Yummy Mangoes

This past November, in our local library I picked up a beautiful book called The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi. The library was celebrating India month perhaps because of Diwali and they had a wide selection of books from Indian authors on display.

This one sentence from the book has stayed with me since - "When she was growing up, summer was all about mangoes—ripe, sweet mangoes, bursting with juices that dripped down your chin, hands, and neck."

This is exactly how I remember summers by! Unending supply of juicy-sweet-fragrant-mangoes. One couldn't have enough of these lip-smackingly delicious fruits. We always plan to go home during the mango season but alas, it's not happend yet :)

Meanwhile, here are some Mangoes for you!

Mango Kitchen print, available for purchase here.

Paper plane

Wow, November got the best of me. I feel as though I've been completely MIA on blog land. It has been a busy busy work month. I had a bunch of commission requests so of course, duty calls.

One interesting thing I have been working on the side is creating Nursery wall art. I have been slowly putting together several ideas that were floating in my head and this Paper Plane print is one of them. I was inspired a while back by this paper plane installation art  and thought I will give it a go. The bird in a helmet flying a paper plane does look cute, don't you think? 

I hope all of you have a lovely week ahead!

Paper plane available for purchase here

Riding the waves

Today lets peek into the enchanting laboratory of Kluto - a 60 year old accomplished Zoopian scientist. Today Kluto is unveiling his snazzy new invention - 'The Jarzole'. All you have to do is step into the Jarzole and say something like 'take me to the beach' and bam you are there, or more like beach is there for you!

Last week I grudgingly recycled a bunch of jam & pasta sauce jars. I save them hoping to put them to some stylish use later on. But a practical, non-carcinogenic and easy-to-do project remained elusive. And jars were just sitting around cluttering up my cupboards and taking up premium pantry space, so they had to go. This 'Riding the waves' illustration is a digital tribute to those Jars. May they have a more fulfilling next life as a Jarzole :)

Any other Jar Junkie out there?

Riding the waves, available for purchase here. 

Mr. Beel

If you go to The Cafe Rint this lovely morning (and every other morning) you will see Mr. Beel sipping Iced-tea with Melma and Joz. (The couple is at present standing next to the juke box picking a song.)

Regarding Iced-tea, the other day I came across this home brewed Mango Iced-tea recipe. The hint of ginger totally seals the deal for me! While I was reading the recipe my mind wandered to a year spent in San Diego. Back then, we were having an Iced-tea phase. We always had a pitcher full of green or lemon Iced-tea ready in our fridge. I drew today's 'Mr. Beel' illustration to commemorate those days.

Now we are more calorie conscious and Iced-tea has become an occasional indulgence.

Mr Beel, available for purchase here

Grapes

I’m constantly amazed at the healthy diet ideas out there, especially all the fun stuff my gym buddies know. While at the gym a few weeks back I heard an interesting piece of advice - frozen grapes to cure a sweet tooth!

I enjoy grapes, but freezing them sounded weird at first!  I gave it a try and amazingly, when frozen, grape becomes sort of creamy from the inside. The sweetness also seems to increase a little bit. Now I also enjoy purple grape smoothies -  one cup frozen grapes and one cup milk blended on high until smooth.

And this is how grapes in my world look like :)

Grapes, available for purchase here.

Fall - The story of Za

This is the story of Za - a leaf collector in the Kingdom of Zoop. All through the year Za eagerly awaits fall. This is the time when her job really begins. She wakes up early in the morning and collects uncrushed leaves fell overnight, carefully examining each one and picking up only most brightly hued, unblemished and perfectly formed.

Why leaves? Well, the Kingdom of Zoop needs leaves to make dwellings for its people. During fall, citizens of Zoop come together few hours a day and use leaves Za collected to reinforce their homes in preparation for the upcoming winters. Someone predicted winters would be particularly strong this year.

Fall, available for purchase here.

Romeo in love

Hello friends! How's it going? I have been good, a little distracted but good :)

Today I want to share the story behind this 'Romeo in love' illustration. A few weeks ago,  I saw a bunch of little plastic animals at Target - Elephant, Giraffe, Lion, Tiger, Penguin etc. I picked them up hoping to turn a few of them into painted animal glass jars (tutorial here) and the rest into party animals (tutorial here). 

