A quick Wall Mural

Its been a few months living in California and I have made a few friend, met some of my neighbors and still some days are very tough to get through. This change is a daily reminder of the inevitability and unpredictability of life… tomorrow is not guaranteed! 

This mural happened during one such day where I refused to give in and decided to channel my confusion and desperation into something eye-catching. DH was out of town for business so he couldn't pull me out of my trance and I made it with the expectation that if he doesn't like it, I'll paint right over it and bought a pint of background color in advance.

Know your Artisans!

Artisans are scattered throughout the world that have been, for generations, pursuing art as a cultural expression while also making it a means of earning their livelihood.

Art makes the physical connection of intangibles to everyday life making it colorful and more meaningful.

The articles of common use that developed over the course of millennia for rituals or simply for lifestyle needs, were functional and yet aesthetically pleasing. They also helped preserve an organic way of living life.

Art has not often been accessible to the common folk or even what are now called the middle classes, having been a preserve of the rich and influential. Not in-consequently, many of us never consider ourselves deserving of an indulgence, which an original piece of art has come to mean for us.

In the current mindset, articles of daily use are considered disposable due in large part to their mass production and consequently – cheap cost. The production of such articles is not necessarily environmentally friendly and their cheap quality demands frequent replacement leading to disposal of things in the ever growing landfills. The attitudes towards articles that mass-production engenders, cheapens not just that article, but towards the whole class of objects. If one considered a factory produced plate cheap, chances are slim that one would place significant value in the creation of an artisan.

An example is baskets. Hand-woven baskets made with natural materials are slowly making a comeback but for the longest time were relegated to mere curiosities, having been replaced by plastic or other such material. They were cheap and fast and colorful and you could change them every season if you wished. But all ended up in large pits in the earth, where they’ll still be around for millennia, or perhaps they are floating in the middle of Pacific Ocean adding to the area of the giant plastic island.

While this seemingly innocuous lifestyle of keeping up with the trends and throwing outdated materials into trash hurts the environment, it also hurts the artisans who truly wish to create art and enjoy the process of creating.

In malls and outlets, there are numerous pieces of bright color embroidered glittering fabric products and yet they fail to convey the expression or intent of the artists. They were made for commercial purpose, likely based on supply and demand worksheet, and most likely in a factory setting. Often the designs and fabric are created keeping the customers in mind and not the artist and in trying to meet the needs of the buyer, the authenticity of the artwork is usually lost.
But, the creativity and artistic expression that is enmeshed with a culturally rich life – something we might imagine as belonging to a bygone idyllic time still lives and breathes among us in the unknown corners.

The creative freedom needed by an artisan is usually lacking in the mass produced hodge-podge pieces done in an assembly line style. The artist is never allowed to reflect the emotional, cultural and spiritual side of their being and is restricted to being a wage-earning worker, which stunts her pride in her craft. The result is disenchantment, if not outright disgruntlement with the whole process and the sad demise of the artistic side of the craft.

If the artists are reduced to workers that create products based on current trends they have no way to share their love of art with the younger generations and the craft will die as soon as it comes off the shelf of a high-end store in a mall. Many fine skills that were conceived in a time before machines took over our lives are slowly lost to us; often too expensive to pursue and don’t have a market value that can fetch it a subsistence level price. At the same time we as consumer spend money on faux exotic pieces without realizing that we can patronize true art and real artisans.

In my last post, I argued that we should follow our own heart for a meaningful living and in this post I turn around and ask that we follow the work of artisans and learn more about their craft, their motivation and the natural expression of their art.

Or maybe this isn't what your heart desires, and maybe there is peace and serenity to be found in simply following trends, which I have yet to discover, but I doubt.

This conversation is not about following or leading but it’s about being aware. All realize as a consumer that the value of an item extends far beyond the price-tag and the brand name.

Trends come and go but our relationship with life, our environment and the well-being of our fellow humans is eternal. It’s important to be aware of the drift we’re flowing with, as also the currents we contribute to, as we meander towards the destinations of inner fulfillment.

What's your Design Style

Do you know what brings peace to your surroundings; what truly connects you to your inner self and what really inspires you to greater things?

