my artviews: April 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

School days

School girls

The government high school was stones throw away from my house. The big banyan tree and Raman’s tea shop next to the school are the landmarks of Kalliassery even this day –Two girls walking past the shop to the school

Another memory of school days is connected with the old vendor, Kannan moossor who sold goose berries, cumin toffee, and roasted Channa.He was a constant presence by the school gate, clad in a patch worked very old coat, and dhothi…me and my brother made a song about him to sing in place of ringa ringa rosses while playing..It was like,

Kandam bechoru coattanee,(stitched with patches all over)

Kannan moossore coattane,(it is Kannan moossore’s coat)

Pattaru thunnia coattanee,(stitched by a pattar)

Pande kittiya coattanee,(He got it long ago)

Nattilu muzhuvan pattanee(All people knew about it)

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Making Avial

KITCHEN SCENE (OIL ON CANVAS 60 X 90).This is a picture of traditional Kerala kitchen.As a newly wed ,I spent some time in my in law's ancestral home . My husband’s aunt was in charge of the kitchen there. She used to prepare food in traditional choola though there was a gas stove.She used to keep salt in a horlics bottle and dried chillies in a Amul tin on the platform. As the bulb above the choola was always blackened due to the constant smoke ,she used to light a small lantern. A painting on this nostalgic scene.
In this picture Mother is cutting yellow cucumber for making ‘Avial ‘a traditional curry.Water with some turmeric powder and coconut oil is kept boiling in a stone vessel called Kallumeri in which she will put the chopped vegetables to make Avial.Rice is being cooked in the second choola.Milk is boiled to prepare curd in an earthen-pot.The manual stone grinder,in which coconut and masala are ground to paste is also can be seen.You can also see Narayani the washer woman is washing clothes out side kitchen.There were no washing machines-clothes were dipped in soap water,pummelled on the stone slab and rinsed .

Monday, April 23, 2012

The amaranthus seller

VEGETABLE VENDOR (Oil on canvas ).

Our mornings were associated with long calls of a vegetable vendor, selling amaranthus leaves locally known as “cheera”. She like many other vendors was a Tamil lady . She used to come early in the morning, bare footed, neatly dressed in a silk sari, with jasmine flowers tucked into her long pleated hair. Rather than the twinkle of her nose ring, the sadness in her eyes still haunts me.

oil paintings

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Down memory lane

These paintings are rooted on my nostalgic childhood days. My native place Kalliassery was a calm, picturesque village with vast green fields. As a small child, I used to accompany my Grandfather during his routine morning walk through our paddy fields. It was such a divine scene to see the fields transform to a sea with green waves when the wind blows. Here and there were small thatched huts of caretakers, which only enhanced the beauty of the fields.

Now modernization has crept in and the fields have given way to housing plots. W e also sold a large portion of our ancestral land, due to non availability of skilled laborers also because farming was no more profitable. Especially after the construction boom of early eighties and nineties, the paddy fields have been transformed into housing plots in the state.

Kittan , the plowman , is plowing the field , as women are planting paddy plants in the wet soil. His melodies tunes IMMU MMU THU THU, a sound to direct the bullocks still echoes in my ears. The ladies used to sing songs depicting the stories of local heroes.