Jens Risom : An Icon Speaks...:)

How much I admire his designs :). I feel like a starry eyed fan right now.

Artist Showcase ~ Bhavana Vijay

One of the blessings of being a blogger- you get to meet talented and very creative men and women who never cease to amaze you. Bhavana is one such wonderful person. An amazingly talented artist, a very busy mom of two and a sweet, down to earth lady. Another reason for my excitement - She is a hyderabadi too!! :P..pl excuse my excitement!!

To many, her work needs no introduction. This post is more of a documentation of my admiration for this very creative lady.  A Mudra Institute of Communications Graduate, Bhavana began her career in advertising only to realize she was cut out for spending time in her studio with her brushes and easel. 

Starting the showcase with this sketch of my favorite god - Ganesha

Amazing Antiques ~ Chrome and Glass furniture

Yes, you heard me right, Chrome and glass antique furniture. I always thought that Chrome and Steel with glass were a thing of the 80's. Thats until I came across some iconic designs by the talented Irish furniture designer and architect, Eileen Gray. 

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Furniture: Side table

Period - 1920's

Designer  - Eileen Gray (1878-1976)

This particular table was coded - E1027 and was designed circa 1924. E-1027 was both compact and open. I think it was very futuristic, coming from someone born in the Art Nouveau period. Eileen is said to have been persuaded to explore her interest in architecture by a fellow Romanian Architect, Jean Badovici. The codename is derived from: E for Eileen, 10 for Jean (J is the tenth letter of the alphabet), 2 for Badovici and 7 for Gray.

Another iconic chair from Eileen Gray's kitty: Bibendum chair

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Bibendum chair is considered one of the finest and most recognizable furniture pieces of the 20th century. This chair was called the "triumph of modern living" in the 1930's. Bibendum chair fused the tubular steel design of the Bauhaus Modernists with the comfort of padded upholstery. I feel that her need to move away from her previous traditional designs resulted in this chair and many more later on.


As such Eileen was also known for her love for lacquer, and her very works are an ode to Art Deco period. must have been inspired by the tubular chrome platted furniture designed by other modernists and remarkable designers of her times - Mart Stam and Marcel Breuer. (remember my post on bentwood furniture!!)

Who would have imagined that one could envision such exquisite design in times when Art Nuveauo was in vogue..hmm... this reminds me of The Fountain Head..

Now, compare the Bibendum with the Chairs which were popular in the 20's (worldwide I guess :)...and now imagine the break-from-the regular design trend by Eileen, Mart, Marcel etc... :)..

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 or this

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More on Bibendum

She designed the chair as part of re-design assignment for Madame Mathieu Lévy's apartment on rue de Lota in Paris. Levy was a successful boutique owner who sold stylish hats and hoped to have a home with new and original, with innovative designs. The project took four painstaking years, from 1917 to 1921, and Eileen Gray created the Bibendum chair along with the interior walls, furnishings, rugs and lamps. 

Ever since I found out about Eileen and her designs, I was hoping to do this post...but wanted my write up be an honest attempt at showcasing the creativity of an icon who passed away before I was born :). What surprises me most is that these designs are so inspiring and in use even today. While on this blogging journey, I hope I am able to convey my awe for design and creativity and document what I learn.  And before I leave, here is a peek into Eileen Gray's apartment

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Want to know more about her work...hop over to > Eileen-gray Designs. and hey...not before you leave your comment here :P

Artist Showcase ~ Aarti Verma

I love to feature wonderfully creative people who are passionate about Art in any form. This time around, I am glad to be writing about Aarti Verma, the very talented lady behind the Mumbai based independent fashion label 'Art meets fashion' 


Art meets Fashion, an 8 month old label, deals exclusively with hand painted and handcrafted stuff, particularly fashion accessories. Aarti Verma has an art teacher diploma from Sir jj school of Arts and also a crash course in fashion designing. After working as an Art and craft teacher for a year, Aarti pursued her passion and combined her love for Art and Fashion, and thats how Art meets Fashion came into existence. 

Aarti describes AmF as "a very quirky and Artsy label, every piece is handpainted and handcrafted with love..." This very creative lady makes Handpainted tote bags, Hand painted cushions, Hand painted tunics/kurtis and very pretty jewelery.  

