Terracotta - An earthy experience

Terracotta- its an earthy craft. This connects with mother earth and nature. I think this is the most ancient craft in the  world. Archaeologists have found terracotta artifacts in many excavations.This craft dates back to the time of  Harappa Civilization . During excavation near Indus valley , many  terracotta artifacts were found:

Image Courtesy - Google Images

Recently in China also a huge collection terracotta Army dolls  was found, which is called "Terracotta Army" . You can read it about this Terracotta Army in this link.

Image Courtesy - Wikipedia

In India Bishnupura ( of West Bengal ) is famous for terracotta craft. Many temples are built using terracotta. Bishnupura is one of my dream destinations :-). You can find details about Bishnupura here . Even in Andhra Pradesh  terracotta is practiced as one of the major crafts. This is widely known craft, may be because the major resource for this craft is Mud, which is abundantly available.

I was eager to learn this craft. One fine day I found opportunity to learn this in a 2 days' workshop conducted by an art  institute. I always rejoice the experience. 

When I entered the place I could see all the terracotta artifacts displayed :

 

There were 15-20 people , who were enthusiastic learn this art. 

To start with we were given a ball of soft mud, with which we started playing :-). I remembered our childhood days, where we used to play with mud making different statues :-)

You can see here , how we were enjoying playing with the mud. People were not bothered about their mobile handsets also :-)

These are the small items I made , after playing with the mud for nearly for hours!

The  tray made by our   instructor.Isn't this beautiful!

The terracotta items shall be baked in the ovens at very high temperature. This baking gives hardness as well as the beautiful red color. We had to wait for a week to get it baked, since the oven was available only with our instructor . After baking the items I made had got beautiful red color , here they are:

The hand holding rose :

 

Some jewelry

A small Ganesha :

Overall the workshop was a great Earthy experience! 

Recently learning Batik painting , soon I will share about that experience also.

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Theme saree- Fire

This is another theme saree I have designed. Here the theme used is fire. This is creme colored crape material. Along the border attached a lace.

And with fabric paint , painted the fire like( hope it looks like fire:-)) motif along the border. Outlined the motif with machine embroidery. 

The blouse selected is matching with the border. 

And the matching jewelry for the same.

Few months back attended a terracotta workshop, so in coming post share about the wonderful experience.

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Ananta Fine Arts- Heaven for Handicraft lovers

You have already read about Gudigargalli-Kumta in my previous posts:

Gudigaragalli- Street of Handicrafts

A visit to a handicraft shop in Gudigaragalli .And in the last post about the shop  Ananta Fine Arts, which has a vast collections of artifacts.
 I could not share all the details in a single post, hence continuing in this post.

 The artists of Ananta Fine Arts make excellent Chariots.It won't be exaggerated if I write "Most of the Hindu temples of coastal Karnataka and Goa have the Chariots made by  them".

You will definitely agree with me by seeing these:

They are good in stone sculptures :

You will love these eye catching clay statues. 

This post will be incomplete, if I don't write about the legend behind the art, Late Shri Shamba Shet.He had got many awards and appreciations from all over the world. Few glimpses are here:

Have a look at the carved portraits of Smt. Indira Gandhi and Shri Rajiv Gandhi

Now the next generation is taking the art forward.
There are many artists and shops of handicrafts in this street.
 I'm proud of the artists "Gudigararu".

I could not post all the photos here. You can visit this link to see the magnificant works of handicrafts.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

A shop in Gudigargalli- Ananta Fine Arts- Heaven for Handicraft lovers

In my previous post you have read about Gudigargalli - A street of handicrafts.
Gudigaragalli- Street of Handicrafts
A visit to a handicraft shop in Gudigaragalli

Ananta Fine Arts is another shop in Gudigargalli, which really paradise for Handicraft lovers. If you don't visit this shop, in Gudigargalli, then your visit is incomplete.
During my school days, we used to cross  this shop, while going to school. Everyday, I used to peep inside, to have the look of magnificent world of handicraft. I enjoyed the view of statues of all Gods and Goddesses , which looked like Durbar of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Krishna, Rama , Sita etc. This is a part of my sweet childhood memories!
I wanted to write about this shop and the artists. But could not get proper photos. I requested one of the artists and shop owner Mr. Dinesh Shet. He shared the photos of the sculptures. So sharing the same with you. I'm sure glimpses will take you to world of art.
This is the shop:

Some of the wooden Mantaps :

Carvings are very beautiful

  

The lovely peacock on both the sides !

Divine Idols

They are the best when it comes to making of Chariots, stone sculptures and clay sculptures.

I will share about those in my next post.

Until then ,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana