Yellow - THE Colour for Home Decor

How wonderful yellow is, it stands for the sun! - Van Gogh

The colour Yellow is back in home decor. People who are apprehensive of bold colours like red or coral are finding it a vibrant, yet comfortable, alternative. The research team of Asian Paints Colour Next has declared it the colour of the year 2018 - the exact name being Passion Flower (shade X107 in their catalogue). Apart from this there are several other popular shades of yellow – Mango Mood and Turmeric being popular amidst the brighter options (http://colournext.asianpaints.com/colour-of-the-year/).

Yellow can work well as the main colour as well as an accent colour to other colours. It can be used on the walls or on accessories, indoors as well as outdoors, to accentuate the look.

    

Yellow walls form the most refreshing backdrop when accessorised with white and greens. 

In a setting where dark heavy furniture dominate the scene, the yellow on the wall helps reduce the sternness by offering the perfect contrast and is surely a mood up-lifter.

Bright Lemon-Yellow walls are the best alternative to striking red or orange walls as they are vibrant but not quite as strong or dark. Throwing in some complementary colour like blue, in form of furniture or accessory, can surely enhance the visual appeal.

The lighter shades of yellow walls actually provide the neutral backdrop for bright accessories.

Accessories in one or more shades of Yellow can contribute to the home decor. The Golden Yellows can exude richness when matched with black or pure white or silver.

Mixing yellow with neutral grey is the latest rage, be it on walls or with accessories.

Yellow, along with orange and similar bright colours, is always associated with sunshine and invariably it manages to bring warmth and happiness - whether it is indoors, or outdoors!

Summing up the beauty of Yellow with a short but meaningful poem,

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet

She wore her greenest gown;

She turned to the south wind

And curtsied up and down.

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbor:

"Winter is dead.” 

~ A. A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

The pictures shown here have been taken from my Instagram posts:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fursatnama/ 

©Fursatnama 

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I Am Out with "Lanterns" Looking for Myself

"A lantern can give you light only when you light it!"

I have always been averse to the idea of reusing old jars of jam, pickle, sauces etc and much against the wishes of my mother, have ensured it is discarded no sooner it become free of its original content. Hence it was a shock of sorts when i found a bag full of empty bottles and jars, during a Deep-Cleaning session. This supposedly was being collected behind my back, since some time. 

Suppressing my rage I instead came up with some creative usage of these jars and my next few blogs will be giving you a glimpse of the same.

This DIY is all about how to easily stain the jars (no baking at 200 degree centigrade et al needed!) and make some interesting lanterns out of them.

To begin, I ensured the jars were clean and dry, having no trace of its original content, or labels on it. I stained the glasses using a super easy method. Just poured few drops of solvent based glass colour in the jars and rolled the jar gently, till every portion of it was stained. Do avoid any air bubbles in the process. Once done, I placed them upside down on old newspaper, for the colour to drain out.

This may require few turns of shifting to new position, for the  excess colour to drain out completely. Figure 1 shows the various stages of staining the jars.

Figure 1

Once the jars are stained draw some patterns on the surface using outliners. I chose a gold outliner for some free hand drawing [Figure 2]. It would have been easier and better if I had drawn the designs on paper before going ahead with  it but then I have little patience for such meticulous planning! If you are good with Henna application, you can just draw your favourite Arabic Mehendi-pattern on the stained jars and you would have the most beautiful Moroccan Lamps ready!

Figure 2

I let the jars dry well before moving to the last stage [Figure 3]. 

Figure 3

Using some golden wire I made tiny hangings for the jars to transform them into lanterns [Figure 4]. 

Figure 4

Now light a tea-light in each one of them and hang them indoors or place them strategically to add charm to your vignettes. The jars can be used as your brush or pen/pencil holder or just for knick-knacks! 

 Figure 5

You can hang them up in the patio or balcony to bring warmth and beauty to your outdoors.

My favourite though are the next set of stained jars that I made - the Turqoise Green ones. I have tried incorporating my mother's jewellery (Jadaoon Bajuband) designs on some of them [Figure 6]. Needless to say they are my prized possessions!

Figure 6

 "Unintelligible language is a lantern without a light!"

"Light is more important than the lantern!"

"You are not one, you are a thousand. Just light your lantern!" ~ Rumi

"If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way!"

©Fursatnama 


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Connecting the Dots...

What does one do when one's Sunday-picnic plan gets cancelled at the last minute, due to "unavoidable circumstances," while every one else's plan remains intact? Surprisingly enough I was quite happy about this rare treat of staying home, all by myself!

