Rangoli-15

Here are two more designs from our traditional ones...

 This one is 15 to 7 but can be drawn using 15 to 8 dots.

This is also 15 to 8 dots. Hope you have liked these.

Coconut Crafts

I love attending various exhibitions being conducted in my city. Specially if they are related to arts n crafts, textiles, horticulture etc. Recently I visited one. I just want to share with you the products made from coconut. 

Coconut you know is widely grown and used in the coastal areas more so in South India. The fruit is offered as a token of respect to gods. Its used in our cuisine widely. The water of tender coconuts is very tasty, refreshing and highly nutritious, so is the tender flesh. Summertime is the best time to enjoy them. Coconut oil is used as medium of cooking and is very good for our tresses. 

All the parts of the tree are useful. The trunk is used for various purposes like making small boats, as timber,etc, coir is used for mattresses, carpets, ropes, and  so on. The sap from the flowers is drunk known as neera and is very good for health. The same is fermented to get wine known as toddy. Grated coconut mixed with water and boiled gives the milk which is used in various dishes, especially by the South East Asian countries. Coconut is basically good for our hair.

The shell of the fruit is hard and is used for making various crafts and utility items. I could get a glimpse of them only. Here they are:

Here are the fruit. They come in bunches, green, yellow and orange colour. The tender ones have more water and less flesh or is it meat they call it? But once it matures, there is less water and the flesh is hard.

 

 Aren't these faces cute? They are made from the coconuts.

 

Here are the vases, cups and other things made out of the shells. Aren't these artists really good and skilled?

Hope you like them......

Painted Sari

This is a sari which I painted long back. I loved the combination of  off-white and orange. Its pure cotton very fine quality, hand woven and had a light silk yarn border border. It looked bright yet not too loud. There was not much choice for me in the colours that could be used for painting on this sari. So it was orange, olive green, brown and white. I dint want an elaborate design as I wanted to finish it off early.  Just used a few strokes to create a floral spray.

 

 This is how it looks the Pallu half orange and half off-white with floral bunches.

  

 The sari had an orange border  on both top and bottom edges.

  

 A closer look at the pallu.

  

 The floral bunches all over the sari at regular intervals.

  

 A closer look at one of the bunches.

Hmmm not quite a master piece. I know. But the colour combination of the sari made it stand out among the crowds.