Welcome to Minerva's World

Tibetan Ladies

2007-07-12T23:59:00.001Z

Acrylic on canvas, 20" X 16"

I started the first colour sketch of this painting about 2 months ago and then lost interest. Just finished it last night .... painted till 4.30am! From a photograph courtesy of Paul Tng. What I loved was the juxtaposition of intense sunlight and cold, youth and age ... and both of them lost in worlds of their own, the old lady happily chewing on goodness knows what, her mind a million miles away.... perhaps thinking of the days she was as young as her granddaughter and men from miles around would gallop by on horseback to court her .....

Finding My Inner Child

2007-07-05T10:18:00.000Z

Acrylic on canvas 20" X 16"

Yet another step on my creative journey ... this is my first attempt at painting with my non-dominant hand.

TRAPPED

2007-06-26T14:31:00.001Z

acrylic on canvas 20" X 16"

There are days I feel unable to truly be myself or do the things I want to do ........ that I am tightly bound by decisions made and actions taken in the past ..... that the course of my life is not within my own control but dictated by the expectations and demands of others, guilt, obligation, duty, rules, fear of condemnation, fear of eternal damnation ...... On such days I feel like one of those princesses in the old Grimm's fairy tales have been magically entrapped within bleak castles surrounded by thick bramble bushes, where to escape would mean having their flesh savagely torn by sharp thorns. On such days I despair of ever being able to live my dreams. I want to break free ..... I want to run away ..... I want to live in solitude on a quiet mountain top ..... but I can't ..... and I feel trapped.

This was my first attempt at self expression. I do not like it but I have posted it because it is an important step in my creative journey.

Some old pots I made

2007-06-14T16:03:00.000Z

These are my marine inspired pots, made about 3 years ago. I haven't been back to the pottery studio for ages! Much too long!

I love working with clay, the feel of it in my hands, firm yet yielding. I love the way my fingers shape it as if according to some higher will. I love the squishy, muddy feel of it when it's wet. I love going home and discovering mud in my hair, on my face and all over my clothes. It's a wonderful tactile experience!

THE WALL THAT DREAMED

2007-05-14T10:11:00.000Z

This is for Jibs, my own muse. He told a tale of a lonely, abandoned wall that dreamed and painted itself and then was lonely no more. Jibs always has a way of prompting creative visions in my mind. I started thinking, "What would my wall dream?".

Well, it dreamed that it was a portal to another world, a mystical world populated by magical beings. And that if people were only to look more carefully, they would see beyond its shabby exterior to the beauty that lay within.....

I created this on my PC with Paint while passing time one day. Initially I HATED it as it looked so much like my primary school renderings. But it's been growing on me so I decided to put it here. But I have a grander vision for my wall......

I said to Jibs, do you think this wall represents our inner selves? How we see ourselves? Or how we want others to see us? For me, it seemed that way. I thought Jibs' wall sounded a lot like him too. Dreaming all the time :D

Here's to you, Jibs! Keep on dreaming!

CONTENTMENT

2007-05-09T12:24:00.000Z

Chalk pastel on paper

MY FRIENDS AT YUMTHANG VALLEY, SIKKIM

2007-05-09T12:15:00.000Z

Water colour on paper.

I love prayer flags. I love the whole concept of prayers being winged up to heaven with every flutter. I love their colours. I love the way they dance gaily in the breeze. I think they say so much about the people who live in those parts of the world where they abound!

I really suck at watercolour, but I do love this painting anyway. Maybe because of the memories it inspires!

THREE MONKS

2007-05-09T12:06:00.000Z

Watercolour on paper.

When I met these three little imps, I had just come off a mountain. After a week of blissful peace, space and silence, I was having some difficulty adjusting to city life in Gangtok. It was noisy, dusty and crowded and I was miserable. But when I chanced upon these fellas at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, their joie de vivre was so infectious my spirits were immediately lifted. They radiated such a pure and innocent joy. I wish I was a child again!

WINDOW TO A BYGONE WORLD

2007-05-09T12:00:00.000Z

Watercolour on paper.

What is it about windows that compels us to look inside? There must be a closet voyeur in all of us.

Once, these windows looked out upon a world so vastly different from our own today. Who lived there? What were their hopes, their dreams, their loves, their joys, their sorrows? Sadly, they are gone and history will not remember them. Whole lives, lost forever.

This painting was done during my introduction to watercolour classes. I think I've deteriorated since then!

THE RED DOOR

2007-05-09T11:49:00.000Z

Acrylic on paper.

This painting is dedicated to Ranjan who has just finished his final exam at the University in New Delhi and is anxiously but delightfully counting the minutes till he is home again with his family in Assam. Ranjan, poised to take the next big step in his life. Where will destiny lead him? Will his parents allow him to go to art college? I hope so. He has the talent and most importantly, the passion, and these should be nurtured.

I love the symbolism in the painting. Red is of course the colour of luck and wealth to the Chinese. And red is all that breaks the almost monochrome scheme of the painting. The door represents the future, rich and rosy with promises. The 4 huge red lanterns represent the good wishes of his friends, Marielza, Niti, Jibesh and me. They are the biggest and brightest lanterns there. The mood is a little dark, sombre and mysterious (well, in the original at least. I notice whites and blues scan in much brighter than in real life), representing perhaps uncertainty as he contemplates the door and the next few steps which will lead him there. But the way forward is brightly lit and the red door and all that it symbolises beckons! This painting is for you, bhaity, and with it all my best wishes for the future.