The Lotus effect

The lotus that had beautifully bloomed in my aunt's garden pond had captivated my eyes, when I had last visited her. It was still very tender and young. Then, she was also considering about the landscaping. I had always wanted to bring the beauty of
lotus flowers on my canvas. And I had shared this thought with my aunt. So she called me up this weekend to inform that the pond was full of lotus blooms and that it's a delight to see them! This was pretty much what I wanted. We were getting our house painted and hence had to mine and dig out my priced possessions from the carton box. It was a sad scene, looking at the paint brushes, the pastels and the pallets that had caught dust. Poor them! I decided to liberate them and give them salvation! I asked myself, "How long has it been that you have touched your brushes and paints?". “Ages!”, I mumbled. Drawing and painting is sheer fun! I have always wanted to and i still want to spend enough time on this but blame it on the schedule. Traveling eats away most of the time! I couldn't wait and drove off to her place. With my papers and pastels this time of course.

I reached the place and what do I see? The pond was full of "Momo Botans" and "Empresses", names of the lotus flowers (Empresses are whitish blooms with gentle strokes of pinkish colors on the edges of the petals. The lotus flower called "Momo Botan" is a truly elegant water blossom with a deep, brilliant pink double blooms). The blooms were impressive and they had flourished in her personal outdoor sanctuary. It simply created an even more beautiful place to relax and unwind at home. They were simply gorgeous! My aunt always said that the perennial plants such as lotus flowers are a great idea for any garden pond. They had reached their full, flourishing, healthy, and most beautiful size and conditions of the blossom. Beautiful round olive and forest green leaves covered the pond like a blanket, providing a restful and a delightful retreat for anyone to enjoy. The fragrance of the pond in general was very cheering. The blossoms looked like lovely ladies dressed in pink and white, swaying everytime the wind blew. These charming ladies had grown as tall as 5 to 7 feet. To add to this, the garden landscaping was done wonderfully. I learnt that gardening truly is an art. And gardening is the only thing that's worth getting dirty for!!

After a chit-o-chat with my aunt about the lotus flowers, floriculture, gardening, landscaping and hell a lot of other things, I walked outside with my instruments. I had taken my pastels. I loooove pastels. They are extremely portable, easy to clean up, and can give you a wide range of looks. Oil pastels give you the look and feel of oil paint and with the freedom of pastels. There's no water to worry about, no special brushes, no messy clean-up. Best of all, though, it lets the artist who mainly draws get the look of a painting while still getting to draw. The heat is what will make your oil pastels look like paint. I let them sit in the sun for a few minutes. I like to use canvases with a pre-treatment of gouache or paint for extra texture. Sand paper which has a raised grain to it, is perfect for holding layers of oil pastel which makes it the best choice for a canvas. It is well teethed to grab hold of all that creamy pigment, else the painting will end up muddy. I chose an angle and put my board. I made myself comfortable. The weather was quite soothing and complimenting. Every season has something wonderful about it and colors found in nature are often less saturated and more pleasing to the eye than their artificial counterparts. This time of year can bring some amazing weather that just has to be documented creatively. There is inspiration everywhere. Your eyes just have to find that perfect spark of inspiration. Finding an idea about what to write about can sometimes be harder than actually writing it. And it is the same case with drawing and painting. Much depends on who you are as a person at that moment! Plain psychology!A frame of mind for any artist is imperative and especially when it comes to painting. The mind has to be tranquil and devout. And absolutely devoid of any other thought but for the subject matter.

As I sat down next to the lotus, I marveled about each of nature's creations. It is beautifully and perfectly fitted to its station in life and exhibits a complete propriety of form and function. Nature is wholly consistent. I reminisced at the irony of beauty in filth. I got engaged in that thought and began my work. I concentrated on bringing the wonderful play of colors and light that I was able to witness. I worked on the flats and the depths giving them equal emphasis. I was so absorbed trying to capture those shadows...beneath the layers. I was in another world, as always. Transcending to another world doesn't take much time with me! Dancing and acting feels like that quite often. The walls of the rehearsal room simply disappear. And on the stage during a performance you completely forget about the audience. It's a terrific jolt when you come back to reality. Forgetting oneself is the best thing about painting and acting and dancing for me.

I din take notice of my aunt who was standing beside me with lotus juice (Yes!Lotus juice). She said she had called my name at least thrice!!! I was buoyant and afloat. Lotus effect, really![Wink]


PS: Lotus juice is an extract of lotus roots sweetened with honey which has great healing power. It was just toooo GOOD! Divine, infact!