Sunday, May 30, 2010

the View from the window

I have been staying with Nitasha for a month. She lives on the 11th floor, and I have been watching the trees from her window...change colour and now start to bloom. Mumbai is a concrete mess...but some how this view with the national park, in the middle, somehow takes me away from the harshness of the tall sky scrapers...and I see the beauty of the wonderful gulmohar trees....in hues of  vibrant red and orange.Right in the middle is those old buildings...some kind of warehouse which have remained intact...such a contrast with the buildings in the back!

Cactus Monday

I've become a member of a group called Cactus Monday. Since I love plants anyway. its great to be looking out for cacti! I'm always fascinated by the fact that cacti plants grow in hot humid climates like Mumbai and Kolkata! Smita has a wonderful collection on the 28th floor!  I enjoyed painting this,  trying to get the colours and the thorns and the bright sunlight!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Orchids

We bought these orchids to welcome Nitasha and Sufi home. 2 weeks later the colours are still so bright, I had to paint them...and did it as a 20 min challenge! They grow so abundantly in Assam and seeing them here just brings all those wonderful memories back...the fabulous garden, the mulberry tree laden with fruit, the surrounding green hills...and just the joy of living in a place filled with greenery!!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

The Dhobi Ghat

The Dhobi Ghat viewed from my bedroom window! I believe Bangalore doesn't have dhobis anymore, everyone uses washing machines or laundries! How sad is that, an entire trade vanishing because of the world getting modernized. However Kolkata remains a great mixture of the old and new...so we look upon the dhobi ghat from my window! It made a lovely picture with the laburnum tree in full bloom, a hot bright day and all the clothes drying on the line!
I took pictures, and thought I would paint it, but had to put it aside till today! Had to rush to Mumbai for Nitasha's baby, who decided to come earlier than expected! So its a Kolkata memory but painted in Mumbai!