Chor Bazaar!

      With a title like this I am sure you are wondering where I am going with this post, well I am taking you on a journey to the most famous flea market of Mumbai! To be honest the tag 'flea market' does not even do justice for an amazing treasure trove like Chor bazaar. What it is a huge area full of lanes and each lane is choc-a-bloc with shops selling anything from, old bike parts, LPs, film and rock band posters( Oh yes they have Elvis and the Beetles too !) antique furniture, lamps, clocks,  navigators and compasses from old ships, Sculptures ( I actually saw a pair of larger than life extremely realistic lions in cast bronze!) old coins, telescopes, books, well you get the idea by now :) Oh and lest I forget my all time favorites the old HMV styled Gramophones with large beautifully worked brass speaker and all the old styles of telephones from the hand held earphone variety to the wall mounted style and every bit of wood and brass polished to gleaming perfection!

   As you can see from the picture here that pretty much every available space is crammed with simply gorgeous stuff, and if you look closely you can see the shop owner helping out my friend with some tiled wall hooks there.

   This shop had the most amazing old sign boards, could make out exactly but I think they were all hand painted check out the red one on the right its for the post office announcing the sale of postal stamps! When was the last time you used a stamp? :P

This little vintage car over here is actually a pan box with storage space on the cab, bonnet and foot board areas, look closely and you will see tiny hinges! Just below the car are some cast brass door knocker, unfortunately could not take better pictures as some of the shop keepers do not approve :(

As you can imagine a place like that there is a good chance for anyone to burn a large hole in their pockets but the only thing I managed to buy apart from some amazing tools was a baby milk bottle! Yup am sure you are wondering why would anyone buy a milk bottle from a flea market well here's why!

    For a long time now I would hear from my Dad that when he was a baby he had this milk bottle which was boat shaped and had two openings one on either end with the teats attached on both of them, and how he wished my mom hadn't lost it while moving ( parents !) I kept thinking those were not in production anymore and couldn't be found well guess what I found one ! Have you seen one of these or maybe your parents or aunts used to have one, do drop a line if you have hunted down something for your loved ones like this, both me and my dad would love to hear your story ( we are big on nostalgia here :D)

Baby milk bottle with two teats!

I hope to make another trip soon with my nephew as he is crazy about the old LPs and wants to add to the family collection!
P.S. Do you know apart from antique collectors and interior designers and of course the bargain hunters, who you are most likely to see here, people from the Hindi film and television industry ! Yup this is where they come to source out stuff for all their period dramas, and I have heard from one of the store keepers that recently the staff from the long running show on Sony TV- CID too were there sourcing old fashioned light switches, the toggle kinds ( something that I too will be adding to my collection !) 

Eight things I am doing to wrap up the last week of this year !

It is the last week of 2011 and the much talked and hyped about 2012 is coming up and today my cook of all people bought the topic up by mentioning how some people were dreading the end of the world. Well I have no idea whether the world is ending or not but here is what I want to do in the last week of this year just to tie up some ends.

Image by henry… via Flickr
1. Finishing catching up on the gazillion e-books that I have downloaded over the past year ! Well not exactly that number but I am an e-book junkie! ( Hey don't tell me you aren't tempted, when its just a click away from all you can read!! ) Well most of the books I download are either art or jewellery how-tos or marketing how-to for the same. My favorite and currently reading is Seth Godin's 99 Cows . 
2. Cleaning up my computer and backing up the hard disk.This one goes back to #1 once I read all those e-books some I keep for future reference some go on to the recycle bin ( To make room for more e-books of course :) 
3. Making a list of all the lovely people I met, all the amazing things that happened to me in my career as well as personal life just to add that to my gratitude journal ( Hey I wanna attract more of the same cool stuff !!) By the way my list is definitely going to include all you amazing people that take time out to read what I write, look at my art and leave your thoughts here :) So thank you, you are much appreciated!
4. Making a plan for my jewellery and art business, yup, yup I know art and business are not words that go together but my goal for this coming year is to get my studio to not just support itself but me as well :)  Now the reason I am putting this out here is ,I want to get some accountability which hopefully will help me to get things pulled together.
5. Buy tools and metal, colours etc. Well you know how most common resolutions are ' more work done' well, my problem is I do get work done and even have sketches on the ready usually but I tend to go to the studio all brimming with ideas and realize I am out of a particular gauge of wire or metal or enamel colour, so I intend to avoid that starting January.



