Why I love Dali.

Why I love Salvador Dali. 

This photograph is enough actually to answer the question. 

I love Dali because he s crazy, He is the greatest exhibitionist of all time. The Revolutionary surrealist is an iconic figure of the art world and known for his wiry thin  distinctive mustache turned up and the way he carried himself. 

He was shy & lonely as a child. His father was openly abusive. His flamboyance was a result of him fighting the insecurity that he felt and the timidness inside. He had a brother that passed away 9 months before he was born and his mother told him he was the same soul. He believed he was a reincarnation of his brother.  His mother passed away when he was 16. This greatly effected him. His Childhood memories are of a village called Cadaques, in Spain the sea and landscapes with eroded that had holes in them and things he discovered amongst the rocks all find their way in his work. He painted stranded fish, keys, rusty nails and such objects in a dream-like setting and unreal made-up creatures. Elephants with legs like mosquitoes and grasshoppers coming of a mouth, sea urchins and wall clocks melting on tree branches. The objects often floating, fading away. All images of his Unconscious mind. he painted double images often depicting metamorphosis. He was a painter but also did a lot of Theatre set design,  Fashion & Architecture. His mother was from Barcelona and he liked what he called the strange soft buildings of the place. 

He lived an eclectic lifestyle. His imagery is a chronicle of his erotic desires and tensions

His Insanity and Irrational behavior often landed him in trouble. but he was unapologetic.
He gave up art school at age 22 because none of the teachers were good enough to judge him.  

The presented an authentic version of himself with fanatic intensity.

The temptation of St. Anthony 

The burning Giraffe 

He would go to restaurants and pay with a cheque that he had drawn on, he knew nobody would cash in a cheque with his original art on it.  He created his own Museum in Spain.
He said things like "I am very intelligent- I never tell the truth. , " Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy - the joy of being Salvadore Dali " " & "If you play a genius you become one". An abandoned wash house was his first studio. He lay in a tub and drew. He said his humor was born there. He often put himself in a trance-like state before painting.
He called it the paranoic critical method and his work hand drawn photographs. 

His Russian wife Gala was his muse and a great influence on him. 

Gala of Spheres

Dali s fame grew, Contemporary artists and the advertising agency have extensively referenced his work. He continues to be a subject of great interest to all artists. Dali popularised surrealism, a means of liberating imagination and it affected culture & literature.

The Persistence of Memory one of his most popular works.

Retouching a functional art piece

A tealights holder !! 

Carved Wood. 

Retouched and painted green gold. 

Wiped the piece down with a wet cloth and then with sandpaper just went over some rough parts.
Once the piece was nice and smooth. Wiped off the extra dust and painted the first coat of green, keeping the paint watery to deep into the cracks. Then another coat of the same color but thicker paint after half an hr later. Once the paint has set gold colour was sponged in covering the entire piece.

I am looking through drawers to see what I can find next..

and while I was at it I painted the storage drawers too...

hope you all have fun doing projects similar to this. 

Go Green. Sustain. Recycle. Reuse.

The power of the human mind is limitless potential.
Whatever we dream we can achieve.
We have explored the universe and the microcosms.
What we need now to do is dream a better world and heal it.

Permeance of Art

The permeance of art
 Reconnect with your practice 

in any way you can, all the creative people who ve not gotten around to doing projects the usual way. Not having access to the studio or regular work space and having only a limited supply at home of art material I m wondering how to make the most of time at hand. 

Find articles around the house that are in a little bit of TLC. 

Recycle, Refurbish, Reuse and evening Repurpose. 

All this adds to us moving towards a greener world. 

I found these old candle stands gathering dust on a corner top shelf. 

A bit of cleaning, a little paint and they should be as good as new. 

The carving on the pieces is beautiful and I thought a dull gold will be a good effect. I have used acrylic paint which usually I use for the canvasses. A coat of clear sealant on these should seal in the paint when I am done. For fun I going to add another colour to the top. A dark shade probably Aquamarine.

The finished pieces.. this took about half an hour and feel great. 

Off to look for more things I can paint over. 

Tc all !!! 