I ll let the pictures do the talking, and you will know what I mean :)

Handmade totes

madhubani inspired

 

Beautiful Pillows

Hand painted Kurti

Hand made Jewelery

Want to see more...just hop over to her blog and see all the handmade beauties she has for sale...Wishing Aarti the very best with her venture - Art meets Fashion.

Artist Showcase ~ Abhilasha Jain of Mish Mash Design

I have been meeting amazingly creative designers and artists on my blog journey. Abhilasha of Mish Mash Designs is among the most inspiring artists who turned their dreams into reality. I really liked her work and couldn't wait to feature her work on the Design enthusiast.

She is the creator and designer at MISH MASH DESIGN...Mish Mash Design is a venture into hand Painted products. I love the finesse on her work, which includes cushion covers, Pillows and tote bags and fabric. All these are made of cotton silk and Organic Cotton. Here is how she describes herself - :)

I,Abhilasha am a dreamer,an art lover, a painter,a photographer and Jewellery designer and merchandiser by profession, who  have small set up where i make jewelery for my clients Design ideas come to me at anytime!!! ( be walking on the beach or be Dreaming!!!) some of which work out well and the others I guess were just a part of the experimentation.I don’t remember a time when I have not drawn or painted or infact been involved with anything creative.Though my work comes from no particular school of art, every piece of art is handmade,unique and done by single hand.

Her Designs are diverse and range from ethnic Indian, Tribal, Fun, Dreamer to some that simply can't be labeled. She is someone who loves what she does and it definitely reflects on her work

A Sneek Peek into her collection and description (in her own words)

Royal Collection- the entire collection is based n inspired by ethnic india. This collection includes Jodha -Akbar, Mumtaz -Shah jahan, Rajput princess and Prince

Tribal Collection - This collection is based on my own art work which is inspired by tribal theme. Tribal Man,Shy 

Woman,man & woman in love, Radha & Krishna

Dreamer Collection      : My Dream Girl in deep thoughts

Power of love               : Tribal mask inspiration

Mish Mash Potpourri    

Ethnic Golden Elephants & Lotus sutra, Indian puppets playing Didge, Ganesha & many baby Elephants, My blue Elephant 

To see more of her work, check out her blog. I am sure you will love her work and her blog as much as I do.

(here is the link folks...):   Mishmashdesign-abhilasha; and do not forget to follow her on the facebook page as well: facebook

Wishing Abhilasha all the best and many more creative projects in the years to come. :)

Aarohi - An Artist and her Exhibition in Bengaluru

I have been following Aarohi and her art blog for a while now. You can read more about her wonderful art work and about herself on her website and blog- Art by Aarohi. Gagan's blog - of Peacocks and Paisleys did a wonderful profile on Aarohi >>here and also check out Aarohi's guest post on The Key Bunch. 

Her website and blog

And now, good news for Bengalurians (aka bangloreans)....Aarohi's latest work is on exhibition. Cool isnt it!!...I recommend the exhibit to every art lover. So do take time out and visit with friends and family...there is something for everyone to appreciate!!...Here is a sneek peek into her work

And now more about the exhibition...

When:

25 - 28 Nov, 2010

Where:

PageTurners Bookstore 

#89 Kannan Building, MG Road, Bangalore

Timing: 11am - 8pm

Take a look at her lovely poster!!

All pictures and screenshots: courtesy Art by Aarohi

PS: A detailed artist profile coming soon on The Design Enthusiast...:)

Friday Finds - Propeller table & An Artist Showcased

I came across Damon's work via flickr. It was great to find a very talented sculptor and artist who loves to turn scrap metal and found objects into pieces of art. One such creation is his Propeller table. I am glad he agreed to be featured on The Design Enthusiast.

This Propeller table is what triggered my interest to feature his work under Friday Finds.

About the table..
Damon says - "The table is made from salvaged junk from my local scrapyard. The base is made from a spun stainless steel half sphere..I found two of them but have no clue what they were from. The section on top of the base is ceramic originally was used at a power station. it is also from the scrap yard, and the propeller fan blade, plus there are some auto transmission parts and a few other scrap yard parts. The glass is a new addition from the smaller one seen in the first pics, it was found at a salvage store"


Details...

