Painting Workshop With Ajay Sharma

I finally have a chance to post about the wonderful enjoyable week I spent recently learning traditional Indian miniature painting techniques from Jaipur master Ajay Sharma. I picked up a lot of valuable knowledge, and drank a lot of delicious chai. Ajay is an incredibly skilled painter and a very encouraging teacher. Hopefully he will visit Sydney again next year and run another course. I can thoroughly recommend it.

Ajay showed us how to mix traditional paints using chalk powder and pigment bound with gum arabic. It's crucial and difficult to get the right proportions of chalk and gum in the mix. Ajay showed us some tricks to get it right. Too little gum arabic and the paint will powder off; too much and it will be brittle and tend to flake off.

Below: kariya (chalk and gum arabic) mixed with pigments in shells.

We also learned how to prepare traditional wasli paper for painting, how to burnish the paper, and how to apply even washes and base colours. Also various brush techniques. Finishing up by learning how to apply gold leaf.


The standard of the paintings produced, even by those students new to this art form, was truly remarkable.

Ajay Sharma Exhibition

Just a week left to see the exquisite Indian miniature paintings of Ajay Sharma at the Airspace 10 Junction St, Marrickville.
The exhibition winds up on Saturday 19th of July.

airspaceprojects.com

Ajay Sharma Painting Workshop in Sydney

Register at: http://squarepegstudios.com.au/category/opportunities/

SquarePeg Studios and AirSpace Gallery are located 10 Junction Street, Marrickville, NSW 2204

Happy Holi

Happy Shivaratri

Woman worshipping Lord Shiva.

Prince Dara Shikoh

Dara Shikoh was the eldest son of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Shah Jahan named Dara heir to the vast Mughal Empire, but his younger brother Aurangzeb, usurped the throne and had Dara assassinated.
Dara Shikoh was a liberal, cultured and spiritual prince, a follower of Sufi saints and a friend of one of the Sikh gurus. He sought to link the two oceans of spirituality: Hinduism and Islam. The conservative Aurangzeb declared him an apostate, and went on to demolish some of the most sacred Hindu temples in India, and to force conversions to Islam.
It is often speculated as to how the history of India would have been very different had Dara Shikoh prevailed over Aurangzeb.

Incidentally Dara was considered a talented painter.

Happy Diwali

Gajalakshmi, Painting by Graham Brown

Exhibition on Yoga

Yoga: The Art of Transformation

Opens October 19

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington DC.

"Yoga is a global phenomenon practiced by millions of people seeking spiritual insight and better health. Few, however, are aware of yoga's dynamic history. Opening this fall at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is Yoga: The Art of Transformation, the world's first exhibition of yogic art. Temple sculptures, devotional icons, vibrant manuscripts, and court paintings created in India over 2,000 years—as well as early modern photographs, books, and films—reveal yoga's mysteries and illuminate its profound meanings."

Devi Enthroned

Devi Enthroned (detail) Mandi

Husaini Arts

Posted by kind permission of Husaini Arts, Fine Islamic and indian Art.
For information on these works, and to see more, visit their website:
www.husainiarts.com

Nainsukh

Nainsukh (18th century) is probably the best known of Pahari painters. His work is characterised by simplicity, robust design, and naturalism.

The biographical film, Nainsukh (2010), directed by Amit Dutta, explores his life and work.

A Scene from the film, recreating one of Nainsukh's paintings:

Sikh Miniatures

Guru Nanak meets Nath Siddhas

Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjabi, c 1840