Through the Lens of Rain and Shine- A Toast to Singapore, Life and Love

My current series is on Singapore! I have made 18 so far. Initially, I had planned to make about 35-40 paintings on the city state and then wrap the series up. But later, I decided that I would rather keep this as an open ended project. As long as I live here, there will be sights and sounds that inspire me and i want to feel free to paint them and add them to the series. All these canvases are based on places in Singapore that I hang out frequently at. The city turns out to be a fabulous subject! I will be uploading paintings here as and when I finish them, over the next few months, so watch this space for the newest in the series...

                                                         "Little India"
                                                        Acrylic on Canvas paper
                                                          20"X24" USD $ 1000
                                                            Available

I like hanging out on North Bridge Road. Near Chinatown, there is a market where I go pick up materials for my sewing projects.The alleys are full of quaint cafes and tiny shops, a stark contrast to the towering skyscrapers of the business district. I am an alley cat and this is one of my favorite haunts.

                                                                "North Bridge Road"
                                                              Acrylic on Canvas Paper
                                                                       20"X24"
                                                                        Sold ( USD $1000)


                               

Friends who have long term plans around Singapore often talk of which condos to invest in. I keep telling Vivek that if we ever plan to settle here, we should think of buying a little Shop House instead! You know, one level for a very basic residence, with the rest of the little structure divided into two studios ( a him and her kind of thing). A bright blue shop house with a cosy internal courtyard, clay tiled roofs, wooden steps, floors and beams would be so awesome. Of course I later found out that even a dilapidated old shop house costs a bomb !

These days I admire pretty shop houses. Can't have them , but can paint them.. Somethings in life are free

                                                           "Shop Houses, Boat Quay"
                                                           Acrylic on Canvas Paper
                                                             20"X24"  USD $ 1000
                                                                   Available

"Mariaman Koil, Chinatown"

Acrylic on Canvas Paper

20"X24" USD $ 1200

Available

Last year, I saw a rather strange sight outside Singapore Art Museum. A couple, dressed in wedding finery ran out onto the footpath where an enthusiastic photographer busily clicked them. At one point, he was on the ground on his belly, trying to get some weird angle shot of the happy couple. What they were doing there, I have no clue. Many passers by stopped to look and smile. Then the young couple got their cell phones out,walked towards the Dome Cafe engrossed in separate conversations, hung around for a bit and then walked hand in hand to Bras Basah street... Maybe they were actors. Maybe they were a real life couple. Whoever they were, it was a sight to remember...

Happy Anniversary Vivek!

"Kissing Couple, Bras Basah"

Acrylic on Canvas paper

20"X24"  USD $1000

Available

This is the path that leads up to my apartment. When it rains and the lights come on, it takes on the character of cobbled roads in some European town. 

"Walkway to Thomson 800"

Acrylic on Canvas paper

USD $ 700

Available

I go to music school at Bugis. I wait for Wednesday evenings- the day I wear my best and feel every bit a pianist  . Class gets over pretty late but Bugis never sleeps. If I were to remove all people and be the one lone human being on the street below school, it would look like this I suppose...

"Bugis by night"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $700

Available

I live on Thomson Road. Further up, is were I shop ( the veggies, groceries kind of shopping mind you; not the Singaporean sense of shopping! ). A few months back, I was caught in a downpour out there, pretty late at night...The roads were kind of deserted and the lights were brilliantly reflected on the wet tar. Here it is in paints

"Downpour on Upper Thomson Road"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $ 650

Available

The signal turned green and the traffic thundered below. I stood and watched the rain water crackle...

"Bus, Bridge and Bougainvillea"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $ 800

Available

A few weeks back, my 5 year old and I were out grocery shopping. It must have been 3 in the afternoon and deep blue-grey thunderclouds were gathering in the skies. We were taking the steps up the over-bridge when he pointed to the lush bougainvillea along the sides and said with the most emphatic wave of his hand, " I want that painted". 