The table in use :-)..doenst it look like a great Atomic / Sputnik kind of piece.

He has a Sculpture company called Atomic Junk Show and is passionate about turning scrap and salvaged parts into art forms! (yes, even the furniture pieces are art forms in every sense).

About Damon:

Damon started welding back in the 80's and owns a sculpture studio is in Akron Ohio. He seems to find some amazing junk/scrap locally, which inspire him to create more amazing things!

To see what I mean, here is a peek into his world>> Flickr 

He says

"My studio is filled top to bottom with ton's of cast off scrap, that can be transformed into what you see in my picture's...there is nothing better than taking something no one want's and transforming it into something people are willing to pay good money to own it." I find his style is very industrial and sci-fi (I cannot help it, its the stainless steel love in me talking)....:-)

He is all set to open a store called The "Bomb Shelter" in Arkon, Ohio. He plans to showcase his work and fill the 10,000 square foot store with cool vintage, antique, retro, industrial and new pieces.He is a regular at local scrap yards and drags all kinds of stuff home to create found object sculptures...

Damon says - "it's truly unbelievable what people scrap! I love the vintage scifi movie's and just about anything that relates to old science fiction, so a lot of my work is influenced from that. "

I loved his work. Isn't it is nice to see people find beauty in everything around them. Such people are really inspiring and I secretly envy their creative skills..:-)

All pictures courtesy :Damon

Janmaashtami Vaazhthukkal

Wishing everyone a joyous celebration and lots of happy moments.

This Thanjavur /Tanjore painting has been done by my Sister in law. I had written about her in a previous post >> Artist Showcase: Sunayana. She is in the process of setting up a blog to go online with her work.

Artist Showcase- Nithya

I have been waiting to publish this post about a very talented Artist.

Nithya a.k.a Lakshmi Kalyani is an Artist with oodles of talent and abundance of inherent creativity. She has a Fine Arts Degree from Andhra University with a major in Painting. What could be better than to start the showcase with a very colourful depiction of Sree Ganesha

Gajanana - Acrylic on canvas

Her talent was recognized very early when she won laurels in various state and national level painting and art competitions while in school. A few of her achievements include, 3 gold medals in 3 consecutive years at National level painting competition and a 4th place at National level held by Vijay Information, Hyderabad. Constant encouragement from the family fueled her desire to do well as an artist, while still in middle school.

She says, “I am lucky to have been born in a very loving and encouraging family. Being surrounded by Art lovers and patrons who believe in me, has fueled a desire to do well in a less treaded career path.”

One look at her work will convince you of her passion and seriousness towards her career.


Title: A long way to go -Acrylic on Canvas

Nithya says- “I honed my skills in drawing sketches and in water color with the help of my Drawing Teacher.Regular participation in art competition fetched me few laurels. Moreover my painting on ‘World Peace’ got selected at district level Competition held by Lions Club.My painting was adjudged winner in the Amul Butter girl contest. I went on to represent the State of Andhra Pradesh, India, at the National level competition held at Anand, Gujarat in January 2000. These milestones and all the support from people in my life, encouraged me to pursue a career in the same field of interest.”

Title: Blossoming Childhood - Acrylic on Canvas

What drew my attention to her work was her choice of subjects showcasing burning social issues. Given that she is in her early twenties, I couldn’t help admiring her sensitivity towards these issues.
Title: Prized Catch - Priceless childhood! - Acrylic on Canvas

Nithya adds,” Through out the Bachelor’s course, my pet theme was always a social cause.My painting projects depicted children and their cause ie, Child education, Child Labour, Child Abuse and female foeticide/infanticide etc. My work has been received well and appreciated by all.”

Title: Burning Midnight Oil - Charcoal on Textured sheet

She is an expert in using vairous media and her quality of work reflects in even her pencil sketches.


