In this blog I have attempted to depict Uttaranchal & its people, culture, architecture, tradition, beauty through art. My ancestral ties & few visits to kumaon region(Uttarachal, Himalayan belt, India) has inspired me to start this journey. As time goes by I shall continue to update and build a bridge of memories from Jersey to Khantoli. Viewers are welcome to share their ideas & comments.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Pleasant surprise





I was excited to see one of my works published
in a local newspaper of Uttaranchal. Thanks to editor

Madhusingh kesarsingh Bisht.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

New Camera - 3


My favourite corner. As you can see I need a lesson
on photography for dummies, nevertheles couldnt help posting this one

New Camera - 2


My Bastar collection (tribal metal craft) which I try to buy everytime
I visit India.

New Camera -1


Trying my hand in photography with my new camera at home.
Cannon powershot G10 is a great camera and almost an SLR.
Never done photogrphy before except point & shoot. Lets see
if I ever get around learning to take good pictures

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Guess what......


To all thoes watercolor experts out there, will know
exactly how this was done. For all others
who cant guess ........its a little secret. All in all it
was fun doing this.

Landscape


Monday, May 4, 2009

Woods are lovely dark & deep


Inspired by Frost's Poem......
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

All in a days work

I found this article on plight of women in hills of Uttaranchal, it was very heart breaking to see their struggle.
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/6365

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A house in Khantoli


In continuation with khantoli series. A house nestled among hilly woods & great view was inspired from a picture that i took when visiting khantoli (Vijaypur, near Almora, Himalayan region)

Monday, April 20, 2009

THREE DROPS


THREE DROPS


Picking lady


Spot the difference


This a second attempt at the same painting a few posts before. Since I had to part with the earlier one as a gift to my friend, I decided to paint the three women again.

Monday, April 13, 2009

TO all dedicated artists

this website has some lovely pictures of Tulip festival, a nature's feast to all art lovers

http://www.style-files.com/

In to Ghazals (poems) this week

किसी शायर ने खूब कहा :

जहाँ मैं कोई हमें प्यार के काबिल नही मिलता

कोई दिल से नही मिलता, किसी से दिल नही मिलता

Wine, Cheese etc........


This is a deviation from my usual landscape, India etc.
I am celebrating spring & sunshine..... atlast after along crazy winter.
Hope all of you join me together for a toast, cheers & a little prayer to sun god
(Surya Devta).... please shower us with as much sunshine for you are a source of life to all of us.
Whenever I visit India I tell my folks "you guys are lucky to get free sun all the time, here in north east we pay a heavy price of winter before a glimpse of the handsome Surya Devta is bestowed upon us"
Thank you & tata.....I am getting outside to get a big dose of Vitamins


Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Entrance door Uttaranchal


Tried to do create this entrance door. Not happy with the results, will try to upload another later

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Hut in Uttaranchal

Re-loading this image with a slight modification in the background


Friday, March 20, 2009

Women carrying grass





Women carrying grass on their backs a very common sight as you travel in the hills of Uttaranchal.


Sunday, March 15, 2009

View of Himalayas from a resort


This was a breath taking view I could not resisit painting from a resort at remote vijaypur, near khantoli village.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Just a Doodle


I was playing with some colors, practice session on strathmore paper. I usually use arches block but the price on this brand was simply irresistible

Small Temple


A small temple located in khantoli village, uttaranchal

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Naula (covered water wells) 2




another sketch in covered water wells this time experimented in pastels. Although didnt like the feel of holding pastels with bare hands but enjoyed working with it. this was done on a brown grocery bag .

Monday, March 9, 2009

Landscape


This painting is again at terrace fields of khantoli village. The original picture was in a broad daylight, but i attempted to changed it to... after a few showers when the sun peeks from the sky effect.

Friday, March 6, 2009

WOMEN OF UTTARANCHAL

Women of uttaranchal relaxing after a days work in the fields.

Earthern pitchers


Entrance at Khantoli Temple







Naula (covered water wells)

Naulas are life line of villages in uttaranchal. In Kumaon water harvesting and storage is given great importance. The traditional naulas or harvested springs are often beautifully made with sculptures. Many naulas are famous not only for the quality of their water but also for the architectural beauty. One observation on my recent trip was the introduction of handpumps throughout the region, especially along the roads. This is a boon to tired travellers & villagers who often have to walk long distances to fetch water. This song comes to my mind...." Thando re Thando mere Pahad ki Hawa thandi, pani thando " (cool is the breeze that comes from my hills & cool is the water that flows thru it.......

LANDSCAPE


Descent from Khantoli hills


Last year my trip to Khantoli hill & village was a memorable one. My grandfather migrated from this village close nearly a century ago. He was one of the few people who moved to rajasthan during India's freedom struggle and set up a "Khadi Bhandar" in Bikaner. He was a silent person whoes actions spoke more than his words.

Folk Dancers of Uttaranchal



These men are performing a folk dance of Uttaranchal.













