Art by Prerana Kulkarni

1...2...3...JUMP

2012-01-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

I almost titled this painting as - Life is for having fun or Life is for enjoying! but 1..2...3...JUMP is the best I liked. There are lots of participants in the making of this painting - the jumping teenagers, having fun and someone who clicked their photo! Thanks to you all.
It was as exciting and fun to paint this as much as these friends jumping in the sand.
Let me know if you like the painting.

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1..2..3..JUMP! - 16x20 inches, Oil on Canvas panel

Tulip - Pink or Purple?

2012-01-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a miniature experiment - 3 x 3 inches oil painting. I thought I will finish this painting in a breeze. But no.. I realized that it is in reality harder to paint on such a small surface and so takes quite some time. I completed this in about 2 hours. And yet could not do it "alla prima" (- i.e wet on wet painting that is done in one single session). I could not manage to get straight 2 hours sitting time. I am itching to try this technique sometime...

click on image below to view larger (although you may then see it larger than its original size :)

Tulip - Pink or Purple? - 3x3 inches, Oil on Canvas

Sipping Cool Coconut Water

2012-01-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

How cool it would be, if on a hot summer day you could cool off on the beach, sipping some Coconut water and that cool ocean breeze! To me it would feel like paradise on earth!

Enjoy!!

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Sipping Cool Coconut Water - 14 x 11 inches, Oil on Canvas panel

The Boy’s gone fishing…

2012-01-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone and Happy New Year!

Looks like this boy is fishing in solitude. Seems like he is throughly enjoying himself amidst the shimmering water. Hope he does get a good catch!

I chose this reference photo on Wetcanvas weekly challenge.

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The Boy's gone fishing - 5 x 7 inches, Oil on canvas panel

A Beautiful Evening On the Beach

2011-12-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

Living in Southern California is a privilege, even in winters we have beautiful evenings on the beach! Here is an attempt to capture one such beautiful evening. Hope you like it as much as I enjoyed painting it!
I wish you the best of Holiday Season and a wonderful New Year!

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A Beautiful Evening On the Beach - 9 x 12 inches, Oil on canvas Panel

Fun On the Beach

2011-12-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

I finally completed this diptych painting. It took me time to get into the flow after couple months "dead stop" on painting.... So I am really happy that I have this one behind me.

I wanted to show tons of people on the beach - just like a typical day on Chowpati beach in Mumbai. But it was my first attempt putting in many people, so I am happy with the results.

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Fun On the Beach - 2 Canvas panels, each 8 x 10 inches, Oil Painting

As you can see below each part is a separate independant painting:

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Fun On the Beach - I, 8 x 10 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

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Fun On the Beach - II, 8 x 10 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

On My Easel - Work in Progress Painting...

2011-12-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

I am coming back to painting after a couple months break! Here's what I have on my easel right now. This is part 1 of a "diptych" i.e A painting done in two, individual panels with each part being complete in itself but when presented together forming a larger, fully integrated work. Part 1 is almost complete:

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8 x 10 inches oil on canvas

Part 2 still needs some work but I will post it here for preview:

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each canvas panel is 8 x 10 inches

Sunset Walk on the Beach

2011-10-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

I love the colors at sunset. It was getting cold, but we waited until we saw spectacular colors in the sky. Then within couple minutes all those colors almost faded out. Oops... I realized that I did not take a single picture! We did manage to walk for a little while in this tranquil atmosphere. It was fun!

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Sunset Walk on the Beach - 8 x 10 inches, Oil on Canval Panel

A Paradise of Coconut Palms - from Goa, India

2011-09-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

This painting is done from my own collection of photos. It took me down the memory lane. Fun times! - my Husband and I went on a trip to Goa. On the way to one of the beaches, we passed this paradise of Coconut Palms. Needless to mention, we stopped there to take a picture! :)

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A Paradise of Coconut Palms - 11 x 14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Hope you like it! Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

A Lonely Man on the Beach

2011-09-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

I am sure this person felt better after walking to the beach, feeling that fresh air from the ocean and inspired by the vastness of the ocean!

This one is painted using palette knife also.

