Inspiring Eminent Artist: Safal Chitre

Namste my dear friends and readers!! How have you been. 

Last month I was super busy with my work. It had been roller coaster ride for me but life is back on track, I really don't know for how long as I have several important things to do and share some exciting news with you all. Right now blogging has taken back seat but still you can expect some sporadic posts on my blog. Thanks to all creative and talented bunch of people who keep writing to me. It's because of all those lovely people that I can't stop blogging. One such beautiful and colourful mail I received sometime ago and I couldn't stop myself drafting a post about this wonderful artist. A self motivated and self taught artist who is shining our country's name abroad, Safal Chitre.

Safal a very warm welcome on 3D. Please tell us more about yourself. 

First of all I would like to Thank Disha for featuring me on her wonderful blog!

I am Safal Chitre. Currently live in USA, originally from Mumbai. I am self-motivated artist. By education I am an Engineer however, always attracted towards art world.

 

I have always been fascinated by the Handicrafts and Art. I  love to decorate my house with handmade stuffs then it could be paintings or craft. The simplicity and the elegance of warli style impressed me so I learnt warli art. From last 4 years I have started my artistic journey and it is flourishing. Apart from traditional warli style, I am trying to give modern look to it  by adding  colors and patterns on various mediums. Now I have found my own style that I can say as Contemporary Warli.

Before starting warli, I was thinking this art is simple to work with but friends honestly it is not that easy, you will require lot of patience and dedication. And then see the miracle, you will fall in love with its beauty and rhythm. Although I practiced this art using different mediums such as oil, acrylic, ink on clay, wall, fabrics, glass, canvases; I love to work with wood and clay as well. Apart from paintings; I am more interested in making home decor stuffs. It inspires me to paint even more when I look at my artwork enhancing beauty of my home.

By getting shortlisted among professional artists in art galleries in USA from various countries and states, I am getting wonderful exposure to showcase my talent. This gives me great satisfaction that I am introducing people here this beautiful tribal art of India which is not even that much well known in India too. For my success my husband has main role in my life, without his support I could not take my hobby to professional level.

In future apart from warli I would love to learn and try other folk arts too.

Thank you Safal for sharing your creative journey with us. I wish you good luck!

Dear readers I hope you enjoyed reading about Safal as much as I did. To see more of her artworks, you can visit her Facebook page Safal Art Studio & her blog Safal Arts

It's time to say good bye. I'll try to post more frequently. Keep visiting this space :)

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My First Commissioned Warli Wall Art

It all started when a couple decided to move back to India from Singapore after spending years there. Let me introduce you to this wonderful couple, Mr. & Mrs. Nihalani who now own an appartment in Pune and have done it up very aesthetically. Their home reflects their warm personalities.

Mr. Nihalani is a perfectionist and has got an eye for beauty and details. The moment I saw their home, I was completely awestruck by his good sense of aesthetics. Whereas Mrs. Nihalani is a very warm, pleasing, soft spoken and sophisticated lady. They have a son, who is working in Singapore and a daughter, who is in New Zealand and just completed her bachelor's degree. Their family is a sweet and small family. 

Since Mrs. Nihalani had left her job, she was having quite a lot of spare time in her hand to explore new things. She decided to take up the activity that she has never done before. She never tried her hands on painting so she chose to learn to paint. Being a motivating husband Mr. Nihalani suggested to go for Warli painting for its simplicity. She then searched about Warli on Google and stumbled across my blog, she contacted me, we exchanged few mails and then she was all set to learn this art from me. Within a month she not only learned but mastered this art form. Given her non-artistic background I was totally stunned by her grasping power and enthusiasm to learn new things at this phase of life. Here is how she excelled in Warli art. 

It didn't stop here. Couple wanted to do makeover of their balcony which was plain and dull at that time. She asked me if I am ready to take up this project and I accepted the opportunity without further ado. But she put across one condition that she will going to accompany me while I will be doing this project and who will not accept such a sweet proposal. 

We started the project in October last year. She took out some printouts of Warli paintings she liked and showed them to me. It gave me fare idea what exactly they wanted. Here is the layout of their balcony. Wall 1 and wall 2 are adjacent and door is between them. 

 

Here I have created panoramic picture of their balcony to give you rough idea about how it looked earlier.

Wall 1:
We started with wall 1. It was primed and painted. This wall was painted keeping Mr. Nihalani's choice in mind. He wanted the village scene painted in white on this apricot colour wall and dancing Warli figures on white panel above in apricot colour.

I drew few village scenes on paper and they chose one with few modifications and then started this beautiful journey of my first commissioned Warli painting on wall. First we traced design on the wall. Here you can see us in action :)

After tracing was done, we were ready with our brushes, paints, water & rag. Then began the fun part of painting the wall. Everyday while painting Mrs. Nihalani would put on some music and we would get lost in some other world. It was an amazing experience for me. She even told me her love story too :)
Here is how our work progressed....

I liked the dancing Warli figures on panel above. I used huge step ladder to paint these figures....see it was kind of adventurous too. 

Here are some close ups of the wall. I like little flaws here, they make the painting look all the more beautiful.  

Horse here is looking more like puppy, but during final touch up I tried my best to make it look more like horse.

Almost all small figures are done by Mrs. Nihalani. See I told you she not only learnt but also mastered this art.

Wall 2:
Now comes the second wall. It was painted according to Mrs. Nihalani's choice. She wanted a Warli marriage theme painted in earthy tones on the wall 2. She loves warm and earthy tones so we chose burnt sienna, orange, copper, pale yellow, green and little bit of red.
Here is before picture of the wall.

I followed the same procedure of drawing few designs first on paper, She chose one, then I traced it on the wall and finally painted it. 

Here are some images of different figures that I made on wall.

In the middle is doli of Warli bride and to the right and left of it are Warli men and women, dancing and celebrating the occasion.

Below is the picture of the wall that was almost done, the only part left was filling some patterns here and there to make it look perfect.

After all the patterns were done Mr. Nihalani suggested that we should make something on both the corners above and this is what I painted, inspired from one of the printouts she had.

Here is the final look of the wall. Isn't it a pretty sight.

And now have a look of complete balcony. Both the walls in all their glory. Mrs. Nihalani gave a lovely complement by saying "please appoint me as your assistant when you become famous and whenever you paint something like this. 

Do you like to meet the artists, here you go.....

All happy, pleased and content with what we have created.

Now what do you think my dear readers, did you like my work. Which wall is your favourite one. 

I will be waiting to know your views :)

• Check out one of my Warli paintings here.

P.S. All images are mine and subject to copyright. Please don't use them without my permission.

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Warli Art: My First Warli Painting

I must say this month has been action packed for me. I kept myself busy in various activities and learnt few good & new things. I think this is the mantra of happiness- keep yourself busy and learn something new.

I have always been a great admirer of all Indian art forms . It was my dream to explore and learn about various Indian Arts and that's what I am doing these days. Let me share my happiness with you all wonderful people who always keep encouraging me by reading, commenting and liking my every post.  Recently I learnt about 'Warli Art' and found that it's not only the simplest art form but looks magical too. 

Earlier I had done Warli art only on a small pot but this time I tried it on paper with all the details and tried to depict social life of Warli tribes.

Here is my first Warli painting. Theme is wedding. 

My First Warli Painting.

Here are the details. Sun and sparrow can be of same size in this style of painting, as proportionality doesn't  matter.  

Warli Art: Sparrow and Sun

Groom on a horse arriving for wedding. Banana leaves, earthen pots and decoration with flowers and leaves  to recreate the scene of wedding ceremony in a village.

Warli Art: Groom

People are welcoming groom and playing instruments. All the shapes are geometrical circle for head, triangles for trunk and pelvis of human body. Faces are bereft of features.

Warli Art: Men Playing Instruments

Palm trees and hut to recreate a village scene. Again geometrical shapes are used and filled them with fine lines as no free space should be left in this style of painting.

Warli Art: Hut & Tree

Animals and birds are very common in this painting. Here is my Warli peacock.

Warli Art: Peacock

I enjoyed a lot while I was doing this art. I felt like I am achieving something with every stroke of brush. I am so happy so content. I don't know which art form I will be working on next but I will surely share with you :)


Joining PPF!!!

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Indian Art: Warli Art (Maharashtra)

Today I am sharing about Warli art. A very popular art form of the region I am living in .....Maharashtra.

                                                                Warli Art

Warli paintings have gained global recognition for its simplicity and beauty. This is the most simplest form of art that uses geometric shapes like circles, triangles and lines.

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Origin: It is said that Warli Art was first discovered in early 70s. While there are no records of the exact origin of this art, its roots may be traced to as early as the 10th century AD. Warli folk paintings are from Maharashtra. Warli is a name of the largest tribe lives in the northern outskirts of Mumbai, in Western India. The word “ Warli”  means a piece of land or a field. Art is inspired by nature and depict social life of Warli tribes.

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Image Source: Click Here

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Style: This art form unlike other Indian art forms do not depict mythological characters or images of deities, but depict social life of the Warli tribe. Warli tribes decorate their hut with Warli painting on walls. The ritual paintings are usually done inside the huts. The circle and triangle are inspiration from nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon, the triangle derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only square seems to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. Central motive in each ritual Warli  painting is the square, known as the "chauk" or "chaukat", mostly of two types: Devchauk and Lagnachauk. Inside a Devchauk, you will find Palaghata, the mother goddess, that symbolizes fertility. Significantly, male gods are not usual among the Warli.

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Process: All the objects in the art are in geometric shape of triangle, square or circle. Paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. Representation of human and animal bodies are done by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. The walls are painted of a mixture of branches, earth and cow dung, making a red ocher background for the wall paintings. Warli tribes use only white for their paintings. Their white pigment is basically a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding agent. Bamboo stick chewed at one end is used as a paintbrush.
The image below is a work of tribal community in Maharashtra and shared by Dokka Srinivasu who blogs over at Heritage Of India.

Image Source: Click Here

Now sharing here is an image of wonderful transformation of a place from stark to fabulous. A very beautifully done Warli art that my friend has done on her terrace wall. You can read complete story about this transformation and can find more images on her wonderful & lovely Facebook page 'Love and Care'. Do let her know your love and care by comments and likes. Don't forget to like her page.

Image Source: Click Here

This is the simplest form of art and can be done by anyone after a little practice. I also tried my hand on this art. I did Warli art on this pot that I used for Karwachauth. Painting on this pot is depicting a happy couple and a moon on the night of Karwachauth.

Image: Mine

Hope you enjoyed reading through this post. Let me know your views in comment section below.

In case if you have missed my earlier posts on Indian Art find them below:

Indian Art: Kalamkari

Indian Art: Pattachitra

Indian Art: Gond Art

Indian Art: Dhokra Art

Indian Art: Lippan Work

Indian Art: Ikat

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