"Pink Bougainvillae"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $1000

Available

"Before the Rains, Pulau Ubin"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $850

Available

I used to have a "my" park bench when I was in Bangalore. I would buy a platform ticket at Cantonment Station and sit there on the weekends, in the afternoons, sketching. This was a phase, back in '01. I later found another "my" park bench in Banaswadi in a wooded pocket near my house. My children would go cycling and I would sketch. I found a "my" park bench out here too. I sit there in the mornings once or twice a week and draw. The beauty is, no matter where you go in the world, there will always be a "my" park bench out there...

"My Park Bench, Macritchie Reservoir"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $1000

Available

On most days, this is the last thing I see before I go home...

"Gold Over Glass, Sunset at Macritchie"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $1000

Sold

Some mornings, I sit at this mini gazebo and watch the water. My kids ( who have more say in my artistic process than even the most controlling agent ever could!), think I need to get away from Macritchie and concentrate on the "cityscape" again. But I have two or three more coming in the water and nature aspect of Singapore before I go back to painting the pretty street lights, buildings and rainy alleys and roads again...

"Misty Peace, Macritchie Reservoir"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $1000

Available

Every time I pass this trellis full of ixora inflorescence at Macritchie, I think that I should paint it and call it Trellis and Ixora. Just to make it sound crazily mythological. Like Theseus and Ariadne or... Tristan and Isolde... Trellis and Ixora! heheheh....

"Trellis and Ixora"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $ 1000

Available

Skyping with an old pal the other day, I got ribbed big time about how the Singapore series was just was not reflecting any of the so called "opulent living" facet of the land where everyone knows exactly what the phrase " No Money, No Honey" means . I explained that the series was not really a documentation of the usual scenes in Singapore but rather a collection of my experiences and favorite spots. So Porsches and Penthouses don't exactly figure in that scheme of things...

There is this pretty cafe in a side alley on Upper Thomson road that is always brightly lit. Not an upmarket joint by any stretch of imagination but guess what I found parked in front of it one day when I went grocery shopping?

"Somebody's Audi"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $ 1000

Available

My favourite place in Singapore- Arab Street. Possibly, one of the few places in the world where you can walk into deserted alleys and come out the other end with pretty much most things intact. You know- cash, camera, chastity....This part of the city reminds me of the souks of my childhood days.

"Motley Alley, Arab Street"

Acrylic on Canvas paper

USD $ 1000

Available

I had shot a lot of photos at the very serene Chinese Garden. However, sifting through all the shots later, I was not really inspired by any of the clicks I had taken. That's when FB friend and former Singapore resident,Anoop Bhat came to the rescue. He sent me a few clicks that he had shot at Chinese Garden. Two of them were unusual in their choice of subject as well as atmospheric beauty. 

I will be painting in Osaka and Kyoto in the early part of '14. I hope to capture cherry blossoms in their delicate glory when I am there. Till, then, I shall be happy with this "faux" cherry tree that Anoop clicked  

"Moody Sky and Faux Cherry Tree, Chinese Garden"

Acrylic on canvas paper

USD $ 850

Available

Homeland/War series 2013

This set of 21 paintings are based on my memories of my home, Kuwait, and the lands I lived in during my time in exile as a war refugee- Iraq and Jordan. This was back in 1991, during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and later, Desert Storm. The works are a look back at an idyllic life at a time when I was child. Here they are:

                                                           Wavebreakers at Messilah
                                                          Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                                 24"X20" USD $ 750
                                                                       Available

                                                           Wavebreakers II
                                                        Acrylic on canvas panel
                                                                 20"X16"
                                                                    Sold ( USD $350)

I read somewhere that if you think really hard, far back into your childhood, you will be able to find that one memory that astonishes you in its clarity...

I decided to round off my 21 part series on home, Iraq and Jordan, with that one perfect memory from my childhood...So this must be back in '85. I am about 7 and my brother, he is just about starting to walk.We are at our usual haunt, the beach. 

