Artist Profile: Kamini Raghavan

I kick-started the 'October Artist Profile Month' series with Vishal Misra here. I then realized that there are so many talented amateur (Please note that usage of 'amateur' is not an indication of the artists' abilities, but a reference to the fact they mostly pursue painting as a hobby.) artists in the blogsphere.

Today, I introduce to you one such highly talented artist that we all already know as Saffron and Silk - Kamini Raghavan. Kamini's beautiful home(s) have already been featured by some of my favourite bloggers- OUATT, Of peacocks and paisleys, The Key Bunch and Colours Dekor. But today, Sound Horn Please brings to you the artist behind the blogger/interior designer.

Kamini was particular that I mention that some of her artwork are copies of paintings she is liked. But her brushwork and paintings look so professional that they can't be dismissed as mere copies. I'm posting an original watercolour of Kamini's first to prove my point.

Her abstract women paintings are my personal favourite! Note her versatility with various mediums.

Kamini, Morocco or Turkey inspired?

Another set of her originals

And lastly her colourful Ganesha!

Also, do drop by her wonderful blog -her recent DIY post reveals that her creativity extends beyond painting!

Image credit for all paintings to Kamini Raghavan. 

Mark your Calendars: The Tribe Debuts

Ever heard of a 'Traveling Store'? It brings to mind visions of colourful tents, gypsies and exotic items from faraway places. You got lucky! There is a Traveling Store opening in India. Each of their venues is chosen because it is unique to The Tribe's concept.

Where: FLECCK photograhy. 416 . laxmi plaza . laxmi industrial estate . new link road . mumbai - 400053.
When: Saturday, October 16 from 11:30 am to 8:00 pm

For more details, visit The Tribe's Facebook page.

What appeals to me most about The Tribe, is that most of the artists featured are those who have pursued mainstream careers for over 10 years and are finally coming together to pursue their dreams. This is a dream that I know a lot of us have too. Even those of you who claim not to- I'm sure a whimsical part of you wishes you could drop it all to pursue your dream!

Artists/Products featured on their first show:
Bags by Peeps , Clothes by Lemon , Lights by Varsha Arya , Jewelry by Avantika , Home accessories by Meera Dabbir (Yes! The same talented Meera Dabir who was featured here before), Anklets by Gitanjali and Tarrot Readings by Komal.

Good Luck to all you talented people behind The Tribe!

Readers from Mumbai, do go and attend and let me know how lovely their 'concept store' is.

Artist Profile: Vishal Misra

I've spent many many hours, over the last few months, admiring the work of so many gifted Indian artists. I finally decided it is time to share some of these wonderful artists with you guys. I declare October, 'Artist Profile Month' on Soundhornplease. Now, I know I am making this declaration when we are already more than 10 days into October. I promise to make up for my frazzled last minute ideas by being less lazy and posting more posts :)

I kick-off the 'Artist Profile Month' with the extremely talented Vishal Misra. Vishal is a Chartered Accountant by profession and has received no formal training in art. But his amazing portfolio of work has been exhibited in India, Canada, the US, Japan, London and Dubai.

L: Goddess Lakshmi R: Mum Taj

I loved his Ganeshas series. I seem to have a soft spot for elephants recently. 

Figurative or Abstract- very aptly titled by Vishal. 

You can check out more of Vishal's work on his website. You can also follow Vishal on twitter. In case, you want to see an actual painting before buying it, given below is a list of galleries selling Vishal's work. 

The Artists Alley, San Francisco, US

Art Expressions Gallery, Dubai, UAE

Indian Art Experiece, Gurgaon, India

ArtTrax Gallery, Port Credit, Canada

Impressions Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada

Stay tuned for a sneak peek into many more talented Indian artists.

All image credit to Vishal Misra.

Jonathan Adler Pottery

Jonathan Adler is one of my favourite pottery designers. You can read his wonderfully/funnily written bio here. I admire the simplicity and elegance of his designs, starkly captured in white.

I've realized I tend to write fairly long-ish posts. So, this time I'm going to shut up and let his beautiful artwork do the talking.

