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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Trunk Full of Memories

Decorating at times is a way of keeping trunk full of memories alive! 

For me an object is something living. So is the box you see in the picture [Figure 1]. This box contains a secret life much more intense than that of certain human beings. Probably!

Figure 1

So what is the story of this box? Those of you who have spent a considerable part of your lives in hostels must be familiar with a Trunk of your own. By the time I went to a hostel, Suitcases had conveniently replaced the mighty metallic Boxes.  So while I was packing my suitcases for my hostel sojourn, my father got very nostalgic, recalling his hostel days. I could see his enthusiasm as he shared anecdotes from his hostel days. The conversation finally ended with the revelation of the big secret - that he still had his Trunk from hostel days, hidden somewhere in the box-room.

Many years later, when I was trying hard to convince my mom, to let my stuff from hostel days be preserved as memorablia, I remembered Dad's hostel box. To my utter disbelief it had been relegated to the store room that majorly comprised of junk, or things left to be turned into junk. It was sad to see its state when I knew how precious it was to Dad, and I strongly felt that this was no way to encapsulate his fond memories, of the days gone by!

Thus began the task of revamping a Trunk!

I started off with a thorough clean up  of the box, inside out. Since the front lock was half gone, I removed the small metallic handle too. Next with the help of sand paper i eased out the rough surface, all over. Wiping it again with a dry cloth, I applied a base-coat of paint to the entire trunk. I really had nothing specific in my mind and as always this makeover was going to be impromptu, impulsive and an impatient one!

I found some painter's tape (sticky tape) and stuck it all around the box, making big geometrical shapes, mostly triangles, as the tape-lines crossed each other. I filled all the shapes with bright red, green brown and black, in no particular order. Wait for the colours to completely dry and you would find neatly drawn out boundaries around the geometrical shapes, in the colour of the base coat. I painted that with dull gold, in varying thickness just to make it little less organized. This is how the front of the trunk looked now [Figure 2].

 Figure 2

 Repeating the same on all sides, the complete look was a sight for sure! [Figure 3].

Figure 3

As you can see, there were no restrictions on the dimensions. The impulsive stroke of brush dusted with gold only making it a little shabby but believe me, no one has ever noticed it yet.  

I am highlighting it through zoomed images for you, so that you don't lose heart when you come across it. [Figure 4]

Figure 4

Finally it was time to give it a place of importance, back in the main house. So three brass Buddha statues were arranged in a tray and placed on top.  To create some more serenity for buddha a plant with thick green foliage is placed right behind him. A lamp to provide the illumination for the metal to reflect and spread the "light." [Figure 5]

Figure 5

I hung a vintage brass bell from the ceiling to complete the look [Figure 6] and on days when a little more drama needs to be created, a string of rice bulbs does it with perfection [Figure 7]!

                Figure 6                                   

                                       

    Figure 7

Oh yes, do I need to tell you how Dad feels when he sees the Trunk full of memories being the cynosure of everyone's eye! 

©Fursatnama 


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Magic Wand Called Decoupage

"Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life."

A simple quote that I keep interpreting in a thousand ways while adhering to it each day. On most of the days putting some life in supposedly lifeless things is the surest way to "make a life" to me!

So here is a saga of another such attempt, like in my previous blog, to reincarnate the typical boring plastic planters and make them come alive.

I took three of these small sized planters, which had come with some plants from the nursery [Figure 1]. Since the plants were already repotted into bigger and better things, these were simply waiting to be discarded, till their destiny took a sudden twist!

 Figure 1

I decided to try my hands at Decoupage this time. For those of you who do not know, it is essentially sticking pieces of paper or cloth on the object and layering it with several coats of glue.

I looked around for some bright options and found this perfect piece of clothing - a bed sheet lying unused since ages! It had distinct flowers in pink and light blue, and I started off by cutting out these flowers neatly, from the sheet [Figure 2]. 

 Figure 2

The "makeover" task began by giving a base colour to the pots. I painted them white so that the original pretty colour of the flowers is not sabotaged. But then the persistent need to "add colour to life" took over and I gave a bright yellow base coat to the third planter.

