“I like to draw animals that don’t want to stay between the lines”, says Iantha, a budding artist, whose work we absolutely adore. She creates fun and vibrant artwork using color pencils, watercolors and sketching pencils as her mediums of choice. A resident of Durban, South Africa, this young artist loves creating “cute and funny” illustrations. Her work is vibrant and expressive, and most importantly, absolutely illusive.

Animals That Don't Want To Stay In Between The Lines

Check out some of her fascinating art below:

Previous Editions: A for Abstract Art | Z for Zeng Jing | M for MF Husain

This week in the Art of talking Art: Carvaggio, the town and the painter.

The name Carravaggio comes up often, often in important places. Under no circumstances should this surprise you. Carravaggio is an all-time great, a hall of famer, and a certified biggie. Someone you would do well to know better.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

(29th September 1571 – 18th July 1610) was an Italian Baroque painter with great influence both in Italy and abroad. He was born in Caravaggio (just outside Milan), Lombardy in Italy. He took his name from the village where he was born.

Self portrait of Caravaggio

Introducing Baroque

At this point it helps to know what Baroque is. Baroque relates to or denoting a style of European architecture, music, and art of the 17th and 18th centuries that followed Mannerism and is characterized by ornate detail. In architecture the period is exemplified by the palace of Versailles and by the work of Wren in England. Major composers include Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel; Caravaggio and Rubens are important baroque artists.

Careàs or Caravaggio?

Caravaggio, the town, is also known locally as Careàs. In its present form it is a commune in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Italy, 40 kilometres east of Milan. The Sanctuary of Caravaggio is its most famous sight.

Caravaggio in a nutshell

Caravaggio painted Roman gods and Christian saints as if emerging out of darkness. Most of his religious paintings emphasize sadness, suffering and death.

A well-known Caravaggio

Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio

The Death of the Virgin Mary is a common subject in Western Christian art. Nothing is said in the Bible about the end of Mary's life, but a tradition dating back to at least the 5th century says the twelve Apostles were miraculously assembled from their far-flung missionary activity to be present at the death, and that is the scene normally depicted, with the apostles gathered round the bed. A prominent, and late, example of the subject is Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio (1606), the last major Catholic depiction.

3-D and Caravaggio

Caravaggio is particularly renowned for his use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses light and dark to achieve a 3-D effect. He is also known for his bold, realistic style and the dramatic expression of his striking compositions.

David with the head of Golliath by Caravaggio

Caravaggio had an extraordinary influence in his time, as he turned European art from the ideal viewpoint of the Renaissance to focus on the idea that simple reality was of primary importance. He chose common people as his subjects and painted them in ordinary surroundings with extraordinary results.

Following Caravaggio

Caravaggio’s realism and chiaroscuro technique made a lasting impression on generations of artists, including Rubens, Rembrandt, Diego Velázquez, and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. All big names we will introduce you to in the weeks to follow.

The word ‘Minion’ means a follower or underling of a powerful person, especially a servile or unimportant one. Tamil Nadu politics, in particular, is well-known for its minions and their outlandish antics. From the looks of it, a ‘minions’ movie starring you-know-who and her minions would be epic. VJ Ragav from Pondicherry has created an interesting twist to Tamil Nadu's politics by using the Minionize Me app to convert its leaders into Minions that look shockingly like the politicians.

Karunaminion

Ammaminion

Captaminion

Vaikominion

Indian homes have lived with a history of bare walls. Typically, our walls sported a fresh coat of bright paint with black and white family photos, a mirror, a clock, and calendars sporting gorgeous colourful images of religious deities. These have been the sum total of our wall décor; barring perhaps the efforts of the odd enterprising ‘aunty’ who decided to do some cross-stitch samples and frame it, or buy a Van Gogh to ‘brighten’ up the interiors and add a touch of sophistication to the walls.

Well, no doubt we have come a long way in wall decorating. These days we have decals and theme walls, wall-papered or painted accent walls, fancy frames, paintings, prints, and art work to hang on our wallsl! But really, we can do a lot more! Here are some simple tips on how everyday products can ramp up a wall and add that touch of style and décor to your home.

Don’t look at it as a wall; look at it as a canvas!

Sit back and imagine. You need to get creative here, so look at your wall as a canvas - a space on which you can express yourself; subtly or emphatically convey your family’s philosophy; or make a charming display of collections.

I particularly love this stag print on a dictionary page. It is both unconventional and trendy, and can add a dimension of intrigue to a bright wall.