To make it perfect, the FM player was tuned to the favourite channel, a big cuppa of adrak-waali-chai organized and the laptop adjusted in my lap. It seemed like a perfect day to tell a story via Fursatnama! While contemplating between the "plots" of various story-telling options I had, the words of Douglas Coupland surfaced out of nowhere,

"Story telling is ultimately a creative act of pattern recognition. Through characters, plot and selling, a writer creates places where previously invisible truths become visible. Or the storyteller posts a series of dots that the reader can connect." 

The last sentence got stuck in my head - "Or the storyteller posts a series of dots....!"

Eureka! 

A series of dots it shall be!

Today's blog is all about connecting the dots through invisible links. I decided to work on an empty coffee-bottle - the empty "plot" literally, and create something that should "connect the dots" of a decor setting.

To start with, the coffee jar was given a makeover of sorts, using solvent-based glass colour. This was an easy trick to colour the glass, giving it a nice yellow tinge.

Next I used the back of a pencil, dipped in different shades of acrylic colour, to create the dots in a simple pattern. The colours were chosen, keeping in mind a specific purpose of the end product. Once done, I let it dry completely.

Lastly, I wrapped a jute string at the mouth of the bottle using some glue. This was given a coat of purple, to give it a finished look. I had a beautiful multi-purpose glass ready with me now. This could be used as Tea-light holder, a flower vase or a candle-stand!

The shades of the dots were chosen to make it a connecting piece for the bedroom decor which had silver/gray, cream/gold and purple/mauve as the three primary colours in its setting. 

As you can see in the picture below, the individual colours of the background were all connected by the colour scheme of this one piece, when I placed it at the footboard stool, along with some cream and gold tea-light holders and a lamp in the same hue:

I tried setting it up on the night-stand, with a mauve scented candle and was so happy to see the result:

 When I started off with this activity I had no idea what it would lead to but somehow I had a gut feeling that at the end of it all, something worthwhile will turn up for sure. Reminds you of the famous words of Steve Jobs on "connecting the dots"  - "You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect the dots looking backwards. So you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future, You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

What you see below is an affirmation of  what mister Jobs said!

©Fursatnama 

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S(teal) the Show!

As the old year rolls its mat to make place for the new year I too needed to make place for my "new finds" from the recent trip. The store-room shelves had to be scanned for articles that could be discarded but believe me, for someone bitten by the "makeover bug" it is not an easy task! 

The first such finding was a remake of a B-Prabha painting, done in water colour by me, that I had actually seen on a greeting card from CRY. It was an exact replica of the original and hence I was kind of proud of it yet it was still to find a place on the walls already occupied by works of painters of repute.

Next was a terracotta jug that I had spotted in an handicraft exhibition by an NGO. Discarding it somehow felt like disrespecting the hard work and talent of the underprivileged but in its current form somehow it did not fit in anywhere.

The Kathakali wooden mask, picked up on my kerala trip, had memories wrapped around it and hence was still lying around but never put up anywhere, probably because it was too bland for the surroundings.

With just few hours to go to the "31st Party" I hardly had anytime so here is a quick-fix done. I gave the terracota jug a quick coat of a neither-bright-nor-dull shade of teal, primarily because it had to match the painting which used similar teal shade as backdrop. I can always work on it further but as of now I decided to keep it simple. 

The kathakali mask was given the same blue and green shade that was there in the painting so that together the three things formed a homogenous cluster.

The before and after of the makeover of the jug and the mask is for you to see. 

Its wonderful to see how a dash of colour can bring in so much life into lifeless things. I guess the "nasha" of makeover is primarily for this joy derived out of transforming non-descript things. So I had two perfect accompaniments for my painting. The only challenge now was to find a place for the three things.

Though I firmly believe that books need no adornment yet I somehow felt they could add a little charm to a small book-shelf lying against one of the columns in the lobby. Few orange flowers in the teal jug just completed the whole look. 

As the setting sun paints some orange hues on the column, I manage to capture it in my cell-phone camera for you to see. What do you think about it?

Here is a longer shot but few rows of the books could not be captured in the frame still!

As I complete this blog I can't help repeating to myself what Virginia Postrel said,

By reshaping or decorating our outer selves, we express our inner sense of self. "I like that" becomes "I'm like that"....!

Meanwhile don't you agree the Teal jug actually steals the show! :)

©Fursatnama 

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Do KNIT Disturb!

"There was a time before I felt I was a blogger, when I was a yarn spinner and I just wanted to tell a story until it was over."

The colourful picture that you see is not a pile of yarn, it's a pile of potential. Having spotted the potential of a good story in them, I am going to weave today's blog or rather knit it up, around these very yarns of wool! 