Alternate careers

picking up something new this late in life is always like second guessing yourself
But when opportunity comes you never say no

So here I am doing the garments for a Gujarati feature film

Link to an interview for Ciceroni
https://www.facebook.com/ciceroniapplication/videos/2357770444507661/?vh=e

A Designer Store

Multi Designer store in Ahmedabad
Tvak Designer store
27 sunrise Park

Sukhi singh & Deviba Wala

Time flies and how
It seems like it was October only yesterday
We opened the store on Dussehra 30 Th Sept.
The soft launch was on 3 rd sept - also the first billing date when we officially existed as a Designer store

The floor below the studio was suddenly available and the temptation was too much
All these years with the fashion industry and then the big blank
Felt like some talent was being wasted


A couple of phone calls and a leap of faith
Here we are 5 months and 14 designers later
Our next collection launches on the 27 Th Feb 2018 and it has been an interesting journey

Swadeshi - An exhibition by ginipi art -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yu8VXovEj4
The exhibition by Giriraj Kadia and Ginipi Art showcased the work of leading indian artists
The word swadeshi was used as all the art was made on handmade paper locally sourced.

Deviba wala displayed 2 portraits in Sepia tones.
The monochromatic style is what she is known for 

Contemporary Indian Female Artist : Deviba Wala

What does one get labelled as ?
different name Tag's  and genres within the visual arts often come to be associated with young artists 
from the very beginning of the career and sometimes these labels limit us or hold us back. we often then are afraid of breaking the boundaries or of experimenting. experimental art is not serious enough is what some people will tell you. and once you have a Style stick to it is what others will tell you.

" contemporary indian female artist " : 

"Deviba Wala - Minimalist / Abstract Artist "

"Indian Art"

la Biennale Arte 2015 - Venezia

Venice
Art Biennale
I had the opportunity to visit the biennale in 2015 and what an experience it was
Just came across some photos and thought it's a good idea to share here

Watch the space for the article

After a week in Paris where my husband was cycling for the PBP 1200 km and when he was sufficiently rested we took a flight to the Marco Polo airport in Italy
From there it's a short bus ride to the coast and then the Waterbus to San silvestro where our accommodation was an authentic Venetian home tucked away in he by lanes.
The city was abuzz with posters and advertisements for the various biennale events.

Armed with a local map of Venice and the flyer for the biennale sites we set out on the three day journey of exploring the arts :)

Painting on a bat - exhibition by mantra art gallery

The exhibition by Mantra Art Gallery featuring the work of 100 artists from across India on cricket bats : A concept by Nayana Soparkar.
Opening on 5 th November 

Grand opening Tvak Designer Store

30 th September

 The

 Tvak Designer Store

Grand Opening at 10:00 am
By Ms. Anar Patel and Dr. Sonya Puri 

Open to all 

             The opening was a grand success and the store was appreciated by all visitors


List of designer names
Rituals by Dhyani
Gurpreet Kaur
Mamata singh Rathore
Vkriti collection
Rita Khurana
Lopamudra by abha and Shantanu Salunke
Jewellery by Anvita 

Call for Artists : 2017 2018 Winter

Artists & Fashion Designers 

Textile Research 

Tvak Designer Store 

India Residency 

This is a call for artists and Designers for the residency Intake for the winter 2017 term
Nov-Dec session and the Jan -Feb session.

A special preference will be given to people wishing to work with Textile or Fabric. Those doing research or experimental work are welcome. This September we launch the Tvak Designer store 

Deviba Wala. Neha Dubey Pandey. Sukhi Singh.

the collection created during the residency will be displayed at the store or a workshop will be conducted on the premises. 

the objective of this new venture is : 

To establish and run a retail outlet that deals with textile products, wood products and handicraft items to give artists and artisans a place to stock their creations.  

To establish and run in India and abroad business activities like promotion of textiles and artisans, arts and crafts, providing a neutral zone for discussions, research and experimentation for artisans and designers as well as inter disciplinary arts. Casting talent in the field of music, theatre, writing, photography, wood work, stone work and any other type of talent, to organize workshops, sales and exhibitions as well as shows and help archive various traditional and ethnic techniques. 