His Menagerie line

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Decanters

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I loved this teapot called the 'Darjeeling teapot'

 

Loved the stuff so far? How about his cute Fishbox?

These mugs reminded me of Indian Madhubani paintings because of the way the suns have been personified.

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Isn't the seamless way in which he has caught the buckling of the bull beautiful?

Isn't the Giraffe lamp truly gorgeous?

You can check out more of Adler's pottery and other designs at his website here.

I hope I've converted you guys into Adler fans too ;)

This pottery post also goes out to Prachi @ Purplehomes who's blog I've been a fan of, for a while now and recently her pottery skills too!

Have a GREAT weekend!

All images credit to Jonathan Adler.

MaDtRiP: Manas Kunder

Today I present to you another uber talented graphic designer- Manas Kunder. I wonder what it is about graphic designers and bursting talent, first Neha and now Manas! Manas has started a new brand- Madtrip; selling tees, mugs, coasters and bags. He debuted, with a bang, earlier this year at the Kala Ghoda festival in Mumbai.

I'm going to be choosy and showcase my personal favourite Madtrip's 'Charater Wala' product line today. You can find Madtrip's other products on their Facebook page.

Loving the colours on the coasters!

I know I said only the Character Wala line, but sneaking in another favourite- The Mumbai bug

A sneak peak into Madtrip's new product line that is debuting soon.

To buy Madtrip's products or information on pricing you can contact Manas through Facebook.

All images copyrighted to Manas Kunder and Madtrip.

The Elephant Parade

The Elephant Parade is an open air art exhibition of life size models of elephants held for the preservation of the Asian elephant. Held in the streets of Holland, Belgium and London over the years, the Elephant Parade has raised millions of Euros for the Elephant Family charity- which is working with the Wildlife trust of India in preserving the Asian elephant. The Elephant Family claims that if the current trend continues, the Asian elephant will cease to exist in the wild by 2050. You can find more information on them here and you can join them on Facebook here.

Here are a few of the life-size elephant sculptures that were auctioned to raise money over the years.

Mythili Thevendrampillai's 21st Century Ganesh from the 2010 parade held in London

There is a Goddess Saraswati image painted on the other side, but I couldn't get a decent image of it.

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The one below is from London 2010, titled Cha-Chang reminded me of Indian Kalamkari and Batik work. What do you think?

Aptly titled Bali

 I loved this one with a very evocative 'Stop sign', titled Dead End by artist Kriti Arora for the 2010 parade in London

Its hard to pick a favourite, but this one with the lotus paintings on the feet and random devanagri script letters strewn about comes close to topping the list. Titled 'Aum' by artist van Vliet Inger, for Amsterdam 2009.

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'Suraj' by HH Maharaja Ranjitsinh Gaekwad of Baroda

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'Hathi' by Manish Arora

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 As I have SO many favourites, I'm going to present collages instead of going into the details. Too many that I liked!

L to R: Barcode; The very beautifully titled 'Colorfiul Hope'; An intricate depiction of Amsterdam-Dam and CSK- Sorry non-chennaites had to throw this one in as it supports both Chennai Super Kings and Elephants in one swoop :)

L to R: Isaac Mizrahi's Candy(Eye candy for sure!); Eli Krishna- this one is a favourite too; Fish n Chips- I loved the newspaper detailing and Fatima- this reminded me of a Kashmiri papier-mache box sitting on my dresser.

If you would like to spend an afternoon or lazy weekend looking through more of these lovely sculptures, you can find them here.

Apparently, one can buy miniature versions of these sculptures. I'm not really sure where they are available though. I have written to Elephant Family requesting for details, and I'll keep you posted on their reply. I can't afford to but a 6000 pounds sculpture but would still like to contribute to aiding the preservation of Asian elephants by at least buying the miniatures and I'm sure a lot of you feel the same way!

Have a lovely weekend! And do check back next week for more Artist Profiles that have been sitting in my inbox for a while now.

All images credit to the Elephant Parade.