VERA BUGATTI'S 3D STREET ART

Raft of human rights

Bang in the middle of the asphalted street in Sarasota, USA, was the raft carrying Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Gino Strada, Rigoberta Menchu and the young Malala, fighting a storm. They seemed real — almost! At a vantage point was a camera mounted on a tripod and a line of people snaking behind it; they were queuing up to see the historical figures — in 3D. Created by Italian street painter, Vera Bugatti, The raft of human rights was inspired by the 19th century French artist Theodore Gericault's work, Le Radeau de la Meduse.

Vera, born in Brescia, Italy, comes from the land of street painters or madonnaris (called so because of their practice of drawing images of the Madonna or Mother Mary). The 35-year-old artist has been painting the streets — of Italy, Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland, Croatia, USA and Mexico — with captivating art for the last seven years, and winning numerous awards and prizes.

3 THINGS AND MORE ABOUT BROOKLYN — NATIVE INSIGHT FROM NEW YORK

Cherry blossoms at Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Name:  Netra

Where are you from? I was born and brought up in a suburb of Boston. However, my parents are from Bangalore and I lived several years in Bangalore, so I feel like I should also call Bangalore home. 

How long have you lived in New York? 
We have lived in Brooklyn (NY) since early 2009.

What do you do?

I am the co-founder of a tech start-up out of NYC. 

Where can we see your work?

www.flipsicle.com

What is your Brooklyn famous for?
The neighborhood I live in is famous for its beautiful brownstone homes, tree-lined streets, and for its large park (Prospect Park), which many prefer to Central Park.

What are the 3 best kept secrets of Brooklyn, which only the locals are aware of? 

• The sense of community. It really feels like a small town. Every time you step out of the house, you inevitably run into at least one person you know and have a lovely conversation with them.
• The local cafes. There are so many small local cafes (almost one every block) that

LADAKH THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER

Our guest blogger Sheila Kumar, copywriter-turned-journalist-turned writer (author of Kith and Kin), recounts through a series of frames, her visit to Ladakh — after 29 years. Drop by Sheila's blog Bindersfullawords. And now, over to Sheila....

All photographs by Sheila Kumar

Ladakh was my 'honeymoon posting'. I went there immediately after marriage, to join my Army officer husband who was then stationed in a remote area east of Leh town. At the time, it was just the Army and its kin milling around this fantastical moon desert, and Ladakh struck me with the force of a meteor. I drank in everything I saw around me, and promised myself I would be back. Twenty-nine years later, I was. The magic was intact.

SAMANTHA LEE'S FOOD ART

Tweet birdie, tweet! Ingredients: Toast, cream cheese, strawberries,grapes or blueberry 

Samantha Lee, a Malaysian, was pregnant with her second child. It was December 2008. Her first born was 19 months old. Samantha's biggest dilemma was how to get her older child to eat independently after her baby sister arrives. Since mommy would be busy with the newborn. 

How do you make a child eat vegetables, rice, fish and other healthy foods that they usually hate — independently, voluntarily and happily? That's asking for the moon on a platter. Well, Samantha didn't ask for a moon....instead she created one — on a plate.

Samantha Lee

She began making attractive food art that told captivating stories. Her daughter was hooked. And to mommy's delight her two-year-old ate every last morsel on the plate. "Food art made her look forward to every meal," Samantha says. It made eating and family dinners "so much more fun". 

Until August 2011, Samantha's food art was a family affair. Then one day, Samantha clicked a photo of her art-on-the-plate and Instagrammed it. Bingo!
Fans came in droves and soon Samantha's hobby turned into a food-art series. Currently, she has more than 465,900 followers — a number that keeps growing by the 'plate'. 

Ingredients: Onigiri (ketchup + rice) and Nori (seasweed)

Cooking three meals a day, 365 days, till your child grows wings and flees the coup is an ongoing nightmare for any mother. For Samantha, it doesn't stop with cooking the meals alone, she also turns them into stories of people, places, animals and so on. She has created more than 450-500 plates of food art till now. The art appears on the table either during lunch or dinner atleast four times a week. "Can't do more than that," she quips. 