Khantoli village


This painting has been inspired from the cover page of a book published by my father on Uttaranchal & their people. It brings to light the acheivements, contributions & sacrifices that they made for India's struggle for independence (before 1947). At a time when two square meals was a luxury, people from the remote villages of Uttaranchal came forward & participated in the freedom movement. Such relentless sacrifice for a cause & hope for a better future drove many out of their homes & migrate to different parts of the country with little money & no security. Women sometimes stayed back to take care of the families & elders or joined their husbands to an unknown future. In either cases they bore the brunt to make ends meet. Many joined hands with Gandhi & started the "Khadi" movement of spinning their own cloth, an idea of self reliance. Such stories will be an inspiration for generations to come


Traditional home - 2


Khantoli traditional homes


practice session of negative painting - Trees


Jersey Cows Grazing


This is painted from a picture of my friends Blog

Tungnath temple (Garwal)




Fall Leaves - 2


THREE WOMEN

THREE WOMEN
This was a part of my experiment to reuse & recycle discarded building materials found on some of my job sites. i painted This piece on a 2' x 2' gypsum board (also known as drywall) with a border of 1" x 1" ceramic tiles. The women are dressed in traditional kumaoni pichora (head scarf), with mangal sutra & bindi a must have for a married kumaoni women (bindi=red dot, mangalsuatra=beaded necklace)

Dev prayag

Dev prayag
Devprayag is the point where, Bhagirathi River and Alaknanda River join to form Ganges River. It is one of the five sacred confluences in the Himalayas and is an important place of pilgrimage for devout Hindus.

MY CHOICE OF PAINTS, PAPER, BRUSHES


Watercolors are inexpensive, easy to find and easy to handle. They aren't too messy, and don't require an elaborate setup. Most people are familiar with watercolors through school projects, etc. I call it a " Green Product" as it is an environmental friendly medium.
I Like to work on Arches watercolor paper which has been milled in Lorraine, France since 1492. Arches watercolor paper has been used to publish the complete works of Voltaire and Napoleon’s Description of Egypt. For over five hundred years Arches fine art paper has been the choice of fine artists all ver the world.
Windsor & Newton a company established in 1832 are my favourite pigments, known for their high quality, they preserve well with time. On their website one can see a virtual museum of their history. You can create a beautiful piece of art by mixing just the basic primary colors Red, Blue & Yellow in this medium.

Chandrashekhar Pant

OF THE FORGOTTEN DHRUPAD EXPONENT

Article from Blog of RAJSHEKHAR PANT

http://pant.rediffiland.com/iland/pant_diary.html

“Despite spending a huge sum from the taxpayers pocket in maintaining a large entourage of bureaucrats along with several handpicked experts of art and culture our government and officials may have forgotten Pt Chandrashekhar Pant, yet among those in hills who love classical music he continues living for ever and ever.” Says Chandra Pant, an octogenarian literator from Bhimtal having to his credit the authorship of a much celebrated novel ‘tune kaha tha’, “inspire by the life and music of Chandrashekhar Maharaj, with natural literary digressions here and there.”

Born on Nov 22, 1912 in a remote village called Khantoli in Almora district, Pt Chandrashekhar Pant was an internationally acknowledged exponent of Dhrupad –a particular style of singing the exponents of which are quite limited now. Patronized by Raja Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior, this particular school of singing is said to have its roots in Sam Veda. During the ‘East West Music Encounter’ in 1964 the inborn talent of Pt Pant was acknowledged and appreciated by stalwarts like Yahudi Manuhin and Nicholas Novokov.

Dahgar brothers, themselves the renowned Dhrupadists, paid moving tributes to him on several occasions and well known names like Dr Keshlikar, Ahmadjan Thirakua, Harinarayan Mukhopadhyay, Dr Ratanjankar happened to be his fans once. Mahesh Pande, a young vocalist from the university of Delhi doing the first ever research work on Pt Pant under Dr Mrs Krishna Bisht –herself a disciple of Pt Pant –says in an exclusive interview “Actually the life, deeds and heart of Pt Pant all sang together. A scholar of Sanskrit from Pune, besides that of the music, he spent his youth as a Sanyasi (recluse) in Uttar Saket near Dwarahat in Kumaon; had a brief sojourning in Nainital in early fifties, where he remained actively associated with ‘Sharda Sangh’ –a musical society which now has virtually no memoirs of Pt Pant. In the second half of fifties he became a producer of classical music in the AIR New Delhi, which surprisingly has but one of his recordings. The last phase of his brief life (1959-1967) was spent in the Univ of Delhi as a reader in the department of music.” Mahesh has been trying hard to collect information regarding Pt Pant so that, “The musical journey of this great exponent may be made available at a single source. Let this legend in the field of music not pass into oblivion because of official apathy,” he says. A musical society called Swar Sangam from the foothill city of Haldwani celebrates the Jayanti of Pt Pant every year.