I ask this because our hectic schedule and the race to excel in life don’t leave us with enough time to contemplate these things. In a world driven by marketing and social media, sometimes it is tough to distinguish between our own desires and the need to follow trends and people whom we admire and therefore wish to emulate.

Home needs to be the sanctuary where one can express one’s individuality, find balance and seek inspiration and deeper meanings in life.

But it seems we often tend to imitate thereby bringing someone else’s idea of a sanctuary into our lives and hope that it brings deeper meaning to us as well. It usually doesn’t, then boredom ensues and we begin to seek change to the next new trend. In this pursuit, the significance of our surroundings and the things that constitute it gets utterly lost to us.

Of course, it doesn’t help that often times the people looked up to as style icons themselves, try to mold the taste of their ‘followers’ to create a sort of snowball effect in trends they’re pushing.

Do you know your own sphere of influence, what and who you impact?

Do you also know who and what sway your own decisions?

We all impact each other’s decisions by way of subliminal messages, choices and actions we make. But how much of the impact is ‘natural’ and where does it become ‘manufactured’ ergo for a commercial purpose.

Is a thing of beauty, really a joy forever?

If the object is beautiful but you didn’t associate with it, thought it beautiful till your favorite designer stylist pointed it out to you then it’s not serving the purpose. It is not beautiful because someone that you look up to or admire said so… It might be for them but not for you.

The problem is we don’t stop to think, to arrive at that realization. There are magazines to tell us what color should be our home this season, what we should wear, which animal sculpture we should find cute or add to our collection. And we just follow along – blissfully unaware of our own likes.

Objects do serve a purpose toward enhancing our lives, but that truly happens only when we feel invested in them, to some degree, by way of our conscious, thoughtful preferences and selections.

In my day job as a designer and engineer, the perpetual debate – ‘form vs function’ rages on. Good designs are to be found at various cross-sections of the wide spectrum between extremes. I personally seek a balance but others’ quests might be more emotional or spiritual. The design should be functional and yet a utilitarian object needn’t be ugly. But again one’s definition of ugly is subjective.

That beautiful 18th century brass plate hanging in a living room, untouched and unused, was originally created not merely to be displayed, but was part of everyday life or maybe for special celebrations. We now admire its beauty and have therefore put it out of commission and out of everyday reach. Such an object’s beauty doesn’t bring joy to me, as its functional value has been rejected.

While it’s important to strike a balance between form and function while making choices, the paramount act is that of making the choice, and doing so of your own accord.

I’ll continue another time about the larger impacts of our décor decisions – how it often involves things we’re not even aware of.

Design versus Trends

It is Thanksgiving and we are all getting ready to celebrate the bounty of life's blessings with our friends and family. For past many months catalogs have been pouring in my mail box to make sure I have the right decor keeping up with the trends while I express my gratitude for the beautiful life on Thanksgiving Day.

If I cannot afford the most expensive and trendy designer products then there are websites and blogs that can tell me how I can create the expensive looks for cheap with simple DIYs. It can perhaps be inspiring at some level while we explore our own dislike and like and push the boundaries of safe and neutral decor but how far do we take that... Do we really need to change wall color, accessories, dishes, lightings each season, at each festival, year after year, season after season... Is it really necessary to celebrate a festival like Thanksgiving, would it help generate a feeling of gratitude, generosity or love and tolerance among family and friends.

I am a Bridge designer by profession, and I understand learning the basic principles of design and rule of structural stability but after that, the site and the transportation needs govern the design. The function leads and defines the form in most cases while generating unique structures where no two are alike, and they live and evolve through years. And so its very tough for me to grasp a design push where trends overtake the function and all sorts of absurdities prevail in the name of conforming with trends, is that necessary? And not to mention that they'll become disposables and garage sale commodities within few weeks of the so called celebration...

Are we promoting a culture where we are voluntarily surrendering our like and dislikes to the tastes of the few that we admire and in the process loosing our individuality. When Pantone announces colors for the next season, do we really need go out of our way to paint that chair 'tangerine tango' and keep up?

Design I think is that refuge that helps inspire and promote function and help achieve inner peace and at the same time, perfect design ideas for individuals come to surface when we settle our minds rather than constantly running after someone else's peace and inspiration. It is an individual statement and we all need to find it for ourselves rather than copy someone else.

