Artist inspiration for the weekend

Two artists who I keenly follow, and who are sure to inspire you as well...

The Unskilled Worker

Self taught British artist Helen Downie usually goes by the above moniker, and has a super popular instagram account which led to her being found by none other than the fashion house of Alexander McQueen, followed by Gucci.
Her work is intriguing, eerie and complex.Colorful and detailed. Soulful and poetic. 

Here's this particular video of her story:

And don't miss exploring the entire story here at The unskilled worker.

Evelyn Tannus
Obsessed over this Brazilian artist's ceramic tattoed hands! ❤❤❤

I also love this lamp which could hold fort on its own on a dinner wagon or a side table in your home library. And these tattoed ceramic Greyhounds!

Website, Instagram.

Three groovy picks - The stylist's alphabet, graphic art and faux plants

Summer's almost here and the city's floral bounty leaves me smitten as it has every other year!

I am also deeply intrigued by these three finds this week, I hope these will feed your soul too.

(1) The Stylist Alphabet series of blog posts where Sibella Court lets us into the curios, mementos and elements she has gathered over the years, in alphabetical order. The most aesthetically appealing A-to-Z I'd have loved to read as a kid :-)

If you ask me, The Society Inc has one of the BEST designed websites - appeals to me at every single level. And of course, Court's book Gypsy is a coveted coffee table book taking one into a tour of the bohemian interiors in the Galapagos and Ecuador, Indochine, Turkey, Scotland, and Transylvania. 

(2)  The bold, minimal graphic art by London-based Malika Fawre

(3) Abigail Ahern's faux plants

The closest to natural flora as it can get, with that fresh, wild feel to them.

3 groovy picks - Rugs, Typography, Illustration

A silent prayer goes out to Nepal in distress. In the wake of the horrific earthquake, this news about IKEA's flat-pack shelters for the displaced, is beautifully relevant. More power to socially conscious design!

That aside, here are three amazing creatives who should fire your creativity this week...

(1) Carpets by Faig Ahmed. Love the way he breaks down the conventional structure of traditional rugs and randomly rearranges the resulting components of the traditional composition.

(2) Dana Tanamachi a whiz in hand lettering and effortless typography. You've got to start with this video of her personal project called Flourish, and go from there. I am bowled away!

(3) Assa Ariyoshi's graphic illustrations. Captivated by the way she blends bold colors, straight lines, and just the right curves.

3 Groovy Picks of the Week

Come Spring and Bangalore turns to one of the most beautiful cities to live in in India (forget the traffic snarls, and the pollution)... most streets are dotted by wild bursts of flowering trees. My daily morning walk to work is less hurried these days, I have to pause and take in the Yellow Cassia and Jacaranda in full bloom... simply makes my day! Just go through these digital illustrations The Flowering Trees of Bangalore by artist Megha Vishwanath and you'll know what I am raving about.

Alright, I am yet to get over this trio below...

(1) Justina Blakeney's latest book The New Bohemians, and its cover illustration by artist Monica Ramos (swoooon!)

(2) Bhang! An online store based in Chennai, India creating bespoke.dropdead.gorgeous.sarees

(3) This Color of Curry post by Deb, the Nomadic Decorator. I love the way it sounds "curry color" :-) its not yellow or brown or orange or what.

Have a beautiful week ahead.
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Three Groovy Inspirations of the Week

(1) Photography

Aya Cabauatan's photography is gorgeous in one word. This teenager's subjects are simply her group of pals it appears, but her work celebrates the lightness of being, most of her photographs glow like surreal. 

Her instagram feed _positivity has some serious magic for you.

(2) Cinemagraphs 

...  are images that contain within themselves "a living moment that allows a glimpse of time to be experienced and preserved endlessly." 

I LOVE this breezy animated skirt by Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck. Follow the link for more!






(3) Illustrated Book

This is the cutest I've ever seen, haha! 

BIRD BEAK BOOK by Oscar Bolton Green. "His immediate, essential style, with its patches of colour and clarity of line, shows how tiny hummingbirds stretch into the flowers to draw out the nectar and how graceful flamingo dips its spoon-shaped beak beneath the surface of the water."

I think having a toddler at home makes me listen keenly to the sound of say, a cuckoo, just to point it out to him and do a cuckoo call together! :-) And this "birdie" book totally sings to me.

10 Unmissable Textile Tours and Craft Tours in India

Are you the kind of traveler who loves a dive into the art and crafts scene of any place you go to? Do you love watching artisans create from scratch? Or learn ancient techniques of weaving, craft making, and watch experienced hands at work creating magic with their fingers?

Here is a list of craft tours and textile holidays in India that you must check out.

Sources (Clockwise from top): BoutiqueTours, MastyaCrafts, GoIndia.about 

1. Textile tour in Kutch, Gujarat: Kutch is a destination quite popular among art and textile lovers already. The Mumbai-based Neha Gandhi of Matsya Crafts can take you on an unhurried, customized journey to the craftsmen of rural Gujarat.


