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 :) 

Heartlight, My Mind Weeps

My very last post for the year! Were off on holiday (Yay!) tomorrow and back only in the new year!

A few weeks ago, I was feeling rather lost about life and wondering where it would take me next. A friend spoke to me with inspiring words, and I had time to think it over in a long train journey alone. I love feeling inspired, it is such a high and I feel so alive. And this sketch just happened while on the train, a bunch of doodles, and in it I say- Heartlight, my mind weeps for I follow my heart.

For no matter how much reasoning is done, in the end the heart has the final word, and only then do I find peace and happiness in my decision. Had a wonderful year of good decisions and I cross my fingers and hope that the next year only gets better and more exciting :)

This is an amazing time of the year, gifts and smiles and love all around. Big hugs, have a wonderful christmas and a beautiful, happy happy new year!

Magic Monks and a Ruby

a slightly closer look

I just about finished this illustration, which is going as the header of a website..would love to show you how its going to look but I do believe my client might not be happy if I launched their site before they did :) so lets call this a sneak preview! I'll let you know when it launches!

Sketching a Dream World

Another sample (my sample portfolio is growing). The story here is about a child reading a book and entering different worlds. This one still needs work, but then I decided to sketch it from another angle.

I really liked the way this sketch was going.. it seemed to involve the viewer more, and had a lot more breathing space around it. The magical world is the biggest thing in the picture as well..so I start to colour it in

The final sketch . colours and all :) The whole thing is done with pastels and colour pencils. I really love using chalk pastels, they are the nicest medium. Ive got a whole lot of little sketches waiting for me to work on them and finish them so I can share them with you, especially my deadly ego series which havent seen the light of day in absolutely ages. So im making solemn vows to do some of these before the year comes to an end! 

This work by amrita is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Smile for a Story

Im finally introducing you to the kids at Santhosha Nanban!(In tamil, this means''happy friend'').  They are incredibly smart, happy and sweet and I loooove my time with them, its great fun and hugely inspiring. I took tons of pictures from todays session, where Kanchana ( their full time teacher) and I told them the story of "The Thirsty Crow" and they excitedly started to illustrate the story! Ive just picked 10 pictures to share with you but if you want to see more let me know :)

the cutest crow

 Collage work from last weeks session, they absolutely floored me with their creativity!

We have about 20 kids in open school where Kanchana preps them for admission into a goverment school.

These are kids that have been found recently, in the middle of school year so theyre getting a good basic learning here! Almost all of them stay in the orphanage, and just a few go back to their homes in the evenings.

I mentioned before about what a lovely place Santhosha Nanban is, its an orphanage and they also educate street children and these kids are really well looked after, its been really heartwarming working with them. You can read more about them at www.sathoshananban.org.

Turn on your Heartlight

A friend of mine is doing something incredibly exciting. She is taking part in The Mongol Rally. They are going to be driving a car all the way from Italy to Mongolia!! 10,000 miles , mountain ranges, rivers, deserts and proceeds go to charity! They are also going to be putting up a website. And she asked me to create a map for their site that would reflect a feeling of adventure! So I created this map, inspired from the Gond style of painting from Madhya Pradesh, with a rather contemporary twist to it :) The sun, moon, stars, forests, rivers, mountains, whirling dervishes. I wish I was doing something as beautiful as this !

Neil Diamond once said, 
Turn on your heartlight

let it shine wherever you go

let it make a happy glow

for all the world to see.

So thats what we have to do :) Travel the world and spread the joy ! I could do that. Sometimes I think all i want to do is travel, just keep going. that might be the ideal life. Have a good week !

This work by amrita is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

A Little Bit of Hope!

In retrospect, things with my plan to do a chiildren's book are actually going well. I lost hope last week, but I am in conversation with a lot of good publishing houses and they all seem very interested! So hopefully I will have good news to jump around about soon. Meanwhile, I continue to make samples ! :) The illustration for this story is about an old Kashmiri man and his cricket bat workshop set in Kashmir.


The other little bit of excitement right now is that today is my first day working with a sort of Orphanage here in Pondicherry. They are called Santhoshananban and they take in street children and educate them, and also provide a home for orphans! Wonderful people and a beautiful idea. I am planning to work with the kids on art and stories! Lets see how it goes :) They seem like a very bright and happy bunch! I just hope I do them justice. Wish me luck!!


This work by amrita is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

A World With a Story

The sky, the sea, carved stones that don't realise they are old, but know that they are special.
The shore temple has been eroded by the waves from the sea, and the heavy sea winds. But that's what makes it so beautiful, almost soulful. While walking through it, I could sense the many secrets held within its walls. The carvings are almost not there. a figment of your imagination. Surrounded by the sea as it once was, how mystical it would have been. I haven't looked enough, but have to leave.      Mahaballipuram '11