Bonjour

Samantha is constantly thinking about things like "What ingredients should I use? How should I present it? Can I give a twist to the tale? How to reduce wastage?" She first sketches her ideas, which is based on the contents in her fridge. This way, she says, she is organised and "does not waste food. The aim is to keep it healthy, simple and avoid wastage." She also keeps the drawing in front of her when she cooks the food. Samanth uses scissors, knife and a toothpick to create her food art. 

Michael Jackson. Ingredients: Onigiri, charcoal noodle, Nori, cheese and sesame seed for buttons

Her favourites? "Batman, Harry Potter, Wednesday Addam...and all my celebrity-food art." Her most challenging work so far? "Michael Jackson," she says. "He is the King of Pop. And there was tremendous pressure to get the essence of his spirit and a semblance of resemblance." She nailed it. It takes Samantha around one to one-and-half hours to create an art work. "And that includes cooking the meal right from scratch." She loves to work with rice, seaweed and vegetables. Rice makes for a good base, while seaweed is used to add details and vegetables come handy to make outfits. 

Snoopy's starry summer night. Ingredients: Onigiri (rice ball), Nori (seaweed) and cheese

Even as her children are growing up, Samantha's art is taking her on a different trail: She hopes to publish a cookbook with her food art soon, and promote positive parenting through workshops and "inspiring talks". 

Simpson: Ingredients — pancakes, blueberry, strawberry, cape gooseberry, choco chips for the eyes and choco icing for the lines.

Though Samantha's hard work results in fascinating art, it is ephemeral — gobbled up within minutes; disappearing into a dark hole, literally. But that's her prize, Samantha says. "The original purpose of food is to savour it. So I'm happy to see my daughters (who are now four and six years old) enjoy their food wholeheartedly." That's burpy-love for you. After all there is no love sincerer than the love of food.

THE SECRET TO A COMFORTABLE BACKPACK

Travellers and backpacks are like bread and butter. You need to know how much butter to slather on the slice if you want to prevent yourself from feeling sick later....mmm...you get the drift, right?

Here's an interesting infographic on how to pack your backpack from Tortuga Backpacks

Now that you have learnt how to pack the backpack right...here's how to adjust your backpack's fit

And the final step....walk around with your backpack. How does it feel?

If the weight is still on your shoulders...make small adjustments to the shoulder straps and hip belt until you feel the weight transfer on to your hips.

If the weight is unbalanced...adjust your packing so that the weight is evenly distributed.

LOOK WHAT I FOUND — A BOX OF MAPS

I got  my hands on Locus City Cards — Bangalore Edition. Swell! These are a set of pocket-sized maps/city-guides packed in a simple, but arty, well-crafted brown box with interesting illustrations, and it is brought out by Locus Infotainment Pvt.Ltd.



The Bangalore Edition consists of:

1. City map
2. Map of MG Road
3. Map of 'in & around Koramangala'
4. Bangalore heritage & sightseeing
5. Bangalore cuisines
6. Bangalore 'in & around' Lavelle Road
7. Bangalore 'in & around' Whitefield
8. Bangalore essentials — population, climate, getting around...those kinda essential guide-book-variety info
9. Bangalore bazaar
10. Banglaore 'in & around' Indiranagar
11. Bangalore art and culture
12. A card introducing Locus.

Likey....

BOOKWORM — A TREASURE HOUSE OF USED BOOKS

Krishna at his first bookstore in Shrungar Complex

On MG Road, between Barton Centre and Deccan Herald Office is the famous Shrungar Shopping Complex. Tucked inside is The Bookworm — a 400 sq ft tiny little bookshop that stocks around 15000 titles — fiction, non-fiction and everything in between. It is, as it says, a Treasure house for used books. You also get new titles here. I think the shop is around 12-15 years old. It is owned by a young soft-spoken man called Krishna. 

Before Krishna became the owner of The Bookworm, he was a footpath-bookseller. In front of, what used to be Spencers, next to Barton Centre and Navarathan Jwellers, Krishna used to sell used books — neatly arranged on a plastic sheet on the footpath.

3 THINGS AND MORE ABOUT BANGALORE FOOD CULTURE

Photo credit: Nila Tamaraa

Simi Mathew

Name: Simi Mathew 

Where are you from?
Though a Malayali by origin but was born and raised in Africa.