This Thanksgiving season, while we are expressing gratitudes for all that God has blessed us with, can we also thank God and Nature for the sensibilities we were built with and let them guide us to a haven that we can carve for our soul and not the look from the favorite magazine and favorite designer...

May the good sense prevail and we follow our own inspiration and pave our own path to the individual destination and journey that we are to take in this life...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The power of design...

I found this box of tea in the coffee area at work one afternoon and I thought, 'Ah! Rose tea, I can use some'. 

On a closer examination, I realized that there is not any obvious rose written anywhere on the box, in fact the tea is called 'Tazo Rest' nothing to do with rose, I smelled the box to see if the aroma of it gave away the content of the box but not much luck there either. 

I drank the tea, read through the ingredients list and it indeed was a Rose tea and I was impressed by the power of design/packaging. 

  

Lately there have been one too many examples in the market, of misleading with design that conveys to be something that it is not. And I am getting tired of the herd mentality too, no matter how good a design is it cannot be for everyone but we just seem to be too busy to even quiet our own mind down to see and feel our innate design preference.

So, without digressing from the topic, just wanted to point out a good design is the one that conveys what it is without shouting loud words that may or may not be true. If we are in tune with our inner being then the inspiration can be found everywhere even in a free box of tea, up for grabs... 

dESIGN sPONGE, BOOK REVIEW

I had expressed my displeasure for the decorating trends that has been passed along as Design styles in a previous Post (What is Design?) and since then I have moved away from the sites that promote pictures from 'trends' and how to achieve the looks but one site that has consistently inspired me to be myself despite the trends is 'Design Sponge'.  I spotted their book at the local book store and had to browse it right away. I was using it as an eye candy and as a distraction but ended up coming away with a lot of easy to implement ideas and tons of inspiration to reuse the things I already own/cherish in newer styles.

Its a long post mostly loaded with pictures that I saved for my own inspiration but sharing it with you anyways cause they are so versatile and representation of strong design with personal tastes.

Love the whites...

Vintage bottle collection

Play of patterns

Ethnic fabric on chair

love the greenery for sun room

Books in style, art on display

Unexpected and tied well together

Inspiration for the ceiling 

Canopy for girl who like to read in peace...

Layers of pattern play well on the chair

I loved the DIY section of the book and the most amazing part is that they are totally doable... do check out the book if you get a chance and looking to switch things around in your pad.  

Succulents in brick wall

Display with log rings and wine glasses

Tabel runner with doilies 

Old maps cover the photo boxes...

3-D & White paint create a cohesive look

Wallpaper to spruce up wine crate shelf

Suzani fabric for upholstery

Tie back with old fork

Butterfly display

Eat less + Shop less = Sustained Happiness

Or so I think cause I have yet to find it.

When I say eat less, I don’t mean to restrict my calorie intake to 1500 calories a day or to vow to never indulge in desert again, all I mean is that I should stop eating when the walls of my stomach start to stretch on the same lines as they did four years ago when there was a 8 pound baby inside my body. Or perhaps I should not force a bowl of ice cream to find its own way inside my tummy after each square inch has already been occupied by the delicious multi course dinner. Or I should suggest myself using restraint while ordering a whole milk Grande latte right after a big meal just so that I can keep myself awake for the drive home.

There’s absolutely no problem in doing that cause my body or for that matter any human body is perfectly capable of dealing with abuse we entrench them with except that every trip to the closet to find something suitable to wear turns into a tear jerking epic. All the lip smacking, drool generating, sensory indulgent, high calorie meal journeys result in the slight bulge at the mid section and of course those slight bulges over time have a tendency to transform into a little extra which is addressed by several names: love handle, a tire or muffin top …etc (take your pick), which don’t like to be contained inside a belt with buttons or zippers and rebelliously stand out even in the perfect black dress that used to fit just fine.

My most favorite dress out of the ones that still fit me now joins the club with the rest of ‘when I am – pounds lighter’. I left the # of pounds blank because there are several categories of piles. For when I am 5 pounds less, I’ll wear this and when I am 10 pounds, I wear that and then if I ever manage to get back to where I was 2 years ago, I will wear all those. Yup, you got the picture; I can pretty much create a parallel closet full of these so called incentive clothes and these don’t include the ones that I have yet to buy and are neatly tucked away in a picture form in an inspiration folder.