Reindeer pendant with matched holly earrings
© 2011 Nayna Studios™
Copper & Vitreous enamel

6. Getting my mailing list up dated, I actually have finished with this one (pat on the back :D) and am working on getting my New Year card done on Mail Chimp, this ones for my Jewellery mailers but if you wish you can sign up (its just as fun!)
7. Figuring out the menu for New Years Eve ! Usually we make some super delicious Indian Style fast food, and voting is still on for this year :D
8. Coming up with a way to combine my two passions, oil on canvas and metal work! watch this space there is something soooooper exciting coming up and with one New Year's promise to all you sweet folks who continue to drop by and read, although I'll admit I have not been up to speed in posting here lately, and that is to get in one post per week. Do hold me up to it if I do not deliver :P

Well you noticed nowhere have I mentioned New Year's resolutions cause mine usually give up the ghost by march :( So instead I am sticking to daily practices, so what practices are you going to start, do drop a line and let me know, I just might take up your idea as well !

Wishing everybody here a Very Happy New Year and an extremely abundant and bursting with joy kind of year !!  

Four tips to give your creative cogs a refreshing break.

            Recently I have been in what can only be described as a 'Creative Rut' now I did not come up with the term on my own but thought it fit aptly! Saw this term on a blog post by Lori McNee on her blog Fine Art Tips. I did find all her ideas to be very helpful but then I realized that I needed to find something that worked for me, and this is what I came up with:-

• A day off from the studio - instead spend a day at an art library.( a great way to get those cranial cogs working)
• Catch up on updating, blogs, websites, FB fan pages and send emails ( I know I know, supposed to be a break, but remember there is nothing related to art making involved :D )
• Take up one hobby that has nothing to do with art ( ok all those guilty of experimenting with different media and calling it a hobby raise hands here !! ) P.S. I have decided to set up my own terrarium and vertical gardening as mine :)
• Take up a fitness regimen ( fit body, fit mind and all that ! )

So these are my tips that I intend to stick to this week how about you guys, any body face the same problems?Any tips that you would like to share? You know the drill, just drop a line :)

A bottle with a view series -2

Glass bottle series, '16 x14' inches Oil on canvas© 2011 Nayna Shriyan

            My second painting in this series features two new entrants!! Two very vibrant coloured bottles. The warm reds and oranges reflected by these two simply captivated me. As I proceeded into the painting I soon realized that not only were there reds, oranges , yellows and browns but also blue at a point of time in the amber bottles! The one thing I have begun to notice is that still life objects need just as much a minute treatment as any portrait subject would!
So here is a question for all you folks out there that work in oils, does the work look completely flat as you are working it ( you know your face about 3 inches from the canvas and your field of vision only about 5 square inches :D )  and then when you step back to inspect your work you actually realize that the object of your focus is actually beginning to get depth and perspective?? I know I do, so what about it folks??

A bottle with a view series 1

© 2011 Nayna Shriyan

          For a while now I had been looking for a subject that would allow me to not only paint a series but also to expand my working knowledge of oil paintings. If you know me or have been reading this blog for anytime now you would know that while I am a trained metal artist, oil painting is like a secondary passion that; well seems to always be fighting with my first passion enamels and metalwork!

Glass bottle series 1 ,"14 x 16" inches Oil on canvas
© 2011 Nayna Shriyan

         Recently just as we were about to pack off some glass bottles for recycling I was struck by the beautiful colours of the bottles. The colorless ones seemed to pick up all  the colour from their vicinity and the coloured ones seemed to throw up a huge array of shades, tints and tones with the right light falling on them.

So I picked up my trusty SLR and along with some gentle morning sunlight, it was soon a riot of colours! Before I knew what was happening there were some 20 shots of coloured bottles and their vibrant reflections on the floor !!

         This is the first in the series, I wanted to try out a simple single bottle arrangement and also simplified the background as you can see from the photograph above.While I was working on this painting the one thing that struck me was that painting an object this closely was as good as working on a portrait, the entire time I was using a tiny No. 000 brush and working the minute changes in the colours and shades. One of my students even went so far as to say, 'there aren't so many colours you are imagining them !!'
What do you think, did I manage to do justice to the above picture? Should I have kept the original background, neighbors house and all ? :D

My favourite medium in the world - Metal !! lots of it !!!