Tvak Designer store

https://m.facebook.com/tvakdesignerstore/

The Tvak Designer Store Launched on 4 th Sept  with just family lighting the lamp and a prayer service.
A collection of Navratri chaniya cholis and kurtas from 8 Different Designers is on display until 29 and the store is open to all.


The Designer store is a  new venture and with the expansion come two partners
With more minds at work and more hands working away we hope
The Designer store is able to serve its clients well and bring to the city garments that are of quality and are different from what is otherwise available.

Theatre laboratory by Mirza Celovic

Theatre laboratory: body and space 

Venue :  Tvak Studios 

An in-depth exploration of physical acting

By Mirza Celovic

In theatre laboratory: body and space, we experiment with the different physical elements of acting. 

During this workshop we will focus on the body and its' limitations, proprioception and other senses, and the body in relation to space and other objects. Proximity, speed, direction and (a) symmetry are just a few of the elements we explore within the context of theatre as a performing art. 

Where guitarists use a guitar, actors use their whole body. That is why, during our sessions we will start by "tuning" our instrument with an intense physical warm up, followed by an exercise which aims to train our equilibrioception and proprioception. Thereafter we explore different ways of using our instrument via different theatre exercises. 

We end each session with short performances which we analyse. 

Mirza studies Theatre in Education at the HKU (applied university of the arts Utrecht). For his third year he came to India to explore and experiment with theatre in Indian culture.

This is an Ongoing workshop at Tvak Studios, Vastrapur. 

The summer is here and it is the perfect time to get painting and sculpting, specially when you stay in a city where you are restricted to the indoors to beat the heat
I have been climbing up ladders and piling boxes up to retrieve the old unfinished paintings that lie on top of wardrobes or the loft.
What I find surprises me : some long forgotten fragments of memories, some half thought out thoughts .. things that had began to take shape and maybe you were needed elsewhere or a phone call disrupted the flow.

Looking at older work with new eyes is such an experience. It is almost therapeutic.
I can compare it to the feeling you get when you flip through an old daily dairy.

This weekend at Tvak me and a few fellow artists are going to be painting
All are welcome to join in
We ll  welcome you with a cup of tea.
Just being your old work and material.

For details  and timing send an e mail to
Info.tvak@gmail.com

Siddhi Bhandari. exhibition on 18th Dec - Ahmedabad

Mystique 

A painting Exhibition by Siddhi Bhandari

A self taught artist 

Canvases are the diaries of her thoughts and feelings. Freedom, flight and flow can be felt in different aspects of her paintings. Her unplanned yet thoughtful paintings are bright and balanced. Portraits, Buddha, Lotus, butterflies, nature and woman faces are the central motifs in her different series of paintings, each motif are having independent ideas and reasons yet they are inter connected. While painting, her murmuring (passing by) thoughts take over the job and she let her hands paint her heart freely; sometimes her hands keep catching the beats of music into her colour strokes. As she says music allows her hands to flow freely. The tactile quality of materials is carefully preserved and its feelings are well expressed in her work with the paints and strokes made by her fingers /hand and not by brushes. She started her first series of paintings with portraits. In the next series eventually the calm – subtle and serene image of Lord Buddha became the central motif in her paintings. She can relate with Buddha: “The Siddhartha” because her husband’s name is “Siddharth” and he is her motivator. Many words of Buddha’s preaching keep appearing in her work at different places as lessons of life. These words also represent her role as a Mother as she teaches/imbibes these values to her son. Gratefulness, honesty etc. qualities which can make a human being contented. There are many things hidden in her paintings which are left to viewers to be read according to their own experience and vision. Her attachment with nature prevails everywhere in her works, flowers; as specially lotus as it also relates with Buddha , leafs , creepers etc. is observed and kept in her paintings as they are observed even passively while walking on streets or in gardens, fine details of nature is incorporated in some abstract manners into her canvas. Bright colours are also inspired from nature which maintains good balance of warm and cool colours; it is metaphorically showing two different aspects/sides of everything at once. In the beautiful paintings with slashing and spilling bright colours female portraits often highlights in smaller part of her work. It is not easy to fulfil her desires, but there is a desire. Butterflies have powerful symbol for her. It speaks of miracle and surrendering to divine in our soul's growth of expansion, celebration and transition, beauty and faith.