Stylish Stag Dictionary Art Print by Unabridged Dictionary Art

Work with the wall colour

Just as an artist tries to make a mellifluous composition, your walls have a lot to do with the way your décor elements look on them. When you are buying decals for instance, you may not get the same dramatic effect you see on the pack, when the decal is up on your own walls!

Branch of Love - Vinyl Wall Sticker Kit by Walldesign

Anything can qualify as a décor element for the wall

We tend to think that only items that have a little hook at the back should be put up on your walls. Not so! Look around you, and almost anything can be hung on a wall. A basket, a plate, a tray! A guitar, a keyboard, or a flute! You just need to get creative! These cane tray servers for instance, will look great on a burnt yellow wall.

Server’s Circle - Cane Serving Tray by Pawan Emporium

Make your walls ‘talk’

With a host of gorgeous quote decals in the market, this is easy to do. But go a step further. Incorporate a quote decal with a photo wall, or pair a coffee-lover’s decal with a strategically-placed antique collection of coffee mugs, or your coffee-making equipment.

Learn the art of grouping décor elements together

Bring out the beauty of wall pieces by placing them atop complementary table-top or ledge décor. Sometimes all you need is a pretty vase and flowers to make your wall décor piece stand out!

Go non-traditional

If you have a ‘bad’ wall – don’t wait until you have a budget to paint! Get creative by trying out decoupage on a wall. Frame a sari and hang it up in such a way that it covers the bad patches on the wall. If you can paint well, then go ahead and paint on it, or hire someone like Abhinav. The options are endless!

Kafaresque Hand-illustrated Wall Art by Abhinav Kafare

Walls are those ready-made canvases that come free with every home. Use them to your home’s advantage. Happy decorating!

Blogger Bio:

Sharon Colaco DSouza is a professional content strategist, and runs a décor and design blog titled 'The Keybunch'. She lives in Pune with her family. She loves to travel and is always on the lookout for ‘treasures’ for her home!

In a time, where the Miami Inks and LA Inks of the world surround us, it’s heartwarming to see 3 Indian tattoo artists find themselves on Yale University Press’ “The World Atlas of Tattoo Artists”. As the author travels the world, searching for tattoo artists that can hold their own, she landed in India, and found Mo Naga, Manjeet Singh and Abhinandan “Obi” Basu. Hailing from Nagaland, Kolkata and New Delhi, respectively, each with his own style and skill set.

Mo Naga

Mo Naga, who’s set up in Dimapur, is known for his simplistic, understated and elegant designs. He has dedicated his practice to reviving the slowly vanishing art of tattooing as followed by the traditional Naga tribes. His devotion to rejuvenate this art form is what some might compare to a ritual.

Obi Basu

Obi Basu, a Kolkata resident, is widely famous for his intricate yet elaborate design skills, drawing inspiration from Bengali folk art called Patachitra and greats like Jamini Roy. He uses a mix of black and white and color to create complex pieces of body art. His work is what gives us #tattoogoals and makes us want to get our spirit animals tattooed on ourselves.

Manjeet Singh

Manjeet Singh, a true blue Delhiite, sets himself apart from other tattoo artists because of his expertise in replicating designs, whilst adding his own flavor to them. No one else in India parallels the way he uses color in his works. So a trip to the capital is a mandate for tattoo enthusiasts, who are thinking of getting inked.

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Every jewelry buff, regardless of belief, has dabbled with birthstones. Finding out what your birthstone means, how it affects your life, how being born in a particular month means there’s a special stone assigned to you and of course how good it looks on you, are the various questions that cross your mind. Instead of calling your astrologer pundit, here are your birthstones, but with a twist, by Vedka, on those bulky gold ones with a little stone sitting atop it.

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January: Garnet

Rough Garnet 18K Gold Plated Ring by Vedka

Garnet is mined in a variety of colors and it represents trust and friendship. Stackable rings have been doing the rounds, so why not add your birthstone to the mix?

February: Amethyst

Amethyst Earrings by Vedka

Amethyst is a gorgeous stone by itself, but with these earrings you can keep your birthstone close to you without being ostentatious.

March: Aquamarine

Aquamarine Pendant by Vedka

Aquamarine is the most alluring shade of blue, in our opinion. And a stylish way to wear it is, by having it strung around your neck, with a gorgeous gold chain.

April: Diamond

Herkimer Diamond Ring by Vedka

Diamonds don’t always have to be flashy, keep it simple with this statement-making ring, where the diamond is paired with a somber onyx.

May: Emerald

Emerald Bracelet by Vedka

Naturally mined Emeralds are the perfect way to accessorize your birthstone. Across the globe, the trend of wearing heaps of bracelets, add a lobster bracelet to the pile.