Was there a sailboat there that day, on the horizon? No. But then, this series started off with the white dhows on the Euphrates in war time Iraq. And I will end it with one far out at sea. Symbolically, the sailboat is me and this has been one marathon journey, a mind's eye view across many lands in a distant past filled with bitter sweet memories...

                                                                    The Return to Innocence
                                                                     Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                                       20"X24"  USD $ 600
                                                                               Available

                                                 Exodux III, Amman Beneath the Full Moon
                                                              Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                                 20"X24"USD 600
                                                                        Available

                                                 Purple Haze and Cumulonimbus
                                                       Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                               20"X24"   USD $ 500
                                                                    Available

I had decided early on that this series would not include any of the horrific memories of '91. As a friend rightly said, " Paint all your memories with love". But I just had to paint the oil fires. In a poetic sense, everything rose from the ashes again after that..

                                                            Lake of Fire
                                                          Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                                 20"X24"
                                                                  Sold ( USD $500)

                                                                   Inferno
                                                         Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                              20"X24"
                                                                Sold ( USD $500)

Spring in the desert gives the entire land a facelift. Yellow and white blankets of tiny flowers carpet either sides of highways...Here is a memory of spring back home...

                                                 I Dream of Gardens in the Desert Sand
                                                               Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                                    20"X24"
                                                                     Sold ( USD $400)




 Symbolizing majesty, strength and grace, the great white egret dotted the beaches back home. They were one species among the many animal and bird victims of the oil spill. Here is a recollection of egrets hiding in the rushes of the brooks at Jahra farms...

                                                           Through the Brooking Grass
                                                              Acrylic on mounted canvas
                                                                   24"X24"  USD$ 400
                                                                            Available

Home stretch is Jordan...Jordan is mainly rolling desert. Parts of it have unbelievably beautiful sand and stone formations... 

Anyone in their right mind can tell you that the experience of a refugee camp in the desert is not exactly that of a suite at the Four Seasons...The final point in the exodus, was Jordan. It must have been November '90. Many of us spent an indefinite amount of time in the camps. Food packets came thanks to the Red Cross. In the searing heat of the morning, the atmosphere was oppressive.. Then come nightfall, it was the chilling cold that took over. The desert was at once malicious and magnificent...

Then came the moment of reckoning. Many were shifted to Amman airport in batches, where we stayed, awaiting deportation...

                                                          Exodus I, Jordan
                                                      Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                           20"X24"
                                                            Sold ( USD $500)

I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope- Aeschylus

                                            Exodus II, Twilight Beneath the Stars, Jordan
                                                           Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                             20"X24"   USD $500
                                                              Available

                                               Remembrance of Things Past
                                                    Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                         20"X24"
                                                          Sold ( USD $400)
                         

 

                                                                 Dhows on the Euphrates
                                                               Acrylic on mounted canvas
                                                                   24"X30"  USD $ 800
                                                                      Available

Back in my teaching days, I was guiding a student on a paper on the the symbolism in Somerset Maugham's famous short story, Appointment in Samarra. 

Samarra, a sacred pilgrimage center for Shia muslims, situated on the Tigris, means " a Joy unto all who behold". Tragically, in the civil war, some of its famous shrines have been reduced to rubble.

Many years ago, a colleague sent me links the towater colour/ink art made of the city, by the Scottish painter John Daniel Revel- pristine depictions of a city before strife hit it.

2006. In was in my car, 8 months pregnant. My husband and I, we still hadn't decided on a name for our baby. It was a stalemate in Bangalore traffic and there was plenty of time to sit back and tell stories  I told Vivek the story of Appointment in Samarra. There was something very moving in the tale.That's it he said. If we have a girl, that's her name!

Our daughter was born two weeks later. We named her Samarra.