The next step was to stick these cutout pieces of cloth (the flowers here), overlapping cleverly, over the planters, layering each piece with glue. I took one portion of Fevicol and mixed an equal amount of water to it and mixed it well. This is the desi version of Mod Podge which is otherwise used for decoupage, in few countries around the world. Mod Podge is now available in India too but you actually can achieve the same through our desi variant. Remember to let each layer dry out before applying the second coat of glue. A final coat of sealant, in form of lacquer or varnish, gives it the sheen that you see in the picture [Figure 3], and the protection that you will see in the years to come.

 Figure 3

Honestly, the end result had me really happy. They had already acquired so much life in them. But I had started off with the goal of seeing them "full of life" so you can guess what the next step had to be - yes growing plants in them! 

I had this beautiful collection of cactuses (cacti to the Latin lovers) which had flowers going perfectly well with the colours I had chosen for the planters. So I had no hesitation in pairing them together [ Figure 4]. You can see for yourself how beautiful they looked together [Figure 5]!

 Figure 4

  Figure 5

Aah, I was spoilt for choices, to set these beauties in! The about-to-be-discarded planters had turned into objects of Cinderella's fairy tale, in less than an hour, and the beauty of it being - they wouldn't be turning into pumpkins at the stroke of midnight! For now, they find their place under a painting of women folks from the same desert land where these cacti hail from!  And boy, aren't they at home - blooming away to glory! [Figure 6]

 

Figure 6

©Fursatnama 

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KindergarDen

I was home for few days and it being against my nature to just laze around, I decided to go back to indulging in what i find most exhilarating - revamping, an area, a corner of the house, a plant or just a pot!

Being an internet savvy person, it made sense to look for some ideas on the net. Predictably, i ended up on Pinterest, which has no dearth of inspiration. What caught my eye was this colourful picture [Figure 1] saved from boredart.com :

 Figure1

Being an avid fan of container gardening and a lover of terracotta, did not let me look any further. I knew what I had to do in my fursat ke do pal! So here is a detailed version of what followed next.

I had a stack of old, unused, terracotta pots lying in the store, collected on different pretexts - mostly religious ceremonies. I chose five of them, ensuring variation in shape and size. This is how they looked before I got on job. [Figure 2]

Figure 2

I decided to go for some bright colours- yellow and orange (aah you know how we Indians have this fondness for tadak-bhadak!) but purposely avoided green and red as it would then become very stereotypical! I chose the 2 shades of blue instead and stuck to brown for the fifth pot. I used fabric paint. Before painting, it helps to soak the pots in a water else it dries up the paint the moment it is applied upon. Once done, the pots had had a "makeover" in the truest sense! [Figure 3]

Figure 3

These pots were ready to enhance the beauty of any surrounding they were put in. They could be used on your study table to hold your pens and stationary items, on your dresser to stack your brushes and lotions or on the kitchen shelves as spoon n ladle holders! But my passion being making pots and growing plants in them, this is exactly what I did next. I planted them, ensuring different foliage and colour of plants for the five pots, and let them soak in a little sun till they found their roots in the new place. [Figure 4]

Figure 4

The plants were essentially low-maintenance ones which needed just a hint of sunlight to put their chlorophyll to use. So I could now move them to anywhere in the house and add some colour to the surroundings. I had this perfect place for them in my mind - a teakwood console table lying in the corner of a room, by the window! It being brownish red only made matters worse for me. Its solid presence always reminded me of that strict headmaster sitting in a corner of the hall, who had nothing interesting about him but his presence alone was enough to restrict others from smiling. So it was time to cheer "him" up! I tried putting just two of the "students" to this arduous task first. [Figure 5]

Figure 5

They did manage to bring some colour to "his" expressionless state but I realised it made them a little nervous. So to empower them enough I decided to let the whole "class" pounce upon "him" and the result is for you to see! [Figure 6].

Figure 6

Needless to say, it is one of the happiest corners of my home now. The mundane "school" is now a bubbly and cheerful kindergarten or rather I should say kindergarDen! :)

©Fursatnama 


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