One of my workspaces

So recently I was having a summer clean - up day and tried arranging some bits of my supplies and so on - it's quite therapeutic.
This is just one area that took me almost four hours to organize - wish there was a guide book/ equipment to sort stuff out!(Still have academic papers, articles, research papers, beads and other supplies left to organize..)

ScrapBooking

Scrap Booking is always fun, however it's an expensive craft - you really need to invest in the machines, materials, accessories and so on. Usually I go to Paper Lane in Jumeirah and for AED 145, I get special paper, accessories and everything included.
This one is for Fatima, one of my dearest friends.. Miss her laods.

Crafts - Coaster

So whilst I have been teaching arts & crafts, I started making stuff for the home, just to keep as samples, other than having stuff just at the school.
This is a stainless steel coaster - I used glass paints as it dries quicker although you do get metal paints in the market, which can be quite expensive.

A Photo Essay

The docked boats at the Fishing Village, there since the 1960s - each of them are either privately owned by an individual, mostly UAE nationals, or an organization.



The Fishing Community - These boats, tied together,have either arrived or are about to leave with packets of fish to be traded.


The Fish Market - A little beyond the Fishing Village. Trade Buyers and retailers usually get good bargains and traders are usually from diverse backgrounds and nationalities from Chinese, Americans, Indians,Arabs, Iranians etc.

My love for pots

Had a creativity streak last night and got some old canvases out. I have a thing for pots and infact, I recently wanted to take up pottery classes but couldn't find the time. Not a lot of places offer these classes.

The first two ones are approximately 60cm X 80cm and the 3 piece set are 30cm x 60cm. They are acrylic based as they dry much faster, except for the 3 piece set as I had to use oils for the impasto effect.

Each canvas teaches me a little something and this time I treasured my old dry brushes and the textures I could produce with them. One thing to always keep in mind is to never throw out any art supplies - you never know when it comes in handy.

Oh yes, and these will be at the flea market too on Saturday.

Mangoes Mangoes!

Biker's Cafe

Children Fascinate me

The Red Path

The Red Path
Oil On Canvas - Impasto Texture
Honestly, I have been quite doubtful about this from the beginning, but there is something in it that makes me want to take a second look. I don't know. Maybe, it's the textures or maybe not.
This one took me almost 7 - 8 hours to complete.

For the love of books

With this, I honestly lost track of what medium I was using. Starting of with oil paints & Linseed Oil, going to acrylics, water colors and then gouache.

And it didnt turn out as bad as I thought it would! (Will probably hang it on my partner's bedroom wall - if not books then atleast a painting of books. Am sure I'll be at the receiving end of all sorts of expressions.)

Some More photos

Going back to basics

Every now and then, one has to go back to basics. Even though I took art in school and a drawing module during college, I am still not entirely confident about my drawing skills.

So recently, I enrolled in a drawing course to brush up my basic skills and learn how to draw from life. Drawing itself has various mediums and textures. Different number of pencils, charcoal and aryic ink make up for the different mediums one can use for drawing.

Even the way one holds a pencil makes a huge difference.
Below is one of my drawings and this was to test my skills since I was getting back to it after long.(always just taken private classes) This is the first time I was sketching after years. I used 2B,4B, 7B and a charcoal pencil and, of course, an erasor, cotton cloth to blend and this is sketched on drawing A3 size paper.

OIL PAINTING - Abstract

OIL PAINTING - ABSTRACT (impasto texture)
Stretched canvas - 100cm x 100cm
Back Stapled, Medium grain texture
100% acid free cotton
black bordered
*can be framed