- Text provided by the Artist. 

Wish you success Always Siddhi. Keep the light Shining. 

 I had the pleasure of meeting her and of seeing her work, or glimpses of it as she progressed, she reminds me of myself and I realise all over again that it takes courage to show your dreams to the  world, to share your work with people, to be vulnerable because you open up your heart so much..
but Art is a wonderful thing. you make connections and have the power to speak to others. There is so much of an artist s soul that gets left behind in every work. With this exhibition Siddhi does just that. you can see how many hours she has spent brush in hand, working away, all in all
A show not be be missed and work that would bring life to any Space.

Ritu Jadwani at Tvak

Fashion Designer 

Ritu Jadwani 

At

Tvak 

An Interview & Photos of Her studio 

Deviba : Explain who you are & what you do : introduction ( What’s your background? )
Ritu : I am an apparel designer who is trying to create unique products through the local craft techniques to sustain the crafts.

My background is in fashion design and business innovation. After some work experience with non profits, international designers, trend companies, craft magazines, local brands, I decided to start Namaste NYC. 
Namaste NYC was initiated with an aim, to connect the Indian crafts to a global market, through design innovation, employment generation and to support artisans. Initially we started making tassels, scarves, trinket accessories, for the global market. Slowly we expanded our range to apparel,leather bags and footwear.

Deviba : What jobs have you done other than being a Designer ? Why do you do what you do ?

Ritu : During my initial job struggling days abroad, I used to be a hostess, at a restaurant. My job was to greet people,make them comfortable and get them a good table in the restaurant. Before that worked with a cosmetic company, air gas company,intelligent buildings technology company, craft magazine,  trend forecast company.
As a student of design, I was exposed to a lot of art,Indian crafts, and hand embroidery techniques. New fabrics and designs inspire me, to create something which is unique, innovative. I try to design products which are affordable to people, rather than becoming a luxury brand. I have seen a wave of brand consciousness entering the Indian and global market. Everyone wants to own a Michael Kors or Guess bag, or an LV wallet. But the moment you are told to spend 1/10th the amount on something which is unique and handmade, people are not ready. There is probably 10% population which understands the beauty of crafts. Namaste NYC is an effort to increase that small percentage.

D : What’s your story ?   Describe a real-life situation that inspired you to become who u are today.

R: My mom used to design our clothes for every wedding in the family. Initially she would browse through international magazines, learn about trends, then we would go fabric shopping and try to mix and match the prints and laces. Later, we would go to our family tailor and get fancy gowns, lehengas, skirts, stitched for weddings.
During my studies at NIFT, I was exposed to and interacted with a lot of artisans, my mentors were people who appreciated crafts, handmade products and value for money. People who were comfortable buying a handicraft jute Calcutta bag, and not brand savy or brand conscious. My trend internships, part time jobs , travel exposures, further enforced the idea of merging the international trends into local crafts, and thus Namaste NYC was born.

D : What’s integral to the work of a designer ? 
R : Innovation is key to any designers work. We do look and study at trends, to understand the current state of mind of people and the market. But, its important to create something unique, usable, beautiful and affordable. It should serve the purpose and solve the problem. if a top can be worn as a top during day, over-layered as a jacket in evening and dressed up to take you through the nite, a problem is solved. A traveller, then doesn't need to carry 3 pcs, instead - 1 pc which is versatile will suffice. For me, creating a solution is integral.
I believe, its important to create employment opportunities for women, for artisans, and sustain the crafts, rather than running behind brands, or factory made products.

D : where do u see yourself in 2 years ? 5 years ? 

R : I would like to see my products on lots of e-commerce national & international portals, and stores around the world in the coming 2 years.
5 years down the line, have a small pop-up store for people to come and experience the brand.
The world is changing so fast, thanks to the digital economy, I think the 5 year plan may evolve after the 2 year plan is achieved!  

How has been your experience working in an atmosphere like Tvak ? do you enjoy meeting other creative people ? 