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A Lonely Man on the Beach - 11 x 14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

The Playful Prints

2011-08-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

We go to the beach, for us the Pacific Ocean is the closest. But almost all the year round the water is very very cold - ice cold. Even the idea of dipping the feet in the waves gives a very cold feeling. But still looking at the magnificent ocean, the rythmic sound of waves, the fresh open breeze... how can one come back without experiencing the waters - at least by getting the feet wet in that chilly waters of the ocean !? This is the moment I wanted to capture in my painting... waiting for the first wave to hit on your feet, but at the same time moving a bit backwards as the wave is approaching. There is an excitement in that freezing cold feeling and once the first wave hits, it becomes a play to move forward in the sand as the wave leaves... and then move backwards as the wave comes again. Look down at your feet, and there is a pattern of your own footprints - very interesting.

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The Playful Prints - 11 x 14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Little Gymnast On the Beach

2011-07-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

It was sunset time, we reached Newport Beach. It was bit chilly weather in November and so very few people on the beach. Someone must have played in the sand before us, so there was already a rectangular boundary drawn. My daughter quickly made it "her" spot to show off her Gymnastic skills!

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Little Gymnast On the Beach - 16x20 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Life is Wonderful

2011-07-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

Looking at this fresh rose bud, I remember the quote by Albert Einstein:
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

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Life is Wonderful - 8x10 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Fiery Sunset on the Pacific

2011-06-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

The sunset came on the Pacific with kind of a fire in the sky. Interestingly it lasted for barely a few minutes and the sky was dark. I felt lucky to take a picture and then paint at home at my leisure. One day I hope to do plein air i.e painting live outdoors.

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Fiery Sunset on the Pacific - 9x12 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Ducks at Sunset

2011-06-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

Friends, here's another one from few weeks ago. Again the photo really doesn't do justice, the actual painting is much more bright. This one was painted as a wedding gift and absolutely fun to paint!

Ducks at Sunset - 16x20 inches, oil on Canvas Panel

Wedding Unity Candle Set

2011-06-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

Something different... I made this Unity Candle Set a few weeks ago.

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Wedding Unity Candle Set

The Unity Candle Ceremony is a relatively newer custom in weddings in the United States. It symbolizes the union of two families - the Bride's and the Groom's families. The above is a slightly different version, but most times there are 3 candles - 2 taper candles (also called as starter candles) and one central large candle. During the ceremony, one representative from each family lights the taper candle. Then the Bride and the Groom light the central large candle together using the 2 taper candles, symbolizing the union of 2 families.

In my set, I used 2 large pillar candles ( 3 inches diameter and 6 inches height). Painted the candles using Acrylic paints and a protective coating overall on the candle. Rest is just putting it together using decorative maretials. Hope you liked it.

The Parrot Fish

2011-06-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

This is an underwater beauty - the Parrot Fish! I wish one day I could see such sea life in person. But this one is painted from a picture that I got in wetcanvas reference library.

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The Parrot Fish - 16x20 inches, oil on Canvas Panel

About Parrot Fish from seaworld.org:
Parrotfish have thick, heavy bodies and large scales. They are found in tropical waters throughout the world and appear in a wide variety of colors, which may change depending on their sex, status, or maturity.

Dazzling Agave (pronounced as uh-gah-vay)

2011-05-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

Now here's my new experiment with colors! I took a simple green succulent and wanted to make it look abstract. Hope you like my fantasy -

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Dazzling Agave - 12x16 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

I tried to take the best picture here, but nowadays I feel its a challenge to take a picture of my painting. In person, the painting looks a bit different since one can see the depth of color and its variations. The camera doesn't really capture all of it.

About Agave: These kind of succulents are found in abundance in southern and western United States. It was considered sacred plant by Ancient Mexicans. It was a belief that the liquid from this plant purified the body and soul.

I thought this will be interesting for you all to know that the juices from the agave after fermenting, leads to the drink called tequila.

The District in Moonlight

2011-04-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

Here’s my second entry for the “Scenes of Tustin” juried show. This is a marketplace in Tustin called – The District Tustin Legacy. The beauty of this place is really at night, there is beautiful lighting with different colors.

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The District in Moonlight - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

My inspirational photo - as you can see I changed around things in my painting, let me know if you like it!

Lastly, I would like to say the taking the photo of the painting was very challenging, I did my best. But I still feel painting looks better than the photo of the painting. Let me know if you have any tips to take pictures of paintings.