I was recently asked by someone as to my first choice of metal for my art work. I have used quite a few different kinds of metals and prefer to use the metals as per the kind of mural, sculpture or panel in question.  Each metal allows for unique textures and effects and helps in bringing about the character of the artwork.Today I would like to start with three of my favorites.

             Copper:  My most frequently used and by far my favorite metal remains copper. The warm red colour of copper has always been a point of inspiration for creating repoussed work. Having used copper since my art college days, I find it to be the most versatile of metals, enabling me to shape it, cut it or colour it as per my design needs.

Butterfly, cloissone and wet packed enamel on pierced and electro-formed copper ' 20 x 15' cms
© 2009 Nayna Shriyan

 Here in our local metal market , copper is available in two qualities, a semi-soft  and a dead soft variety. The soft offers absolutely no rebound and is perfect for creating high relief objects such as masks and raised bowls. The semi-soft variety works perfectly for perforated and etched designs.

Copper also offers additional advantage in its ability to take on colours by way of patina ( surface colours achieved by copper reacting with chemicals) and also in that it can be enameled.  Copper also naturally has a kind of antique look to it which can be further enhanced by using oxidizing salts to give an aged patina .The one quality of copper , that creates some trouble for the final finish, is the ease with which it can react with atmospheric air, to oxidize and change its colour, if not protected quickly by a varnish or lacquer. Of course my favorite amazing quality of copper? It can be enameled!!

           Brass: Brass has a unique ability to appear rich and golden when polished and a uniquely antique look when oxidized. It natural hardness lends itself perfectly for perforated designs as well as acid etched low relief textural effects. Although soldering brass- brass or brass -copper can create some trouble, brazing the pieces together does solve the problem.

While brass does react with certain chemicals to create patinas, it cannot be easily enameled, due to the low melting point of the zinc contained within it.

Swordfish paper cutter, '6 x 1.5' inches Pierced Brass
© 2000 Nayna Shriyan

 Although thin brass wires skillfully used can give a beautiful effect in cloissone` enameling.

           Nickel Silver: This is one metal that has always  fascinated me. The slightly yellowed silver colour always reminds me of fine silver that has oxidized just a bit.Although quite hard to form or repousse it is perfect for cut and perforated designs, although while using you will have to keep one thing in mind it has a slight rebound, what this means is that when you hit it with a hammer, the hammer bounces back just a little bit! So do be careful or you just mind end up hitting yourself on the nose on the rebound !! Have you experienced this? If so how do you deal with this issue?

If you are a metal artist like me what is your favorite metal, any of these? or do you like some other really unique metal and what are your reasons? If you are not a metal artist, I would still love to hear which metal 'speaks' to you and why? 

Kalaghoda- A festival of art, music, dance, and everything else inbetween.2

This is a continuation of my post regarding Kalaghoda and covers two of my favorite things to do at the festival! Handicrafts and art installations! The festival had its finale on the 13th of February.

Madhubani painting stall

I love to go shopping or window shopping if you will at all the tempting handicraft stalls. Here all the folk artists and artisans working in the traditional craft styles display their wares, everything from traditional folk paintings to silver jewelry to hand dyed organic cotton fabrics, bags and purses to sculptures . Each year I make it a point to carry a full wallet, and buy at least some of my favorite things. Till date a list of my shopping includes A Tanjore painting, Kolhapuri chappals. vegetable dyed organic cotton, silver earrings, brass casted animals and I could go one for quite a bit!!

©Meghna Loke " I'll poke you" installation

But this year, apart from the handicraft stalls what caught my eye was the amazing array of art installations, while there are usually about 10 or 15 this year it seemed liked there were twice the number, and not just the quantity but the amazing ideas behind the art installations. There were of course the artist versions of the 'Kalaghoda' created in as many different media from photographs two found objects to fibre glass, depending upon the artist's vision. There were two art installations that truly caught my interest and both were interactive in nature and actually depended upon the intereaction of the audience for their completion. One was done by an artist who had suffered from back pain for a better part of a decade and had decided to use this pain as the basis of her work, The artist Meghna Loke had placed pins in a small vessel in front of the installation and encouraged the viewer to become a participant in her work and her pain by poking what was actually body cast of the artist done in sticky tape lying upon a series of MRI scans of her back taken over a period of nine years. By the process of poking her body, the viewer was encouraged to let out hidden thoughts, words and literally 'poke one' so as to prove their point. The artist made a thought provoking point in that she used tape as her medium so as to create a wrapped and stifling mummified feeling that intense pain can create, also the translucency of the tape reminds us that pain is in fact invisible thus doubted and questioned.