How long have you lived in Bangalore?
Since 2004

What do you do?
I am a full-time practicing Psychologist and I also run heritage and food tours in Bangalore. 

Where can we see your work?
www.facebook.com/theootawalks www.simimathew.com 

What kinds of food is Bangalore famous for?
Bangalore is home to two distinct and unique food cultures —  the non vegetarian dishes at Hindu Military Hotels and the tiffin items at Darshinis 

3 best kept food secrets in Bangalore, which only the locals are aware of?

• The Breakfast Biryani at SGS Military Hotel (435, 2nd Cross Rd, Sowrashtrapet, Chickpete)
• Jackfruit Kadubus at Sona Caterers (No. 97, 1st Temple Road, 8th Cross, Malleswaram)
• Night Street Food in Nagarthpete.

The best place(s) for typical Bangalore food 

• For Donne Biryani it has to be

TUESDAY READ: WHERE TO GO IN OCTOBER

Morning mist rising over the stupas of Bagan. Image by SEUX Paule / hemis.fr / Getty Images

October has a shoulder season feel in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, which makes this month a favourite of travellers who prefer to have a place all to themselves. The time is ripe for a road trip through the autumnal splendour of North America's forests, and the heat of summer lingers in parts of the eastern Med far longer than the crowds.

The end of the dry season in Zambia means this is a prime time for a walking safari; it's damp in Myanmar, but that ensures you'll have the run of historic sites such as Bagan; meanwhile, South Korea's second largest city, along with Uruguay's oldest, and the always effervescent island of Bali make compelling cases for consideration with a range of festivals and celebrations. Read More

SIMON BECK'S SNOW ART

Simon Beck. photo courtesy: SB

Once he created an art work the size of 10 soccer fields — that is 108 km; roughly the distance between Bangalore and somewhere close to Srirangapatnam. Simon Beck, 55, 'walked' hours on end, with a compass and some twine, to create this mammoth piece de art of geometrical patterns on a canvas of snow. His drawing instrument — a pair of snowshoes. The result was a spectacular creation that could be enjoyed only from a higher place — mountain top, chopper or a cable car.

The art work lasted for just a few days. Once, Beck did an extremely complicated design that took him an entire day. When he woke up the next morning, it had completely disappeared. 

Photo: Simon Beck

Simon's elaborate designs usually last till the next heavy snowfall. "Most people think I am a bit mad and it is a waste of good skiing time," he says. But most people are not artists. And all artists have a bit of 'crazy' in them; it's the cog that makes their creations astounding.

Simon's tryst with snow art began in 2004 "as a little fun". He took a compass, went to the snow covered lake outside his home and plotted five points. He joined them to make a star; filled the triangles and added some circles. The outcome was impressive. But fresh snowfall wiped away the design. So, Simon made another one — a 10-pointed star.

3 THINGS & MORE YOU CAN DO IN MEXICO

Zócalo

Montserrat Arcos

Name: Montserrat Arcos, alias Montse or Mon.

Where are you from?

México City

How long have you lived in México City?

27 years

What do you do?

I’m a journalist and 'curvy' blogger

Where can we see your work?

Blog: curvasfelices.com

Tell us about Mexico and what it is famous for?

Oh my God, difficult question! Well, Mexico City is a big city that even the people living there could never fully see it. I mean it. For me, there is always something new to know, a lot of places to go to. Not only New York, Mexico is also a city that NEVER EVER sleeps, because, you know, we like 'fiesta' a lot! Haha! And it has so many contrasts: very rich people, very poor people, magic places, ugly places, very safe places, very dangerous places. Something curious is that when the famous painter, Salvador Dalí, came to Mexico City, he said “I'm never ever getting back to Mexico City, because I can’t stand that there is something more surreal than my paintings!” And yes, there are  traffic jams every day, all day.

3 best kept secrets of  Mexico city, which only the locals are aware of?

