Morning Glory

I came back from walking our dog in the morning, opened our backyard door to get in. Right behind the door in a dark corner, I saw this flower shining bright - back lit by fresh morning sun. I couldn't resist taking a picture! I tried some different ways to get texture in the background, wasn't quite happy. However a good learning experience!

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Morning Glory, 5 x 7 inches, Watercolor on Arches Paper

Code# PK_15_046

Available - click here

Coconut Halves

Here is the demo painting I completed on the day of Ganapati Festival in LA. It took me 2 hours to paint this, while I was painting there were people watching as they were passing by, few stopped to talk. But there was a very curious little girl who stopped with her Dad and brother and watched for sometime. Eventually she asked me questions and it was fun chatting with them during the demo.

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Coconut Halves - 8 x 10 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Code# PK_15_045

Available - click here

Perfect Coconut Split

This painting was created as a practice for doing Live Demonstration during the Ganesh Festival in Los Angeles. A week prior to the actual demo, I set up this still life in my back yard. It was fun to paint, standing in the shade. I chose to paint coconut because that is what I had on hand for preparing the sweet offering "modak" - a favorite of Ganesha.

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Perfect Coconut Split - 8 x 10 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Code# PK_15_044

Available Click Here

Here is what I made after doing the painting:
Modak: my favorite too and I make them only once a year during this festival time.

Modak

Modak Offering for Ganesha

Healthy Choices - SOLD

This is a custom painting based on 30 paintings in 30 days challenge I did in January. This time, I set up the still life outdoors in my front yard, keeping the table in full mid afternoon sun. Even though I stood in the shade and painted, it became very hot. Since there are more objects in the painting, it was taking me long to paint. After about 3 hours, I was not approx close to half done. But the light had changed, the shadow had changed a lot and I was getting tired. So brought everything inside and took rest. The next day I decided to complete the painting in my studio from the reference picture. Its drying on my shelf now and will be on its way to India by end of this month!!

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Healthy Choices - 14 x 11 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

SOLD

Exotic Pink Plumeria

Flowers are my favorite for painting and this exotic Pink Plumeria caught my attention while browsing through reference pictures for painting. I liked the play of light and shadow on the flower. In my painting I tried to paint this light and shadow on the flower.

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Exotic Pink Plumeria - 7 x 11 inches, Watercolor on Arches paper

Code# PK_15_043

Available Here

In different cultures, there is different symbolic meaning for Plumeria flowers and it was interesting to read from ehow:

Hawaiian Meaning
For Hawaiians, plumeria represents perfection and the bond between everything good. In addition, plumeria is the symbol of new life, springtime and re-creation of the nature.

Chinese Meaning
In China, plumeria flowers are tokens of love. Chinese consider plumerias even more precious than orchids.

Hindu Meaning
In Hindu culture, plumeria flowers represent loyalty, and young brides wear plumerias in their hair on their wedding day to show their loyalty to their new husbands.

Vietnamese Meaning
In Vietnam, plumeria is the flower of the educated and westernized upper class. Therefore, plumeria flowers are used to show status in society.