Painting of CROTON plants Foliage series

My fascination for the croton plant continues. Here is another one for the 'Foliage series'. This time I did whole plants instead of just the leaves.

Croton plants - is an original acrylic painting of size 9.5"x7.5".

Click HERE for a framed view of this painting.

Portrait of my Mother

In memory of my mother who had loved and lived well. Painting one's own family involves a lot of feelings. I just hoped to capture the radiance and love she always spread when she entered a room with her million dollar smile.

Painting of the Hampi Pillars-a traditional Indian scene

'Pillars of Hampi' is an oil painting of the pillars of the traditional great Hampi Temple. The size of this painting is 12"x16".

This painting is a part of the series called the 'Essence of India', in which I am painting the various typical traditional scenes of India.

In this painting the evening sun lights up the pillars of Hampi and also the coconut trees that border the pillars above them like a crown.

click HERE for a framed view of this painting.

New blog called 'Buy Usha's original paintings'

Hi all

Due to requests from my well wishers, I decided to start this new blog called 'Buy Usha's Original Paintings'. You may have to subscribe again to this blog to receive emails of paintings that I will be listing for sale.

Have a nice day!

CROTON - painting of colorful crotons a house-plant

Recently I had decided to deviate from my habit of using only subtle colors in my paintings and dared to use vibrant bright colors instead. What better subject than the vibrantly colored leaves of the CROTON plant.

This is a plant which has a kaleidescope of bright colors like reds and pinks, oranges and purples and vibrant yellows, sometimes all colors on the same leaf. Stripes and spots are also characteristic of this plant which is even kept indoors to liven up a living room.

CROTON is an acrylic painting on canvas of size 9.5"x7.5".

FOLIAGE painting of colorful leaves of plants

'FOLIAGE' is a series of paintings I am doing of colorful leaves and plants that I see when I go for a walk every day in our local park.

The evening sunlight seeps through the leaves making them transluscent, and adding to the vibrancy of the colors of the leaves.

This 'Foliage' is an acrylic painting on canvas of size 10"x7.5".

Abstract paintings of foliage

Foliage paintings are both done in the abstracted realism style. They are acrylic paintings done on stretched canvas of size 10"x7.5".

Project painting - 'Portrait of the Kaneri flower' - Oleander portrait

A 'Close Encounter' with a flower happened when I painted this close-up of the 'kaneri flower' - also called Oleander flower in English -  to send it as an entry to a project called 'Portrait of a flower'. This is an acrylic painting of size 10.5"x 7.5".

This April project was set by Marion Boddy-Evans - the Guide to painting on the about.com website. The about.com website is a New York Times Company undertaking, and is a treasure trove of information for many subjects including painting.

I am very happy to note that Marion Boddy Evans has liked my painting. She has especially liked the background texture created by variation in color and tones. She has made special mention of the shadow of this flower. She says that 'this is a shadow with visual intrigue in color and mark making'. She has also noted that I have not used black color to paint the shadow of the flower. I have infact used darker shades of purples and pinks to create the shadow.

Click here to view the actual painting that I had submitted for the April project and also the detailed comments of the project Guide Marion Boddy Evans in the about.com painting website.

Painting of young boys playing cricket.

'YOUNG CRICKETERS'- is an acrylic painting of size 16"x12", done in the impressionist style.

I felt that painting a scene of young boys playing cricket on the wayside was a must do for the 'Body Lanuage of India' series, as this is a very common sight here in India. So here it is.

In this scene note the body language of two boys playing cricket in the hot sun, one with bat in hand and the other probably shouting instructions at the bowler. This is a scene at mid-day, with the sun just overhead, and hence the shadows are seen just below them. Also notice the expression of total concentration on the boy's (with the bat) face, as he waits for the ball to be bowled towards him. Their cycle is also seen casually resting on the brick wall close to them.

Painting of Flowers Bougenvillea

Bougenvillea is an acrylic painting on canvas of size 15"x10" . This painting is done in a style called the impasto style. The impasto style technique involves using loads of paint. I enjoyed doing this paintg, using a painting knife, and lifting large blobs of paint, applied on the canvas to produce this art work of 'Bougenvillea'. Here u can see a guy handing over a bouquet of Bougenvillea to a girl.