Keep Tustin Clean

2011-04-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is the first out of the 2 paintings that I have prepared for the Tustin Art League’s juried show. The theme for this year’s show is “Scenes of Tustin”.
I had hard time taking photo of the painting, so I decided to post 3 pictures in different lighting:
click on each picture to view larger

Keep Tustin Clean - 16x20 inches,

Oil on Canvas Panel

Keep Tustin Clean - 16x20 inches,
Oil on Canvas Panel

Keep Tustin Clean - 16x20 inches,

Oil on Canvas Panel

My inspiration for this painting:

When I came to know of this show, I decided to drive around the part of Tustin that I was most familiar with, to take some pictures. The Tustin Marketplace and the Golf course was on my mind. In the midst of that bright and sunny afternoon, I drove around that area and told my daughter to click pictures from the car. As we were going on the Tustin Ranch Road and passing through the Irvine Blvd, I spotted a Trash Can and some trees behind in the corner, something about that scene appealed to me. I told my daughter to quickly take picture. And that was it… I had to use this one as inspiration for my painting.

For the composition, I really had only 2 things on my mind…

One – the rule of 3 - things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more magically mystical. Hence I chose to paint only 3 trees in my painting.

Two – the viewers eye somehow should stay within the painting, I think the Trash Can on one side and the partial wall on the other side serves this purpose.

I will be happy to hear your comments and suggestions.

White Cactus Bloom

2011-03-11T09:37:00.000-08:00

Cactus plants are to be found all around in the wilderness trail behind my backyard. I am facinated by the colorful blooms on these plants. The most common ones on our trail are currently bearing fruit - an oblong red kind of fruit. One day I am going to paint that too... But this one I painted from a photo reference on Wetcanvas forum (thanks to whoever posted the beautiful pictures!).
I painted this using the palette knife and using the new techniques I learnt during the January Workshop (see earlier blog post). I have the pictures of stages 1 and 2 below. I couldn't take a picture of stage 3 because it progressed so slowly, and somehow it looked so ugly to me that I was about to quit doing this painting. But filnally! I am so happy to be done with this. Hope you like it!

White Cactus Bloom - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Following are pictures of Stages 1 and 2. By the end of stage 2 as I progressed further, my flower was turning colorful. I wondered, is this thing ever going to turn out white... !? :) :)

White Cactus Bloom - Stage 1

White Cactus Bloom - Stage 2

Here's the inspirational picture I used for this painting. As you can see I have changed things around in my painting, specially the background.

White Cactus bloom - reference from Wetcanvas forum

From the Color Intensive Workshop in January 2011

2011-02-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

Here I am happy to post my studies from the Susan Sarback's Color Intensive Workshop in Jan 21st to 27th. These were some exercises I completed in "full color seeing".

First - Study of a Red block placed under light:

Stage 2 - Red Block Study

Second - This is a Study of an Orange

Orange Set up

Orange Stage 1

Orange Stage 4

Third - Study of an Apple

Apple - Stage 2

Apple - Stage 4

Here are my finished Orange and Apple:

Finished Orange and Apple

Fourth - Study of Bottles and a Pear:

Bottles and a Pear Set up

Bottles and a Pear Stage 1

Bottles and a Pear - Stage 4 - Finished Painting

Fifth - Study of Flower in a Vase:

Flower in a Vase - Stage 2

Marsh at Sunset - Palette knife study

2011-01-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

This is another simple landscape demo from Susan Sarback's book - "Capturing Radiant Light & Color in Oils and Pastels". It is all done using palette knife - new technique that I wanted to learn... I am enjoyong the experience using the palette knife because I don't have to worry about cleaning the brush while working with different colors during the painting session. Just wipe the knife with tissue and ... ready to go for the next color. In the demo, the painting is done is 4 stages and I decided to take pictures of each stage (except I somehow missed taking picture of my stage 3).
As the title suggests, this is a painting of Marsh at Sunset. The goal in this painting was to study the effect of light in the atmosphere using this simple composition. So here is stage 4 - which is the final painting.
( scroll down for stages 1 & 2 )

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Marsh at Sunset - 8 x 10 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Stage 1 is about simplifying the landscape into different masses using cool and wam colors as is done below. Cool colors are used for shadows and warm colors for areas with sunlight. Also typically local is not used in this stage.

Marsh at Sunset - Stage 1

Stage 2 is about refining the color masses, example greens are added to the bushes in the right corner and in the central marsh area as required. Cool color is added to water etc.