© Aditi Dikshit and Divya Aggarwal  'Wahts yours is mine'

The second installation that caught my attention was 'Whats yours is mine' by Aditi Dikshit and Divya Aggarwal. These two artists had created a tree with all kinds of objects hanging from it. The artists were very interested in studying the human psyche of being happy when getting something for free, the installation revolved around the idea of encouraging the viewer to take an object from the tree(without any charges) with the condition that they must leave behind something of their own.! To me it also symbolized something that we do on a daily basis, sharing with complete strangers, when we leave information on the world wide web we have no clue who is going to use it or benefit from it , while we do the same when we turn to the internet for resources left there by complete strangers! What do both of these installations say to you, do they come across exactly as the artist meant it or do they speak differently to you? After all is not art also about what questions or emotions it raises in you apart from what the artist has expressed? The 'Whats yours is mine' tree spoke to me, do these or any other art works speak to you? would love to hear about such experiences.

While I am most passionate about enameling, water colours and oils are also favorite media, so when the artist network TV offered an invitation to an ( webinar) online water colour demonstration for tips on painting luminous landscapes I couldn't resist !! I am so glad I could for I had the most amazing time , attending my very first webinar of a watercolour demonstration,
The demonstration was by Mr Sterling Edwards an accomplished water colour artist, he has written books and also has published two DVDs of demonstrations of watercolours.
He started by talking about his work and the unique style of water colour painting that he had developed and then went on to talk about his four step method for creating luminous landscapes. The very first point that he cleared out was that his style of work was a very loose style requiring bold brush work and very little drawing and detailing. Something that was quite refreshing and different as most teachers insist on putting down every tiny little detail.

•  Step 1   : leaving out enough white on the paper so as to show the presence of light
•  
•  Step 2   :Apply the darkest of darks to suggest shadows, then apply more transparents in the foreground and add details to the the foreground and center of the painting
•  
• Step  3  : Selective Glazing Eliminate unwanted whites with washes leaving only the areas meant for    the brightest of the highlights.
•  
• Step  4  : Refining and defining,  Add all the details and focus on the foreground .

I cant wait to try out these four steps, hope I can do justice to the process :) !!

Mumbai's Metal Market- 'Tamba- Kata'

I spent the whole of last Saturday, visiting our city's metal market. While metal is available all over the city of Mumbai, this is the one place where every kind of metal in whatever form one may need is available in huge quantities!
The metal market itself if an extremely interesting place, located in the southern part of the city, it is still reminiscent of an era gone by. The name itself is a hail back to a time long gone,  known as 'Tambakata' to those of us who frequent the place translated it means the place where copper is weighed. 'Tamba = Copper' and 'Kata=weighing scale  ' . While the scale no longer exists, the name creates a mysterious allure. Small and big, retail and wholesale shops, line both side of a street, selling everything from copper, brass, lead, steel, nickel silver to bronze and aluminum, in sheet, pipe, wire, rod form. Whether you need copper rivets or steel meshes everything can be found here, one only need to be brave enough to leg it!

Some of my tamba kata buys

The metal market is a mad, cacophonous place, with everything from, tempos to handcarts bringing in and taking out the metal. People that come for shopping mostly have to be on their feet, preferring to park their vehicles almost 2 Kms. away .
To me the metal market nearly always is a place for finding inspiration and ideas for new works. Simply browsing around the shop looking at the various gauges of metal, rods, pipes and foils gleaming away in their shelves is enough to set my mental wheels spinning.
 What if you are not an artist, maybe you are just looking for artifacts for your home, well then this is a place for you too, you can find the most decorative brass bells in all the sizes, you can even find antique brass and copper vessels.
My recent buys have been restricted to wires of all the possible gauges and a few sheets of copper, but if ever I move from Mumbai, I will certainly miss my beloved market.

P.S. tell me that all that metal is not tempting !!

Kalaghoda- A festival of art, music, dance, and everything else inbetween.

