covered in Stitches is about embroidering the cover for your favourite book. It may be the existing cover illustration/image you choose to interpret in stitch or you create the cover illustration.
Guess which book cover I've chosen to interpret in stitch?. Don't you love that French knot Croc? I'm quite pleased with the way its turning out. Next update I'll have a pic of the book cover I'm interpreting.

I've won tickets to go watch Johnny English Reborn this weekend, thanks to Radio Indigo.
Hope your weekend is wonderful.

Saturday, September 10

Pen & Ink

Here are the pen and ink sketches I've been working on.
The Woodlands Big Bungalow was built in 1830 or so.
There's a monkey puzzle tree in the garden which is so tall it can be spotted from Doddabetta in Ooty. It was raining when I went to sketch this particular bungalow so I sat in the back of the Scorpio with the radio on, R was reading his book and we were served tea there by the butler.
Engifer the family cat at the home of the Managing Director came to inspect my progress.
There's a stunning garden in front of the bungalow with a beautiful lily pond and weeping willows. Bison are frequent visitors and can be found sitting on the lawn chewing the cud early in the morning.
The Manar Bungalow
Elephants come to eat the Jackfruit when the tree at the back of the house bears fruit. There's a lot of wildlife on the Craigmore property. Bison can be seen grazing in the tea fields at all times of night and day, camera traps set up by WWF to map the flora and fauna on Craigmore have captured leopards and panthers. Tiger has been sighted but has not been captured on film.
The Halashana Bungalow
A large garden umbrella was found to protect me and the sketch from the unpredictable weather so I could continue my sketching unhindered for two or three hours at a stretch. Garden umbrella, folding chair and table became a part of the standard equipment which were loaded into the Scorpio every morning.
The Craigmore Tea Factory. R's first visit to a tea factory to see how Orthodox tea is manufactured.
I sat in the tea fields under a garden umbrella, listening to my ipod while sketching the factory. Inspite of the garden umbrella I got sun burnt.
Must say this has been the most luxurious assignment I've had to date.

Monday, September 5

Craigmore

This is where I currently reside. Its temporary but absolute bliss and I'm soaking it all in - fresh mountain air, sumptuous meals which I don't have to whip up, beds turned down at night, a bell to ask for more green tea.... I can go on and on. Its the most luxurious assignment I've been on to date and I'm getting used to it at an alarming rate, I have to keep reminding myself its temporary.
The assignment is to make pen and ink sketches of bungalows and factories on Craigmore tea estate and paint watercolours of the stunning landscape. Craigmore has been in existence since 1884. The Chairman's bungalow is the first in the series of pen and ink sketches and I've photographed it on a red oxide floor which is characteristic of old estate bungalows. Someone decided to walk all over my sketch, can you spot the centipede or is it a millipede? Partial view of the verandah and the garden. The trees are grand and gorgeous, all a part of the quaint lifestyle on a tea estate. I'll be sharing more glimpses of this life in posts to come.
It's time for evening tea.I hope you're week is magical.

Friday, September 2

Bathed in Bokeh

The cotton silk stoles I embroidered for the commission I mentioned in my last post was inspired by Bokeh.
The vision I had was of a person photographed wearing my stole in such a manner that the sequins of different sizes stitched at random would be transformed into bokeh in the photograph and make the person appear to be bathed in bokeh.
I hope the ladies who are gifted these stoles will derive immense pleasure wearing them and garner plenty of compliments too.

ShareThis