Autumn Days

This is my favourite time of the year. Autumn days are just perfect for the walk through the nettles...

Amongst the wild mushrooms and hedgerows

Finding, foraging and collecting natures free gifts to us ,

I sometimes feel like a squirrel collecting and gathering during these warm and sunny autumn days.

Five minutes walk from our house, crossing the narrow wooden bridge

We are in such a tranquil and peaceful place, where you see lots of wild flowers, squirrels and hear the chirping birds.

Vintage lace are beautiful, but do stop and take a look at the beautiful natural lace by your feet when you walk through the woods on a autumn day.

This is the bench I often sit on to have a picnic during the summer days

But today was a different day, a perfect autumn day for foraging and sitting down with my little journal recording the beautiful nature.

Days like this is what I like to do. What about you? do you like walking, foraging like me or rather sit down with cup of tea and a nice book.

So this is what I recorded today my readers, while I was away for a walk on a autumn day.

Also, this is the time of the year when I pull out of my cupboard my yarns and knitting needles. I just casted a new jumper for me other day. Yes, you heard me right, its for me this one but do have plans to knit other members in the family something in future.

I feel alive when I am painting

"I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn't say any other way... Things I had no words for" - Georgia O'Keeffe

Being busy with the things I like the most is such lovely feeling. I have been mostly in my studio lately every minute possibly I could. Its not long now before I have a group exhibition in the art barn in Warwickshire and the Melbourne Arts Festival in Derbyshire.

This year its going to be my 7th year that I have been participating the Melbourne Arts Festival and every year I am so excited and look forward to it. Love seeing lots of new faces every year and many familiar faces from past. It is so nice to get the feed back face to face.

About the group exhibition, now I exhibited at Art Barn in 2010 and this year I was invited back to exhibit with few other artists whose work is influenced by different cultures or countries. Sunday, I have to deliver my work.

Can you believe me. On top of these two exhibitions I took up the thirty paintings in 30 days challenge. Phew... Well, let me put it up like this. I feel alive when I am painting. The above little painting was done in one of my altered journals for this 30/30 challenge. I have done something almost everyday but haven't managed to upload everywhere in the social media. Now that's too much work and I love the creative part but when it comes to being active everywhere in social media, it gets bit too much for me. I don't know how some people manage it all. So I have been uploading in the Instagram everyday my 30/30 painting challenge and you can follow me with the account name sujata.aten.art. I must say Instagram is a lot quicker than blogging or anything else and I love it.

The last thing before I go back in my studio and do a little bit of more work, I am very happy that my calendars for 2016 (all my paintings are mostly sold) has arrived before the Melbourne festival. Every year people ask me for cards and calendars so I thought I must give it a go this year.

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day 4

Mixed media on altered journal - Thirty paintings in 30 Days - Day 4

(Close-up)

Wow! another days challenge done. I am happy. This little mixed media painting is done on a altered old book. I love painting on them. The paper is so nice to work on. I prefer old books over the shop bought sketchbooks. I have used here my rust dyed fabrics, vintage lace, some hand stitching and acrylic paint. Day 4 - Thirty paintings in 30 Days done.

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days: day 3

Thirty paintings in 30 days challenge - Day 3

(sorry these images are a bit blurry here, I don't understand why)

We can see the shift in the weather and now I think I am also so ready for this shift from holiday to work time. I'm  really grateful for the fact that I  enjoy my work, instead of it being a chore.
I have hung my little prayer flag in my studio and another one in my little caravan. I have ordered more paints and canvases and am all ready for spending my hours in my studio again.

I am almost prepared for one of the art exhibitions starting this month but still not quite ready for the Melbourne Arts Festival. Have loads to do and guess what? I have thrown myself into a 30 days painting challenge. Do I have time for it? Can I do it you think amongst the preparation of other exhibitions. Well, this is it! I decided to give it a shot and joined in with other artists in making 30 paintings in 30 days. It started on 1st September already, I am a bit late but you know what? Better late than never. I am going to keep it small and going to paint on my altered journal pages for this challenge. The aim is not to have a finished big painting, but this will take me in my studio everyday and force me to do something. Once I start painting there is no stopping me anyway. So hopefully I shall be able to do some more work for the Melbourne festival as well. This thirty paintings in 30 days is by Leslie Saeta from Slices of Life Blog.

One more thing I need to tell you lovely people reading my blog is that I also have dipped into Instagram finally. Yes, I say finally because for long time, I have been debating whether or not to join as I wasn't sure if I will be able to keep up with all the different social medias. For a while, I almost gave up Facebook too. But now I feel brave. Feel I can maybe handle all this so please dear readers follow me on my Instagram and Facebook and please don't be shy to leave a comment, as my comment box is open and working again here in my blog. I had some problems in past but have resolved them now.

A big hug and thank you to all of you for reading my blog. I am planning a giveaway soon so do remember to check it out here.

Masala Chai

I woke up too early this morning. Maybe still it was middle of the night, I don't know. Somehow I just couldn't sleep so came downstairs and made myself some masala chai, which I brought back from India.

Some quiet time was spend in my studio; looking back in my travel journal...

...and thinking about India: the rest of them still in bed.

The Tibetan monastery was so beautiful. The entrance with the prayer flags on top.

Watching the monks practising their daily meditation amongst the beautiful surrounding (Himachal Pradesh - Manali), flowers, almost everything was so relaxing and calm. Really peaceful place to be.

Beautifully painted and decorated gates, wall everywhere.

Inside the Buddhist temple. So calm, was good to just sit there for a while and do nothing.

The stories painted on the walls.

 

 And the bell.

It was monsoon when we were in India and up in the Himalayas, we got a combination of sunshine and rain. Felt pretty much like here. Though Delhi was still quite hot and humid.

I was so inspired by the whole trip from Delhi to Manali that for the first time I actually sat down to fill some pages of my journal. In past, every time I have been to India, I am just too busy chatting and going around. I think I must try and do at least one page if not more every time I visit India.

On this page, I felt like adding this beautiful paper, so I used some duct tape and extended my journal page.

The extended page on the left.

The map of India was the newspaper cutting showing the weather forecast.

Summer holidays are almost over. Can't stop thinking about India, especially on rainy days like today.