A lovely start to a sunny morning

I go for an early morning walks.  Mostly it's me and a person or two. Since it is start of summer, it's bright even at the time I go. The weather is cooler as sun has just decided to come out. It bright but not yet sunrise. It is also the time I pluck some flowers for my shrine. It maybe some marigolds or rose or even wildflowers. Summer actually pampers you for choice. So today as usual I plucked some and finished my rounds to a bad grumbling in my tummy. It was one of those days I knew I would not be as lively as usual. I skipped my static cycle and before I went for shower, I sorted the flowers. And a bhrrrr. A desperate fluttering of wings. I was badly startled. And scared near the window. It would be glad to be out. It was an insect that came at night time at aaibai's place sometimes . It was a preety flat, grey brown with black dot on each wing. But it stank when squashed. Now a days except roaches ,red ants and centipeds I leave all the others. Even spiders (I clean the cobwebs though). Spiders incidentally eat roaches, so they are protectors. Distressing thy name is yours truly...so I took a shower and came out, to see the poor one still trying to get out. I tried to get him on paper and then leave him in balcony. But he wouldn't. Scared maybe...as if something struck. I closed a small container on him. Then I collected him and freed it in balcony. Bhrrrr and it was gone...i could see the spec and the urgent fluttering of wings for some time and then leaves camouflaged it. I gave a half smile. A calm descending to the core as I  went back to kumar gandharva's uthi uthi gopala....a lovely beginning to a day starting on tired note

Art confusion

After having enough of pointillism starting with a banyan leaf, then a ballet dancer and starting with a sunflower, I started searching for next inspiration. Honestly I got so tired of screensavers and cropping them, saving them. There were just so many ideas in pintrest that I really got confused. Should I try a Kandinsky or a Picasso or pop art was better.

This was after I tried my hand at madhubani, warli and kerela mural.

There were a lot and lot of inspirations and ideas for middle school?? High school??? And at times elementary school??? Omg....these kiddos learn art? Of artists? I came to know of Monet and manet only after I started studying french...when I was in 20s and I came to know of Kandinsky in name ( no art known) only when I was d oung advanced diploma in german at university.  Then there were music composers whose cassettes I got at rhythm house ( yes there were cassettes then). But that's it. And these kids get to learn all this at such a small age? Then I remembered I had been to an exhibition at a high school and rather than searching for right room, I stood open mouthed, gaping at all the art of students adorning the wide aisles of school (much to the impatience of my better(?) Half who verbally berated me) and I almost wish now that I should have clicked pictures.
Compared to that, our art periods in schools were either portion recovery sessions or the teacher came and told to draw the usual mountain, tree, cloud sun landscape or sometimes some such idea. My sis learnt contrast but how it came to being, the famous artists who did contrasts etc were not known.
 I gave two qualifying exams but i am yet to remember what we studied besides still life . A book (by Subodh Narvekar) was refered but not compulsory. I was always fascinated by the paintings in it and even tried block painting in it but it's only recently that I came back to art.
So now it's on me. There is so much to explore and I have not even tried 1/8 of it. But looking at all these inspirations,  I have planned at least my years worth of weekends , just trying art of one artist at a time. Not something that can take eons to complete but something achievable over the weekend.
Now surely my next list from India will include a sketch book or two.

Of birds and bees

I like bird watching and animal watching and given a chance, I like to feed them as well, trying to treat them as the family member. (Read cutsie squirrels , gander and deer).

I love color. Maybe its the borderline artist in me. And god has given the birds are deal of color. As if he took each of them and painted them one by one at leisure. A palette of shades and tones and no photograph or painting can draw it that beautifully like god's another gift to the mankind, the naked eye sees. So even if I paint a little and know a lot about photography, I read and research thanks to google about the bird seen.

India is a tropical country and wherever there is lush greenery, you see a deluge of beauty. I associate green parrots/ parakeets with my college where we could see a colony of them, especially in winter mornings, with their spring green long plumage (which is sadly cut off when they are caged and sold off). Chirping and chatting these free birdies spent their wintry days and me gazing at them, whatever idle gossip that took place around me just becoming white noise. I would be so mesmerized by them.

I associate sparrows (male and female,  both beautiful but both oh so different in coloring, even if they have brown in them, the male having black around the eyes and female having dotted wings) , and crows (both the smaller ones, with a dull grey face and completely shiny dark ravens or dom kavla in my maternal language ) with my birth home where there was a huge common tree near the balcony (which incidentally flowered in summer of cute pink flowers .....called mimosa tree...researched as I was writing). Common then but since Mumbai is fast loosing tree cover, they are fast disappearing as well. A not that common kingfisher was a welcome sight as well.

I will always associate amercian robin  with North carolina where I first saw it and was utterly fascinated with its golden orange brown torso, eyes accustomed to black and brown specks. Cardinal (state bird of NC) which I saw rare but was always mesmerized by its striking red body and american short billed pigeon  (whose hu..huhu...I always associate with NC and which I really thought belonged to an owl, till I saw this guy perched on a roof making that sound and made me giggle at).

Nevada pampered us with beautiful hummingbirds (blue one seen only once but brown one was a common sight). . I still remember the first time we saw a tiny bright blue orb which looked liked a butterfly on airplane speed. A very beautiful sight to savour and remember.

And back in new jersey, along with the usual mates of sparrows and crows, my eyes delight in blackbirds gray cat birds , grey heron  , egrets  blue jays (which when I saw for the first time, I stood right at the side walk, gawking at the pastel blue beauty. Of-course since there is a thicket behind our place, we see  robins and cardinals as well. There is a small stream which when it rains becomes a rivulet (which explains egret and heron as there are small fishes in the stream. Some people enjoy fishing there, though I wonder if they have caught a tuna or a salmon. Jokes apart, there I have seen ducks or mallards maybe Somehow  ganders with their population explosion have become an every day affair. .

You may wonder these pictures and why did I put them up but I had to do that for my own sake. I love to know what I see in my daily observations and something as preety as these birds are definitely worth than just a mention right??