Portfolio Update #4

This portfolio update is not going to include the final versions of the candles as they are going to be added to the Diwali Display page instead. What I am going to post is a little different.

 I would like to start off with these 5 images of the Diwali Display model that I created using cardboard, yarn, and puffy paint (the portrait sketches were done with Rangila Paints). The images here do not include what the final model looks like (I shall post that separately on the Diwali Display page instead)...so pretend that the right (empty) wall looks the same as the left. The colors shown here are not going to be the same on the final display but they are coded for other things.
For those who are curious the color coding means: light green: white flower garland, light pink: light yellow flower garland, dark pink (magenta-ish): orange flower garlands, blue (yarn): fabric, green puffy paint: LED lights (Christmas lights), and medium green yarn: LED lights of different style.

Keep in mind that the table is 3.5 feet in diameter... the entire display is going to be (hopefully) set up to allow walking room of about 3 feet. So the total dimensions being 9.5 by 9.5 feet (not including the space the actual "walls" of the display are going to take).

The next part of the update includes something that I created using oven bake clay and all sorts of paint mediums...and embellishments. This is my version of Sanjhi Devi (a folk art for girls in northern India). I suggest that you read this article for some clarifications: link.

This first image shows what my clay pieces for the tribute look like after being baked in the oven. I laid them down on the canvas to see if it was a good size or not. And then came the painting...

 

The left image shows the disks (star) pieces as well as part of the Devi's clothes. Along with her shoes, the moon, and the sun....and two of the sweets I made for the Diwali Display. The right image shows more disks as well as sweets...and birds.

 

The canvas was painted with acrylic paint that I mixed in modeling paste...with a touch of beads mixed into the paint for the top part (as seen in the image on the left) along with the silver beading 3D paint. The crackling was a surprise that I got after the canvas dried...I was not expecting for that to happen but hey it looks more like a mud wall now. Below are two different shots of the completed work...along with some close ups.

At the end of this post I am going to include a full list of the materials I used.

 

 

 

I just realized that this is a mixed media art work.

0___0

So another successful work in that category...?

Some things I found interesting about Sanjhi Devi:

-Some women spend months (from 2 to even 6) preparing the pieces needed to complete this tribute... but it only gets displayed for 9 nights and then has to be taken down and burnt in a kettle that is sent floating on a pond. I just find the preparation versus display time difference very fascinating. 

-All Sanjhi Devi's have some similar parts but usually everyone makes a different one... the artist in everyone comes out at this time (mainly women and girls). The abstraction/simplified shapes are common for obvious reasons.

And that is it for this update! Thanks for reading.

List of materials (as accurate as I can get them down from memory):

• oven bake clay (Sculpy I believe)
• marble pebbles
• metal beaded string (I would categorize this under "findings")
• metallic acrylic paint (folk art)
• pearl acrylic paint (folk art)
• regular folk art acrylic paint
• modeling paste
• assorted size, shape, and color of beads
• fabric
• beading 3D paint
• plastic shiny pieces... no idea what they are even called...
• other findings that I have been gathering for some years now... mostly pieces from Rakhri bracelets because they are just too cool to be thrown away