Missing Our Baby Girl

Its been almost 5 months since we lost our big baby girl to Lyme's disease. We still miss her day in and day out. Kalki especially misses his play mate and doesn't really want to play with other doggie friends. One consolation is that she was a brave lil girl to the very end and we had the opportunity to have a great time with her before we had to let her pass over the rainbow. 

 

Mandala Paintings

I am doing two more art shows in April / May and trying to get things organized in the next week before things get really crazy again. And in the last 10 days I was able to finish a few pieces and though they are not 100% done (still need to finish the sides and attach hanger), I am happy the way they turned out. Both of them have a mirror in the center. It feels like the mirror is becoming part of my signature! 

16x20 canvas with acrylic henna style Mandala

10x10 canvas with a floral henna style acrylic Mandala

A Nostalgic Dinner

These days I am hardly motivated to cook unless I am having friends over. But tonight I got into a cooking spree and made a few dishes that were unusual and something we used to long for as kids. The main dish was Paneer Fried Rice, one of the first Indo-Chinese dishes we have come to love. When I was finishing up school and starting college, these type of dishes were popular where I grew up and I loved the combination of paneer pulav with channa masala. And to add some spiciness I made the egg masala - hard boiled eggs sauteed in pepper and garam masala. To balance the dryness of the dishes I also made a side of raita with onions and boondi. A very satisfying dinner :)

Paneer Fried Rice

Chana masala

Egg masala

Mandala Painting

I finished this henna style acrylic mandala painting on 24x24 wooden panel today. As my month long art show at Mother Fool's coffee house in Madison is wrapping up (last day is 3/1), I am excited to start some new projects. I have sold 6 paintings so far from this show and three of the pieces were really popular! As everything else in life is kind of roller-coaster crazy for the last few months, painting has been very therapeutic and seems to be the only thing to keep my mind occupied without getting distracted. All the paintings in the show are listed on Art by Bala and will be available for sale on March 1st. Affordable original art supporting the community :)

Dinner at Hilo Bay Cafe

Ever find yourself in Hilo, don't skip out on having a delicious dinner at Hilo Bay Cafe! And don't get put off by their location. Though they are located between office max and wal mart, once you enter, you will be pleasantly surprised by their upscale ambience. We had to convince a couple of our friends to go there for dinner, but the food makes up for all the trouble. The art on their wall was inspiring for me. They do have almost daily specials too. And what more, their food is local and organic. Yum!!!

We shared the appetizer, another daily special. 

S had the Hamakua mushroom potpie

I tried the three cheese and mushroom pastry, with spicy green pesto. Was the best dish of the evening!

And we finished with a rum-infused panna-cotta, mango & pineapple coulis and a macadamia nut shortbread cookie. 

Punalu'u Black Sands Beach in Hawaii

In contrast to the Green Sands Beach, the Black sands beach is very accessible and have facilities around! This is the perfect place to watch the Green Sea Turtles. We saw so many of them feeding by the tidal pools among the rocks. And you can also see them swimming. I was surprised to see them tossed around by the waves. Something I hadn't quite thought of before. That before the force of nature even the mighty turtles are not so mighty :) The black sands are basically from the weathered lava rocks. They are soft and very light. We also watched a local fish here and catch some of the species we didn't see while snorkeling. 

Vastness of black sands interspersed with the coconut and palm trees

Don't touch the turtles!

It is quite fantastic to see the turquoise and white waves against the black sands!

Green Sands Beach @ Hawaii

The follow-up to my post on the South Point. We have been reading about the Green Sands beach and were intrigued. Only draw back -- not allowed to drive there with a rental car. Even if it was a 4-wheel drive. So from the South Point, we drive to the parking lot for the Green Sands and were debating if we could just hike to where we can at least see the beach, as the guide book we were looking at said we have to jump down 4-feet rocks to make it to the actual beach. Guess what! The guide book was wrong and missed some important stuff. Like how there are locals who do shuttle people back and forth from the parking lot in 4-wheel pick up trucks. $20 for a couple. We paid $15 and it was worth every penny. And there is a path to get down to the enclosed beach. We even saw a few turtles there. If you find yourself in the neighborhood, don't bother with the hike. And more importantly dont try to drive there yourself and get stuck! We shared our ride with about 7 others and it was fun :)

From the view point!

Green Sands from Olivine crystals, a by-product of volcanic activity.

Surrounding cliffs, not olivine.

The paths to the beach. Definitely a bumpy ride!

Panel: 4 -- Henna Style on Wood

Here is one of the latest in the series. I love the copper + teal blue color with white henna texture. The panel measures 11x15 inches. Acrylic and finished with varnish. Needs to be hung at a slight angle to avoid reflection on the metallic color. Saw this color theme by one of our local artists during the art show in October and wanted to try it out. Mirror in the center. Will be listed for sale as soon as I can get my act together with Bees Beads & Colors! Last month was pretty busy with a lot of travel and this month is looking more crazier with work and also job applications. I got to spend part of today painting on a few gesso boards, after a delicious brunch of homemade Columbian style Arepa at a friend's. I am starting a couple of diptych's like this and also a small 5x5 four piece. Hopefully I can finish them sometime soon :) I have promised myself that I will sit and work on an Artist's statement after I complete 10 in the series and send samples to coffee shops in the city. Goal is to have an exhibit in town before I finish this position in June!