June: Pearl

White Pearl Ring by Vedka

Pearls are a classy way to accessorize, and if you’re born in June, you’re lucky. Wear a bold ring, like so, accentuated with Citrine and Quartz.

July: Ruby

Dyed Ruby Pendant by Vedka

Rubies are regal and sophisticated and for those born in July. Create a look with your birthstone, without being too garish, with this pendant.

August: Peridot

Peridot Hydro Glass Ring by Vedka

A striking ring in a striking color, for the August borns, helping you keep your stars aligned.

September: Sapphire

Sapphire Corundum Earrings by Vedka

Sapphires are known to reflect calm and collected moods, and this beguiling set is the ideal way to keep your stone close.

October: Opal

Dendritic Opal Ring by Vedka

Opals are pristine and immaculate and in this delicate setting, will add to your charm and grace. Worn singularly, this stone is enough to get the job done.

November: Citrine

Citrine Bracelet by Vedka

Cuffs currently are all the rage and if you have your birthstone attached, that’s just the cherry on your cake. Citrine is an attractive shade of yellow, which is subtle and understated, but elegant.

December: Topaz

Hydro Blue Topaz Ring by Vedka

Set in Rose Gold, this gem is absolutely jaw dropping. This quaint and charming ring would look fitting with any outfit, and at the same time help your stars shine.

These are cute and quirky ways to wear your gemstones, without the boring connotation, they always seem to bring with them. So fret not and try them!

We intend to take you on a journey into the exciting world of graphic design, enchanted by some of the most beautiful destinations. Our thirst for travel had us going crazy with colors, images, letterforms and exploring the depths of experimental type. We present to you "Around the world with type", a shout out to all the beautiful places and people out there!

- Rigved Sathe and Payal Jagwani, Design minds and students from the Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune.

And so we joined them for what turned out to be a quick and exhilarating trip around their Behance project.

And here’s what we discovered in a gorgeous and varied nutshell: Rigved and Payal are serious about Design and wonderful companions to travel with into and around the world of type design. The site is mind-blowing in the way it makes you change your mind about the way you look at seemingly simple type.

See how type comes alive with places and go places in the company of these types by design and art and imagination and creativity and similarly fantastic voyages of the mind.

These designs are definitely worth printing for keeps, which is also something Rigved and Payal will do for you happily. Thanks, guys. That was a great trip.

Take the trip around the world with type now.

How many of us grew up playing an array of dice games? Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly, are just the names of a few out of the hundreds of tabletop games we played as children. On family nights or game nights, we treated our siblings like our arch nemeses, only with the thought of winning in our minds. Even at our school funfairs, we played a whole bunch of dice games, (think 7 up 7 down). And to this day, even after having grown up, we are certain there is not a single household that doesn’t possess a pair of dice. Not just us, the Kings of Mahabhratha were known to indulge in dice games (remember the stories of Shakuni Mama, Duryodhan and Yudishthir?).

Paul Mandaiker & Sid Mandaiker, the creators of SP Dice, draw inspiration from their childhood memories of playing dice games with their grandfather. Even today, those are the memories they cherish dearly. So they thought of converting their love for tabletop games and bring them back with the dice. They have created wooden dice with brass inlays and have crafted the traditional hexagonal dice. They have also crafted the Pasaka, the oldest dice in ancient Indian history. This rectangular metallic die has 0-3 on it’s 4 facets, and reminds us of a major #TBT. All these dice come with snazzy wooden boxes to carry them in. Up your dice game with these cool dice, available on their Kickstarter page.

With Dhanteras upon us, we suggest you invest in a pair of these gorgeous wooden dice, and who knows they could turn into your good luck charms! Roll the dice, today might me your day!

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Meet Maria A. Aristidou, a painter who began to make waves when she started painting using nothing but brewed coffee instead of paint! Since then, Maria has moved on from coffee to using edible paint to create some of the world’s most famous masterpieces on cake!

To right now see what we mean, check out Maria’s Art On Cakes project, a collaborative project by Maria and Vienna Boutique (a charming artisan cake, chocolate, and confection store in Larnaca, the third-largest city in Cyprus, after Nicosia and Limassol).

Speaking of edible paints and Cyprus, you might like to check out some painterly images of Cyprus here. (Link to Cyprus gallery, if you wish to)

Apart from edible paint, the arty cakes are made using the shop’s famous chocolate recipe and covered in fondant, which provides the smooth “canvas” for Maria to create her beauties.

If that has whetted your appetite for more from Maria, dig into a Van Gogh, Munch, Dali, and Picasso by Maria below. And keep an eye out on her Instagram account for a Frida Kahlo, an O’Keeffe, and many more.