Pencil on Chart 

Water colour on chart 

Title: Nestling Ideas take flight -Oil on canvas

She says, “The scene of neglected childhood on my way to college moved me a lot and that reflected on my canvas.Paint and Brush are my aides to express my feelings for these issues. “

Title: Street children -Charcoal on Chart

I loved every minute I spent chatting with her and getting to know this amazingly talented girl. I loved the way she ended her conversation with me –“ Thus I stand an artist in making.” Her expertise includes Portraits and her ability to replicate a picture as is...I am awestruck!! She accepts orders for portraits. All you need to do is to send her a nice picture. :)

Charcoal and Water Colour on Textured paper

It is encouraging and heart warming to see the family she was born in and the family she has married into, to have immense faith in her. I wish her all the best with her career as a full time artist and wish her many more accomplishments in the field of Arts. I hope you liked her work and would surely mention it via your comments.

A call to all Art patrons - Nithya's work is for sale. She would be glad to work on any medium or theme. Do leave your comments and queries in the comments section. Nithya will respond to all of your questions.


Copyrights:All pictures and paintings are Nithya's original work. No form of misuse please!! Images are scanned copies of her work. Please respect an artist's creativity and right to appreciation. Image resolution has been kept low for copyright purposes. Please ask for higher resolution pictures, if interested.

Artist Showcase - Sunayana Sarangi

I feel proud to be the first blogger to be writing about Sunayana, a software engineer by profession and a budding artist, and an excellent classical dancer by choice.

I was introduced to her pencil sketches and 2x2 Oil canvases around three years ago, and I just loved them. I grew to become a fan of her work and her dedication to art.This post has been long overdue. I had mentioned my intentions to showcase her work (in a previous post) - I wrote about her work on store bought Terracota pieces. This post finally happened once I could lay my hands on the pictures of her work. A very shy artist that she is, I had to send in constant reminders (and threats) for a set of clicks. I am honoured to be providing a sneak peek into her world. Her work reflects her passion and dedication towards art. She enjoys spending hours on her projects (and forgets to eat at times). I hope I am able to do justice in showcasing a wonderful artist. I wish I could share all of her work here...but had to make do with a few that I chose at random. I hope you too would enjoy her work and encourage a budding artist who deserves to make it big!

A wall mural she painted in her spare bedroom. Mowgli and friends..(loved this.)

A beautiful mixed media on 6'x4' canvas. Women's embossed jewellery in this canvas needs a special mention (though not visible in this picture).

 

Women find a special place in her work. A Rajasthani woman (4'X3')

A vibrant Ganesha- oil on canvas (3'X2')

 

She is great with abstract and modern subjects as well. Charcoal (3'x2')

Her contemporary Krishna - (2'x4') oil on canvas

Her interpretation of women.(4'x1') (oil on canvas)

Loved her 3D murals in mixed media.

Another pair of 2'x1' murals complimenting each other, and looking so wonderful together

 

One of her Thanjavoor paintings - The show stopper!!

This is what she has to say about her work....

"my work/painting queue is overloaded.... the moment I finish 1, 2 more gets into the queue...More I work, the more exciting it is getting to work on new media and subjects... I am currently finishing a buddha ( oil ) on a charcoal background....thats something my mom had asked me to do for her... work is in progress.... the next in queue is a Thanjavoor Ganesha (2 ft X 1.6 ft) - I intend to work on it once the buddha is all done and framed. My house now looks more like an art exhibition :D....I am striving to create my own style.... And that needs me to be persistent with my work..its practice that I need all the way!"

Do let me know what you think about her work and Sunayana will respond to your queries and questions in the comments section....I wish her all the very best. 


Art patrons can now buy her work!! Sunayana is all set to open her online catalog and a Studio blog. I 'll provide updates in a later post.

PS: Oh! did I forget to mention....she is my SIL!! :) and I can actually demand personalized artwork for myself! lucky me. 


Copyrights: All featured mural and paintings are Sunayana's original work. No form of misuse please!! Images are pictures of her work. Please respect an artist's creativity and right to appreciation. Image resolution has been kept low for copyright purposes. Please ask for higher resolution pictures, if interested.


UPDATE:
Sunayana Sarangi has started blogging over at : http://skartstudio.blogspot.in/. Do stop by her blog for the latest from her studio :)