 

 
                                                               The Tigris at Samarra
                                                               Acrylic on mounted canvas
                                                                    24"X20"  USD 600
                                                                        Available
                                                     

The Skyline that a whole lot of my friends and I grew up with  Designed by Danish architect Malene Bjorn in '77 , the towers were severely damaged during the invasion of Kuwait. They have since been restored to their former state...

The towers stand for the ideals of humanity and technological advancement..

 
                                                             Home on a Mid-Summer Night
                                                                  Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                                     20"X 24"   USD $ 400
                                                                           Available
             

                                                             Dhow at Sea, Shuwaikh Port
                                                                   Acrylic on paper
                                                                      24"X20"
                                                                      Sold ( USD $400)

 
                                                      Dhows leaving shore, Kuwait City
                                                              Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                                      20"X24"
                                                                       Sold ( USD $500)                                    
                                                       

Dhows on Pearly waves, Arabian Gulf

Acrylic on canvas paper

20"X24"  USD $ 800

Available

Basrah was the home of Sinbad the Sailor, the seat of the Sumerian civilization and the proposed location of the Garden of Eden. In modern times it was hailed as the Venice of the Middle East. I happened to pass through the Shatt Al -Arab waterway. It was a riot of dense greenery and palm forests. Here is a memory...

                                                                   
                                                                 Sailboat at Basrah
                                                                  Acrylic on canvas paper
                                                                       20"X24"
                                                                     Available

Failaka island used to be open to visitors till the Iraqi invasion. Apart from being a popular weekend getaway, it was a place of historical importance to Kuwait, for its relics. Large flocks of cormorants inhabited the island. Hundreds of these birds died miserable deaths in the oil spill that followed the war.

The waters out there were crystal blue and some parts of the beach had rocky boulders. I first went to Failaka when I was ten years old, with a whole army of cousins and family. I vividly remember that afternoon at the beach. It was low tide and the sea had receded almost a kilometer from the shore. By evening, it was thundering waves on the rocks...

                                                           Cormorants, Boulders and Seaspray, Failaka
                                                                 Acrylic on mounted canvas
                                                                        18"X 24"  USD  $ 600
                                                                           Available
               

Flamingos make a stop over in Kuwait during their migration in April and then in November. Hundreds of them can be seen at Shuwaikh beach and Sulaibikhat Bay. At low tide, they linger among the sea weed, taking off in majestic flight once the tide comes in.

These wonderful birds were a casualty of the war... But in recent years, they have been coming home to the marshes again...

                                                               
                                                      Flamingos and Seaweed, Sulaibikhat Bay
                                                              Acrylic on mounted canvas
                                                                    24"X30"  USD $ 800
                                                                         Available

                                             

A View of Tuscany Through a Wall in Singapore

I love making wall murals. My technique is to directly paint them onto walls with exterior emulsion and then do details on top with Acrylic paints. I particularly like window views of Tuscany.

Out here in Singapore, I had to come up with an idea for a "transportable" window mural for the house. There was no way I could directly paint it on the wall since this is not my house! My husband, who is paranoid about even a scratch on the wall, got peelable velcro. I made this mural on thick board, which was then cut out and velcored on the wall. So here is a view of Tuscany from  a window in Singapore ;-)

Headed Straight into The Shining Sun

We moved to Singapore in March 2012. It was my job to go house hunting as the hubby straight away joined at work. The kids and I visited a few flats. Then, a huge surprise awaited us at Thomson 800. The unit had a huge blank wall space which had a lovely brown and gold frame already mounted on the wall. Obviously someone had put a painting in there before and had taken it back with them when they left. It was as if the house was waiting for an artist to come and put a new piece in the frame.
I set to work. Singapore was all about new beginnings. We had been in Bangalore for 9 years before this and as the city progressively deteriorated over the years, the stress levels and madness also got into us common folk who lived there. We got out.

This painting is titled Headed Straight into the Shining Sun ( yes, very much after the Floyd Song!) and is a family portrait. So the pianist is red would be me, the bassist is my husband and I gave the kids some maracas and a tambourine to join the family band...