• Mmm where you can buy tacos — in your locality (yes, that knowledge is essential)
• The police are very corrupt, so you can solve almost everything with money (sad but true).
• Mexicans  are ALWAYS late. So, if you have been invited to a party at

CLASSICS COME ALIVE — BOOK SCULPTURES

Pride and Prejudice

Jodi Harvey-Brown's book sculptures will make your jaw drop. Her Darcy and Elizabeth will make you want to read Pride and Prejudice again — for the umpteenth time. Tom Sawyer, Moby-Dick, Alice in her wonderland, the Old Man from the Old man and the sea and other such famous characters bound out of the pages of the very book that they occupy in words.

Three years ago, Pennsylvania-based Brown bought a box of old books from a yard sale. "One book in the bottom of the box had been crushed by the others," recalls the lover of old books. She started folding the pages to form a design. "Everything grew from there," says the self-taught book-sculptor. "It felt good to make something new from something that was ruined.

Book sculptures are depictions of a story made from the pages of that story. They can be created with the book as part of the sculpture or by taking the pages from the book and creating a free standing sculpture. They can be open or closed book sculptures.

WEDNESDAY READ: 10 THINGS TO DO IN IRELAND

Trees lit at night in Mount Stewart Gardens, Northern Ireland

By Kathleen M. Mangan

Festivals and events highlight the fall season in Ireland. Get out and enjoy harvest fairs, sports championships, traditional music and arts, guided weekend walks, creepy ghost tours, and much more.

1. Attend a Sports Championship

   Gaelic football and hurling are some of the top spectator sports in Ireland and Northern Ireland, culminating in the All-Ireland Senior Championship Finals played in Dublin’s Croke Park in September. Attending an All-Ireland is the experience of a lifetime, but plan ahead as all 82,300 tickets usually sell out. You can visit the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Museum at Croke Park year-round to learn about the history, see game highlights, and test your sports skills. Get a feel for game day on a stadium tour—visit team dressing rooms, run through the players tunnel onto the field pitchside, and catch views of the field from the sidelines and VIP seats.
   For bird’s-eye views of the stadium and Dublin’s skyline, take the guided Etihad Skyline Tour on the 17-story-high rooftop, where you will be hooked by harness to a railing.

2. Tour the Tombs at Glasnevin Cemetery

   Ireland’s necropolis is Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin where 1.5 million people have been buried...READ MORE

ECO-FRIENDLY MODERN PRODUCTS MADE OUT OF AN ANCIENT CRAFT

Varnam store

Traditional Indian craft given a contemporary twist. That’s the hallmark of Varnam — a store that I highly recommend for any traveller coming to Bangalore and wanting to take home a piece of Indian craft. 

Varnam is a small haven for the age-old Channapatna craft (more about it later). There is space under its roof for a select other traditional crafts too. But the allure of Varnam is the Channapatna craft — lacquered products made out of hale wood. They are  100% natural; use natural colours. And the craft — ancient. But the designs and ideas are CONTEMPORARY — crafted by artisans from the village of Channapatna, who for generations have been practicing the craft.

THE LEGEND OF ONAM - HAPPY ONAM, FOLKS!

Photo: Nila Tamaraa

Onam is one of the most beautiful festivals of India. Celebrated by the people of Kerala, it is in fact a welcome party for King Mahabali, who visit Kerala — God's own country — every year. Growing up I never tired of listening to the story of King Mahabali. Every year, I would ask my grandmother to tell me the "story of Onam" after partaking the Onam sadhya — an elaborate feast of 26  dishes. Yep, I could tuck in quite a bit for my pixie-size :)

Today, I take pleasure in retelling the story that was so much a part of my childhood.

3 THINGS & MORE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MUNICH — NATIVE INSIGHT FROM GERMANY

Englisher Garten. Photo: Rachna Sharma Sirtaj

Rachna Sharma Sirtaj

Name:  Rachna Sharma Sirtaj

Where are you from, originally?
India. My grandparents originate from Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. I was born in Madhya Pradesh, grew up in Andhra Pradesh and set up home in Karnataka before moving to Munich.

How long have you lived in Munich ?
8 years.

What do you do?
I am a counselor, past life regression therapist, clinical hypnotherapist and a trainer for personal, emotional and spiritual growth. I also write a blog on self – development. I also have Facebook pages where a person can find motivation, inspiration, share ideas and meet like-minded friends. 

Where can we see your work? 
My Blog: Motivatedsoul
My Facebook Page/s : Motivational Thoughts  Rachna Sirtaj Therapy

My website: Motivated Soul
 
What is Munich famous for?

