"Painting"
I have neglected thus far to say much about my Independent Study Project (ISP). I'm doing painting. Until recently, my ISP was all drawing and no painting, as my artistic skills were not at paint brush level yet. But after drawing a saddhu, Ganesh, and a few pictures of people (that may or may not have looked too great), I was promoted to canvas paper and a paint brush. That was one of my prouder moments.
I've finished my first water color, which depicts a stretch of the ghats, and have moved on to my second, which is of the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Sariswati, just in time for the Sariswati puja coming up on February 14th. I'd say I'm relatively happy with my progress in painting. I have no real experience with drawing or painting besides an art class I took in high school and the fact that I enjoy drawing pictures in my notebook during Hindi class. It's proved to be challenging, but I like it so far. My guru ji (mentor) is an amazing artist with a lot of energy. He holds the world record for painting the Hindu god Ganesh for 58 hours non-stop. It's not a world record you'd think of, but it's pretty
impressive. Whenever I come to class he says "Ada look at my new CREATION" and pulls out some piece of art work from behind some other pieces of art work that he recently created. He repeats his "art is the freedom" motto at least four time during one class. He's also taken to drawing a version of whatever I'm drawing in much better quality and in a minuscule amount of time. But he's a great teacher--he gives advice that seems confusing at first and makes sense in the end--and a great artist.
My schedule now usually consists of painting from 8:00 to around 9:15, work at the office from 10:00 to 1:30, and work at the center from 2:00 to 4:00. What I do after 4:00 changes daily, but I've been spending more time at home with my host family and the friends I've made that go to BHU and live on my floor. The friends that I've made in my house have really made my experience even better. They've introduced me to places I didn't know about in the city, they've taken me to get things I've needed, they've taken care of me while I've been sick, and they always share their food with me. But more
importantly they've just hung out with me and talked to me, and I'm so happy I've gotten to know them.
I've been trying to spend more of my free time exploring Benares and all that it has to offer. I've realized that there's a whole lot about Benares I don't know and a whole lot in Benares that I haven't seen. I really like wandering through random alley ways, getting lost, and getting un-lost because it usually entails learning/seeing something new.
On Thursday we are getting on a train to head to Dehli for a party thrown by the Princeton alumni group based in India, and on the way back we are stopping in Agra to see the Taj Mahal. On the 24th (our trip was approved!!) we are going to the Kumbha Mela. For those of you that don't know, the Kumbha Mela is the world's largest religious festival, and the world's largest gathering of people. Just yesterday, 30 million people gathered in Allahabad to be a part of this festival. It happens once every 12 years, and this one is particularly auspicious and won't be this auspicious again for another 150
years. That's the best description I can give it, but if you haven't heard about it I highly recommend googling it.
That's about all for now, I will try to get pictures soon. I've been especially lazy with putting new batteries in my camera, and I am still debating whether I want to post pictures of my paintings...we'll see.
Until next time!
Ada
I have neglected thus far to say much about my Independent Study Project (ISP). I'm doing painting. Until recently, my ISP was all drawing and no painting, as my artistic skills were not at paint brush level yet. But after drawing a saddhu, Ganesh, and a few pictures of people (that may or may not have looked too great), I was promoted to canvas paper and a paint brush. That was one of my prouder moments.
I've finished my first water color, which depicts a stretch of the ghats, and have moved on to my second, which is of the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Sariswati, just in time for the Sariswati puja coming up on February 14th. I'd say I'm relatively happy with my progress in painting. I have no real experience with drawing or painting besides an art class I took in high school and the fact that I enjoy drawing pictures in my notebook during Hindi class. It's proved to be challenging, but I like it so far. My guru ji (mentor) is an amazing artist with a lot of energy. He holds the world record for painting the Hindu god Ganesh for 58 hours non-stop. It's not a world record you'd think of, but it's pretty
impressive. Whenever I come to class he says "Ada look at my new CREATION" and pulls out some piece of art work from behind some other pieces of art work that he recently created. He repeats his "art is the freedom" motto at least four time during one class. He's also taken to drawing a version of whatever I'm drawing in much better quality and in a minuscule amount of time. But he's a great teacher--he gives advice that seems confusing at first and makes sense in the end--and a great artist.
My schedule now usually consists of painting from 8:00 to around 9:15, work at the office from 10:00 to 1:30, and work at the center from 2:00 to 4:00. What I do after 4:00 changes daily, but I've been spending more time at home with my host family and the friends I've made that go to BHU and live on my floor. The friends that I've made in my house have really made my experience even better. They've introduced me to places I didn't know about in the city, they've taken me to get things I've needed, they've taken care of me while I've been sick, and they always share their food with me. But more
importantly they've just hung out with me and talked to me, and I'm so happy I've gotten to know them.
I've been trying to spend more of my free time exploring Benares and all that it has to offer. I've realized that there's a whole lot about Benares I don't know and a whole lot in Benares that I haven't seen. I really like wandering through random alley ways, getting lost, and getting un-lost because it usually entails learning/seeing something new.
On Thursday we are getting on a train to head to Dehli for a party thrown by the Princeton alumni group based in India, and on the way back we are stopping in Agra to see the Taj Mahal. On the 24th (our trip was approved!!) we are going to the Kumbha Mela. For those of you that don't know, the Kumbha Mela is the world's largest religious festival, and the world's largest gathering of people. Just yesterday, 30 million people gathered in Allahabad to be a part of this festival. It happens once every 12 years, and this one is particularly auspicious and won't be this auspicious again for another 150
years. That's the best description I can give it, but if you haven't heard about it I highly recommend googling it.
That's about all for now, I will try to get pictures soon. I've been especially lazy with putting new batteries in my camera, and I am still debating whether I want to post pictures of my paintings...we'll see.
Until next time!
Ada
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