If you enjoyed this collection of cakes with vintage art paintings, you may also want to check our collection of canvas art reproductions here.

Some things in life you can’t get enough of and really miss when they’re gone. As supporters of all things handmade (and well-made) in India, we can’t help but wish the following makers would start making and selling their products again and again. After all, products so beautiful deserve to be with us for years and years to come.

And on that note, let’s meet the Makers we’d like to see back in action soon.

She Sells

Who is She Sells? She Sells is the clever brand name Jewellery designer Salonee Gadgil gave to her beautiful creations made out of gifts from the sea. Gifts from the sea? Allow us to elaborate.

Salonee Gadgil creates mind-blowing art out of the shells and trinkets and other interesting things she keeps an eye out for during the numerous walks she takes on the beaches of Goa, where she lives (thus the name ‘She Sells’).

Put simply, She the Salonee seflls (or used to sell) jewellery made with left overs discarded by the sea. It was unique, natural, and eco-friendly. We think it deserves to be back and a part of our lives for many more years to come.

You can see more of what she used to sell on She Sells' Facebook Page.

Small Idea

Shirali Patel is the artist behind Small Idea. Her ideas and designs are whimsical, quirky, utilitarian with a touch of humour and very realistic. Her work is imbued with minute and painstakingly applied details. Food miniatures, in particular, Shirali has a deep affinity for. She creates realistic miniatures in polymer clay, which are then custom-designed into unique gifts and products. Shirali has lived in Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and she draws inspiration from all these cultures.

Early in 2005, Shirali accidently found a new medium called polymer clay and fell head-over-heels in love with its versatility and ease-of-creation – a ceramic piece could take weeks to complete, but with polymer clay you can see the results immediately.

In a nutshell, Small Idea is a big idea that deserves more traction. You can see more ideas from Small Idea here. Indeed, we’d love to see much more from Small Idea.

Kaagazi

Kavya Agarwal, from Kanpur, made her mark in Ahmedabad with papers. In an era of technology, she had the courage to use her skills to recreate books, journals, scrapbooks, calendars, sketchbooks and diaries giving it all a designer edge.

A venture she started while at the National Institute of Design, she began by designing handmade books, using a different binding process like tie and dye on paper, leather binding, and more (their up-cycled Amul Tetra Pak books and coloured craft books are out of this world).

Kavya says, “Each Kaagazi book has a personality of its own, they are aesthetically pleasing and serve various purposes and functionalities with their different binding structures. Since they are handmade, these books are customizable in any quantity and to any extent for individuals and organisations.”

Essentially, Kaagazi handmakes khadi watercolour notebooks in different sizes for artists who love to put their ideas down on great paper. Their products are uncommon, gorgeous, and eye-catching. We’d love to see more great ideas on paper in real life from the creative people at Kaagazi. Keep making cool stuff, guys!

While Kaagazi products can be found in a couple of physical stores, we really hope these are available to a larger online audience. We recommend following Kaagazi on Facebook and look out for InstaMojo links appeended to their updates in order to make a purchase.

Fungus Designs

It grows on you, much like technology. Here’s a closer look at what we’re alluding to, Fungus Designs on Facebook.

A chemical engineer from Benaras Hindu University, Raghu Bhat, 37, has no formal training in design or aesthetics, apart from what his 14-year-long and thriving career in advertising and films has given him (Bhat was senior vice president and executive creative director at Contract Advertising, before he left to co-found Scarecrow Communications.)

Raghu won numerous national and international awards for his work in advertising. It was at one of these award shows (at Cannes) that, Bhat says, the idea for Fungus really bore fruit. “As a creative professional, I had found that the best ideas of graphic designers or art directors never saw the light of day because the client rejected them. I floated the idea of making use of these designs to a few of the artists I met at Cannes and I was surprised to find that they were most receptive.”

There’s more to Fungus than designer laptop bags. In fact, the Fungus’ business model is, uniquely, geared toward compensating artists fairly. “We give as much as 35-40 per cent of our profits to our artists.”

Now ask yourself, don’t your tech gadgets deserve a touch of style from Fungus? Doesn’t the young brand deserve to go places? They certainly do. These beauties deserve to be seen by more people. And we’d love to do whatever we can to help them get there.

He wrote in My Philosophy of Life, "When you dispossess yourself of everything you have, you really possess all the treasures of the world. Put even more simply, it means you really get all that is really necessary for you, everything. It will come to you." Keep that bit of higher thinking in mind this Gandhi Jayanti. And on that sobering note, let’s shop.