2. A Textile Trail in Kanchipuram by Breakaway: All die-hard Kanchipuram saree lovers must do this one to know where your "temple borders, checks, stripes and floral buttas" are coming from. Visit the traditional looms to see how your Kanchipuram saree gets woven from raw materials sourced from all parts of the country.  


3. Indigenous textiles, jewelry, and handicrafts in Delhi-Nagaur-Jodhpur-Jaipur by Prior Knowledge: This is a 12-day tour initiated by David Prior. Prior Knowledge is "a membership-based ‘travel society’ – a luxury service with a not-for-profit arm, focusing on truly unique travel experiences that highlight and preserve culture, rather than exploit it."


4. The Crafts and Textiles of Kolkata and West Bengal for the longer vacay-goers: This is 11 Days/10 Nights and is organized by Lost and Found Travel. Visit weaver villages around Kolkata known for their silk and cotton hand-woven saris, dhotis, jacquards, and jamdanis. They promise explorations of silk farming, cork carving,  textile villages around Shantiniketan, a community workshop for embossed leather goods, and much more.


5. Legends of Lucknow: A Craft & Textile Exploration by Breakaway: Let the words on the website speak for themselves, "Drape yourself in the stories that make chikan so delightful to wear. Let the divine fragrances of ittar transport you to the heavens. Allow the traditions of naqqashi to delicately engrave their way into your heart." And indulge in "Ganjing" - this is a term used to describe ambling and shopping in the wide lanes and bylanes of the city's Ganj market."


6. Visiting the Looms in Tamil Nadu by Breakaway: A journey to Tamil Nadu's vibrant and time-tested expertise in textiles through Kalakshetra (Chennai), Kanchipuram, Auroville (Pondicherry), Karaikudi, Gandhigram, and Madurai.


7. Bagru Block Printing Workshop, in Bagru, Rajasthan by Vedic Walks: If you're hard pressed for time in Rajasthan, this one is for you. It gives you a quick half-day with the bagru artists in their workshop.


8. A 12-day tour to remote tribal villages on the east coast of India by the UK-based Colouricious Holidays. This tour gives you a chance to "visit indigenous peoples in their heritage villages, making their cultural crafts for their livelihood"


9. Painted Histories - Rajasthan by Breakaway: Peak into lesser known art forms, their creators and cultures - miniature art, Bundi style of painting, Kotah style, the Kishangarh style and so on in Rajasthan.


10. A Brush with Nilgiris by Breakaway: The photographer, painter, traveler Mukesh Munim offers 2/3-day workshops in photography and painting (oils, acrylics, pastels). This tour also offers a stay at a farm "at the Khans' whose 22-acre property is a naturalists haven and who have also turned cheesemaking into a fine art". This is an ideal one for artists and art lovers who want to create in the lap of nature.

Don't you feel like packing up your bags and heading out now? Any of these craft tours in India could be an ideal exploratory vacation for a creative traveler, offering a chance to briefly immerse into our artistic traditions.

Three Groovy Picks of the Week

(1) Art + Photography

Antaratma by Elena Ray. Elena's stunning work is a visual exploration of a holistic universe using camera and brush. She is a "yoga student and desert soul" who lives in California. 

Clockwise from top: 'Hands of an Indian Dancer', 'Lotus Woman Meditation', 'Chosen', "Ringing of a Tibetan Bell'

(2) Creative Entrepreneur 
Ariele Alasko, a New York-based furniture builder and wood worker who crafts magic using plaster lath.

Follow her Instagram feed for some daily wood goodness with a consistent color palette that is earthy, rustic.

(3) Website with Artsy Recipes 
Erin Gleeson's The Forest Feast filled with simple, healthy recipes - the best part is Erin's photography overlaid with her type and illustrations.

(All images sourced from the respective websites.)

Frida Kahlo - a face that launched a thousand products

"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?"
Strong, eccentric, unusual. She needs no introduction.

Frida Kahlo

There seems to be no painter as inspiring for product design as the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
It is AMAZING how her persona has endured several decades and that she is still a huge inspiration to artists world over.

Here's where you can buy her work at Artsy... I for one, am dying to have one of her works occupy pride of place on my wall.

Kahlo would smile in her grave (or would she) if she knew that even today she gets painted on canvases, and painted all over again in various moods, or becomes cover girl on pillows, clothes, toys, cards, mugs, fashion accessories, kitchen towels, bags, ..., ..., !!

Frida mini-calendar bookmark cards by DanitaArt on Etsy

Forty Fridas by Ellen Heck. A series of woodcuts and drypoints of different women dressed to look like Frida

Inspired home interiors!

Posters, tees, post cards, cloth pouches, mugs by The Good Mood Factory

Cushion covers by TwentySevenPalms

Beautiful styling and photography. (I know not the photographer)

Cushion by HeatherGallerArt

Who wouldn't want a legacy as fun and colorful as this?
Do you own, have you done, or have you come across any Frida-inspired work? All ears.
Meanwhile here's something you could check out, the first is a treasure chest of Kahlo's work, and the other is a fictional biography with Kahlo's authentic, sensuous recipes which I am definitely stalking!
(Click on the pictures to head to their rightful sources.)