Every year the people of Mumbai eagerly await the ' Kalaghoda festival'. This one festival encompasses a lot of different visual and performing arts.
The festival is held every year during the month of February in the area known as Kalaghoda.
 If you are wondering what in heavens name is kalaghoda, well translated it means Kala= Black, and ghoda= horse. So there you have it 'black horse', the term actually comes from an equestrian statue of King Edward VII
which stood in the middle of the square. The statue has now been moved to the Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Byculla.
The area of Kalaghoda is now our very own art district, art lovers from all over the country descend here to partake of their ' arty' needs ! With the  Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalya formerly know as the Prince of Wales Museum  on one side and the famous Jehangir art gallery on the almost nestled against the museum, opposite is the Cowasji Jehangir art gallery for modern art know popularly as NGMA ( National  Gallery of Modern Art) ,the David Sasoon Library and many art gallery's, a church and of course all the heritage buildings ( for all the architecture buffs), it is the perfect spot to hold the festival each year.

Mini amphitheater with art installation above

The stage @ Kalaghoda for the performances

Paintings being exhibited @ Kalaghoda

Every year for one week the people of Mumbai and indeed all that arrive in Mumbai especially for this show can enjoy all of the events that happen . Right in the middle of the street a stage is built and the association has a mini amphitheater built on one side of the pavement and that is where all the artists be they folk, traditional or modern have their performances. There is dance, music and of course plays . You have to really be early to get seats at the amphitheater or else well simply stand with the rest of the enthusiasts and enjoy the show!
Thought the week, films and documentaries are shown, book and poetry readings take place, eminent people from various fields of art, literature, acting give lectures.

Not to mention photographic, painting and sculptural exhibitions that take place. Surely it is the one time when artists cannot complain of low footfall !!

The Easy Worm By Kieth Bond

I subscribe to the Fine Art Views newsletter and have always enjoyed their article, I would like to share an article by Keith bond today, because although it was written with artists in mind, I think it applies to people from every walk of life, I hope you enjoy it !! :)

The Easy Worm

by Keith Bond

This article is by Keith Bond, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews.  You should submit an article and share your views as a guest author by clicking here.


(A friend of mine shared a version of the following fable with me.  I don’t know where it originated and it might not resemble the original very much anymore.  Who knows?  But I like the message.  You could apply the lessons learned to just about anything in life, but I will relate it to your art.)

Despite the small size, the little bird felt larger than life with the wind under his wings.  How he loved to soar high in the blue sky.  He would dive and swoop, loop and circle about.  While he flew, his keen eyesight would spot food on the ground far below.  He loved a good worm for mealtime.

One day he spotted an old man digging worms and placing them in a bucket.  The curious little fellow flew down and landed next to the man.

“What are those worms for?” the bird asked.

“They are for feathers,” the old man replied.

Plucking a feather from his chest, the bird asked, “Like this?”

“Yes.”  So the bird exchanged a feather for a worm.

The next day, the bird once again saw the man.  Once again the same conversation took place.  And once again the exchange was made.

Day after day, the same scenario played out.  A beautiful feather was traded for a juicy worm.

One night, the bare-chested bird nearly froze to death.  He realized that he had given far too many of his chest feathers.  So, the next morning he exchanged a wing feather instead.  This continued day after day.  But after some time, to his dismay, he realized that he could no longer fly.  He hopped and jumped and tried with all his might.  But each time he landed with a thud on the hard ground.

What had he done?  Had he become so used to getting an easy meal that he didn’t realize what he was doing?

So he hopped around searching for worms.  It was difficult.  More difficult than when he could fly, and much more difficult than simply plucking a feather.  How he missed the days of soaring and tumbling through the air hunting for his own meal.  Yes, it was work.  And some days he didn’t eat as well as other days.  But somehow those meals of long ago were more satisfying than the easy worms from the old man.

After some time of much difficulty, he gathered a beak-full of worms and hopped over to where the old man would be.  The little bird dropped the worms in the man’s bucket and asked if he could get some feathers back.

No.  It could not be undone.

As an artist, have you ever traded your feathers of creativity or talent in for the easy worms?  Have you let things become a crutch to where you no longer are able to soar to the heights you once knew?

There are many ways you might do this.  I suppose each of us have given at least a feather or two.  But for some, the temptation for an easy worm is too great.

It may be using a projector to trace a drawing.  For others, the easy worm might be formulaic color mixtures.  A few of you might even print your reference photo on canvas and then apply paint on top of that.