More than six decades after he’s gone, a lot has changed about how The Mahatma is viewed in India. The land of MK Gandhi has moved on from what The Mahatma preached. The idea of Gandhi does not seem to be a very inspiring one to very many anymore. That’s why, the pressing need for more thoughtful ways (like these ones) to help preserve in our minds, hearts, and our lives the memory of one of the greatest souls the world will ever see.

1. Write with the Mahatma

The Mahatma wrote a lot. He thought a lot. He had much to say. And the world listened. And read what he had to say. But he never wrote with anything so precious. After all, those were much simpler times. Perhaps this timely, loving and classy dedication to the great man will inspire you to pen down and propagate lots of Gandhi-like thoughts.

Mont Blanc - Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition 3000

2. Write in a Gandhi

Change is hard. The inspiration helps. Get inspired with a little help from The Gandhi Journal.

A5 Journal - Mahatma Gandhi Quote Cover Art

3. The Call of The Mahatma

The idiom ‘Ring a bell’ means ‘to remember or be reminded of.’ A pertinent way to use the idiom could be thus: I’ve never met Gandhi, but the name does ring a bell. Well, if you’d like to be reminded of the great man and his thoughts on days apart from just his Jayanti, the Gandhi Brass Bell is the way to go. Here you go.

Brass Gandhi Bell

4. The Art of Gandhi

Art has inspired great deeds. And so did the Gandhi. Bring the two together and you open your mind to the realms of higher thinking. Here’s to Gandhi-Inspired Art and great deeds.

Gandhi Quote Print: My Life is my Message

5. Ring in the Mahatma

“When I was traveling in Asia, somewhere in Cambodia or Thailand I found an extraordinary ring - ring of Mahatma Gandhi face. I brought it to home and started to produce more.” Get to the bottom of this extraordinary item and story here

Mahatma Gandhi face ring

6. Spin with Gandhi

“I see khadi dying. Hence if khadi, which is the main plan of the constructive programme is to be saved, it ought to become self-supporting. Those who do not spin have no right to wear khadi. All those who wear khadi must spin so that khadi may survive.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Well, not all of us can be Gandhi. Come to think of it, few of us can come even close to Gandhi. That said, we can all find ways to appreciate his extremely original and radical bent of mind. For it’s a way of thinking that can be applied to solve problems in every day and age.

This Gandhi Charkha, for instance, is a spare and beautiful way to remember how important it is to be disciplined and meditative to scale great heights in any walk of life.

Check out the charkha making process.

We are proud and pleased to introduce you to Subhasini. She is a poet, artist, gardener, and creator of live and luxuriant garden art. She takes photos with her iPhone and creates magical art with gifts from the garden and imagination.

Subhasini uses soil, plants, flowers, grass, and other elements from nature’s bounty gardens to make art that lives. Birds with flowers, mugs with petals, fish with lilies...and if you’re wondering what we’re going on about, it’s time you took a leisurely stroll in Neelavanam.

Previous Editions: A for Abstract Art | Z for Zeng Jing | M for MF Husain | C for Caravaggio

The South Africans are in India for the Gandhi-Mandela Series. It promises to be a difficult test for both teams, which is what will make it a most riveting watch. Well, since the flavour of the month is going to be South Africa, we thought it might be a good idea to look at a handful of famous visual artists from the Rainbow Nation.

Jane Alexander

Jane Alexander was born in 1959 in Johannesburg. Jane Alexander was first noticed during her days as a student, for The Butcher Boys – three life-size sculptures of strangely deformed men with animal horns, sitting on a bench. Since then the highly regarded artist has produced Bom boys and Lucky Girls – her interpretations of street children from Long Street, Cape Town. Jane Alexander also lectures at Michaelis School of Fine Art. You can read more about her here.

The Butcher Boys by Jane Alexander

Marlene Dumas

Marlene Dumas was born in 1953. She was raised on her father’s winery in Kuilsrivier. She now lives and works in Amsterdam, where she is regarded as one of the most influential painters today. Marlene Dumas chooses thought-provoking subjects to paint about and takes a unique approach to the way she uses the canvas. In addition, she likes to merge and mine political discourse, personal experience, and art historical references for inspiration. You can read more about Marlene Dumas here.

Self Portrait by Marlene Dumas

William Kentridge

William Kentridge was born in 1955. He considered among the top ten most significant contemporary artists in the world. William Kentridge is well-known for his prints, drawings and stop motion animated films, shadow plays, mechanical puppets, sculptures, and live performance pieces, and most famous for using only charcoal, with a touch of red or blue pastel, to create near-expressionist masterpieces that interpret the effects of apartheid and much more here.

