Working hard and playing hard That's the Hong Kong motto Painting the Court of Gayumars Rocks and stones and grottoes From April showers To May's spring flowers Life anew after lockdown's through And ever teaching in the golden hours...
...quietly being reminded what's important: dandelions and extra chocolate for me, brought by my eldest kid and plonked in the middle of my painting - he knows how to get my attention!....…paying attention is important when painting complexities such as these turned ivories. Oil on copper, coming in autumn. The art of attention…
… is something I'm cultivating myself in different forms, both in painting and in (a few) people in this new one-off project. More here: https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com/bookings-checkout/the-court-of-gayumars-art-of-attention?referral=service_list_widget and here: https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com/forum/news-and-announcements/the-court-of-gayumars-the-art-of-attention...
…Full attention is also required when painting other still lifes and flowers, and…
…Yippee! The first Flowers classes are now finally online - thank you to those who requested these; I'll put up the others in the series in due course. You can now have an evening of flowers...
https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com...
Book an evening of flowers here
…and/or a morning of Clouds: https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com/book-online ... and/or an early evening painting discussion over Zoom via the Forum https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com - our April meeting is on 20.4.21, 6-7pm GMT...
…Painting and more painting and 1001 paintings! This one is one of my early memories - a Hong Kong junk ship I spent my birthday on one year. Painted on a small handmade Bhutanese paper with teeny tiny brushes - https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk - hunched over and attentively concentrating...
…these villagers are hunched over and relaxing around a fire in the evening. A child is falling asleep in the arms of a grandparent or elder, presumably listening to stories and gossip as told by the guy smoking the huqqa (or hookah), as has been the way of the world since time immemorial, no real separation between the ages. Babies, children, teens, adults, middle-aged, golden oldies... just one fluid continuum. This painting is by the famed Nainsukh (as referred to in the March newsletter - I'm a big fan!) and below is the same image, recreated in the eponymous Amit Dutta film....
...and above is one of my early childhood drawings which I suddenly realised looked like a miniature - maybe children have an innate sense of a bigger and more vertical perspective when they're making art. I like my car and road on top of the house. My mother obviously liked it as she's kept it all these years. Parents, do you keep all of your children's art? What do you do with it all? Do you have any archive systems in place? I'd love to know, as this issue is looming for me and I don't like to throw anything away. Then again, we are in a small London flat. I remember how Hong Kong people used to do their socialising outside the house rather than in their really tiny flats for lack of space. Luckily, nicer weather is here and the kids can get some fresh air. On yer bike!
Attentively yours,
Vaishali Prazmari