Playing with Pigments

I had a bit of extra fun in the studio today! I had recently ordered some samples of chromogenic pigments - pigments that change color - either based on sunlight or temperature. I got to play with one that changed color from coral to purple in sunlight today. I was only going to use them on small items like stones and mini-mandalas, but the recommendation was to use them on white or light colored backgrounds. With all the canvas prepped for my owl series with lighter backgrounds just sitting on the table, I couldn't help myself :) I am sure this barred owl piece is going to be very exciting when finished!

On the left is the coral color in shade and it turns to purple in sunlight!

I applied the coral to purple chromogenic pigment to a bunch of stones also, hence they are all lined up with the sunlight on the table. I didn't use as much pigment as I should have - didn't measure the ratio of pigment to medium - so the color change on the stones is not dramatic like the owl piece. Also I didn't start with a lighter background on these stones.

And to round out the day, I spent most of pre- & post-dinner hours working on this piece - in my Rising series. It's a 3' x 4' canvas, so its going to be a while before it is done, but my hope is to take it with us to the Deep Ellum Arts Festival next month. 

2018 Calendars

I can't believe it is already time to start planning for the next year! my first step in thinking about the next year is always in planning for the calendar. I got it designed and printed last week and it feels like a bit later than usual! Based on feedback from fans, the 2018 calendar features a mix of florals and mandala paintings from this year. I also redesigned my website a bit, set-up a new subdomain for my square marketplace and linked them all together. It's now easy to shop for calendars & prints from my website!

 

Arts Alive

Last week I did a workshop for kids through a program called Arts Alive, funded by the Addison Center for the Arts. The class was at the local Junior High School and 5 students had signed up for my Mandala Designs class. I had three 6th graders and a couple of 8th graders. The class was in 2 sessions for about 2 hours each.

On the first day, all the kids prepared 2 canvases with the background colors they liked. The time went by really fast! It was a little surprising for me to learn that middle school kids have not used a compass to draw circles before. So it was interesting to teach them basic geometry before starting  to paint.

In the second session, they got to play with 3 dimensional fabric paint - a.k.a. puffy paint. They were painting mandalas similar to how I paint them and it was fun to teach this way of playing with paint to the kids.

One of the kids might soon get much better at this than me :) 

Check out how she is free-handing the pattern with fabric paint. 

There were a couple of times when I had to remind some of the kids to be respectful of the class & focus, but overall it was a fun and satisfying experience, and may be, I think I would be more open to working with kids again than I have been in the past. of course, it was also great to be part of a program that brings more art opportunities to kids who wouldn't otherwise get to explore things outside their regular class stuff. So proud of these budding artists :) 

Floral Mandalas

A new series I have started recently are a different style of mandala paintings on canvas. My usual paintings all have concentric circles, but this series is more of a floral style, with next layers of the circle forming out of the previous layers. The canvas are also 16" x 20"  - not a square and with only the floral mandala and my signature, curved in a corner. These canvas can be hung in either orientation! The first two below - Blossom & Elegance, 2015 have already found wonderful collectors their second week on show. I painted the other two - Patience & Growth in the last two weeks and really liking how the series is turning out. 

These paintings are all done with 3-4 colors in the background and 1-2 colors in the textured layers. The textured dots & lines are done in dark & light shades of either gold or silver with one other accent iridescent color. By varying the shade and the thickness of the lines, the mandalas are more dramatic. If you are in the Chicago area, please come see these and my other paintings in person at one of my shows this summer.

 Blossom & Elegance, 2015. 16" x 20"

Textured henna style acrylic floral mandala painting on canvas with mirrors. 

© Bala Thiagarajan, 2015

 Patience, 2015. 16" x 20" 

Textured henna style acrylic floral mandala painting on canvas with mirrors. 

© Bala Thiagarajan, 2015

 Growth, 2015. 16" x 20" 

Textured henna style acrylic floral mandala painting on canvas with mirrors. 

© Bala Thiagarajan, 2015

Painting on a Whim

I painted this Mandala last Thursday night as I was waiting for one of my other paintings to dry. I got a little restless just waiting and pulled out this canvas that was already prepped with the brown earthy background. This is one of my favorite color combinations to paint - brown, gold, white, silver & turquoise. Sometimes creativity flows - fast :)

Earth Mandala, 2014. 12" x 12", 

Textured henna style acrylics mandala painting on canvas with mirror. 

© Bala Thiagarajan, 2014. www.artbybala.com

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Crown Chakra

For Day 4 of  Art Every Day Month, I painted a Crown Chakra. Textured acrylics on a 10x10 canvas panel. Needs to be framed. Lavish gold colors on a dark purple background. Its a lot more beautiful in person than the picture :)