Having conducted an energetic defense of science (and scientists) in a debate over scientific vs artistic creativity at Accidental Blogger, I decided to take an artistic respite at Shunya's. Namit has given me permission to post virtual exhibitions of my paintings here [editorial note: Namit believes she has earned this right; it's her blog too]. I will do so from time to time and share my meager body of work with readers.
Although I have loved drawing and painting since childhood, I have pursued this amateur but serious hobby in spurts of a few years at a time only about three or four times since my early teens. The last inspiration lasted between 1992-98. I haven't picked up a brush in the past nine years. All the paintings are oil on canvas and painted in 1996-97. They are not fine art but done with much enthusiasm and loving care.
I have selected three paintings in this round which represent my impressions of some fond family memories. (Please click on thumbnails for a bigger image)
The first one is a composite drawn from several old photographs and depicts a true life scene with my daughter and husband on the shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria many moons ago. My daughter was young enough to be thrown up in the air and my husband still looked good in a Speedo.
The second painting was made for my son's high school varsity tennis coach as a gesture of appreciation for his efforts the year the Millard South (my son's school) tennis team won the state championship. The name of the painting is "Advantage Millard South."
The third one was inspired by my son's love for music and our two beloved cats - Raja and Ali. Raja the grey one on the bench, is unfortunately not with us any more, having succumbed to cancer just over two years ago at age fourteen. He did not really care for music but loved his food, the most comfortable bed in the house and the outdoors. His brother Ali is on top of the piano. Ali is now sixteen years old and he is a true music lover. My son swears that Ali is partial to Chopin.