Think wool, think knitting and the first person that comes to my mind is someone who has spotted this "potential" in the piles of yarn early on, and hence doesn't wait for a particular season to knit. She has no motive or agenda for knitting - it's a selfless act. She has no one in particular for who she begins her next piece of knitting - in all probability it will end up as a gift to some random lucky kid. She knits because it is very conducive to her thoughts. And when she puts down the needles, she writes for a while or works in her garden then takes up her knitting again.

For the first time, I am going to feature "someone" on Fursatnama, and to say I am really excited about it (does that mask my nervousness), is an understatement for sure! 

To feature someone I agree that my first duty should be to write a gripping yarn. 

Conveying a credible persona who make you feel what they feel, comes second. 

But all these rules are kept aside when I present to you 

Ms. Aruna Khot, 

a courageous lady,

a huge source of inspiration for anyone and everyone she comes in contact with. 

Being highly creative is just an inconsequential bit about her but then that is the reason 

she is here on this page today!

Here is her brief story, in her own words.

Her story confirms what Elizabeth Zimmermann claimed - "Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." Sharing with you a miniscule glimpse of her enormous amount of knitting!

In the rhythm of the needles there is a music for the soul.

"Once you start something don't stop until you complete it. Don't let excuses, problems, hardwork or anything stop you from completing it." ~ Sonya Parker

Sometimes the most beautiful things are in front of our eyes, and we don't even notice because we're either too busy or too afraid to take a closer look." ~ Katja Michael

"Knitters just can't watch TV without doing something else. Knitters just can't wait in line, knitters just cant sit waiting at the doctor's office, Knitters need knitting to add a layer of interest in others less constructive ways."

"There is practically no activity that cannot be enhanced or replaced by knitting, if you really want to  get obsessive about it." ~Meditation for Women Who Knit Too Much 

Aah....can anything be more adorable than this pair of booties!

Give a child the right shoes and he can conquer the world!

When choosing a pattern, look for ones that have words such as "simple", "basic", and "easy". If you see the words "intriguing", "challenging", or "intricate", look elsewhere. The warmth woven in here may melt away, amidst the complication!

"I make a habit of setting aside some time each evening to take out my knitting and work quietly on it, happily relaxing. I believe that it prepares me for sleep and washes away the cares of my day."

Hope it has been an inspiring treat to witness the spirit of  Arunaji, woven with the colourful knitting yarns! To me she is a Hero, because she is someone who is selfless, and generous in spirit, who just tries to spread as much positivity as possible. 

For those of us who have never indulged in this creative pursuit, remember, 

"....everyone has to knit when they're here....but not every person has to use yarn!" 

©Fursatnama 

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Bowl of Colours

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most."

~ John Ruskin

Today I noticed these clay pots in the Pooja room - the one I had used for growing Jau (जौ ) during Navraatra. But for the religious sentiments, they seemed to be of no use to me. They are not deep enough to grow plants. Also they seem to have a balancing issue hence they tend to topple to one side. Their lack of aesthetic value only reduced the possibility of recycling them, further!

An evening with no other engagements seemed perfect to indulge in colours. Here goes John Ruskin on the clay pots then!

Since the clay pots did not have much use I decided to paint them "bottoms up" which would even tackle the balancing issue. I cleaned the surface with a wet cloth and started off by making random geometric patterns on the back side. Next I picked up three bright shades of Blue, Yellow and Orange, and the result is there for you to see [Figure 1].

Figure 1

The second pot I kept the Orange (for the sake of continuity, in case I place them together) and added Pink and Green as the other two shades. [Figure 2].

Figure 2

I outlined each pattern as the final finishing touch and ended up with a vibrant piece of clay [Figure 3], supposedly a bowl, but painted on the back. I loved the final result but I was not very sure where was I going to use them. 

Figure 3

I had several options though. I could use both the pieces in my balcony garden, as wall pieces, amidst a dash of green. The pieces are such fiery bowl of colours that they would just brighten up any place they were put in! Aah that's interesting. Let me try doing just that!

I have this cream and gold wall - the painting from my "Benares" series. An off-white and gold Meera Bai placed amidst two antique boxes, again in cream, brown and gold, together make it all a li'l monotonous. So I decided to place one of the coloured bowls in this setting [Figure 4].

 Figure 4

The photographs do not do full justice but it really lifts up the mood in real! A zoomed in version [Figure 5] might give a better idea.

 Figure 5

A dash of my favourite spider plant in a pot of gold, completes the look!

 "When people show you their true colours don't get mad, paint a beautiful mural of life lessons and keep marching forward."

©Fursatnama 

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