Indian Art at V&A

Victoria and Albert Museum in London has an excellent online print site from where you can order prints of the art exhibited in the museum. V&A Prints have a selection of more than 3000 images from the Victoria and Albert Museum, one of the most renowned collections of art and design in the world. The images for sale have been chosen to reflect the richness and diversity of culture, lifestyle and art found at the V&A. I loved some of the prints in the Indian Art section, as well as their collection of vintage posters. Definitely worth a look, and quite reasonably priced too.

[All images from V&A]

Dastkar 2010 and me

You know what I did last weekend. 

Don't you?

I went to the Dastkar spring fair that is on at the IGNCA lawns in New Delhi. It wasn't as much of a 'spring' fair though, what with the grey skies and unexpected rain playing spoil sport at the open venue. But the beautiful crafts and textiles, and the friendly craftspeople more than made up for the un-february like weather.

 

Here are some snapshots from Dastkar:

Cloth lanterns right at the entrance; Kutch embroidered coat; Painted urns (matka)

Lacquer toys from Ettikopakka district in the state of Andhra Pradesh; Metal figurines from Bastar

Wooden furniture and items from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh; Woven rugs from Gujrat (I picked up the red/yellow one from this lot)

Painted bamboo bangle boxes; Tanchoi weave saree

Clip boards made of block printed recycled fabric; colorful fabric bags from Ranthambore's women coop in Rajasthan

Ok, so the two pics above refuse to part and let me write between them. I will let them be given the post Valentine day spirit and such. 

Pic 1: Phad painting; another form of embroidery from Gujarat
Pic 2: Row upon row of earthern urns; Kite stall! The ubiquitous charkhi and maanjha : kite spool and line

 

[All pics taken by me]

Rijuta's Art...

...for An Indian Summer!

Rijuta Rishi is a graphic designer, and an eternal doodler. I loved her work when she first shared some of her art with me sometime back. One thing led to another, and she very graciously created banner art for An Indian Summer (look look - new header!). This header heralds the soon-to-come autumn/fall season :)

Rijuta on her art:

"I'm very drawn to ancient India, its mysticism and myths, so it's probably why I get very inspired by the traditional arts. There's room to 'say' something in many layers, and the symbolism is subtly embedded amidst their stories. Traditional forms feature in my doodles and art quite often, and mostly, I forget the world when I'm doing these."

If you are interested to see more of Rijuta's work, or contact her for assignments and design work, please email her.

Thanks Rijuta for the lovely header for An Indian Summer!

And one thing led to another...

I came across...

which led to...

which led to...

Hot Pink - The first concept store in Jaipur, Rajasthan! A collaboration of Munnu Kasliwal and Marie-Helene de Taillac, Hot Pink offers chic and contemporary fashion from Indian designers, who respect and use traditional Indian techniques.

While the beautifully designed site of this store, located at Narain Niwas, immediately attracts your attention, the site also has a treasure trove of information on Jaipur. From Jaipur shopping recommendations to heritage hotels to local tourist map, all made lovely by Jean -Philippe Delhomme's beautiful paintings!

You can download the very well put together Jaipur guide for your next Jaipur trip!

Also totally worth drooling over are Marie-Helene de Taillac jewels! Look through Marie's site for absolutely gorgeous fine jewellery designed by her, using gemstones and craftsmen expertise from India.

I am waiting for my next windfall to acquire one of Jean's paintings and one (maybe two, or three?) of Marie's jewels. So long..

Going on a Chai Pilgrimage!

Husband and Wife

2 creative peeps

World travelers

One, a therapeutic ayurvedic teacher

Other, an illustrator

and together they are

Chai Pilgrims!

I came across Jenny and Patrick's flickr set and totally adored the quirky illustrations sketched during their travels in India and Nepal. Their love for chai (tea), and India is clearly seen in Jenny's many sketches

More of Jenny's art work can be found on her site. The couple's travel and chai experiences will be out in a book in fall next year...

India Inspired Wedding

Here it is! The first On Demand! post

About how to design and style weddings inspired by India

For all my readers who are passionate about

The great Indian Wedding!

Indian styled wedding can range from subtle and simple, to exuberant display of color, finery and kitsch. Based on whether you want to go for an all out Indian wedding, or have a wedding that has some Indian influence, you can figure out the right balance while planning and designing. There are some very good online resources and event planners who can guide you through the entire process (some listed below). Infact, there are specialized consultants who would help you plan a wedding in India if you so desire! I hope you, and the readers who have mailed me regarding tips on Indian themed weddings, find this post useful.

So with out much further ado

And I now pronounce you, man and woman, to read further! ;-)

Starting with the venue decor: Indian weddings typically have shamiana (tents). You can go wild with colors and even use saris as drapes and coverings. Find more Indian styled tents in one of my earlier post..

Low diwan style seating. Lots of cushions and bolsters on kilim rugs can also do the trick

Hanging tea lights or wax diyas...take your pick! The goal is to be dramatic!

Say it with flowers! Lots of them. Marigold flowers have a special significance in any Indian (hindu) festivities, and are specially used in abundance during weddings.

Styling idea ~ Flowers and diya (tea lights) in brass or terracotta thaals and urlis (plate and urns)

One of the most important aspects of the wedding - the table decor! Colors like turquoise blue, orange, bright pink, plum, red, mustard and gold work well with the Indian theme

Indian style wedding cake! Designs inspired from Indian embroidery and henna designs

And those little details that make all the difference!

Elephant - real and fake, is a quite popular icon in Indian wedding theme :)

Multi hued glass bangles, ornate frames for name cards, zardozi sari fabric can be used for drapes, table covers or napkins, and add a touch of exotic with peacock feathers

Ganesha idol...considered very auspicious during weddings, bride/groom puppets in case some one gets bored from looking at the real bride and groom ;-)

Wooden elephant as a centerpiece, lanterns, wine goblets and miniature jewellery boxes

Embroidered fabrics...sky is the limit of how you use fabrics to add to the design

And of course, you have the option of choosing from exquisite Indian bridal dresses and jewellery and apply henna on your hands, and voila! you are all set for an Indian style wedding!

But, Indian wedding attire and styling in another post sometime...

...If you have an On Demand! request!

[Image Sources: Regal Weddings, Aspiration photography, Design2Decor, India Proposal, Fatima Iqbal, Brides.com, Marisa Holmes, Nancy Liuchin, Nirali, Oh how charming, Exquisite events, Regeti, Save the date nyc, Karen Wise, Lineament, Instyle weddings, Make love real, Andrena photo, The wedding travelers, Your wedding day, hgtv, White lilac Inc., Flickr ~ imatharu@rogers .com, through suzanne's eyes, mckavsavage, celeste]