Once home I placed them on the corner of my desk, hoping to get around to painting them in a day or two. A few weeks passed... The more I saw them, the more I fell in love with the little fellows. The amazing detailing on each of their bodies was too beautiful to paint over! I could not get myself to cover their gorgeous markings with solid color. 

Instead I cut out a little heart shaped eye patch for my giraffe and turned him into a Romeo. It didn't quite stay the way I wanted but, the illustration shows how it would look if I had Martha Stewart skills. 

Romeo in love, available for purchase here.

Let it snow

Too early to be thinking about snow? I know! For the past few days I have been working on some holiday themed illustrations and thus the festive mood! It all stared with the Santa Claus illustration (I talked about it here) and now I have ornaments, cardinals, sledges and snowmen occupying my mind. 

Believe it or not, Christmas is lurking round the corner :)

Let it snow, available for purchase here.

Apples

Whoo-hoo! It's apple picking season! At the beginning of fall, Tarun and I like to pack a picnic lunch and head out for some apple-picking mayhem at our favorite Orchard. While we wait for the hay ride to arrive we browse through the shops, sample their fall deserts and drink lots of apple cider (what can I say, Linvilla has the best Cider around!). Once into the orchard we savor the fall sunshine, smell the wildflowers and fill our buckets with perfectly ripened apples. There is something heavenly about biting into a ripe apple plucked straight from the tree!

Once home we look forward to drinking lots of fresh pressed Apple Ginger Juice. Here is my favorite recipe.

Do you love apple picking? What do you do with all your apple loot?  

Apples, available for purchase here. 

The Debonair Lion

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to share today's illustration with you all!! It's a very handsome Lion - all dressed up and ready for a night out. 

It all started a few days ago at the mall. While walking out of the food court I crossed paths with a gentleman with the most gorgeous beard and moustache! He was a cross between Santa (because of his snow white beard and moustache)  and Lion ( because of his piercing eyes and walk). We walked away in different directions but his face stayed with me, metamorphosing from a human to a human like lion to a serious Santa Claus. Needless to say I couldn't focus on anything else that day. 

I started working on both the Lion and Santa versions that evening. I finished the lion first and the serious Santa should be done in a day or so too!

What do you think?

The Debonair Lion, available for purchase here.

Onions

Happy almost October! How are you all on this beautiful day? I'm taking in the beautiful beginnings of fall and enjoying working on new series of illustrations. Remember the Get going Illustration? I'm working on a bunch of illustrations along the same lines. I love working with messages :)

The other day, while chopping onions for Pulao (a rice dish) I found some bulbs that were sprouting. It happens ever so often. I get a bag from the store and before I can use them all, some would start sprouting these cute little green spikes. I usually just cut the spikes out and use the onion. This time however, I gathered the sprouting onions and headed towards my desk to draw. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Onions, available for purchase here.

I hope your weekend is full of fun and laughter : )

Trust the wisdom of the heart

Sorry for the prolonged absence. It's been a busy week! Every spare moment was spent doing -back from vacation stuff-  cleaning, laundry, ironing, restocking the fridge & pantry. 

Now to today's illustration - As you can see, I love incorporating positive and encouraging messages in my illustrations. This wisdom of the heart message came from a Yogi Tea bag - all yogi teas comes with little nuggets of wisdom (See another related illustration I did a while back here). I think we all could use a gentle reminder to listen to our hearts.  

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! We are going to stay in as much as we can, enjoy the rain and relax.

Trust the wisdom of the heart, available for purchase here.

Snow globe - Je T'aime

I have something magical to share with you today - A Snow Globe! Like most people I love holding the Snow Globe - with it's own tiny universe - in my hand and shaking it up to watch the snow flakes drift down in a elegant dance to an unseen rhythm. There is something very peaceful almost idyllic about it.  

I drew this Snow Globe in a bright yellow base with a Je T'aime ('I love you' in french) inscribed on it and a little bunny (holding a snow drop) inside it.  I put a little bunny in coz I missed Bunny Bee so much during our vacation. Her soft fur, thorough licks and the boundless energy. I love her so much!

