Songs that make you sing

I rarely get to take a stroll in the big cities that I now live in and sit with my sketchbook and draw.
Last week, we went back to auroville to wind down for the weekend and a friend and I sat down to sketch our surroundings together - it is a distracted sketch, I have to admit . We were busy catching up and I was simply and happily dragging my brush across the paper. Such good times :)

It is sweltering here, but I have found this great mix of music http://8tracks.com/penkemeg/good-music-warm-weather-summer-fun . Its making my weekend so much sweeter ! Much love.

Leave you with this lovely quote, I dont think they are talking about the song really but more about life in general. deeper stuff :)

Reflections

We are but a reflection of ourselves

There is no beginning and there is no end.

Its the circle of life.

Its time for a change in the world and its people.

Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You may say Im a dreamer

But im not the only one

I hope someday you will join us

and the world will live as one.

Lennon

The Yellow Wood

Another workshop at the Valley School, I decided to go this time round because Ive always been curious about chinese painting (more so japanese painting, but I figure theyre similar). It wasnt the most incredible experience, but I really enjoyed trying something new and playing with the lovely inks and papers! 

Here are some pictures from the day!

charcoal sketch of a little bamboo plant

hold your chinese brush upright and make beautiful effortless strokes!

my random and unfortunately rather impatient attempts

tada! I was actually proud to see some tonal variations, sitting up straight with that brush was SO

hard for me! but I think id love to explore this medium. Its very poetic, and each stroke is so beautiful.

and I love love rice paper. I just wanted to swish ink around and watch it sink into the paper.

On a different note, Im reading this fantastic book, its called rich dad, poor dad- and I find that its come into my hands just when I really felt I needed something like it. Theres so much that nobody ever tells you when it comes to financial education, this book talks about making money without selling your soul. Its always been so important to me that I never work for money, but for the love of what I do. In the book, he quotes a Robert Frost poem - one that I havent read in a long time, and as things sometimes do, it suddenly makes such sense to me. Taking the untrodden path is incredibly hard - but I think you will find yourself wealthy at the end of the journey. even if not in riches, in living some incredible experiences.

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Flow of Life

Cover illustration for a book filled with fun party ideas for Scholastic-

Will be out in stores soon!

I cant believe there was a time when I used to worry about whether I would have enough work to keep me busy for the next month, these days Im frantically trying to hone my time management skills so I can continue doing the kind of work I love to do and work on some incredibly interesting projects. It makes my heart sing- all these lovely things that pop up out of nowhere! 

Weve moved to bangalore for a few months temporarily, and my newest obsession is with sitting in coffee shops and day dreaming with a sketchbook in hand and generally enjoying the fabulous weather that the city is blessed with! Im completely torn between the city and weather and everything else it has to offer and my gorgeous house in chennai, so decided to just sit back and enjoy things as they happen. The only way to make the most of life I suppose :)

New Beginnings

What a crazy way to start the new year. When nature lashes out the way it has in Pondicherry, it is.. humbling. It really is a reminder that we are just a little speck in the universe. Big trees all lying with their roots in the air. I feel really sad that the trees have got the worst of the cyclone, and that Pondi has lost about half its green. It soothed my heart to look out my window and see plenty of green..happily, my favourite tree which flowers white is still standing, but the others have been brought down. 

 from my window.

 fallen life

 the broken canal

Since I dont want my very first post of the year to be a complete downer, I think I should let you know that Pondicherry is full of life and back to normal in every other way. And we still do have a few trees standing. Energies are high ,and there is still plenty of hope. 

And i did have a marvellously inspiring trip to Rajasthan :)