Marsh at Sunset - Stage 2

Stage 3 - Forgot to take a picture, but this stage is used to add further color variatons to bring about depth in the painting. Stages 1 and 2 were relatively simple. But I found Stage 3 to be rather fuzzy... there is lot of trial and error in this stage and yet a feeling of incompleteness in the painting.

Stage 4 - Is the final painting - shown as the first picture. This is a real fuzzy stage. I kept changing the colors back and forth, eg: for water - kept expermenting with different shades of blues, purples and pinks and finally white for highlights. There is no set pattern to work with colors - I kept changing. (this is where I found knife very useful). I also messed around a lot in the central marsh area with yellows and oranges and greens. And finally, I called the painitng as finished after visually inspecting from far, near, with full light, with medium light etc..

Hope you all like it and yes, critiques and comments are always welcome.

A Bowl and Two Vases

2011-01-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

A very Happy New Year to all - my first post of the year 2011!

This is a study that I followed from the book - "Capturing Radiant Light & Color in Oils and Pastels" - by artist Susan Sarback.

Here are few things that I learnt from this study:

1) First time used the Palette Knife to paint - it felt so awkward at first to paint... getting used to it slowly.

2) How to paint the effects of light on shadows of different objects - bowl here is an opaque object, the blue Vase is transparent object and the orange Vase is translucent object.

Notice that the green bowl being an opaque object, its shadow is darker towards its base and becomes lighter at the other end. The orange Vase is translucent, so typically shadows of such objects are light towards the base and grow darker towards the ends. The blue Vase is transparent, see how its shadow dithers in no specific pattern as seen below.

click to view larger

8 x 10 inches, Oil on Canves Panel

I hope to do couple more studies from this book. The next in turn is a simple landscape study... stay tuned!

As always, Critiques and Comments are always welcome.

Time to celebrate - Happy Holidays

2010-12-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Wish you all Happy Holidays!!
The photo reference for this painting is from my friend's garden. Although I don't like red wine I liked the setting in her garden and with this glass of wine - the color is heavenly! This is the first time I have tried painting glass objects. I am happy and feel accomplished to get this done.

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11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

I am a little Teapot...

2010-11-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

This teapot reminds me of the nursery rhyme my daughter used to sing...
I am a little teapot. Short and stout.
Here is my handle. Here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout.
Just tip me over and pour it out....

Fun times !!
I love the shape of the teapot, it is really unique. Besides..., this painting fits perfectly in the fall color scheme.
I got this picture from Wetcanvas forum, one of the October events.

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11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Pigeon Friends resting on a cool spot...

2010-10-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

This picture of pigeon friends is from Wetcanvas forum, its my first attempt to try out picture from this forum. I liked these pigeons because it reminds me of home in New Delhi. There is a room with a window Air Conditioning (AC) box. The AC box is outside of the window.... I am in deep sleep in the early morning hours. Suddenly loud noise...TAK..TAK..TAK..TAK...THUD...TAK..TAK...THUD...then... guturrr... goon... guturrr... goon...(sound continues for a little while)... My heart pounds initially with this loud noise. But now I am wide awake and realize that its the Pigeon friends doing their morning conference. They have landed outside on our AC box. The TAK..TAK sound was their wings flapping as they land on the AC box. Then guturrr... goon... guturrr... goon... is when they start talking to each other :) This used to be my morning wake up routine for long time and that time these pigeons were so irritating. But now it as been many years since and I really enjoyed these two pigeon friends resting on a cool spot.

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11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Summer Painting Lessons - August 13 to 23, 2010

2010-08-30T13:55:00.001-07:00

This summer vacation I had decided to take painting lessons in India. I had already decided the teacher ahead of time - Mr R. D. Dixit. But the real excitement started only after I reached Pune and met him the first time. There was very little time on hand - just 10 days! and the agenda was Landscape, Still Lfe and Portrait. We decided to start with landscape.
My teacher got me a book of landscape paintings by a German Artist to learn the techniques. The first landscape painting was about 70% demo by my teacher and the rest was done by me following the instructions.
The second Landscape was done as my homework and completly done by me (except the few final highlights advised by my teacher). Due to time constraints I we could not follow the same model i.e one painting as demo and the second as homework.
The third painting was chosen as still life (the one with sunflowers). It was done together - teacher demo, instruction and homework :)
The fourth one, a portrait of a tribal woman is double the size of rest of the paintings. The sketching was my homework - learnt a lot! Painting the picture was again teacher demo, instruction and homework. Most of the face was demo-ed and the rest completed by me. Final pass and touches were back seat instructions from the teacher.
The fifth one I chose as a face, since I wanted to learn it. Could not complete it but it was a result of the last days session. After which I had to travel back!
Following was the outcome of the 10 day session - I throughly enjoyed and learnt a lot. Now the challenge is to keep practicing and improve to keep up to the level I reached.

