Monday 31 May 2010

Maa Saraswati

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'Maa Saraswati' (Goddess of Knowledge and Learning)
Medium: Acrylics
Mount: Canvas Board
Size: 22cm x 27cm
Varnish: Matt + Glossy
Commissioned work.
This was the sketch for the painting.
Here are close-ups of the detailing:
'The Goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful, light-skinned woman
dressed in pure white, often seated on a white lotus
(although Her actual vahana is believed to be a swan), which
symbolizes that she is founded in the experience of the Absolute Truth.
Thus, she not only has the knowledge
but also the experience of the Highest Reality.
She is mainly associated with the color white,
which signifies the purity of true knowledge.'

The requirements out of this rendition for the collector was
not a heavily religious undertone, but an imagery depicting Saraswati Maa
seated in the lap of nature, playing the Veena in the full bloom of spring.
In the traditional depictions and descriptions of the Goddess,
she is believed to be adorned with pearls.
I have added a very Bengali touch to her jewellery with the Gold earrings
in the shape of, and named after, 'Kaan's or ears.
Though this one is a small painting, it has a lot of detailing.
The Veena, for instance required some research in getting the structure right;
a majestic instrument indeed.
The varnish, to my mind, has added more depth to the painting
in terms of how it reacts to light differently in certain areas than in
some others. I have worked with both matte and glossy varnishes this time.
You can see what I'm talking about here:
This is one of the only two paintings I've been working on last month.
Personal life and social commitments had completely taken over.
This piece was requested by family friends
who wanted to gift this for their sister's PhD thesis defense,
which was around April end.
Originally timed for then, I have taken much longer to finish this piece :(
However, I am really happy with the end result.

This forced break may have extended some deadlines,
but I think I've got back to work with a fresh mind and renewed energy.

For all of you who have written to me over the last couple of months,
including mails with commission requests,
I am really sorry for not having responded yet.
I'll take up all my pending responses and try to answer your requests by and by.

Many thanks for your patience and love.
Missed you all - a LOT and am SO glad to be back :)!!

14 comments:

Unknown said...

really very good
maa saravati will bless you really vary few can do such pious things

Unknown said...

Hi Dithi

I LOVE ur work,i wud love to buy many of ur paintings,but i'm waiting for our new house to be completed.Are bigger sizes of ur paintings available?say double the size of this painting?

Best Wishes
Nanditha

Sanghamitra Bhattacherjee(Mukherjee) said...

Hi Dithi,
Your blog and art-works are super cool...needless to say!!!

Keep it up :-)

Pl. visit my very new Decor Blog:
http://rainbow-thecoloursofindia.blogspot.com/

Cheers
Sanghamitra.

Parv Kaushik said...

so glad to have you back deez... another fantastic art piece!! hope to see more updates from you!!

Shubashree said...

Dear Dithi:
Love this piece. Will you be selling a print of this in Etsy.
Best!
Shuba.

Madhu Gopalan said...

I found your blog recently, and was disappointed that you seemed to have stopped writing here - good to see you posting again :) Love all your work, super cool stuff!

rk said...

Beautiful work as always! By the way, did you know that Veena sound is considered to be the closest to human voice? My mom and sister used to play the Veena, not an easy instrument to master.

Sudha said...

beautiful ....welcome back after the break :).

Neha said...

Hi Dithi,
Came across your blog, love your work! Would love to feature it on my design blog.

Unfortunately I'm not able to see a lot of pictures coz my guess is you probably link them through flikr and it's banned here in Dubai. :)
Anyways, just thought I would drop a line.. keep it up!
Cheers!

Dithi said...

@Himangshu: Thank you :)

@Nanditha: Right now, I am working on some commissions that will not be over before August-September. I am not sure what exactly you are looking for, in terms of theme, pls send me an email at happydithi@gmail.com with your question and details of what you may have in mind and I'll try to reply asap.

@Sanghamitra: Thank you, glad you enjoyed, thanks for sharing your link

@Parv: Hi Parv, so glad to hear from you, missed your prompt feedbacks :)

@Shubashree: Yes Shuba, prints will be available anytime next week.

Dithi said...

@Madhu: Yes, I was on a break for quite sometime, was dying to get back though, thanks for your post

@RK: Is that right? I have heard that about the Sarangi. Of course, a grand instrument and requires a lot of dedication as am sure. Recently, we had the chance of listening to a live performance by two Indian ladies here in Geneva, it was wonderful.

@Sudha: Many thanks

@Neha: I had no idea about the FlickR ban in Dubai, will try to post pics without hosting them on Flickr, that should be easier then.Thanks for dropping by :)

Domestic Goddess said...

I am happy that the prints are available now on your etsy shop. When I saw this and Ganesha...the only thing I said to myself was..I wanted, I wanted, I wanted......now I ordered for it..yipee. Thank you Dithi for making them so beautiful and pious. I m sure the day I receive all the 4 prints, I will say I got them, I got them...yahoo.

Tampha said...

Hi there! I came across your blog whilst looking for traditional bengali paintings!
Love your work..its pure magic...but im sure you've heard that a million times before. All your paintings are so vibrant...way to go!!!

Anonymous said...

Your paintings are really beautiful

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