Family Pictures (Virtual Exhibition #1)

I have no worthwhile blogging ideas today - been a little busy too.  I am going to wing it and also indulge in a bit of self promotion. 

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 - 1998.  I haven't picked up a brush in the past eight years.  I am posting three of my paintings here today as a test case. All are oil on canvas and painted in 1996 and 1997. They are not fine art but done with much enthusiasm and loving care. If you like them, please let me know.  I might then consider posting some others from time to time.

(Please click to see a bigger image)  

I have selected three paintings which represent my impressions of fond family memories.  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 is inspired by my son's love for music and our two beloved cats - Raja and Ali. Raja the grey one, is unfortunately not with us any more, having succumbed to cancer just over a year 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 fifteen years old and he is a true music lover. My son swears that Ali is partial to Chopin.

Note:  I had all my paintings photographed professionally. I have the prints on 8X10 glossies on Kodak paper but none of the images is stored on a CD or other electronic mode. The only way I can publish them is by scanning the prints which is what I have done here. I notice that some detail is lost and the color does not exactly match the original. But this is the best I could manage. 

Comments

[Sujatha]

Beautiful stuff, Ruchira! I love the dreamy quality that pervades the piano scene, the facial expressions in the cats and the 'frozen in time' feel of the beach scene, especially. You should really get back into painting, even if after an 8 year gap.

[coturnix]

OMG, these are great!!!! Beautiful! I want one on my wall, framed!

[DevanJedi]

While I would not consider myself to a person who's opinion on paintings means much, here I go-

For me, the best art is art that connects with a personal moment- be it a personal moment for the artist or "the beholder". These paintings are good and the one on the beach would have caught my attention anywhere, but they are made even more memorable for a couple of reasons.

First of all, your descriptions of the personal moments in your life that they connect with make them more poignant. The cat on the piano is not just a cat- it is a cat that was once loved and now missed. This makes the paintings like photographs, but better. They are not representative of real events but of an amalgamation of your *feelings* about real events. Which is what makes the one on the beach the best.

Secondly, I visit this blog often and I believe that all bloggers leave a bit of themselves on the "page" with every post they make. Even though this one post may seem off-topic taken on its own, if you were to look at it in context of this blog it adds to what we, the readers, know about you. Which in turn adds to the experience of reading your past and future articles here.

[Dean C. Rowan]

Here is a prime example of why we need snob art mavens: the artist herself uncritically fails to recognize that her paintings are indeed fine art.

These are really lovely, and I, too, am partial to the musically themed one, in particular, not only because I like music more than, say, tennis or the beach, but because it's all about attention to music. The cats, Ruchira's son, and the viewer—to whom she gives no extraneous visual stimuli—all listen closely. We just know he's not playing stride here. Chopin is more like it.

I think Ruchira should post a new painting from time to time, along with the accompanying anecdotes, which not only personalize but "frame" the pictures. (Hey, museums do it all the time.) She should devote at least one posting, too, to how she goes about thinking about and executing a painting, whom (if anybody) she regards as influence or inspiration, when she knows a painting is complete, and so forth.

Thanks for these, Ruchira, and for noting the technical difficulties of viewing them scanned and online, important factors in the viewing experience.

[Joe]

I think that you know I'm drawn towards surrealism (among probably other styles, but I don't know anything about art so I don't know what anything is called), so this is kind of like me as a medievalist looking at a Victorian novel... but here's what I think:

I think they're good. I especially like the tennis match and beach scene--the tennis one, "Ad Millard S," caught my eye and for some reason reminds me of that famous Hopper painting.

[Anna]

I second Dean's suggestion about posting pictures from time to time. It always gladdens me to see deviations from the cultural trend toward dry specialization. More importantly, these paintings are really good: emotionally resonant and honest. I think Joe's on to something, too. There is something Nighthawksesque about "Advantage Millard South": the claustrophobic framing of the court's lines (an interesting, unnatural perspective) and the dark color scheme give it a tenseness that seems very appropriate to the competitiveness of sports. The Bulgarian scene (tangential note: I envy you that trip, since the enthusiastic nationalism of a Bulgarian acquaintance has interested me in her country, and because I've become addicted to a spicy Bulgarian relish called "ajvar" that I buy at my local grocery store) also reminds me a little of Hopper's New England coast scenes, e.g.,

http://www.artsfairies.com/Edward_Hopper/TN_Ground_Swell_CGF.JPG

and also of the Spanish Impressionist Joaquin Sarolla--

http://ific.uv.es/~mathepth/es/imagenes/sorolla_ninos2.jpg

http://www.arquitrave.com/imagenes/Sorolla_66.jpg

--not just its subject matter, but its intimacy and balance between physical activity and emotional quietude.

On the other hand, they have an impressively strong personal "voice," which I know from experience is a hard thing to achieve in creative endeavors.

Anyway, thank you for sharing these, and I hope we'll see more!

[Anna]

On a less artsy fartsy note, I like the cats! Ali looks a bit like my (much younger) Monte, as good a cat as anyone could ask for.

[matt]

I am completely in love with these, they are gorgeous. They have a naturalness that makes the eye just fall right into them. You should be showing these somewhere or selling the prints or something. One possibility is to start up a seperate site devoted to your paintings, sort of a blog gallery.

And by the way, when I don't like something I tend to respond with criticism. I am too blunt for niceties, it's just a personality thing I suppose. But when I love something I also have to be honest about that and these are genuinely beautiful paintings, Ruchira. I do hope you'll be posting more (and painting more).

You write, you paint...I am considering starting up a Ruchira Fan Club.

[Sujatha]

Have you thought about getting giclee prints made of your paintings, if you didn't want to part with these?

[Sondra]

You know I love your paintings and I totally agree you should post them. I especially liked your accompanying comments. Your work is beautiful and you really should get back into it.

[jackie]

Ruchira - I was very pleased to see your paintings. Although I have seen many of them before I hadn't seen these. I have always liked your paintings and also found these very enjoyable to see. Yes- you should definitely post more of your your paintings. Are you thinking of getting back to painting?

[Richa Arora]

Ruchira.. finally I am seeing some of your works.. a chance to know you even better... you should have pursued art, take out brushes and paints and get on with them now.. hope to see some more of you... Ruchira's fan club is already here in place!!!

[Abbas Raza]

Lovely stuff, Ruchira. I'm glad Elatia got you to collect all this in one place. Brava!