Telephone Lade by William Kentridge

Bonnie Ntshalintshali

Bonnie Ntshalintshali (1967–1999) was born on Ardmore Farm in the Winterton district of KwaZulu-Natal. Bonnie suffered from polio as a girl and because she was not strong enough for farm labouring, her mother asked Fee Halsted-Berning if she would teach her ceramics. She was one of the original Ardmore Studio’s young ceramicists. She had no art background or training in art. Bonnie Ntshalintshali died of an HIV-related illness in 1999. You can get to the bottom of Bonnie Ntshalinitshali incredible story, here.

Lobola by Bonnie Ntshalintshali

Jacobus Hendrik

Jacobus Hendrik (Henk) Pierneef (1886 –1957) was a landscape artist and is considered one of the old South African masters. He had a very distinctive style that reduced his subject to a series of geometric structures, using flat planes, colour, and lines. Henk believed South African artists should have their own style and set of rules to follow, divorced from the English system on which art education was based. You can read more about this trailblazer, here.

Hardekoolbome – Bosveld by Jacobus Hendrik

So, there, you now have something apart from ABD, Amla, and Steyn to talk about with your South African buddies when you meet them next. My, won’t they be impressed.

Creativity attracts creativity.  And it’s no different with us, the creative folks at Engrave. Our makers will be exhibiting their beautiful work at all five venues of India’s happiest music festival, Bacardi NH7 Weekender 2015.

Over the past 5 years, Bacardi NH7 Weekender has brought us exceptional live performances from India’s top artists, interesting flea markets and food stalls, creating a true festival vibe. This year, apart from over a 100 bands, the festival will also feature Engrave’s Maker’s Market at all 5 Bacardi NH7 Weekender events; Shillong, Calcutta, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune.

Engrave aka ‘The Maker’s Market’, is an online marketplace for artists , craftspeople, DIYers and hobbyist entrepreneurs across India, with a happy mix of both rural and urban makers.

Expect to be amazed by a wide range of exceptionally creative products. From hand-woven baskets and beaten metalware, to funky tees, fashion accessories, jewelry, bags, art, home décor and more, this smorgasbord of unique products from a variety of makers will appeal to different tastes and design sensibilities of all festival goers.

Interact with the makers while you shop to get the true essence of the soul behind each product. 

So pack some extra dough and prepare to leave this year’s weekender with a truly unique souvenir. Watch this space as we unveil our maker line up for each venue. 

For more information on the dates, venues and artist line ups click HERE.

“At PinkBasket, we design and handcraft each piece with the style of today, infused with an emphatic Indian soul”, says Samiksha Mehra, owner and the brains behind Pink Basket.

Samiksha with the beautiful Pink Basket collection

Meet Samiksha, the zealous and driven maker behind Pink Basket. She has a past in Sales, Marketing, Production and Design in the jewelry industry and as a pet project decided to start experimenting by exploring the world of metals. She toyed with the idea of creating her own line of accessories, based on the ever-positive feedback and encouragement she received from her friends and folks. And thus, Pink Basket was born. She started setting up booths at exhibitions and was overwhelmed by the response. Thus, the next step was going online.

Quiso - Earring by Pink Basket

“The turning point for me when I was leaning against the chair, I sat back still unsure of the two necklaces we had just finished making. Something seemed amiss. They were lovely pieces but lacked panache- that final spice, which makes you stop and take a second look. Picking them up again, I closed my eyes in repose, then looked down at them dangling from my fingers. And there it was! Put together, the pieces fit perfectly - the yin and yang of a joyful new creation.” This was defining moment when she realized her true design philosophy. Influenced by nature and her wanderlust, she creates pieces that are inspired by her travels. She loves going on adventurous vacations, helping her find herself and not taking pictures. That’s strange, right? “We don’t take pictures of places, because we create memories with our pieces.”

Qa - Necklace by Pink Basket

“Silver is my favorite metal to work with, because of its weight, the look, the finish and its superior quality over other semi-precious metals.” Each piece created by her is handcrafted, therefore each piece, much like a fingerprint, is different from the others. She likes to create minimalistic designs that are rustic with a contemporary take.  She also creates products that are personalized and customized to the taste of the wearer. She has also dabbled in creating wedding favors for her clients.

Blue Bell - Earring by Pink Basket

Samiksha is a wanderer and her blog is a testament to this fact, and this is the driving force behind her creations. Find her elegant and understated products here.

Do you get excited at the sight of colour pens? Have you ever caught yourself standing outside a stationery store, drooling at all those wonderful little writing materials?

And oh, have you ever been scolded, or worse, dragged out of a store by your mum because you just wouldn’t stop filling the cart with stationery items?

Then my friend, you might have a bit of a problem. If you can relate to some (or worst case scenario, all) of the points below, then you might just be a stationery hoarder.

1) You get 20% off at your local stationery store at all times.

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2) You have more than five pens. Of every colour. Including mauve, for some inexplicable reason.

3) About half of the aforementioned pens don’t work — and it’s too much effort to figure which ones do. So what does your astute self decide to do? Keep all of them, of course.

4) You’ve shrieked at multiple people for touching your carefully curated collection of Staedtler.

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5) You love the smell of paper. Old paper, new paper, brown paper, white paper, ink stained paper, hell, even tissue paper and wrapping paper… primarily because everywhere you look, you can find a piece of paper, just lying there, begging to be thrown in the bin.

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6) You’re cheating on your local stationery store by getting 10% off at that other stationery store at all times too.

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7) You have so many notebooks that if you were to supply a classroom full of kids, you’d still have about two or three left.

8) You didn’t have an open tab at your college canteen, but had one at the college stationery store instead.

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9) You have highlighters of every damn bright colour known to mankind — and you walk around highlighting things all day. Hot pink, fluorescent green, bright yellow, and that one colour even you can’t describe. Snazzy…orange?

10) You’ve requested stationery instead of clothes or gadgets for your birthday and festival gifts so often that people don’t even bother asking anymore.

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11) Post-its. Those gorgeous little colourful pieces of paper that you walk around sticking everywhere because your forgetful self, of course, needs reminding at all times. You have them on the fridge to remind you about the grocery, in the bathroom to remind you about the toiletries, and next to your post-it collection reminding you to buy more post-its.

12) You try to get a 5% discount at a third stationery store and are actually crestfallen when the store manager blatantly refuses.

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13) Check your browser history. If half of them are links to online stationery stores, you should be slightly worried.

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14) Check your browser history again. If you actually bought stuff off most of those links, you should be more than slightly worried.

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15) And finally, look around your room. If you have more than two books, pens, pencils, erasers, or any other form of fancy, redundant stationery strewn across the floor, then well, do we really need to spell it out for you?

But hey, if you’re a stationery hoarder, it’s not that bad. There are worse things that you could be addicted to, right?

Unless, of course, you’re sniffing glue…

Blogger Bio:

Rameez Shaikh is a twenty-two year old writer. With a degree in journalism to his name, he’s an aspiring author with an absolutely astounding admiration for alliteration. Leisure propels him to read, dance, pen fiction and gloat about himself in third person. On weekdays, he works as a features writer. On weekends, he’s a Manchester United fan.

“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.”

The adage might be hackneyed, but it’s befitting in the case of art.

I mean, let’s face it. Is there anything more subjective than artwork?

It might be “a stunning portrayal of death in its purest abstract form” for one, and “Yeh kala sa, ajeeb sa drawing kiska hai bhai” for another.

There are cases, however, where beauty needs to lie not just in the eyes of the beholder, but also the cheque holder.

Indian artists have only really risen to prominence in the past few years. In what has been a bit of a gilded period, records have been shattered repeatedly as their paintings were auctioned for sums the general public might deem nothing short of ridiculous.

“But wait, how’s it ridiculous?”, you ask? Well, let’s just say that the cheapest painting on this list would cost you just a shade under 17 crore bucks.

While you have wet dreams about what not you could do with 17 crore Gandhis, we’d like to remind you that we curate artwork too (although ours is usually wayyyyyyyyy cheaper than 17 crore).

Today, though, we’ve curated a splendid list of the most expensive paintings ever sold by Indian artists, starting with…

10 — Saurashtra

Artist: S.H. Raza
Year painted: 1983
Year sold: 2010
Price: Rs. 16.51 Crore

9 — Man and Woman Laughing

Artist: F. N. Souza
Year painted: 1957
Year sold: 2015
Price: Rs. 16.84 Crore

8 — Untitled (Self Portrait)

Artist: Amrita Sher Gil
Year painted: 1931
Year sold: 2015
Price: Rs.17.51 Crore

7 — Untitled (Falling Bull)

Artist: Tyeb Mehta
Year painted: 1999
Year sold: 2014
Price: Rs. 17.54 Crore

6 — Untitled

Artist: V. S. Gaitonde
Year painted: 1982
Year sold: 2015
Price: Rs. 18.15 Crore

5 — Untitled (Self Portrait)