Click on slideshow to view enlarged in picasa....

California Poppies

2010-07-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

California Poppies can be seen all around in my area starting from February through September. These poppies are from my friend's garden which is in full bloom !

Enjoy :)

click to view larger

11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

The Dancing Peacock

2010-07-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Enjoy your 4th of July weekend with this Dancing Peacock !

It is painted on 8 x 10 inches canvas panel. As I started painting, it felt more challenging. I am happy that its done, so that I can start the next one.

Click to see enlarged

Fall Colors

2010-06-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

It might seem really odd that in the middle of summer I came up with this fall color landscape, hmmm.... I had started this one during the first painting workshop I had attended couple of years ago. Since then it was lying around unfinished. Yes! finally... I am very happy that I got done with this :)

This landscape reminds me of my time living in Minden, Germany. It was a very similar setting. In the fall season, I went for long walks with my host family (the Klaus Kettig & family) in this wilderness. Enjoying nature, collecting nuts and listening to German conversations. Good Times!

The Fiery little Tulip

2010-05-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

One of my friends from Amsterdam had posted pictures of tulip fields on Facebook. This little Fiery Tulip caught my attention and it inspired me to use my oil paints. See how this flower is glowing from within !!

Here’s more about one of my favorite flowers – the tulip, from Wikepedia:

The tulip originated as a Persian wildflower in the 1500s. They were extensively cultivated at that time. Since then, the tulip has become a symbol for many different things. Each different color tulip can have a different meaning.

The meaning of tulips is generally perfect love.

Red tulips are most strongly associated with true love, while purple symbolizes royalty. The yellow tulip is a common expression for cheerful thoughts and sunshine. White tulips are used to claim worthiness or to send a message of forgiveness. Variegated tulips, once among the most popular varieties due to their striking color patterns, represent beautiful eyes.

Peacock Feather

2010-05-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

I am facinated by the beauty of Peacock feathers. This is just how I saw the feather using the oil pastel colors !

Wild Rose of the Canadian Rockies

2010-02-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

Friends, I have not been on top of this blog for a while, got busy in packing / unpacking and moving to a new home! So belated ... Happy New Year!

As I was searching for a subject to paint, I found a book I had purchased during our vacation in Canadian Rockies. Browsing through the pages brought me back the memories of nature hikes, that pure water in the lakes, glaciers, those majestic mountain goats etc. During the hikes, this wild rose was seen very commonly all over the place. I liked this pink rose, but there were white and light pink wild roses too. Also I noticed, all these wild roses, be it any color, had exactly 5 petals ! They don't grow very tall, at the max they come upto our knee. Looking at them while walking feels like they have their arms wide open, as if welcoming you to enjoy the nature in its purest form.

Hope you enjoy this proudy standing wild rose !

Juicy Oranges....

2009-11-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here is another experiment with light and shadow...
Friends, savor the flavor of these juicy Oranges.

!!! Happy Thanksgiving !!!

My First Block Study

2009-10-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

After taking the Oil Painting workshop this year in summer, I found a great book - Capturing Radiant Light & Color in Oils and Soft Pastels - by Artist - Susan Sarback. I loved this style of painting and every painting in this book is "radiant" as the name of the book suggests. There are demonstrations in this book that I wanted to try out and this is the first one - The Block Study. Supposed to be the easiest and it is advised to finish this demo in about one hour. However, I took my own sweet time, being a beginner !!
It was fun trying out the effects of light on Objects and their shadow. The blocks in this picture are red and yellow and placed in bright sun, hopefully you can feel this looking at the painting.

Wild Flowers in Canadian Rockies

2009-09-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

In the summer of year 2008 (i.e last year) we had been to Calgary in Canada. It was the most exotic vacation we ever had !! We went to a National park which has one part on canadian side and the other in Montana, USA - Waterton National park (canadian side) and Glacier National park (US side). One of the days we went to hike in a hilly area. This was the most enjoying nature hike. As we walked the narrow path, we could hear birds and smell the fresh air of the rockies. Both sides of the path were wild flowers so beatifully swaying in the gentle wind. We stopped and sat down in these areas, trying to soak in the beauty of these wild flowers. I specially liked the radiant red flowers, looks somewhat like the paintbrush - take a look.
Hope you enjoy it !!
Love, Prerana

Wild Flowers of the Canadian Rockies

Sept 24, 2009.

Field of Flowers

2009-09-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

It had been long time that I painted and I have a list of things I wanted to paint. So... I checked this one out on my list.

Enjoy this colorful field of flowers and imagine the sweet fragrance !!

Love.

Field of Flowers - Sept 13, 2009

My dream flower - the Lotus

2009-08-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a quiz for you on the Lotus flower:
When you see a lotus like flower in the pond, how do you know if its a water lily or a lotus?

Feel free to answer in the comments section (you will not need to have a google account anymore, I changed it!!) or email.

I remember the time I started reading about lotus flower was when I used the lotus symbol in the "toran" that I had made during Soniya's wedding. I was fascinated with the facts that I read and the beauty of the lotus of course!

Here are few interesting facts about lotus:

In hindu religion, the Lotus is used by goddess of wealth Maha Lakshmi. She sits on a fully blossomed lotus flower.

The Lotus flower grows in murky waters and rises on a long stalk above the surface to bloom glorious. Thus untouched by the impurity, lotus symbolizes heart and mind.

The Lotus seeds can germinate 200 years after they are shed. Hence lotus is a symbol of strong vital force that could withstand extremely adverse conditions. The lotus flower thus represents long life, health, honor and good luck.

The Lotus Flower is the only flower to fruit and flower simultaneously.

Above all the lotus represents spiritual enlightenment.

Upper Back Bay - Newport Beach

2009-08-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

It was Saturday - August 8,2009 - my last class for this plein air workshop session.

The weather was perfect - cloudy and gentle cool winds blowing on that day. This painting was a good practice to capture the sun rays that came out through the clouds for brief moments. Hope you enjoy this panoramic view of the Back Bay at Newport Beach as much as I enjoyed painting it !!

Love.

The Fountain Mist @ Park Plaza

2009-08-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is the third plein air project. The place was Park Plaza in the City of Orange. This time everything went very smooth, the teacher even said - "this time you found us in time !" I found a very shady area to set myself up in the park. Hope you enjoy the fountain mist.
Love
Prerana

Spring time in the Dessert

2009-07-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Another one created during the plein air class on July 25th.

Spring time in the Dessert

Enjoy the story about this painting....

This time for the plein air workshop we visited the Laguna Canyon Wilderness park. It was an unusually hot day. I was so proud of myself that I reached the site half an hour early !! I waited... and waited... read all the sign posts and information about the park.... Then I thought, I should take the trail and maybe the rest of the group is there already. As I started walking down the trail a ranger stopped me. I had so much stuff in my hand that he thought I was going to construct a post or something inside the wilderness park! I was upset that this fellow is going to make me late for class :( But pretending to be polite, I told him that I was looking for the "little sycamore trail". I tell you, this ranger was a blessing, for the "little sycamore trail" was at another entrance to the park, 2 miles north from the point where I had parked my car. No wonder I did not see the rest of the group (except one). On the path that I was walking I could have walked the whole day, with all my painting gear and the folding chair and still wouldn't have reached or seen my group. Anyways I thanked him a million and finally joined my group half an hour late!! Guess what I had again missed the demonstration that our teacher did. Now was the time to show off our talent...

So I set myself up in the midst of the dissapointments:
of being late...
in the anxiety of reaching in time, having denied the fresh lemonade that my husband lovingly made for me...
missing the teachers demonstration...
the full blown hot sun....
the muddy colors - browns, the yellows etc., barely any greens out there other than the cactus...
:) :)

And yet, I wonder.... my mind was filled with GREENS! You must have guessed looking at the painting.

So I called it "Spring time in the Dessert"

Love.

The Pier at Newport Beach

2009-07-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Dearest all,

My first attempt at pleir air painting... This was done last weekend (Sat July 18th) sitting right on the beach. Enjoy the cool breeze of the Pacific as you see this painting.

Love, Prerana

A hot summer day on the Pier at Newport Beach...

My latest Handpainted Candles

2009-04-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Dearest Friends and Family,

Here is something that will brighten up your day !! Enjoy...

