A bangle making experiment

After my recent vacation at Jaipur, and having been floored by all the art there, I decided to try my hand at making stone studded bangles..similar to the lac bangles.


Here are the materials I started with

1. Steel wire (you'd get this in the local hardware shops - in different thickness, and in large rolls - you can buy as much/ as little as you want)
2. Glass stones ( I used the ones left over from my Tanjore painting stash ! You can also use beads, mirror etc)
3. Fevicol
4. Shilpkar
5. Chalk powder or talcum powder
6. Hobby art acrylic paints ( i used pearl metallic colors for the shine - you may use any variants)
7. Brushes, bowl, water etc to paint !
8. Tools to cut and bend steel wire


Bend the steel wire to make a circle of desired diameter. (In my haste, I didn't bother making a perfect circle, but I suggest that you do ! ) You can roll it around a cylindrical object in your house ( a bottle, may be). Use a cutter/ plier to bend it. Tie up the two ends. In mine I wanted this to have a 'kangan' look so I joined the ends slightly thicker.


Now knead the shilpkar (I used about half a packet for this bangle)



Roll it like an earthworm, place the steel bangle and fold the shilkar around the steel wire. You may choose to use make the shilpkar clay layer flatter or rounder.


Use chalk powder/ talcum powder to smoothen Shilpkar. This will remove the creases, folds and fingerprints.


Now decide on the placement of your stones. Put a drop of fevicol wherever you want to place the stones. Press down the stone into the shilpkar.


Let this dry and harden (overnight)


Now you can paint with colors of your choice. I have given 2 coats of paint. Paint is likely to get on your stones too. You can finally clean them up by scrapping with a needle or safety pin.



Let the paint dry, and the bangle is ready to wear !

Try this and let me know how your experiments went !

Making a psychedelic coaster ! here's how..

Materials you need

Blank Coasters (available at Staples / Hobby Ideas stores) ; Acrylic art paints ; brushes (flat brush size 4; soft round brushes - size 2 , size 000) ; pencil (white pencil), Liquid Glass; rag cloth; carbon paper (if needed)



How to ?

First, paint the coaster on all sides. I have colored mine green. Give two or three coats of paint to give it a clean finish.


Now draw out a design on the painted surface. I have created my psychedelic design using a white pencil. You can also use a carbon paper to transfer your design on to the coaster.



Choose your colors, and start filling them into your design. I have used really bright colors, to give it the psychedelic effect.


Give 2 coats, once dry, use a fine tipped (000) brush to make the outlines on your design, as needed.

Let it dry for a day.



Now mix the Liquid Glass solution (mix equal proportions of the epoxy resin solutions). Pour on the dried coaster and spread it using a brush OR take small quantities using a brush and spread it evenly (without bubbles)



Keep this under cover (in a box / under an inverted bowl) for a day or two - till fully dry.



Pronto ! Your coaster is ready to use !
Create similar patterns on the other coasters and make a set of 4 or 6 coasters !!

Why a 4 year old does not need art classes

Of late I have had many parents ask me if I conduct art classes for 4 year olds (or even younger ones, sometimes). I have had to politely say 'No' ! Most parents feel a little disappointed ....after all, their child draws well, is really keen on drawing and painting, and is always engaged in doodling ..and they feel with guidance their child can be much better at art ... so, why do I say No ??

Well,  really younger children need to have a LOT of freedom to express themselves. I feel that as grown ups we have a tendency to interfere ...even in a well meaning way, and that can be quite discouraging to a child that age. Second, children below 5 years are usually not great at listening, and want to exercise their free will !! So really, putting a child in a formal setting curtails that freedom, and there is really no art instruction that can happen. If the idea is to encourage the child to freely express themselves, is'nt home the best place to do it ?

So what can we do as parents ?
Let you child try a variety of art media ... get them finger paints, poster colors, sponge (instead of brushes) , crayons, rangoli powder, playdoh (or atta flour), sand, glue, color paper, glitter colors ...anything ! Try different sizes - give them full size chart papers, get a white board/ black board at home (if you care about the walls in your house :) )
Introduce these one at a time, so that the child does not feel overwhelmed !

Also, don't fret if she draws the same thing over and over again. That is really how they establish their mastery on a subject that captures their fancy ! (I used to mostly draw just women until I was in college !! In fact I was obsessed with drawing just my feet for a whole year in college ...so for a 4 year old being obsessed with fans, or flowers or buses ..is really nothing to worry about !!  :) )

And they have finished one amazing work of art ..take some time to talk to them about it. Ask the child to explain the piece of art. Let her narrate the story behind what she has drawn. That is the real encouragement you can give your child. Try to not be critical or even give constructive feedback on her art. She is too young to even know that art is expected to be 'good'. In her eyes, she is not creating a masterpiece...she is expressing herself and her world (real or imagined) and any suggestion to improve could just mean her world is not good enough for you !! Be generous in your appreciation. Put up her work for display in a prominent place in your house. Show it off to your guests.

A child's view of the world they live in.....

In an earlier post, I had mentioned about how children insist on drawing houses in the typical way that their pre school teachers probably teach them to.
I have hence also noticed that most 5 year olds when asked what they would like to draw (in the first drawing class) mostly want to draw a house....and then they draw it in the typical style ...it seems almost instinctive !


But I wanted to experiment a little with these instincts ...so I started asking the child if they had ever seen a house like the one they have drawn.....Mostly that drew a blank face, and then a rather shy..."no
I have not seen it...but I imagined it all by myself !"
Then I prod them to draw a picture of the house where they live ...(imagination, btw is a great thing, but somehow the pattern that every 5 year old draws a house this way, makes me beleive this is just drawing what they may have learnt in kindergarten or seen in drawing books !)
I ask them if they live in an apartment, how many floors and so on.
This blog is to share the results of that experiment ...

Each child has been able to, with just that little bit of prodding, draw a picture that closely resembles the actual house they live in.


Here is T's picture of her apartment. She tried counting how may floors her apartment has while drawing the picture. She even improvised this the week after, with watercolors !


This is P's version of his apartment. He even weaved a whole story around the picture ...that he is waving to me from his apartment !













This is the latest one (see below sketch) is A's version of his apartment complex ...he managed to draw an aerial view of his entire apartment complex, detailing car park areas, pool, play area,
the 5 apartment blocks (marked A - E), the walkway all around even marking the speedbreakers ! I was indeed taken aback that a 5 year old was even capable of visualising an aerial view ...an amazing perspective that comes probably from living in a high rise apartment!!!

It is amazing how children can visualize and express in rather innovative ways !!
It is also a lesson for us adults to stop assuming that 5 year olds are capable of drawing only houses that we teach them to draw ! We may need just a little more patience to listen to the stories that the child narrates after drawing the picture, we would be able to appreciate the creativity and talent in the little ones!
So, if you have a young one at home or in school, never tell them what / how to draw, just be prepared to be suprised by what they have to show you !