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!