Juicy Oranges.... - NFS

Here is another experiment with light and shadow...
Friends, savor the flavor of these juicy Oranges.

!!! Happy Thanksgiving !!!

Not for Sale

My First Block Study - NFS

After taking the Oil Painting workshop this year in summer, I found a great book - Capturing Radiant Light & Color in Oils and Soft Pastels - by Artist - Susan Sarback. I loved this style of painting and every painting in this book is "radiant" as the name of the book suggests. There are demonstrations in this book that I wanted to try out and this is the first one - The Block Study. Supposed to be the easiest and it is advised to finish this demo in about one hour. However, I took my own sweet time, being a beginner !!
It was fun trying out the effects of light on Objects and their shadow. The blocks in this picture are red and yellow and placed in bright sun, hopefully you can feel this looking at the painting.

Not for sale

Wild Flowers in Canadian Rockies - NFS

In the summer of year 2008 (i.e last year) we had been to Calgary in Canada. It was the most exotic vacation we ever had !! We went to a National park which has one part on canadian side and the other in Montana, USA - Waterton National park (canadian side) and Glacier National park (US side). One of the days we went to hike in a hilly area. This was the most enjoying nature hike. As we walked the narrow path, we could hear birds and smell the fresh air of the rockies. Both sides of the path were wild flowers so beatifully swaying in the gentle wind. We stopped and sat down in these areas, trying to soak in the beauty of these wild flowers. I specially liked the radiant red flowers, looks somewhat like the paintbrush - take a look.
Hope you enjoy it !!
Love, Prerana

Wild Flowers of the Canadian Rockies

Sept 24, 2009.

Not for sale

Field of Flowers - NFS

It had been long time that I painted and I have a list of things I wanted to paint. So... I checked this one out on my list.

Enjoy this colorful field of flowers and imagine the sweet fragrance !!

Love.

Field of Flowers - Sept 13, 2009

Not for sale

My dream flower - the Lotus - NFS

Here is a quiz for you on the Lotus flower:
When you see a lotus like flower in the pond, how do you know if its a water lily or a lotus?

Feel free to answer in the comments section (you will not need to have a google account anymore, I changed it!!) or email.

Not for sale

I remember the time I started reading about lotus flower was when I used the lotus symbol in the "toran" that I had made during Soniya's wedding. I was fascinated with the facts that I read and the beauty of the lotus of course!

Here are few interesting facts about lotus:

1. In hindu religion, the Lotus is used by goddess of wealth Maha Lakshmi. She sits on a fully blossomed lotus flower.


2. The Lotus flower grows in murky waters and rises on a long stalk above the surface to bloom glorious. Thus untouched by the impurity, lotus symbolizes heart and mind.


3. The Lotus seeds can germinate 200 years after they are shed. Hence lotus is a symbol of strong vital force that could withstand extremely adverse conditions. The lotus flower thus represents long life, health, honor and good luck.


4. The Lotus Flower is the only flower to fruit and flower simultaneously.


5. Above all the lotus represents spiritual enlightenment.

Upper Back Bay - Newport Beach - SOLD

SOLD

It was Saturday - August 8,2009 - my last class for this plein air workshop session.

The weather was perfect - cloudy and gentle cool winds blowing on that day. This painting was a good practice to capture the sun rays that came out through the clouds for brief moments. Hope you enjoy this panoramic view of the Back Bay at Newport Beach as much as I enjoyed painting it !!

Love.

The Fountain Mist @ Park Plaza - NFS

Not for Sale

This is the third plein air project. The place was Park Plaza in the City of Orange. This time everything went very smooth, the teacher even said - "this time you found us in time !" I found a very shady area to set myself up in the park. Hope you enjoy the fountain mist.
Love
Prerana

Spring time in the Dessert - NFS

Another one created during the plein air class on July 25th.

Spring time in the Dessert  - Not for sale

Enjoy the story about this painting....

This time for the plein air workshop we visited the Laguna Canyon Wilderness park. It was an unusually hot day. I was so proud of myself that I reached the site half an hour early !! I waited... and waited... read all the sign posts and information about the park.... Then I thought, I should take the trail and maybe the rest of the group is there already. As I started walking down the trail a ranger stopped me. I had so much stuff in my hand that he thought I was going to construct a post or something inside the wilderness park! I was upset that this fellow is going to make me late for class :( But pretending to be polite, I told him that I was looking for the "little sycamore trail". I tell you, this ranger was a blessing, for the "little sycamore trail" was at another entrance to the park, 2 miles north from the point where I had parked my car. No wonder I did not see the rest of the group (except one). On the path that I was walking I could have walked the whole day, with all my painting gear and the folding chair and still wouldn't have reached or seen my group. Anyways I thanked him a million and finally joined my group half an hour late!! Guess what I had again missed the demonstration that our teacher did. Now was the time to show off our talent...

So I set myself up in the midst of the dissapointments:
of being late...
in the anxiety of reaching in time, having denied the fresh lemonade that my husband lovingly made for me...
missing the teachers demonstration...
the full blown hot sun....
the muddy colors - browns, the yellows etc., barely any greens out there other than the cactus...
:) :)

And yet, I wonder.... my mind was filled with GREENS! You must have guessed looking at the painting.

So I called it "Spring time in the Dessert"

Love.

The Pier at Newport Beach - NFS

Dearest all,

My first attempt at pleir air painting... This was done last weekend (Sat July 18th) sitting right on the beach. Enjoy the cool breeze of the Pacific as you see this painting.

Love, Prerana

A hot summer day on the Pier at Newport Beach...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not for sale

My latest Handpainted Candles - custom

Dearest Friends and Family,

Here is something that will brighten up your day !! Enjoy...

Love you all, Prerana.
You can click on the picture to see enlarged photo. Also I will appreciate any feedback and comments.

I can make for you with custom design, contact me preranap@hotmail.com
Wedding Unity Candle Set

Happy New Year !!

It has been quite sometime I have not posted anything on this blog....

The month of November was very busy - Diwali celebrations, Anushka and Avani's Birthday etc.
Then in December came Anushka's Kathak Showcase, and as you all know, with it comes driving back and forth for practices. I did manage to paint few candles and I then updated just the slide show. The best part in December 2008 was the trip to Richmond, Virginia to Nandu and Deepali's house. The last 2 weeks of December was full of fun and a very good family reunion. Lots of good food, play, Munj, walks in chilled outdoors, chit chat, Table Tennis Tournament being few highlights.


The New Year arrived and the best news of all for me was that Prashant got a local project and will be in town at least for sometime. We are getting used to this new routine after quite a few years. In all of this I haven't really started off any of my projects. But I certainly have something that I can pull out of my hat -
*** A New Year's Greeting card ***

And Guess What, some history about this card.....
I have painted this 28 years ago in Nasik at Mai Atya's house during summer vacation. It might not be the greatest piece of art but still pretty good considering that I had not taken any formal classes for learning to paint. More than anything else, hats off to Manjiree, really appreciate her efforts for saving this. She scanned this and sent it to me last year during Diwali.

And finally concluding with:

Life Is Beautiful

Life is chugging along as beautifully as it can be,

New friends to make,
Old (bad) habits to break,
New Challenges to take.

As breathtaking views and moments are passing by….
Suddenly there might be a dark tunnel or two,
But be assured - there is LIGHT at the end of each tunnel too !!

Life is Love, Life is Joy,
If only you can learn to let go and Enjoy.