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.