I was working on my art & craft blog for about 2 months now. I moved it from one place to another and then finally made it as a sub-blog in Aayi’s Recipes itself. ArtCampus is a place to showcase some of my hobbies. I was never going to make it public, but few of my friends and well wishers pushed me enough to make it public.
Since my school going days, I loved any kind of crafts. If I saw a new craft, I would do anything to learn it. My aayi and pappa were greatest inspiration to me. Aayi taught me many things and Pappa would buy me any craft material I asked for. But unfortunately I could never learn anything properly. We didn’t have any kind of craft classes at my native place. I would learn from TV programs (Doordarshan used to have some craft programs in afternoons) and from my neighbors. Most of the things I started, I left half done. But whatever I finished, those items are still with my parents at my home.
When I started going to college, I could not work on any of my interests. But 2 years ago, when we moved to US, all these interests made their way on to become part of my routine. I knew I had to sit at home in an unknown country for a long time without a job. So I went to different art & craft shops in Bangalore and bought whatever I felt like – many different wool, knitting/crocheting needles, many starter kits for sand painting & cloth painting, colored pencils, many art books etc. I worked on few of them when I was at home. So I was on track again and I got the job too. But I could not stop pursuing my hobbies.
So I joined cake decorating classes in a nearby Micheals store. The classes were after office hours, so it was very convenient. V had to ask me to stop joining all different art classes there ;). So after I finished those, V and I both joined oil painting classes (which we attend every alternate Sundays).
All this time, I was struggling with my knitting/crocheting. I was planning on joining the basics of knitting/crocheting class too. But unfortunately, they don’t have these classes anymore. So, I started making whatever came to my mind. I neither could make up a new pattern nor do I have patience to follow a long instruction list without making mistakes. I can say after around 2 years, now I am a bit comfortable to follow instructions, but still lack the patience. I am sure one day will come when I will be able to do some neat work.
When all this was happening, I came to know about Sree . I can’t tell how much I adore her paintings . Her oil paintings, her pencil art and everything she posts on her blog is simply mind blowing. I get goose bumps when I see her art(I am not exaggerating a bit when I say that). Recently I have bought a colored pencil kit to follow her step by step pencil sketches . I showed her my personal art blog and as always, she encouraged me a lot.
Thanks to my friends Aruna and Purnima who are a constant support to AR and also believed that Art Campus should be part of AR.
Some two months ago, I showed my personal blog to my dear blogger friend, Manisha and she also suggested to make it public. She is the one from whom I got many good pointers about knitting/crocheting when I was struggling with it.
Then in one of our conversations, I came to know Sailu has a great talent with embroidery . I only wish I could meet her and learn it from her. May be when I go back to India, I may visit Vizag to meet her :). I am bowled over by her creativity with embroidery.
About 2 months ago, when I was blog hopping, I came across easycrafts blog . Oh my…the different crafts she has posted..its like a dream world for me. So I thought I should at least try few of the methods she has used. I made innumerable visits to art stores here to buy the tools. Because I didn’t even have a clue about some of these, I bought wrong tools most of the time and then had to go again to exchange them.
Now, the next thing I want to start is glass painting. I loved Shn’s paintings and asked her if she can help me get started with it. She sent me a detailed email with all instructions to get started. I will buy these soon and start something. Thanks Shn. Appreciate your help.
There are many more awesome people who gave me great suggestions and feedback about this. I thank them all.
So, that’s the story behind my art campus . I am hoping to get some constructive feedback & ideas from the art lovers/experts. Since I am just learning, I would love any pointers, like what kind of materials to use or anything that wold help me improve these. Again, thanks to all of you…
Some time ago, I had posted a recipe for ash gourd( kuvaLe ) koddel without coconut . I had also promised to post this version which is very popular among Konkanis from South Kanara.
This recipe is sent to me by my friend Aruna . This a sweetish, spicy, sour gravy. I have tried this many times now. Once I start, I can’t stop eating this. So whenever I cook this, I make a huge batch and go on for 2-3 days. Its that good. I have seen a couple of different recipes for this, but I loved this version very much.
Ingredients: 2 cups big pieces of ash gourd 3/4 cup fresh/frozen coconut 4-5 red chilies 2 green chilies 1/2 tea spn tamarind extract or 3-4 pieces of tamarind 1 tbl spn jaggery A pinch turmeric Salt 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 4-5 curry leaves 1/2 tea spn rice 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds 1/2 tea spn urad dal 1/2 tea spn coriander seeds 1/2 tea spn sesame seeds
Method: Dry roast cumin seeds, coriander seeds, urad dal , rice and sesame seeds. Roast red chilies. Roast coconut till it turns out slightly brownish. Grind all the spices, chilies, coconut and tamarind to a coarse paste. Cook ash gourd pieces in water along with green chilies, turmeric till they are cooked but not mushy. When they are done, add the ground paste, salt and jaggery. Cook for about 7-8mins. Heat a little oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the gravy. Serve hot with rice.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 20mins
