Patio Mosaic Project

I took advantage of September's sunny weather to finally finish our outdoor patio. We had been visualizing this project project for years and are really happy with the results. I started with an acid etch on the concrete and then set out the tile layout.

Silversmithing in Dharmsala

During our month away from Chandigarh we had a great trip into the mountains of Himachal. We had 2 great weeks at Jagatram Niwas guesthouse in Upper Bhagsu. Here are the results of my "jewelery camp" (silversmithing class).
Bracelets in silver with pearls and Tibetan turquoise.
One ringy dingy, two ringy dingy, three ringy dingy...more turquoise and pearls.
"Tuk tuk pendant...
Pendants, pendant, pendants...oxidized, inlayed and stone work. The Black stone pendant is by Deep. I enjoyed the class so much I made him take it as well. Its a lot of sitting. He took the first class and took over the rest of his time.
A bracelet by Deep for Ananya with coral and garnets. Inlay pendants by me for the kids.

Kids Art Camp 2009 Sketchbooks

Here is a slide show of samples from the wonderful sketchbooks the kids at my art camp produced. Drawing from still life, self portraits and subjects of their choice, the kids filled their sketch books with lots of fun and beautiful drawings using a variety of materials. The kids ranged in age from 4 1/2 to 8.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

friday was Jackson Pollock day....the paint did eventually dry!

Art Camp 2009

Last week was the first of hopefully many Art Camps at Dhillon Studios. We had a fun week with lots of time to explore different mediums for drawing and painting, as well as a variety of surfaces. The kids completed projects on paper, canvas and wood. We talked about Henri Mattise, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock. They filled their sketchbooks with still lifes and drawings of their choice using oil pastels, watercolors, chalk pastels, pencils and markers. A messy good time was had by all!

"Bhaji's House, Sikaran" is from the new series of little paintings I've been busy with. Just 4"x7". There are 25 new ones in the collection from our trip to India in March-April 2008 so far. I'm ready to bust out big, the panels are ready, 4'x4'.

"Bhaji's House, Sikaran"

The closing of Gallery 63Eleven

A new body of work is well under way and now without a home. After 8 years Gallery 63Eleven has decided to close. Sad to say that means the cancellation of my show which was scheduled for February. I am hoping that the gallery hosts a group show for the final closing. I'll keep you posted.I will be looking for a Gallery in the new year. Until then its time to update this space with some photos of the new work.

I spent 5 weeks in India earlier this year gathering some wonderful images to work from. I am especially excited about doing paintings of my village, Kharoudi.

The Neighborhood Cafe

We had a wonderful reception at the Neighborhood Cafe on Sunday night. It was a great turnout of old friends, new friends and family. Thank you very much Khadija, for the delicious food, continued support and enthusiasm. We appreciate you very much!
The show will be up all month. The cafe is open Wed. -Sun., 7-3. The address is 1418 NW 70th street, Seattle, WA(that's Ballard).

"Puaji's House"

Next week I'll be back in the studio. The plan is to turn one of the pieces from last summer's show into a
triptych. It hangs on our bedroom wall and gets all the morning light. I love the way the sunlight works with the shadows and sunny areas that already exist within the painting. Three paintings would fill the entire wall and give us the feeling of waking up in "Puaji's House" in Jallandhar, India.

This week's plan is to prepare some larger painting surfaces. I prefer wood to canvas as a painting surface. I think thats because of my printmaking background, drawing on slabs of marble and etching on metal plates. The wood surface allows me to be much more physical with the painting surface. The added bonus is that it is cheap compared to the cost of canvas. I' m look forward to my trip Limback Lumber.