Here is a very easy to follow tutorial for creating your very own real life snow globes from canning jars and such. 

Snow Globe - Je T'aime, available for purchase here

Cherry

With summer in it's final chapters I'm savoring the last batch of sweet juicy cherries - It's one of my favorite fruits and I always have a ton of them in my fridge all summer long. It sweetens my summer like no other!

Cherries trigger a lot of happy memories from when I was a child. I must have been 2 or 3 and it was my Aunt's (mom's younger sister) wedding. All I remember from the day are the boxes and boxes of cherries I ate, the red juice that dripped down my face staining my 'good' clothes and the pits I swallowed in my eagerness to eat. I couldn’t get enough of cherries then, and I can’t get enough now. And I'm OK with that :)

I like my cherries fresh from the bowl. How do you like yours?  

Cherry, available for purchase here.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend :)

6 Lotuses

Aloha! I'm back from Hawaii and super tanned! 

We were in Hawaii for the last 2 weeks and it was fantastic. It has to be the most beautiful and happy place on earth. And the people are so nice and friendly.  

We went to 3 islands : Ohau, Maui and Big Island and did a range of activities from deep sea dives (scuba), hiking on a volcanic crater, admiring the acres and acres of lava fields,  snuba (Like scuba but with a hose instead of tank), snorkeling at the gorgeous hanauma bay, getting kissed on the lips by a beautiful macaw (really!), midnight strolls on the beach, drinking lots of Mai Tai's & passion fruit drink and of course eating really sweet tropical fruits - pink guava, mangoes, apple bananas (my now favorite fruit), pineapple and papaya... YUM!!

The best part was swimming with the giant sea turtles and not so good part was missing the lava flow. 

Now I'm all charged up and ready to get back to work. Let's talk about today's illustration. This lotus illustration was created before I left for my vacation.  The inspiration came from one of my favorite quotes from Bhagavad Gita - "One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus is untouched by water." I'm not a very spiritual person but, I think it's a beautiful way to live and possibly one of the few ways to a contented life. 

What do you think? Do you have favorite quotes that you live (or try to live) your life by?

6 Lotuses, available for purchase here

PS : Guess what? Turning 30 = Piece of cake!

Sing from your heart

On this fine day, I'm day dreaming of all things musical. It's incredibly quiet in here now (Bunny bee is taking a nap) and this illustration on my wall looks like the most appealing thing ever. I first read this 'sing from your heart' phrase on a Yogi tea bag (they have these inspiring messages - a unique one with every tea bag) and drew the illustration as a reminder to sing my heart out (in the privacy of home, when I'm alone) and not worry if I got the tune wrong. It is truly liberating.

What about you? Do you need a reminder to sing from your heart too?

I hope your day is amazing in every way!

Sing from your heart, available for purchase here.

Potatoes

Hello Monday! What do you have planned for the week? 

I have lots of (last minute) work to catch-up on, before we leave for Hawaii for  two (yes!!) weeks.  It's my 30 Birthday on September 1, and we are going to celebrate it with sun, sand and a little volcano lava (maybe). Yay!!

I want to share a new food illustration with you today. It's the most versatile vegetable known to us (at least in my book!) - The Potato. What food illustration series could be complete without the Potato, right? I have been working on these Potatoes for  a month or so, somehow I couldn't get it just right. They would either look like spotted eggs or rocks or just big blobs of colors! Well until now :)

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. They are in the same color palette as all my food illustrations too!  

Available for purchase here. 

Peas

How are you doing? I hope all is well in your world : )

I have a very special story to share today. Last week a new mom got in touch with me (via etsy) to share her story and request a Peas illustration for her daughters room. Why Peas?  Well, I'll let Mariana (the new mom) tell you in her own words . "... my husband and I love our big backyard vegetable garden and were out picking peas this June when my water broke and our daughter decided to come two weeks early. So we like to say that she came in with the peas."(awwww!!) She went on to say "I hope perhaps your next one will be a rainbow of spring peas." 

I'm so happy to honor her request! Stories like these make my work so much more meaningful. Thanks Mariana!!

Peas, available for purchase here.

