BRUSHSTROKES THAT BROUGHT COLOUR INTO MY LIFE

About a lifetime ago, I picked up paints and an easel and some raggedy old brushes to try my hand at oils...





So that when the Sunflowers happened to me...My first attempt at getting the symmetry right...I failed miserably..but then realised if I got the aesthetics correctly, toss the symmetry out for a bit...Can you believe I spent nearly two days perfecting that core of the flower...My very first painting...

Soon enough I gained enough confidence to attempt others....

Thats an SS Sheikh painting, suitably improvised to fit my canvas size and as usual, i screwed up the sizes, so my focus of the painting varies from his, quite a bit...but I love the dog in this painting, looking at the bullock cart so yearningly...

Some others I feel are definitely better in style and technique..But remember all are copies of good artists....I realised my art lay in interpreting theirs in my way - no offence meant to them...


This one is a personal favourite...the foam that sprays as the waves hit a rock...and the growing darkness as the sun hides behind the clouds..

 

And then there are some of the later paintings, once I had mastered the techniques of colour mixing and dividing my canvas spaces right...

The deer caught in a clearing...startled by something..Its a powerful imagery...and as usual, I love the way sunlight streams in, that wasnt easy, but the result is also so wonderful









Ohhh... there was this one, that I had specifically created for my favourite aunt, as she built her own dream home...I never thought I'd end up in a countryside like the one I had painted for her, five years ago.

The Brighton countryside with the lavender tinted hills in the yonder, the cottages so similar..the colours just the same...just that I see in autumn what I painted in spring..

This one was done at a tumultous time in my life. That could be why this has a special place in my heart.      It's a much reproduced painting, but I love the blue hues, the choppy ocean and the efforts that are evident to steer the ship through the turbulence. The white foam rising from the sea was so wonderful to paint..making the sea look alive was the challenge.

And there were many more, some I forgot to photograph, some others lying around somewhere, when I do manage to photograph or locate them, I shall include them in this blog..For now, here's one more...My Amma's Favourite, one that occupies a place of pride in our living room...

In the hot, hot Kerala summers, a look at this cold frozen landscape perhaps gives Amma a sense of comfort..I love the lilac colours of the sunlight reflected against the white and the comforting warmth of the red brick cottage with its own water wheel...I remember how I struggled to paint the waterfall...Each ripple has to be created...But I definitely count this my best re-production to date..

So thats my little collection for now...Promise to add more...Soon, I hope...