"frutas" acrylic on wood, 5 1/2" x 3 1/2"

Paintings of Potchutla

The new show is up. It's been a busy 2 months of painting evenings and during nap times. I do enjoy the controlled chaos that a painting deadline creates. Last year in preparation for my summer show I scaled down to painting on small blocks of wood that I could hold in my hand. I've always enjoyed working small and I knew that for my show this month I wanted to keep all the paintings small. There is the satisfaction of completing a painting everyday. Being able create a lot of images in a small period of time. I'm taking a break this week and then I'll continue next week on the next project that I've been thinking about.
There will be an opening this Sunday, March 11th, at 7pm. Otherwise the show is up all month at The Neighborhood Cafe, 1418 NW 70th street, Seattle (that's in Ballard). The cafe is open wed. -sun.,7am-3pm.

In the studio

Its been a busy month back in the studio. I'm getting ready for a show next month here in Seattle at the Neighborhood Cafe in Ballard. Our favorite breakfast/ lunch spot, it is absolutely delicious.
The new paintings are all shop fronts and street scenes from the small town of Potchutla, in Oaxaca, Mexico. I decided to just work small for this show. The largest piece is maybe 5"x 8" and so far the smallest is 1 1/2"x 2".
We spent 3 weeks visiting with our good friend Matt who moved to the coastal teeny, tiny town of Zipolite in Oaxaca. Potchutla is about 45 minutes from Zipolite but is also the closest bank machine. We had an amazing trip and I took far to many photos so that I would have lots of material to work from when we got home. I've never been one to work plein air. I prefer to take photos and keep a sketch book of notes, rough sketches, and journal entries. I packed minimal art supplies and then did not find much available where we were. So instead we enjoyed the sun, the empty beaches and warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.

life with art

I just picked up all my paintings from a group show here in Seattle at University House. They were up for 4 months. It was all new work from last summer that I really did not have any time to live with. It is interesting to see them after a break. Usually I finish a piece and have it hanging for several months before I show it. The last body of work I never really had the opportunity to live with it. Now that it is back, I'm happy to say that there are quite a few I really like.

Art School and Motherhood

When I went to art school I never thought that it would be so helpful to me when I had children. Nayan wanted to be a viking this year for halloween. I was excited that he had chosen something other than a super hero. One trip to the library, one trip to the fabric store and we had one cool little viking costume complete with faux fur, cape and boots. A little duct tape, cardboard, a small tupperware container and copper paint, that I just happened to have, became a shield that Nayan was very excited about. He was thrilled to have a costume that nobody else had. Lets see what next years challenge will be.

Random Thoughts on Thursday

Thursday is coming to an end and I still need to make it into the studio. I received some lovely photos of doors in India from my friend Brenda and am looking forward to doing something with them. I finished reading this months book club title "Broken for You" by Seattle author Stephanie Kallos. It was a great read. Maybe I'll attempt mosaics again. The weather has been beautiful so I've been taking advantage of it with the kiddos before everything gets grey and yucky.

Independent South Asian Film Festival

September has been a busy month of catching up. I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio next week and painting again. Deep and I have our paintings hanging at The Broadway Performance Hall during the ISAFF. Opening night was fun meeting everyone and hopefully we'll check out some films over the weekend.

Guest Artist Lectures

2000 University College of the Okanagon, Kamloops, B.C.

Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, B.C. Vernon Art Gallery, Vernon, B.C.

1998 Langara College, Vancouver, B.C

Burnaby Central High School, Burnaby, B.C.

1996 Langara College, Vancouver, B.C.

1993 Emily Carr College of Art and Design

1991 Emily Carr College of Art and Design

Related Experience

2002 Chitraniketan Artist Residency, Kovalum, India

1999-2001 Assistant Printer, Stone Press Editions. Printed for artists Robert Bateman and Dale Chihuly,

Seattle, WA

1999 Vice President - Malaspina Printmakers Society,

Vancouver, B.C.

1998 Instructor - "Introduction to Lithography" - Emily Carr

Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, B.C.

Collections

4 Culture, Seattle WA, 2004

City of Seattle Printworks/Photoworks 2003

Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Canada

"X-Files" - Fox Television Network, Los Angeles, CA

Harbor View Medical Center, Seattle WA

Asian Capital Corporation, Vancouver, B.C.