It is so frustrating to look at a fashion magazine and find out all the latest trends that would look good on you if only you were one size smaller.

Never mind, so I switched my magazine subscription to home design, thank goodness my home doesn’t shrink and expand every holiday season and I can create the perfect décor that will fit all the time.

Really all the time, or till the next issue is delivered to my mail box; because the moment I lay my eyes on the new issue, my most updated décor from last month with not be hip anymore and I shouldn’t even bother opening that paint cans for the new powder room décor as it was based on the issue two months ago. I feel so outdated already.

You know what I am not even going to worry about these trends in home and fashion, I learnt that they are just hypes created to make people buy more stuff and keep the economy afloat, there is no point following any trends and making any fashion statements. I forbid them from my life and find rescue in the yoga magazine, this times it’s not a subscription, I was prudent I got it from the library because that’s what yoga is all about, focusing inwards and finding a balance within, physically and mentally. As I flipped through the first 10 or so pages of the yoga magazine, I realized that this magazine could teach the wandering Indian yogis a thing or two about the yoga life style. They would know based on their personality type, which yoga mat to buy and which yoga shorts would not ride up their thighs when they are doing an intensive ‘surya namskaar’ routine. Or what organic jewelry they can wear as they struggle to balance their bodies on their heads. To be fair, their articles are fine; it’s only their advertising that bothers me.

And that brings me to my inference from the journey with the media and the inspiration that comes and goes with it. I haven’t actively followed any news article in a long time and yes it has put me in many awkward situations in small conversations for not knowing exactly the number of people died in a certain natural calamity or something like that. I’ll write more about my reasons to not follow news but for now I’d say I don’t want to lose sleep over issues I have no control over, I’d rather do something to help than to follow news update.

And now I put most magazines into the same category, very few articles are unbiased and share a design philosophy, most follow trends and what this or that famous designer did. I’d rather meet the artists, talk to the designers, read design books than to blindly follow trends. I’d make my own mistakes and find my own balance and in turn the happiness rather than copy a perfect room (or dress) from someone else’s life into my own home.

So I guess if I do follow my own instinct rather than an inspiration from trendy magazine I’ll be calmer and happier in the long run…

What does design really is?

I follow some (read ‘many’) design blogs and websites and they provide tons of inspirations but at times I am baffled by the content they present and cannot stop wondering if they are getting paid for showing us the item in good light?

May be that’s what trends are, a few people like things and put them together and then since those talented designers happen to be famous, others just start copying and recreating the look.

Is it worth it to live your life and surround yourself with a color palette and things that a famous designer put together in a house and family very dissimilar to your own?

I am asking these questions of myself as I was getting obsessed with what the latest trends are and then getting worried that my decorating plans were not coinciding with the latest. And sad still if they did coincide it was for a very brief period and then it was not the top of the trend anymore. How I let myself be influenced by my unnatural surroundings and sometimes I seek out these magazines and websites just to beat myself with the feeling that I am not keeping up with the trends.

I mean really, how it matters if my wall colors are beige or grey or white but I find a peaceful resort there. And how does it matter that my feet find comfort in platform shoes when stilettos are the in thing. Yes, it’s easy to say in words that it should not matter but tough, at least for me, to be totally influence free, I am trying though.

Okay so it is one thing to be inspired by a décor and then trying to recreate it with things that you actually love but painting a perfectly fine wood furniture to match a décor in the magazine or buying an old French book to elevate the glass jar and arranging roses when its tulip season, isn’t that going too far? I think it is…

It is not design when people suspend their own thinking and knowledge to what is good for them and instead finds comfort in blindly following a life that is remote and completely not their own.

The new old Sofa

Sometimes things don't go as you plan them. Mmm, wait they usually never go as per plan and each new changing plan is a challenge that the universe throws at you to see where you are choosing to dig your heels and when you are planning to go with the flow.
I know these words almost seem cryptic so in short I had good intentions to post every single day of this July month but I decided to go with the flow rather than taming my mind and keeping it under control. I still have a few topics that are still relevant and intend to post them ... sometime.
Sharing my Sofa project here: