Sunday, October 30, 2011

Rangoli 2011



A friend of mine had introduced me to a rangoli group at Thane last year, which is now known as 'Kala-Chhand' rangoli group, Earlier it was 'Balavant mandal'. They regularly have an exhibition of portrait rangolis during Diwali. I have been participating in the exhibition since last year. This year everyone decided to put rangoli of Indians who have significantly contributed to society in different fields, like literature, sport, music, etc. After a brief discussion on the subject, I had to choose between a writer and a music person. Initially I thought of making rangoli of a poet. I find it really amazing when someone can express the deepest emotions with just a few lines. But then after the last meeting with the group, I finally decided to make a portrait rangoli of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. There was a lot of scope for detailing as well.


Day 1(Oct 23):
We started on Oct 23rd morning by pasting the sketch on the floor.


The practice is to start filling the rangoli powder from the top left corner, then hair then the face, ending with the bottom right corner.

While doing the hair, i wasn't too happy about the way they were looking. And got a bit disheartened. It always happens to me when I decide to do things I have never done before. I tend to get skeptical in the beginning itself. And that is when I need someone who can tell me, no problem, you will do good. And luckily I had a friend, Yogesh, who kept saying "Hemali, tum achha kar rahi ho!"
Yogesh himself has made an EXCELLENT rangoli of Gulzar with brilliant composition(I wish I had a good vocab to express myself! Will share his works in my next post)
I think all of us are capable to create things that we like. We only need to have a little patience to take all of the typical beginner's bloop. A friend of mine says, that Art is like Sadhana, you need to do it everyday, with all the faith, if you truly love it and have a strong will to pursue it.

Day 2(Oct 24):
It was 11.30 pm and I was done with the forehead, eyes and basic shading of the nose. I decided and declared in the room that I will finish the whole rangoli by next day morning.
To be honest , I had lost my patience. It was Dhana Teras and I wanted to get back home and celebrate Diwali with my family, my cousins. But I was sitting in the classroom(exhibition was in the school classrooms), with the windows sealed to block the passage of air and dust, no fans, and with hot tungsten bulb at a height of 3 feet from the rangoli, which was just above my head! There were about 11-12 bulbs, one-two above each rangoli, which made the whole room really hot!


At 4.00 am i was done with the portion above the lips and the chin. But then it looked really shabby. So I decided to go back home and undo the damages next day morning.

Day 3(Oct 25):
Started at 11 in the morning and managed to complete the flute and the drapery with the background till 9 pm. I decided to stop there itself, leaving the fingers and the hand gestures, because i was really missing all the family gatherings. Anyhow, 3 days of effort was totally worth it!




Day 4(Diwali):
I went early in the morning to click pictures with my DSLR before ants,spiders and tiny insects on the floor spoil the work...!

With each of my new works, i feel i am improving on my patience. And it feels good when people appreciate the effort :) Do visit the exhibition if you have time, it is open till November 5, at New Englsih School, Ram Maruti road, Thane.
And Thanks for visiting the blog :)


~Edit~

Rangoli 2012: http://hemalivadalia.blogspot.in/2012/11/rangoli-2012.html

EDIT: 

A lot of people have mailed me asking for the address of the shops that sell these lake colors. So here is the address:
1. Get off at Kari road station, take the east bridge, and take right turn outside the bridge. Ask someone for the Bharat Mata theatre. The shop that sells lake colors is right opposite the theatre. You've to cross the road.

2. The second shop is at Masjid Bandar. Right opposite Jama masjid
The name of this shop is Enayat.

My friend Yogesh is planning to take classes for portrait rangoli. 
If you are interested in learning the techniques, here are his contact details:
email: yogb109@gmail.com
phone:+91 9819941215

32 comments:

  1. Awesome Work! Looks brilliant! Congratulations.....great documentation tooo...

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  2. Chitra: thanks! I dint even have a camera in my mobile phone.. have taken the making images from a friends phone.. but I'm glad i did that! In process images look more interesting than the final one.
    Kundu: Thanks!!!!!!
    Ruchi: Hey, it's a pleasant surprise to see your comment! Thanks so much! :)

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  3. Awesome !! Awesome !! Awesome !!
    Hemali !!!

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  4. wowow .. Hemali, u r amazing !! great work !!! And I loved your blog too... I am so proud of u :) U are sooo artistic ! I remember our rangoli and mehendi days of somaiya where you won the gold points for each ! Keep up your good work ! May your designs and art become world famous !

    - Tanuja Varkanthe

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  5. Amazing work, I couldn't believe it was rangoli!

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  6. Tanu : Thanks so much :) your comments always make me feel so special :) Yeah I do remember the old somaiya days.. It was so much fun.. running around the classrooms, participating and organizing those fun events!
    Prashant: Thank you! so when are you coming to see it ?
    Arun: Thanks! yeah, that's one of the reasons why i click some of the in-process images :)

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  7. y were you telling me on the phone that there were better ones made by others? I dont think anything can be better than this. i can hardly find flaws in this one.

    After mother teresa i think this one is the best of your rangoli collection.

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  8. Abby: There are seriously some flawless works..! That too with difficult composition and more than one figure..

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  9. It is truly awesome !!!..Nice work Hemali !!
    - Ravi

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  10. madam ...when you started writing blog

    So much talent ... nobody can believe journey of Baan coding to this -:)

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  11. Ohhhh...my...GOD....!!!!...truly marvelous work dear....i cant express my feelings in words...standing ovation...i wanna learn this from u...plz tell me class kab le rahi ho...m speechless...keep goin...hats off to you...!!!!..APRATIM KHUBSOORAT WORK....:-)
    Ravi Chauhan

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  12. Ravi : Thank you, thank you! :D and come on! You don't need any training.. btw, I think i replied to a college frnd in my previous comment, thinking it was you! But do give it a thought!

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  13. Amazing Amazing Amazing...You are the few talended ones!!!Well done dear

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  14. AMAZING AWESOME ASTONISHING (A++)

    I am becoming big fan of yours !!!! It will be my pleasure to meet you some day :) you are amazing and you have magic in your hand !!

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  15. WOW! This is beautiful, inspiring and humbling Hemali. Didnt know you were this talented :).

    Wonderful work. and lovely documetation too. I hope you havent joined any job. :) Keep up

    the great work. Again, inspiring!

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  16. Thanks Neha! :)
    Meenakshi, Thanks, you should have come for the exhibition, there are some awe-inspiring works!
    Rakesh: Thanks a lot! ya, it was quite a surprise for me too :) At present i'm working from home..haven't joined any studio.

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  17. hemali ..its awsome i visit every year in the exhibition .. next time i also want to be part of teh same ..i also do such type of art..but my colour texture is too thick.. could you please help me out ...how to make the thin texture..

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  18. I really have no words to express what I am feeling now after reading this blog! but I am expressing little bit that I am one of your fan I i just love your work and hard word Its out standing

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  19. Your work is proving to be an inspiration for me....I liked your energy..and appreciate it by heart.will try to send you my creation of rangoli of my child...Thanks for your unknowing motivation....:)

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  20. That was amazing! A very intricate design and very creative. Perhaps that's one of the best rangoli designs I've ever seen! Thanks for sharing.

    - Lyn

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  21. Awesome work, By the way, pls tell me whr i'll get lake color in thane?

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  22. Thank you so much everyone, Im updating the post with the address to buy lake colors.

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  23. i don't have words to describe this level of art

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  24. Really beautiful rangoli kolam design they are. I must say you are a creative man! I am going to share it with my friends circle :)

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