Krishna-My first art work

Dear friends,

I am back from vacation! I had a great time with my folks in India! Had lots of sweets, visited temples, spent time with my family and did some shopping :). Overall the trip was relaxing and satisfying.

I have always admired my Grandpa's artistic works. While I was in India, I used that opportunity to learn how to decorate deities from him. I bought a black and white poster of Lord Krishna and tried my hand at adorning him with beads, velvet, pearl, stones and silk. The more I worked on this, the more involved and interested I became. Ain't he cute? :-)

OK. It's been a while since I blogged. I am still in the vacation mood. I promise I will get back to blogging and come up with nice recipes next week.

Hope you all had a blast on Diwali!!

Art Gallery/Store

Today is Akshaya Tritiyai. It is one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu calendar which brings us luck and success. On this special day, I would like to introduce a deity maker and decorator to you all. He is none other than my Grandpa, Mr. Seshadrinath. He is a retired school principal and teacher. After his retirement, his passion for making idols turned into a full time job. Over the years he has made innumerable pieces that have been a sell out. Apart from adorning idols, he also writes wonderful poems. He is really gifted with so many talents!

He began with the figure of Lord Srinivasa. Initially he was carving out the figure from thermacole and used cloth, zari and beads to beautify the pieces. Now he has started using ceramic, papier mache, plaster of Paris and plastic which are long lasting. The process then involves pasting of beads of various colors, sparkling stones, jewellery, silk cloth(my grandpa shops for these materials himself) over the mould. The devotees are awed by Mr. Seshadrinath's intricate works and authentic representations of idols. A huge image(4 feet tall) of Sri Srinivasa and Goddess Ranganayaki that Mr.Seshadrinath made recently is a masterpiece! Many hotels and famous shops(like GRT, Vasantha Bavan) in Chennai have displayed idols made by my grandpa.

Sri Srinivasa and Goddess Ranganayaki(4 feet tall)

Not to forget scented and sandalwood soaps he uses for carving miniatures of elephants and the like.

Lord Rama

Lord Muruga

Goddess Saraswathi

Vajrakavacham

Each medium-sized deity takes a month to be completed and the time he gets between one order and another, Mr. Seshadrinath utilizes to get earrings, neckpieces and zari for the deities. The price starts from $250 and varies from one idol to another. If you are genuinely interested in buying any idol, please contact seshadrimay1[at]rediffmail[.]com

A few months back, an article about my grandpa was published on Hindu.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/11/14/stories/2008111451330500.htm

All pictures are copyrighted. Please ask me first!