Animals of India at Work and Play, a coloring book in Hindi and English

My first coloring book is now available HERE!
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Based on actual events, the 18 black and white illustrations were made in Orissa, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh, India.
This project was truly made possible with technical help from Chris Sullivan in New Orleans, USA and translation help from Ajay Pandey at Kriti Gallery in Varanasi, India.

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You will surely be inspired pondering a palette for the complex lives of these brave beasts:
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Let me know how it goes.
Also a big thanks to the first focus group, the students of Buddha’s Smile School. You kids are a motivating force, and fun, too…bss_aoi_

Scrap Potential- Scavenging in India

scrap potential
Many folks ask where I find my materials to make collages.
Here are some scraps, sources and experiences from my last trip to India.
While an Artist-In-residence at Chhaap Foundation for Printmaking Trust in Baroda, Gujarat, I used a batter of coffee grounds and tea leaves, bindi powder, turmeric, and Celluclay (a dried paper pulp) to experiment with paper sculpture. The texture was made with a fork.

turmeric paper
Some of this paper I’ve paired with old portraits:

India

agni sati
These were found at the exquisite ‘Friday Market’ on the outskirts of Baroda.
friday market
This is a sprawling maze of live goats, tin charms, chai carts, torn saris, wooden game pieces, broken toys and, most lovely for me, old photographs.
friday market photos

tea cartfearfully
bombay red
love marriage
Scavenging for mid-century photographic ephemera outside of The States is quite challenging, our Kodachrome generation being unparalleled, so this particular market was really a gem. (On a side note however, it seems India’s snapshot culture of today is certainly catching up).

The upcycling at Friday Market also deserves some attention. Here are some wonderful hand-stitched oil-can cozies:
oil cans
I experimented with using some of the found objects as stamps, such as these keys:
keys
keyhouse
Moving South, in Fort Cochi, Kerala, I picked out some paper goods at Junk Junction (Kumbarramukku, if memory serves).. Looking through newspapers, game cards, old books and ledgers, this passerby wanted to document a dusty picture of a famous 70’s movie star:
junk junction
The language there, Malayalam, has a beautiful alphabet, and I was quite inspired by it.
Malayalam ana
I was in India for a number of teaching projects, as well as dumpster diving, and the scraps came in handy for those, too. In this bookmaking workshop at Chhaap, students rummaged through a rag bag donated by a local fashion designer, Rupali. They used the pieces to customize their book covers.

It was an honor to have Jyoti Bhatt, one of India’s most renowned artists and photographer of Indian ephemeral art, among my students.
book making
In a nearby school run by the organization Koshish Milap, I brought in scraps of handmade paper and fabric in all colors and shapes. It was a great ice-breaker for them to teach me the colors in Gujarati (new to me), and having a full-spectrum palette easily accessible helped them to jump right in and start collaging (new to them).
colors
The kids were overjoyed and seemingly not intimidated at the process of building their own beautiful compositions out of scraps.
collage birds

Thanks again, India, for all the inspiration and generosity. See you next time.

Activities at Buddha’s Smile School

In January of 2012 I was welcomed to Buddha’s Smile School, in Sarnath, India, to host some art workshops with the kids. Here’s some of the fantastic results and a glimpse into daily life at the school…
The kids used handmade paper, fabric scraps, glue, and scissors to cut out letter forms and piece together images in our collage workshops.

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We cut out and decorated letters for a photo project to thank the donors of last year’s fundraiser. For all the donors names, please see The Thank You Project.

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In the watercolor workshop, they learned about primary and secondary colors, how to mix colors, and how different ratios of water and pigment have different effects.colormixing2_colormixing_

A drawing collaboration in an accordian book between myself and a talented young lady, Jahida…book_jaida

In the courtyard, we shared paints and pencils working on the Thank You Project (you can see their lovely new generator in the background).drawingclass_
Everyday, after morning classes, lunch is made in their kitchen and served to the 221 students at their desks.meals1_lunch1_lunch3_
After lunch, there is a supervised time for the younger grades to learn how to wash their hands and brush their teeth.handwashing

An orderly line-up for time at the sink…
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Toothbrushes are marked with every child’s name and distributed.toothbrushingtoothbrushing4toothbrushing1toothbrushing3

I was extremely impressed with how hard-working the teachers and staff were to create this structured time for the health and dignity of the children. For many of the students, it is the only time of the day dedicated to a nutritious meal and personal hygiene.
It made me so happy to see the leaders of the school taking a little time out for fun and creativity.
rajanphotographingprincipalcollagingrajanpainting

photo credit: Shannon Holman

Thank You from Buddha’s Smile School 2012

The students, teachers and founders of Buddha’s Smile School send their love and gratitude to those who participated in last year’s spectacular fundraiser…
thankyou_annan_janice_areta_sarahanderin_dan_bill_deborahbowie_don_gin_catherinedavis_abigailwashburn_dave_bill_cathycarver_searah_bita_louie_jesse_felicetebbe_amanda_artkathy_poorfarmfarm_karenk_mcgraw_susanalanbraverman_kris_yonajillbraddock_ciccones_matthew_melissatrishclark_kathleen_lisa_marian_jeffsteve_orianne_
and…
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…for helping to create the first Brooklyn Commune Community Scholarship for a Buddha’s Smile School Student. They were very excited to know our community took an interest in their well being!
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To see more art projects and activities at the school, look HERE.