Love you all, Prerana.
You can click on the picture to see enlarged photo. Also I will appreciate any feedback and comments.

Wedding Unity Candle Set

Happy New Year !!

2009-01-23T22:02:00.000-08:00

It has been quite sometime I have not posted anything on this blog....

The month of November was very busy - Diwali celebrations, Anushka and Avani's Birthday etc.
Then in December came Anushka's Kathak Showcase, and as you all know, with it comes driving back and forth for practices. I did manage to paint few candles and I then updated just the slide show. The best part in December 2008 was the trip to Richmond, Virginia to Nandu and Deepali's house. The last 2 weeks of December was full of fun and a very good family reunion. Lots of good food, play, Munj, walks in chilled outdoors, chit chat, Table Tennis Tournament being few highlights.

The New Year arrived and the best news of all for me was that Prashant got a local project and will be in town at least for sometime. We are getting used to this new routine after quite a few years. In all of this I haven't really started off any of my projects. But I certainly have something that I can pull out of my hat -
*** A New Year's Greeting card ***

And Guess What, some history about this card.....
I have painted this 28 years ago in Nasik at Mai Atya's house during summer vacation. It might not be the greatest piece of art but still pretty good considering that I had not taken any formal classes for learning to paint. More than anything else, hats off to Manjiree, really appreciate her efforts for saving this. She scanned this and sent it to me last year during Diwali.

And finally concluding with:

Life Is Beautiful

Life is chugging along as beautifully as it can be,

New friends to make,
Old (bad) habits to break,
New Challenges to take.

As breathtaking views and moments are passing by….
Suddenly there might be a dark tunnel or two,
But be assured - there is LIGHT at the end of each tunnel too !!

Life is Love, Life is Joy,
If only you can learn to let go and Enjoy.

"Celebrations" brings the second theme - Christmas Candles

2008-10-31T23:02:00.000-07:00

After having a rewarding experience with my first theme - "Diwali Candles" and the booth sales, I am coming up with the next theme - "Christmas Candles".

Take a sneak peak on right hand side (slide show).
Note- you can click on the slide show to see enlarged view of slide show

In this experiment of colors, I have tried out Acrylic paints directly on the candle. My first one was the Poinsettia. Came out really good and I was happy with the results - so Experiment Successful!!

I am going to use 2 different sizes of candles - 3" diameter and 3" height'; 3" diameter and 6" height. The candles are white color and unscented. I have used acrylic color straight from the bottle without any medium. Once I was satisfied with the painting, I coated it with protective top coat with glitter to give it a festive look.
It takes me about 3 hours to paint a candle, a very relaxing and happy experience!!
I am going to try out 50 such candles at least and if possible with unique designs. I want to put out a series - "Christmas Everywhere". I have tried 2 such candles - one with Santa on the house and second with Tinker Bell decorating christmas tree. I have few other crazy ideas. If you have any suggestions I would be happy to try out! The second set of candles will be different floral designs like the poinsettia...
Having said all that, I must now get to work :)

"Celebrations" Presents Diwali Special Candles !!

2008-09-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

With the support of family and friends, I am venturing into an entire new area. I am introducing a new concept in candles – **All natural**, **Handcrafted**, **Handpainted**, **Designer** Candles. What else would be a more perfect occasion than Festival of Lights – Diwali ? My very first Theme !!

I am organizing a booth for sale of these special Candles in Irvine Mandir during the Raas – Garba Celebrations – October 3rd & 4th @ 7.30 PM.

A SPECIAL OFFER for my friends :) - since this is a special edition and many people have shown interest – I am taking pre-sale orders in case you are interested.

ONLY $20.00 for a set of four !!Each Set comes with specially designed packaging, suitable for occasion.

* Limited Edition. These candles are not available in any store *
** Great for use as Diwali Gift **

Each candle is:
!! Individually Handpainted - special Diwali Designs!! Colorful wax – different color in each container
!! Lightly Scented
!! Up to 30 hours of burn time
!! Candles are made out of Soy Wax.
!! Soy Wax is Eco-friendly, GREEN, soot free, biodegradable and water soluble – spills clean up very easily with a little soap and hot water.
!! Reusable container as the wax completely burns clean.

Place your order *Now* to Celebrate the Occasion !!I guarantee that no two candles are same and made specially for YOU !!

To order send Email – preranap@hotmail.com

Warm Regards,
Prerana Kulkarni
Here is the slideshow of the event: