A street scene.

This is a new painting of mine.Mixed media on paper.This is a street scene in Trivandrum during the monsoon.You can see a gypsy family crossing the street with their possessions on their head .

Dantoon Seller waiting in the morning chill for customers

'Dantoons' are the tooth brushes used by north Indians traditionally.They are mostly twigs of neem trees or babool trees.Many medicinal properties are attributed to them.

'La-den -La-den'

Here is 'La-den' lumbering up a hillock to enter a village, in search of his adversaries who have encroached on his forestland. :-)

'Laden" downed

"Laden, the elephant was killed at a tea plantation in Sonipur district,240km north of Guwahati on Saterday" say today's news papers.

The Theyyams.

These are the 'theyyams' from north malabar performing their ritualistic dance on the stage at Trivandum at the inaugeration of the Film Festival. The Theyyams are supposed to be the representatives of gods and were seen only in the temples -some thing like the oracle of the ancient Greeks. Theyyams are not 'ancient' for us yet.But they have left the confines of the temples and come to perform for the public and tourists now.Their colourful dress and attractive masks enchant people.

Time to turnround.

LEAVES By C K Williams A pair of red leaves spinning on one another in such wildly erratic patterns over a frozen field it's hard to tell one from another and whether if they were creatures they'd be in combat or courting or just exalting in the tremendousness of their being. Humans can be like that, capricious, aswirl, not often enough in exalting, but courting, yes, and combat; so often in combat, in rancor, in rage, we rarely even remember what error or lie set off this phase of our seeming to have to slaughter. Not leaves then, which after all in their season give themselves to the hammer of winter, become sludge, become muck, become mulch, while we, still seething, broiling, stay as we are, vexation and violence, ax, atom, despair The picture above is of a little boy protesting the killing of his father in a terrorist attack in Bagdad. periodos :-)

Some more from "Painted Canvas"

Cartoonist Sukumar making a point.

More Photos from "painted canvas"

Admiring the works :-) Participants. amma the media attention :-) From the study class.

Angry, so will protest .

Picture of an angry fish seller leading a protest and 'road blockades' yesterday morning at a suburb of Trivandrum--Kumarapuram.This is a thickly populated part of city and the corporation wants to move the fish and vegetable market.But that would not be an easy task--as you can see from the lady's expression :-). Umpteen number of such protests take place in Trivandrum every week ,or should I say every day.The roads near the Secretatiate of Kerala are packed with protesters to the great hardship of the motorists and pedestrians.It has become a tourist attraction of a different kind of "God's Own State" almost like its 'health and ayurvedic tourism'.Hope some smart travelagent will make good use of the shows put up by various groups protesting so colourfuly .Unfortunately it is not an annual show like our 'snake boat races'. People of Kerala-the malayalees.....Ah, we are such a special people. :-).Our presence is felt all over the world. Kerala is the land where Islam entered peacefully.The Jews felt safe and welcome.They could practice their faith with self respect here.Christian missionaries were given land and honored and given a free hand to preach and convert by the hindu rajas of Malabar,Cochin and Travancore.And we are all still one--first and foremost "malayalee".We were the first to elect a communist government too, to rule us.Very few can beat us in the matter of literacy too. And no people can be as suspicious and egocentric as the malayee in his own home land :-).That is my opinion. I will try to put up more paintings of our protesters.
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Painted Canvases--

Here are some photos taken at the exhibition of painting by 'Kerala Chithra Kala Parishath'- a group show by nearly 30 artists based at Trivandraum. Life study-sketching the seated model Jagath Thirupuram studying the sketches . Some of the sketches.Mine is second from right :-) .Sorry, will be getting a proper digital camera soon. Busy artists.Dr Thomas Abraham preparing for his second study :-). The gifted artist-Mr E C Mathew is all concentration. A view of the show. Another view- My space :-)

Artistic Influence.

"Art is meant to disturb,science (to)reassure" so said Georges Braque (1882-1963) the famous French painter who developed 'fauvism ' in art in 1905,and 'cubism' with Picasso. Later on he also popularised the technic known as 'collage'. A very versatile artist who kept experimenting through out his long and successful career. But how true is the statement quoted above.? Both art and science can disturb and reassure,is it not? I dont think the words 'meant to be' in that statement is important any more.Both art and science can be used by us, to our benifit. Art can disturb even now, as the copy of 'Guernica' (commissioned and donated byNelson Rockfeller)at UN obviously did, the Bush administation, even as late as Feb 2003 .It seems it was covered up by a cloth when Collin Wilson was making a statement there . If that is true, then, inspite of the visuals we are bombarded daily with in TV and Newspapers- of the pain and sufferings caused by the'war' at different 'theaters' where the superpowers are engaged in cleaning up the society for us :-) artists and their works have power -power enough to momentarily at least 'shame' a superpower . Picasso's painting of pain and suffering does its trick even now after so many decades of Spanish war! By the way it was the 'critics' and the 'know alls' of the art world who were more thrilled than the artist himself by all the interpretations of 'symbolisms' in Guernica.Picasso is said to have said "This bull is a bull and this horse is a horse...if you give a meaning to certain things in my paintings it may be very true,but it is not my idea to give this meaning.....I make the painting for painting I make the objects for what they are." phew... :-0 Ok,now the painting above is one I did recently.I had shown it at a recent exhibition and quite a few young people came up to me and said that it had moved them very much.That statement did move me too :-). in that painting I tried to depict two women of Middle east consoling each other, with their homes and every other possession lying destroyed around them.In every war it is the women and children who suffer the most. I often wonder if women of the world could not do more to prevent wars--at least in future.Could they teach their sons to abhor wars-- like Picasso ?

Dachshund is also a dog :-).

This,on the left is a'portrait of Happy'done by me today. The other day I found a drawing of a dog by Pablo Picasso. :-). Here it is on the left below Happy. Then again we have one by the famous 'pop artist' Andy Warhol. It is named 'Portrait of Maurice',given in the middle :-).