• Munich is known for its proximity to the Alps and has an abundance of lakes in and around its vicinity. It has a serene and modern outlook without being flashy. It is an important historical city that is proud to have many old structures which still stand intact. The old city still exists between

3 STRIKING ARTWORKS OF A CHINESE ARTIST IN BANGALORE

Legendary international artist, Liu Bolin, also known as the Invisible Man, had come down from Beijing to participate in Art Bengaluru 2014.  He created some exclusive art works in the city for his celebrated 'Hiding in the city' series (You can read about Liu Bolin and his works here). 

Here's a look at the artworks he created in the city...

Liu Bolin's Auto Drivers of Bangalore: His art work featured 10 auto drivers from the city. It's aim: to shed light on the perpetual traffic issues, smoke and pollution in the city.

Liu Bolin's attempt to understand Indian society and the issues plaguing the girl child/woman. 

Bolin attempted to highlight numerous issues affecting the girl child/woman in India though this art work. The representation of a single girl child blending silently into the background while her classmates continue to enjoy their play-time in school, oblivious to her unhappy state of mind, is to emphasize the fact that there are many children/women who are facing horrific gender issues behind closed doors while society at large is unaware of their plight. While they continue to suffer silently, people around them go on with their lives.

Liu Bolin at work

 Liu Bolin's Hiding in the city series goes to the slums of Marathalli in Bangalore: Apparently, one of the first things that struck Bolin about India is the disparity between the rich and the poor here — Just like in China! The artist in him desired to express his sympathy towards the poor, which resulted in this particular art work.

The blue of the slum tents standing out against the backdrop of a high-rise construction behind, creating a distinctive contrast. Liu Bolin explains this artwork as: "The purpose was to blend these people into their background, at the same time emphasizing their presence by making them the subject of the work. The idea was to draw attention to them and give a wake up call to the more privileged members of society to come forward to do their bit to help give these people a better future."

Read about Liu Bolin and his work here

ARTISTS VILLAGE OF ORISSA — DANDASAHI

Art is everywhere. Even wedding invitations are painted on the walls of homes.

Dandasahi — it has an artistic lilt as it rolls out of your mouth. Apt!  Dandasahi is an artist’s village in Orissa. Lesser known than its famous cousin, the Raghuajpur artist village — the latter is prominent on the tourist-map of Orissa while Dandasahi is more of a dot on the map. 

Native art on the walls of an underpass. 

What's striking about Orissa, the land on the Eastern coast of India, is its natural beauty and ART. Native art follows you everywhere — starting from the airport arrivals. You cannot miss it. It is there on the walls of the underpass, on the sidewalks, on lanes and bylanes. People here seemed to have descended upon this earth with an extra artistic- gene. 

The wall outside Shilpa Guru Ananta Maharana's house

So, when I was told about Dandasahi, I wasn't surprised. An artist’s village conjures up images of pretty houses with painted flower boxes on the window sill, set in a beautifully laid-out environment — effects of Hollywood films! Unlike such stereotypical artist villages, which exist within a controlled-environment created by urban minds, Dandasahi is au naturel. It is a rudimentary village which is home to Pattachitra artists from eons — 12^th century or before to be precise. And it is a mere half-a-kilometer drive from Chandanpur near Puri; tucked in the midst of coconut grooves on the banks of the Bhargabi River.

The homes are not extravagant, but the art is

Narrow tarred roads flanked by trees, shrubs and small houses on either side lead to what is essentially a one-road Dandasahi village. There’s more vegetation here than houses and more goats than people — or at least that’s what it seemed like. Total population: 150

Colours used are made out of natural materials 

On the day I went to Dandasahi, it was raining. I don’t know whether the grey weather made the village seem cloaked in gloom or it was the coat of impoverishment worn by the village. The houses that speckle the village are small, dark one or two room tenements. There are no signs of opulence in any form — maybe a two-storeyed house, with a looming embellished wrought iron gate, here and there. But...you find a different form of richness — in abundance — here. ART. It peeks at you from every nook and cranny.

The homes are decorated with native art.

