Wednesday 20 January 2016

DIY: A Bell for Your Garden

Hello friends....
Have a look, what I have made few days back!!
I think you all know about my DIY passion as well as best out of waste craze. I have made bells using some small clay pots, which are used to serve tea in some local tea stalls. Those which are famous as chai ke kulhad. I have made these on the request of a friend of mine, who is not at all a DIY kind of person. She wanted me to make some bells for her balcony garden. With her permission I have taken few pics of the final product as well as the steps of DIY for you all. So without wasting much time, let's move to it's tutorial. 

Items Required
1- Fine Sand-1 cup
2- Cement-1/2 cup (I had white cement, so I used it. Normal cement can also be used.)
3- Sand Paper
4- Plastic Thread
5- Aluminium Wire /Binding Wire (can get it from any hardware shop)
6- Wire Cutter
7- Small Ghungroos - 8 to 10
8- Acrylic Paint
9- Paint Brush
10- Small Clay pot (Kulhad)
11- Small Ring (I used rings of broken key chains)
Step-1
First by using a piece of sand paper make the surface of the Kulhad as smooth as possible and make a hole on the base by using any sharp object or a nail or using drilling machine. With help of wire cutter cut few pieces of wires of around 3 cm length. Then fold the wires as the image below. Now mix sand, cement and water. Don't make a very watery paste. It should be thick like the cement mixture used in construction of house. 
Step-2
Now make small balls of this cement mixture. Insert the hooks made of wire when the cement is wet. Don't disturb the balls and leave it for one complete day to dry properly. 

When I made this, had no idea about exactly what quantity of the mixture is required, so I used 2 cups of sand and 1 cup of cement. First I made the round ones, but had some more cement mixture left. Then I made different shapes, that I'll use in some other DIY. For this project I have used only the round ones. 

(You can directly make the cement balls by using your hands or can wear gloves while making these, as cement can make your hand very dry and rough. I feel my beautiful gang of ladies will not like to take any risk *smile*. If you are not getting gloves then, can at least cover your hands with polythene bags or else after making the balls immediately wash your hand with hand wash and apply sufficient moisturizer.)
Step-3
After 24 hours the balls are ready. To give it a smooth texture I made a mixture of cement and water (1:3 ratio) and applied a coat of that. Left it to dry for 10 minutes. After this applied a coat of white acrylic paint as a primer coat. 
Step-4
After applying the primer coat, paint it in your desired color combination. 
Step-5
Now using the plastic thread, tie all the small balls and some ghungroos. I used six balls in each bell as per the demand of my friend. 
Step-6
After tying the last ball, keep a gap (less than the length of the Kulhad) and then tie a piece of small stick or a button on the thread. If we will not do this one top ball will completely go inside the kulhad and can't be seen from outside. Then pass the thread through the hole and tie a ring tightly at the end, as shown in the following picture.
Then the bells are ready and this is how it looks... 

I took few pics of these in my living room...and then they are packed and went to their original destination. 

Now I am excited to see how these will look at my friend's balcony garden....

Have asked her to share few pics of her balcony, so that I can share with you all. 
I hope you will find this tutorial useful and let me know if you have made anything like this earlier. 

I have also made an urli using this method before 2-3 years, have a look... *smile*

Tuesday 12 January 2016

Bengal Paintings Workshop By 'Heart For Art'

Heart For Art

India has had a long tradition of exquisite handcrafted products for centuries. These arts and crafts have been suffering from lack of patronage! Our artisans are losing their market and their pride. In this scenario Heart for Art Public Charitable Trust has now been setup to give our artisans access to the market and consumers the convenience of online shopping. Along with this it helps to reach out further to many more people by bringing the handcrafted products to people's doorsteps through an online store. Thus this initiative by Heart for Art provides opportunities to the artisans, contributes towards job creation in our country and for people like me who have a soft corner for handcrafted items a great convenient place to shop online. 
Trust's Online Store: www.heartforartonline.com


The Bengal painting workshop is an an initiative by Heart for Art to increase awareness about India’s art & craft heritage through one on one interaction between the artisans & the learners. 