Twillight Years- painting of an Indian couple

Twilight Years

Twilight Years - This is an acrylic painting of size 16"x12".
This painting is part of a series I am painting called 'Body Language of India' .
In this painting, note the body language of the senior couple seated on a park bench, with their legs folded up, and facing each other, and their chappals lying on the grass beside them. This is a lovely sight often seen by evening joggers at any park in India. This couple who are in their 'twilight years' are seen relaxing in the evening 'twilight' of the day.

Portrait of Shantharam

'Shantharam' is an oil painting of size 12"x8.5".

My husband willingly agreed to pose for a portrait I wanted to do of him on the condition that he will not pose unnaturally for it. So I took a few photos of him from various angles, even as he was watching his favourite Hindi serials on the TV, and did this painting. He conceded that it looked like him!

Painting of Thirst-Quenched cool sip

'Quenched' is a painting done in acrylics on canvas of size 16"x12".

This painting is part of a series I am painting, called 'Body Language of India'. In this series, I hope to capture the day to day beautiful scenes and the body language of the 'Indian people' we see around us, but do not have the time to appreciate.

In this painting note the body language of this young teenage girl, having a 'thanda thanda cool cool sip' of fresh tender-coconut water to quench her thirst in the 'hot hot' sun. I have done this painting in an 'abstracted realism' syle. The hot sun is represented by bright orange colors, and the coolness of tender coconuts by the greens.

The Wave

The Wave is an acrylic painting on canvas that was recently purchased by a lover of art. The painting is of size 16"x12", and depicts the coast of Kerala -India in the background. I have done this painting in a dual syle. Notice that the background is done in the 'realistic style', whereas, the foreground, which is the 'the wave' itself, is done in an 'impressionist style', showing the reflection of the evening sunlight on the wave.

PATTAYA BEACH

'Pattaya Beach' is an acrylic painting of size 16"x12". This is a realistic painting done in impressionist style.

This paintng is a product of my holiday spent at the beautiful Pattaya Beaches of Thailand.

FLOWER BASKET

Flower Basket is an acrylic painting of size 16"x12".

'Jasmine' and 'Genneri' (Indian name) are the major variety of flowers I use to do my daily pooja (prayers). These small flowers are very beautiful, colorful and convenient in size to serve flowers to God while chanting manthras. Last October when my garden produced a record bounty of flowers, I just filled handfulls into the basket and set up a still life setting for this painting.

TEMPLE GOPURAM

WISHING ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR. Lets start the New Year 2008 with blessings from the Almighty.

The first painting of the New Year 2008 is TEMPLE GOPURAM a painting of classic South Indian Architecture. This is an oil painitng of size- 16"x12".

This painting is a ground level view of the 'Chamundeeshwari Temple Gopuram' Mysore. Done in an impressionist style, I have used colors for the painting, although the original gopuram has a natural earthen finish and is not painted.

Water LIllies

Water Lillies is an acrylic painting of size 28"x21". I did this painting in response to a call for artists by the online art gallery called 'Galleryfront.com'. They had invited artists all over the world to paint on a theme called 'Peak Oil', which is a major global issue today after 'global warming'. It is about the depletion of natural oil from the earth, and how it has affected our living, eg. everrising oil prices, and destruction of earth due to unrestricted oil mining.
My paintings 'Water lillies and 'Red oil green earth' were both selected by Galleryfront.com, and published in their September-October issue of their art magazine. The online version of the printed magazine can be viewed in the -SCRIBD- that I have released in the post dated-10th December 2007. Just click on the 'SCRIBD' to view the whole magazine by scrolling!

'Water Lillies' --says that there may still be hope and we may find a way out of this global issue just like the 'water lilllies' that are growing in spite of the oil slick!

The 'Trinity Acres show' at Sarjapur

I am so excited to write about the show that was held at 'Trinity Acres and Woods' community at Bangalore, on the 8th and 9th of December 2007. I got to meet a lot of people and got to hear their first hand opinions of my painitngs.

For details of the show, visit my blog 'The Trinity Acres and Woods Show' blog.

View my paintings 'Green earth red oil' and 'Water Lillies' published in September-October issue of Galleryfront.com magazine.USA

A Christmas / New Year show at Sarjapur

hi friends

I have been busy preparing for the upcoming show of my paintings at Sarjapur. The show is to be held at the 'Trinity Club House'- in the 'Trinity Acres' community on Sarjapur road. Good friends Yoga and Champa have kindly taken up to arranging for the show along with my husband, and I just have to get prepared with the paintings. The show is to be held on the 8th and 9th December, 10a.m-6p.m.

All are invited!