A two-storeyed house.
A rare sight in the village

Art is everywhere —  on the walls, windows, doors, floor, on the threshold, on the footsteps and any space that can be turned into a canvas. Every aspect of the people’s lives in this village revolve around art. For example, a walk down the lonely road will reveal homes that has just celebrated weddings. How do I know this? The wedding invitation is painted on the walls of the home — ‘so and so weds so and so’. I found it to be utterly charming — not to mention eco-friendly and artistic. People here breathe art the way we Bangaloreans breathe in pollution — it is a way of life for them. And it has been like this for hundreds of years for pattachitra artists’ living in this village. (Pattachitras are paintings on cotton, silk and palm leaves).

My first stop was at the thatched-roofed house of Ananta Maharana, the famous pattachitra artist and recipient of the Shilpa Guru award. The dimly lit room, an artist's workshop of sorts, is occupied by a battered wooden table covered with precious paintings in various stages of completion. It’s the artist’s table  — there were a couple of artists sitting 'on' the table and around it — bent over treated paper and drawing painstaking lines and circles with brushes dipped in paints made out of natural materials  — just like how their ancestors had done before. Nothing has changed much in Dandasahi since the 12^th century, except for the dim electric bulb hanging  overhead and the paved road outside the door; the technique used to create pattachitra today is the same as it had been hundreds of years ago.

Artist at work in Shilpa Guru Ananta Maharana's house

First, for the base of the painting, two cotton fabric pieces (“Used cotton saris are the best,” says Vikram Singh, grandson of Maharana) are prepared by coating it with glue made out of tamarind seeds and white chalk powder. This is allowed to dry for a few hours. Then it is coated again with soft white stone powder and tamarind gum. This gives the cloth tensile strength; it is then smoothened with round pebbles making the surface smooth and a semi-absorbent surface, allowing it to accept the paint. The paint is made out of natural materials — vegetables, earth and mineral sources. The colours used predominantly in pattachitra are are black, red, yellow and green. Black colour is obtained from the black of wick-burning lamps; yellow from haritali stone and red from the hingal stone. White colour is obtained by crushing, boiling and filtering shells. Earlier, the artists didn’t use pencil or charcoal for the preliminary drawings, but now some of them do. Still, most start by making a rough sketch directly with the brush using light red or yellow colour. The borders are painted first. The artist finishes the painting with fine strokes of black brush lines, giving the effect of pen work. Then the painting is held over a charcoal fire and lacquer is applied to the surface. This makes the painting water resistant and durable, besides giving it a glossy finish. The subject matter of the pattachitras are mostly religious, mythological, and folk themes. Krishna leela and Lord Jagannath are recurring motifs.

Shilpa Guru Ananta Maharana

The one-room workshop led to the residence of Maharana  — a humble tenement with a rich intricately painted doorway. Maharana, now well into his seventies, is a frail but extremely skilled man. Sitting in the corner of the room, framed by an artistically embellished window frame, he seemed to be weighed down by dreams unfulfilled.

The room was filled choc-a-block with pattachitras and painted wooden boxes, bottles, coconut shells and others. Maharana’s sons proudly displayed the traditionally painted playing cards or Ganjifa and Chitra-pothies, a collection of painted palm leaves stacked on top of each other and held together between painted wood covers by means of string. The theme was mostly mythological. The life of Krishna has been an inspiration to these artists for eons. They  never tire of showing the works to the visitors. And the guests can never tire of such artistic works. One can buy pattachitras directly from the artists in the village or one can go into town and buy rip-offs for a much lesser price. But even the rip-offs are beautiful. Such is the character of pattachitras.  

Mythology is a recurring theme in Pattachitras.

After spending some time at Maharana’s I walked down the street. Most of the homes are similar to Maharana’s, beautifully painted outer walls, thatched roof, intricately painted doors and window frames; beyond which is darkness punctured with flickering light and the men of the house bent over painting an ancient art. Women help in preparing the canvas, but it is the men who paint — women are not allowed to paint pattachitras. 

The women of Dandasahi 

A regular house in Dandasahi. See the painted walls and door frames

If the art was inspiring enough, the hospitality of the villagers was even more so. They readily open their doors and invite strangers in to share their legacy and livelihood — the patachitra, which is a way of life for them. The only life they know.