Sunday, September 21, 2014

Creative Connections: Maheshwari Janarthanan.

Let's talk about my next Creative Connection: Maheshwari Janarthanan

She is an illustrator, an artist.
I had seen her work featured by many of my fellow design bloggers.
Simple, playful, magical and dream-like illustrations with subjects ranging from nature's flora to people.
I was piqued by her description of herself as a dreamer, mother-earth worshipper and healer.

Lady in the water...
K+S Wedding Invitation...

I was in Chennai, India visiting family in July-August this year and remembered that Maheswari lived in Chennai. I dropped her a line to check if she would like to catch up over a cup of chai. She was happy to meet and even suggested the venue, which I blogged about here.

A petite young lady, soft-spoken with a shy smile is how I would describe Maheswari. I instantly liked her. 

Maheswari says, "I believe my work is a mix of fantasy, mysticism and magic. It's a platform where I am able to express my thoughts and ideas about myself, the world around me and the world I want to live in.
A place where I can create my own fairytale and escape into my wonderland."

Love Poems…

"I love drawing people and most of my sketchbooks are filled with them(mostly women)."

We (I also met another talented artist there) spoke about our lives as creative individuals, things all three of us were seen nodding at, things about following our unique paths, our passions and our work.

Dreamer Tote Bags…

Apart from being a talented illustrator, she is a Pranic Healer. I have immense respect and admiration for people who help others. In a world where everyone is out to further their own interest here is a person who heals, who thinks about others.

Maheswari says, "The Universe' is my greatest inspiration especially 'underwater life' and 'space' these are things that calm my mind. I don't know whether I make sense but these are somethings that makes me both dream & be in the present at the same time."
   

The Sacred Journey...
"This illustration is about our journey, our experiences through many lives, many births.
God – Birth – Life – Experiences – Death – Reincarnation – Enlightenment – Oneness – God
I believe it’s a cycle, a process. We go through different lives, different experiences. We evolve, we become enlightened. We become One. We become God.
We are God."

As I dive deeper into this divine sea of her work, I find shimmering pearls that touch my heart and let's me understand this mystical, magic gold dust scattering artist.

Tree of Life…

The awakening...
Self realization / Nirvana - 'Kundalini Awakening' also known as 'Serpent Power' & the Lotus symbolizes Wisdom/ Divine spirit.

The beautiful Maheshwari Janarthanan.

A small photo-shoot with the Love Postcards she gifted me. A tribute to this gentle-soul, talented illustrator, whose work seems simple yet so profound.

Love Yourself…

Dreamer Tea Towel…

Eat. Love.

Dive into Love...

A series of 4 brightly coloured coasters…

 I love Rumi's work and here is an illustration by a kindred spirit, Maheswari.

This very aptly describes the Creative Connection.
"We come spinning out of nothingness scattering stars like dust.
The stars form a circle and in the centre we dance."
 ~ Rumi

You can find her work in her blog little one's doodles
Follow her on Facebook here
( Images style by Arch and Illustration by Maheswari Janarthanan. They are copyrighted)

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Creative Connections: Introduction.

Are we meant to meet the people we meet?

A question I have asked myself many times and every time it's a yes!

Through the world wide web I have virtually 'met' many multi-talented, creative people.
Photographers, Artists, Designers, Stylists, Bloggers, Potters and some amazingly inspirational people who just inspire by the way they live life.

While you follow these people through their http// addresses, you understand their style of work, their inspirations, their passions and when you meet or rather when you are meant to meet them in the real world the connection is instantaneous.
A Creative Connection.
A connection that enriches, brings happiness and inspires.

I have blogged earlier about my meetings with Vineeta Nair, Artnlight, Aarohi Singh, Art By Aarohi and Priya Sebastian, Priya Sebastian Illustrations respectively.
….and as I browsed through those posts I realised that one word that was repeated many times was connection!

So here is the new feature. Creative Connections.
Where I will be featuring a creative individual whom I have personally met in the real world.
Through my eyes. My perspective. My lens.
Here are some beautiful women, inspiring women through my lens.

Effervescent  Aarohi Singh...

Beautiful Vineeta Nair...

Lovely Priya Sebastian with her dramatic work...

Hope dear Rang Decor readers will connect for the new feature: Creative Connections!

See you soon!

( Images by Arch)

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Creative Connections | A new feature.


{We don't meet people by accident. They are meant to cross our path for a reason.}

What do you think?
Do share your thoughts.

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

MN Home Feature: Spring is here to stay.

Our Minnesota home is slowly coming together as we experiment with the colour palette, furnishings, textiles and vintage finds.

As promised earlier this year about sharing glimpses of our home as we make progress on various projects planned for it. MN Home Feature will be the heading under which you will find posts about our home.

I shared this frame of Dithi's painting of Maa flanked by the spring green coloured chairs recently on Rang Decor's Facebook page and I was completely overwhelmed by the encouraging response from the readers.
The act of buying Retro, Mid-Century-ish accent chairs from Macy's was a daring act for us design wise. We did have a choice of rust colour, but this delightful colour Mustard Yellow-ish, Spring Green-ish {call it whatever;-)} just made my heart sing!

We came home with these and they blended in beautifully with our other traditional wooden Indian furniture and furnishings!

Afternoon light on our vintage find: Candelabra placed on the coffee table.

The next part of the story gets more interesting. The accent chairs become the inspiration for highlighting our Tanjore painting & Oleography gallery wall in the Living Room.


Will it work?
Will it not work?
We weren't sure until the perfect coloured furnishing seemed to pull everything together and unify it.

The colour might not be everyone's cup of tea but seems to work well for us and adds that cheeriness that we crave for during the long Minnesotan winters.

Will continue to share glimpses of our home under MN Home Feature.
Do share your thoughts and will definitely appreciate criticism if it is sugar-coated;-)

(Images by Arch and are copyrighted. Please do not use these photographs without my permission)