Artist: Amrita Sher Gil
Year painted: 1933
Year sold: 2015
Price: Rs. 18.28 Crore

4 — La Terre

Artist: S.H. Raza
Year painted: 1973
Year sold: 2014
Price: Rs. 18.61 Crore

3 — Mahishasura

Artist: Tyeb Mehta
Year painted: 1994
Year sold: 2013
Price: Rs. 19.78 Crore

2 — Untitled

Artist: V. S. Gaitonde
Year painted: 1979
Year sold: 2013
Price: Rs. 23.70 Crore

1 — Birth

Artist: F. N. Souza
Year painted: 1955
Year sold: 2015
Price: Rs. 26.90 Crore

Blogger Bio:

Rameez Shaikh is a twenty-two year old writer. With a degree in journalism to his name, he’s an aspiring author with an absolutely astounding admiration for alliteration. Leisure propels him to read, dance, pen fiction and gloat about himself in third person. On weekdays, he works as a features writer. On weekends, he’s a Manchester United fan.

Previous Editions: A for Abstract Art | Z for Zeng Jing | M for MF Husain | C for Caravaggio | F for Football

Football season is here and all over the world. In keeping with the spirit of the season, let’s take a quick look at the art of football.

Artist unknown, O Vincere o Morire (1950s)

We celebrate the underdog. And so we begin with one by the great artist unknown: A soccer poster ruefully commemorates the telegrams sent by Benito Mussolini to Italy's players telling them they must "conquer or die" in the 1938 World Cup final in Paris. Luckily for them, they defeated Hungary 4-2. Italy had won the 1934 tournament on home ground.

1950s Original Italian Propaganda Sports Poster, Vincere o Morire

William Reginald Howe Browne, Wembley (1923)

The other day we watched England beat West Germany at Wembley on the telly; the only time England have won the World Cup. That was good old England at good old Wembley. Speaking of the old Wembley, here’s a painting that celebrates another great day at the grand old Wembley: The building of England's Wembley Stadium was completed four days before it hosted the FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United on April 28, 1923. There was space for 127,000, but thousands more filled the terraces and spilled onto the field. Bolton won 2-0. The grand old Wembley was demolished in 2003 and replaced by the new one.

The BBC does a great job of making art interesting and getting more people interested in art. If you’re interested, you can get more on William Reginald Howe Browne here.

Umberto Boccioni, Dynamism of a Soccer Player (1913)

“Some people think football [soccer] is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.” ― Bill Shankly. William "Bill" Shankly OBE was a Scottish footballer and manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. He knew a thing or two about football. And so did Umberto Boccioni.

On Boccioni: Successive movements are simultaneous in the work of the foremost Italian Futurist painter and sculptor Boccioni, who synthesized time, place, and matter into vertiginous flurries of colour. His 1912 Elasticity, depicting the formidable energy of a horse, preceded 1913–14's "Dynamism" series, which featured the human body, a cyclist, and "horse + houses," as well as his speeding soccer player.

With stippled brushwork and kaleidoscopic color, the painting communicates the spirited energy of a youthful athlete.

Thomas Webster, Football or The Football Game (1839)

“Football is working class ballet.”- Alf Garnett. Alf Garnett is a fictional character from the 1960s & 1970s British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and its follow-on and spin-off series in the 1980s and early 1990s Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health.

Did you know? Association football, or soccer, evolved from the English 12th-century mob sport played with a pig's bladder and ritualized as a Shrove Tuesday festivity. Thomas Webster (1800–1886) was a popular Victorian painter of rural village scenes. In this one, and in at least two others, he depicts a rabble of boys bearing down on a nervous little goalkeeper.

Perhaps the most famous depiction of football from the 19th century, Thomas Webster's painting was exhibited at London's Royal Academy. (Oil on Canvas)

Du Jin, Chinese ladies playing cuju

Never count out the Chinese, right? Ask them, and they’ll say they invented football. Well, fact of the matter is the Chinese sport of cuju ("kick ball") originated as a military training exercise during the Warring States period (476–221 B.C.). Oddly enough, unlike football and its working class following, cuju evolved into an upper-class pastime during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220). This painting by Ming Dynasty painter Du Jin (active 1465–1509) shows female courtiers, apparently unbothered by their bound feet, playing cuju in a garden. Oh, those inscrutable Chinese!

The Chinese (as with many other things) were likely the first civilization to play an organized form of soccer under the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 221 CE)

There, now you know so many interesting things about the working class ballet that used to be a gentle pastime for upper class Chinese women with bound feet, apart from who called it the working class ballet. (Not Rooney.)

See how much we love football here.