Tvak has a very organic work atmosphere, which is what I like about it. Its not like a corporate kiosk setting, neither a closed door policy. Its nice to interact with other people, who help in idea generation, critic and feedback and you can concentrate on your own work too. The studio hrs and days are very flexible and convenient. Being an artist herself, Deviba understands the creative vibe and discussions/idea generations flow over cups of chai.

So far I have met a few travelers, painters, and e-commerce business owners . Its interesting, as everyone has a unique perspective towards the same situation or idea. Meeting other creative people gives you an insight to unique minds, aims, aspirations and style of working. 

Being in a creative space, reinforces the energy and stimulates you to work towards better design, as compared to a corporate office. The painted staircase walls, the pastel colors in the bathroom, the artistic wooden furniture, the semi open patio/balcony, each element makes it unique. The location is main road, but its beautifully tucked away from the main stream buildings. You may miss it, if you don't look out for the board.

An Auction and An Art camp

Parakram 2014 

By Anurita Rathore 

Ahmedabad s first Art Auction 

Parakram exhibition at Lal Bungalow C.G Road and 

Auction at the BMW showroom S.G Highway. 

The Owl Painting :  Deviba Wala

acrylic on canvas by Deviba Wala. 

the money generated by the auction was used to provide art education to the Underprivileged children and teach them to earn a living. 

Deviba with Asha Mandapa, Shiv Mandapa , Sonal Ambani and Ms.  Amita 

at the auction - Parsoli motors 

________________________________________________________________________________

Magma Fincorp : 

An Art camp at Pride Hotel 

Deviba Wala of Tvak Studios at the Art Camp 

this was the second edition that I was glad to be a part of 

Horse Poetry : 

Deviba Wala 

I am Movement

and travel

and five houses and a restless soul

I would stay put if I had a home

if I had a horse 

to me a Horse is Home 

Tvak Studio s 2015-2016 art scholarships.

Tvak Studio :  2015 - 2016  art scholarships.  

Each summer the Studios offer scholarships. this year we had the pleasure of hosting 4 very talented Artists. 

Dharmistha Suthar : Born in 1977 in Mumbai, Dharmistha has passed her early years in Kadi, Singapore, Vidyanagar, Anand and Mumbai before settling in Ahmedabad. Keeping art as the dream field, she has done Diploma in Architecture and post diploma in Interior designing, She has worked with many mediums however she flourishes while working with water colours and tampara.In it's the magic of layers,connection, scale and details that makes up her art mesmerising.

Antisha Balar : Born in 1994 in Ahmedabad , she has done bacholers in business administration. keeping art as her primary focus,
She has worked with many mediums like woodcut, watercolours, acrylic, oil and tempera. And among all the art works, her attentiveness is Morley on vintage look paintings. She has been encouraged by the wealth of traditional house of her grandparents in her village she always wanted to make something conventional because these days the crowd is more into modern stuff but she believes traditional is ever green she always loves the beauty of the brew of bright colored old things which were casted with iron columns. Traditional art is cultural artwork. It has been defined within the parameters, drawings, sculptures and architecture. We refer to it as realistic and figurative.

Jyoti Harwani :Born in 1990 in Ahmedabad, Jyoti was clear since her school what she loved the most – “Painting”. After school it was her decision to enroll herself for Fine arts course, but destiny and her parents had other plans for her. She holds the degree of B.com and M.B.A. Soon she became a Marketing professional, but couldn’t survive the corporate world, thus left the job in 2014.

Jyoti now does what she loved the most She sits for hours and hours observing, thinking and painting. She loves the water color medium and still in the process of establishing her style. It’s the magic of millions of colors she observes around her that pushes Jyoti to capture the every possible color she sees. She describes her artworks as, “A piece of paper presenting a story of millions of colors coming together to form a story!

Purvi Sharma : Born in 1992, has a craft store in the name of, "Regalo"... She has a academic background in B.B.A and then she started painting. Then exploring different medium n establishing her style. Purvi is currently working in water color medium, she loves the black and white contrast. 

 for more information contact : 

Info.tvak@gmail.com


Thank you
Jeet Pandya for co-ordinating and Yash Vyas for recommending them