Maa Saraswati

'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.'

- wikipedia on Goddess Saraswati Iconography

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 :)!!

Annapurna Maa

Title: Annapurna Goddess feeding Shiva

Size: 25 cm x 40 cm

Medium: Acrylic paints

Mount: Pre-stretched gallery wrapped canvas

(Commissioned piece)

Anna means 'food' in Sanskrit, and purna means 'filled completely'.

Annapurna is a Hindu goddess of food and nourishment.

Maa Annapurna is traditionally depicted as below,

giving out rice to Lord Shiva who is shown with a alms bowl.

Read the mythological backdrop to this rendition here.

Here is the calender-art style depiction of baby Shiva

Archana, who had commissioned the ''Lalita Sundari'' painting,

wanted me to render this one for her sister, who is named after the Goddess.

She wanted this composition to be along the lines of the 'Lalita Sundari',

therefore, Lord Shiva as a baby on the Goddess's lap, she feeding her.

Click to see the sketch that we had before I started the painting.

***These are some beautiful snaps of Archana with my paintings,

this was when she had moved to her new apartment***

Here are some close-ups for details:

The rice-grain hangings from the wall behind have a little story.

I remember this one time, I was probably in school then

and we were in our ancestral home near Kolkata.

Our gardener Insaan had come back to join work after a holiday in his village.

He brought with him this beautiful one-of-a-kind wall hanging for us

that his mother had hand-crafted from rice-grains.....my inspiration for the design.

It still hangs in my mom's kitchen in that house, and Insaan,

still lives in that house and tends to our rose-garden there.

This will be my last painting of 2009.

As an artist and entrepreneur, it has been a very interesting year for me, full of surprises.

...Quite a bit of learning, evolving as an artist, understanding the medium better.....

what is precious is the interaction I have had with you all.

For all the lovely emails that I received,

all the paintings and prints that you have collected,

all the support and love....and approval ....thank you !

I hope that the next year will be even more interesting for us and for Deezden,

here is wishing you all, my friends, a great 2010!!

Commissioned artwork

Title: ''Maa-meye'' (Mother-daughter in Bengali)

Size: 30 cm x 50 cm
Medium: Acrylic on pre-stretched gallery wrapped canvas

Finished with a mix of matte and brilliant acrylic varnish.

The text in Bengali says:
''মধুর আমার মায়ের হাসি চাঁদের মুখে ঝরে''
(Madhur amar mayer hashi chander mukhe jhore)
(Transliteration: My mother's smile, sweet like honey,

drips from her face as radiant the moon)

I have used brilliant varnish only on the text and the jewels so that

the rest of the painting has this matt effect, letting these elements stand out .

This was the photo that was sent to me from the Collector, Arnab,

of his beautiful wife Sunita and their lovely daughter, the reference for my composition.

This is how my mom used to tie my hair when I was a little girl,

with a generous dose of warmed coconut oil (which is considered to be the age-old-Indian-secret-potion to long-healthy-shiny hair)!!!

The hair-do is called a ''kala-binuni'' (binuni in Bengali means plait)

and very popular even today (more in towns and villages)

for little girls in many parts of Bengal.

I thought this goes beautifully with our folk theme.

Arnab had a suggestion and asked me,

during the conceptualization of this portrait, the possibility of adding

a "....half-open red lotus with stem in the mother's hand...''

as ''....the symbol of love, protection, purity & fertility/eternity...."

The parrot in the background was also something he had proposed initially.

Both, I was happy to add.

Bengali elements in this portrait:

White saree with a red border worn in the traditional drape

(a bunch of household keys were tied in a knot at the end of the saree

behind the left-shoulder), the bangles,

the red 'bindi', the style of the blouse with lace border,

text taken from a very popular Bengali poem,

the hair-accessories seen from behind the mom's chignon and of course the little girl's hair-do,

the ''Tiya'' or parrot on a bird-perch is also a favourite Bengali household pet.