So I will be posting only after the exhibition with news about the show, and also images of the new paintings that are right now getting ready for the show. -

usha

SMILE PLZ - FACES OF INDIA

Smile Plz - is an oil painting on canvas of size-12"x16". During my recent visit to see my father who is staying in a beautiful village near Madurai in South India, I had equipped myself with a digital camera, to click some great shots of the beautiful sceneries there. But what really struck me was the people themselves rather than the sceneries. The life style there is very slow and leisuely. Nobody is in a hurry to finish their work, nor tensed to get anywhere. They always have a ready smile for visitors, and ever ready to pose for photograhs! I saw this grandma-grandson duo washing clothes, and casually asked for permission to click a photo. They immediately gave brilliant smiles which could match only the sunlight there! I did not have the heart to tell them to give me a natural pose, and so clicked them as they were--that is in their natural themselves! So I was lucky enough to click not just the beautiful sceneries in the village, but the essence and mood of the people there! I am really glad to paint this picture, because I was able to live through the smiles and happy mood of the people as long as I was painting them. I hope the smile has caught on to u too.

Champagne and Roses

Champagne and roses are the best combination for a present on a memorable day. These roses and the champagne bottle were a present to me. I arranged the roses in a glass vase, and placed the bottle beside it, They looked so good on the dining table, that I immediately pulled out my easel and painted on a canvas. Thus it became a subject for my still life painting.

This is an oil painting on canvas of size 12"x8".

Bird Of Paradise

Bird Of Paradise -is an oil painting on canvas of size 21"x13".

This paintings is done in response to a painting project for about.com. It is done in the 'fauvist' style. Vibrant colors are used in an expressive way in this painting.

Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental Meditation- is an oil painting on canvas of size 24"x32". This painting is framed.

This is my facourite painting, because I meditate everyday and have experienced the flow of positive energies into self, driving out the negative energies. This painting is actually representative of the traditional meditation pose. The man/woman is seated in this traditional posture on a mat with hands resting on knees and fingers showing the mudra ( finger posture). There is much more to this painting, and I will be glad to interact and answer questions.

Kanchi Saree

This is an oil on canvas painting of size 13"x18".

I do love to paint sarees especially heavy silk sarees, which have a fall of their own. Kanchipuram is a small town in South India where this type of heavy silk sarees with real gold borders are hand woven. Hence the name -Kanchi Saree. The Kanchi saree is worn and preserved and passed on from generation to generstion because of its high cost and also because they do not degenerate easily. Yes you guessed right. This saree was passed on to me by my mother. Each saree is a masterpiece creation of the weaver, and I only hoped here to bring out the beauty of the saree.

SCENT OF A WOMAN - KANCHI SAREE

Scent of a Woman- is an oil painting on canvas of size-30"x22"-and framed.

This painting is surrealistic in style. Scent of a woman really means essence of a woman. As I said I paint from my experiences ( as an Indian woman). In this painting I hoped to have captured the essence of the Indian woman. The heavy-brocade bright, reddish-orange silk saree popularly known as Kanchi Saree (hand woven in Kancheepuram), the diamond studded traditional design nose-ring and the scent emenating agarbathis (incensce sticks) are representative of the scent of a woman.

BRIDAL WEAR - KANCHI SAREE

Bridal Wear - is an acrylic painting of size 36"x30".
The bright short colored (two differnt hues of blue here) heavy silk Kanchi saree (hand woven in Kancheepuram) with real gold woven border is representative of our traditional South Indian wedding dresswear. The long string of woven jasmine flowers is worn on the hair along with lots of bangles for the hands. A South Indian bride is dressed very colorfully. I hope to paint a figurative version of the Indian bride- some time in the near future.

Traffic in a Blizzard

Traffic in a Blizzard- is a mixed media paitning done on canvas of size 36"x30".

Heavy winds and rain was lashing against the window of our car as we drove home after seeing Christmas celebrations at a mall (Texas). The roads and headlights of cars were only vaguely visible through the glass. I did this painting in an abstract style using acrylics for rain drops and oils for the rest of the paitning.

Wet Traffic

Wet Traffic - is an acrylic painting on canvas of size 24"x30". This is a view of traffic as seen from the rear windscreen of a car while driving on a flyover road at high speed (Texas traffic). The roads were rain kissed and the sky still heavily clouded waiting to shed more rain. All this and the glare of the headllights of the cars behind us led me to try this scene on canvas.