Everybody in Mumbai or those who will be visiting Mumbai on the last week of this month, there is a golden opportunity for you to learn Bengal Painting styles on 31st January at Art Lovers Gallery, Mount Mary Bandra and those who are staying in Pune or planning to visit Pune in last week of January to attend Bengal paintings workshop at several city institutions, art galleries and cafes of Pune (from 28th Jan to 2nd Feb).

This is a golden opportunity to learn Bengal painting with Suman Chitrakar, a young Patua Artist from West Bengal. He started painting nine years ago at the age of twenty with his mentor Jagdevji. Suman has been creatively infusing new themes to the traditional art form to create a distinctive style of his own. Suman carries the lineage of ‘folk’ artists who paint long, vertical scrolls and compose verses. Suman Chitrakar’s artwork has featured in two books – one book on Bono Bibi of the Sunderbans and another on the life of Savitribai Phule published by Azim Premji University. 

Make and Carry back your own Bengal Painting!

To Register send email to info@heartforart.co.in

Or call Shashwat Menon at 93228 32138

Before attending the workshop let us know few things about Bengal Paintings 

3 types of Bengal Paintings

Bengal Pattachitra

Pattachitra known for its brilliant play of colours, is an ancient folk art form of rural Bengal (Nayagram village, West Midnapore) that has been in existence for many centuries. The world Patta is derived from the Sanskrit word Patta meaning cloth. The painters are called Patuas. Pattachitras are made in two formats: the vertically scrolled paintings and the horizontally scrolled ones, both referred to as Jodano or Gutano Pata and the smaller square or rectangular formats, known as Chouko Pata. Chouko Pata are painted on square pata or canvas.

Kalighat Paintings

An urban incarnation of the Chouko Pata in nineteenth century Kolkata (in the neighbourhood of the famous Kali temple at Kalighat) was the Kalighat Pata or Kalighat paintings. Kalighat Pata is an interesting example of how a rural folk art form reinvents itself in an urban milieu. 

Santal Paintings 

A very different style is to be found in the Pattas of the tribals – especially the Santals, the largest tribal community in India, who live mainly in the eastern states of India. The Jadu Patuas or Santar Patuas are a community of Patuas who have been living among or in close proximity with the tribals. The word Jadu means magic. The Jadu patas or Santal Patas (Santal Paintings) are associated with the rituals and rites, legends and myths, beliefs and prejudices linked with the life cycle of the Santals and the songs sung in the Santali language.
Don't forget to visit 
Trust's Online Store: www.heartforartonline.com
And hit the like button on
All Image Credit & Copyright: Heart For Art


Friday 1 January 2016

A New Year...with lots of positivity

May every day of the New Year 2016 fill with cheer and happiness for you and your family.

Happy New Year 2016

The New Year Morning at my Balcony ...

I look forward to 2016 positively…I pray God for more harmony, more peace, more love, more heath, more positivity for you all…and for keeping the mother earth safe and free from man-made disasters and natural calamities. 


On the last day of every year I sum up the whole year. 2015 - A year with a lot of happy, loving, caring, successful and unforgettable memories. Some sad moments, that didn't brought any good but taught a lesson and made me stronger. 


I am not making any resolution this year; only making a promise to find happiness in all small little things and not to worry about the things that are not under my control. I promise to evolve as a more better person in coming days. I wish this year to fulfill a dream..a dream that comes to me, I can touch it, I can feel it, but when I try to hold it...it goes away. I wish that dream to be fulfilled and prayers to be answered.  


I’m grateful to you all. I am far from perfect…not an expert writer, not even an expert about what I share on my blog… I am just a person who loves to be me…a person who loves to just give shape to my little thoughts and share with you whatever is beautiful to my eyes and my heart. I am happy that you loved my work…You’ve encouraged me and given me the confidence to continue my journey and make me feel comfortable in my own skin. 


Wish you all a great great great year ahead.........