Some artists can use photos as a tool – knowing its place and limitations.  But for others photos become a worm and the ability to compose, edit, feel and imbue a work with originality becomes lost – or worse yet, never learned.

For some, it’s the same subject or composition over and over again.  Like a short-lived formulaic pop hit that quickly rises to the top 40 to only be forgotten a few weeks later, the compositions become shallow and redundant.

For your art to truly soar – and to enjoy the elation that comes with creating – you must work hard for your worms.  Do not trade your feathers away.  It will only hurt you in the end.

Being an artist isn’t easy, but oh, how it is worth it.  The old man will never know how it feels to fly on the wings of creativity.  But you have felt it.  You know.  You have seen the world from a perspective that others can’t even imagine.  You have felt the wind lift you as you spread your creative wings.  You have delighted in the creative process and have sorrowed for the worms that got away.  You have soared.  You have flown.  You are an artist.

Best Wishes,
Keith Bond

PS   What easy worms have seduced you?  How did you overcome it?  Or have you?  If you feel you are stuck – flightless – there’s hope.  Unlike the bird who couldn’t get his feathers back, you can regain your creativity.  You can redevelop your talents.  You can fly once again.


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A Pinch of succes !!

Call it the carrot at the end of the stick or the light at the end of the tunnel, but success is so important! Life coaches and other experts are always preaching that one should decide upon small goals and the feeling of elation at having accomplished them energizes us to carry forward.
     Recently I experienced this in a slightly different manner, I realized that another individual's success too can work that magic. I normally keep my studio closed on a Sunday, so that I can work on some of the other tasks like writing posts on this blog :), updating my website and my facebook fan page. By the end of it all, I was pretty much exhausted and in no mood to take care of my household responsibilities. I thought taking a break in front of the television set might help. As I was mindlessly surfing the channels I came upon the show 'Minute to win it' , there was this man trying to flip teaspoons into glasses and the prize money was $10,000 a huge sum !!
As he went about his attempts,( he had three life lines, which meant three tries and then he was out) , he lost one of those life lines but still went ahead with it, and then miraculously, he won ! he won that round of game and the $10,000 as well.
I had the strangest reaction!, I suddenly felt a small surge of energy to the extent that  I was suddenly up to taking care of my chores and even thought of putting down points for this post and managed to do it as well!
 So what changed during that television break;

• Somebody else won the money, I did not

• It was not like I had taken an energy supplement or even had a sip of water

and yet there I was ready to tackle a few more tasks at the end of a long day .This made me conclude that small doses of success are very essential, even if it means watching something positive or reading about someone else's success. What do you think, does it help if you heard about a friend finally accomplishing something or perhaps if someone commented on your work and saying a good thing about it. Perhaps something bigger works like being selected for a show or being given a chance to present an important presentation in you office. I would love to hear your opinions :)

The Flower that all this fuss is about !!

Inspiration for my next flower project !!

   

These beautiful white blossoms grace us with their presence every few days, and while on most days they simply end up being used in worship, today I could not resist the way the sunlight fell on the lone blossom and two buds. Whether I will use this in my next enameled bowl project I have no idea, but for now I had fun clicking the pic :) !!!

The art of the gulmohar flower

Every summer, I wait for the first flowers of the gulmohar. The advent of the first splash of bright fiery orange colour brings a much needed relief fro the harsh sun and humidity of my city. The gulmohar flowers always fascinate me; they stand out among the green carpet of leaves, silently proclaiming their individuality.
      Throughout the year the tree of the gulmohar is either green or completely bare, giving the impression that its dead, gone and then come spring the leaves start sprouting out and then come may, the fiery red orange flowers come out in all their glory. The one thing that completely fascinates me about the flowers is that not only are they pretty as a whole, but even when, the flowers fall and actually fall apart, they still retain that beauty and that individuality, each little petal with that perfect shape, distinct colouring says 'I am different' . most flowers when they fall of the tree look so morose sad almost, but not the gulmohar flowers, each flower, each petal lies flat on the ground allowing its perfect shape to be seen and admired.
       I intend to work with the gulmohar flowers as my inspiration in a series of cloisonne enameled bowls, and will be recording my experiences with these amazing flowers. I will be using both the shape, the colour and of course experimenting with how much this spunky flowers colours can stand out among a variety of different colours and shapes. I will be posting updates and pics of my experiments here soon!