Amour

Hi there! I hope the beginning of this week is treating you well so far :)

I completed this illustration at the start of the month and I see my style shifting once again - I'm using words more frequently in my illustrations. This is something I began doing after working with words for some round  MOO stickers (Bunch of colorful stickers with one/ two word messages on them that turned out nice).  I have quiet a few word (and love!) illustrations lined up in the next few weeks. I'm going to try and space them out as much as I can. 

Sometimes it's more fun communicating through written words, than drawings :)

I hope you all have a good week!

Amour, available for purchase here. 

Bird with antlers

It’s hard to believe, but another week is over! With the end of summer fast approaching (Just a couple of weeks left to enjoy the warm weather!) time has been flying for me.  This weekend we are heading down to Lake george with a bunch of friends and spending an exciting day at Adirondack Extreme! I'm hoping to sketch a lot, take plenty of pictures and gather material for my next series of illustrations  on extreme adventures.

The past few weeks have been super productive. I have been illustrating a lot of glass objects, some flowers and a bunch of antlers (on snails, a wee little tomato and birds of course). Today's illustration is from the antler experiments.  I think the bird looks pretty cute with antlers. Don't you think?

Bird with antlers, available for purchase here.

Bulb Terrarium

When we were in Longwood Gardens a few weeks back, we spent hours sitting in the beautifully landscaped courtyard and gazing at the outdoor water lily display. Curved pools filled with inky water, slight breeze and the lack of mosquitoes (they use some cool fish in the ponds, that eats mosquito larve!) created the perfect setting to look at the exquisite water lilies, relax and get lost in thought. 

I came back wanting to create the same tranquillity at home with  my own lily pond or the next best thing - a lotus terrarium. Is that even possible in real world? Dunno, but in my world all it takes are a bunch of strokes and voila! 

Bulb Terrarium, available for purchase here. 

Paper boat

We have been having lots of rain! It has cooled things off and that's been great! The not-so-good part has been Bunny Bee running scared to hide under the couch every time it thunders. To distract her I have been making lots of paper boats for her to nibble on. 

Paper boats, rain and I go a long way back. When I was little I found it impossible to concentrate on what was happening in the class during monsoons. I coped by tearing sheets of paper from the note books and making lots and lots of paper boats, all the while desperately waiting for the lunch bell to ring. With the first ring of the bell I would run out with the boats stuffed in my skirt pockets to look for flowing rivulets of water. I thought paper boats sailing on rain water rivulet was the coolest things ever!

Paper boat, available for purchase here. 

LOVE

Since, my sister and brother-in-law are visting us for a couple of days (yay!) I was looking at fun things to do/ see in and around Philly. The LOVE statue caught my attention. We have lived here for over a year and yet, I haven't gotten around to visting it or drawing it!

So what better time than now? As you can see I took some artistic liberties (read making it girly) with the letters and its color. A girl's gotta do what  a girl's gotta do :)

Swing on

Oh! I love swings!! Especially the ones on a rope that hangs from a tree. 

The pure unadulterated joy of gliding through the air, hair skimming the ground and toes pointed, almost touching the sky. Just thinking about it makes me smile (and feel about 10 years younger!)

We have a porch swing back home and I have fond memories of sitting on the swing - wrapped in a blanket - watching my cute little nieces and nephews run and play in the front garden, occasionally bring in some treasure (a pebble, dead bug or a wild flower) to show me. It's wonderful how swings are always associated with happy times!

Swing on, available for purchase here.

Enjoy your weekend! 

Tea Cups

Good morning friends! Care to join me for a cup of tea?

When I shared the tea pots illustration a little while back, a reader requested a companion piece with tea cups. I was more than happy to oblige! I'm fascinated with the delicate porcelain and the sensual curve of the handle. Not to mention how easy it is to add a dose of personalized whimsy to a cup. Check out this link to know what I'm talking about. My favorite one has to be the tea bag coffin. I always find myself in a quandary - to store the dripping tea bag in my saucer (yuk!) till I finish my tea or run to the garbage bin and throw it away, while my tea is quickly cooling away. 

I'm waiting for the skies to clear up a little bit so that I can take pictures of both (Tea Pots and Tea Cups) illustration together :)

Cups, available for purchase here.