Diyas, Art and first contest!

If you've seen my earlier post, a lot of people asked me if the coconut shell burns when you light the diya. I had not given it a thought before making the diya as I thought I would cut the wick really short later to avoid it touching the rim of the shell. I am a risk taker in such matters anyway, which is risky for people living with me :P But my dad had confidently said it won't burn. My uncle confirmed it for me by saying it has something to do with the density of the coconut shell. I took pictures of it when it was lit. I lit the diyas for a good 4-5 hours each and I can assure you now that it won't burn the shell a bit.

I cut the wicks short later so that they don't touch the rim.

You can safely make use of the empty shells at your place :)

In other news, recently, someone asked me what art meant to me. I was surprised that I had never given it a thought before. It is something very abstract and personal. But after pondering over the question some more, I came to a conclusion that art, for me, is seeing a soul in a form. When you create, you are giving a form to your soul or heart or your inner self. When you create, you are one with the universe, you are in the moment or in the flow, and that is when your soul shows itself completely- in your eyes, on your face, in each one of your movements and in your art work/creation! :)

Also, each soul is unique.

It is also often said that the secret ingredient to most things is love. If you do something whole-heartedly, the end result is beautiful even if it is imperfect. Art is as abstract as your soul. It is never right/wrong or logical. It just *is*.

I know that each one will have a different answer to what art means to them. The answers also change over time, so I just thought of holding a small contest. I know it's too soon to host a contest on my blog but couldn't find a more appropriate time and reason to do so. 

I am not very good at cooking or making Diwali sweets, but I did try making a few rum,raisin & almond chocolates. My friends tasted some and they have safely made it through their lives :P Jokes apart, I am quite pleased with the way they have turned out so I thought I'd give away a box of 15 of these chocolates to the one with the best answer to the question "What does art mean to you?"! :) Of course, you cannot judge each one's interpretation of art but you can always judge the way of putting it across.

 So.. the rules are... there are no rules!! :D All you have to do is answer the question: "What does art mean to you?". You can post a comment here with your answer and email address. If your answer is lengthy and you'd like to express it in the form of a blog post instead of as a comment, you can do so. Just share the link to your post & provide your email address as a comment to this post. If you want to express it with an image or with your art work, that's okay too. Just provide the URL of your image/work along with your email address as a comment.

Entries will be accepted till the 15th of November and I will announce the winner on my blog besides contacting him/her separately. So do take part!!

I am so excited :D

Coconut Diyas!

Being a manglorean, no food item cooked in our household is complete without coconuts. I don't particularly like them in every food item (I am bored of them), but I don't always have a say (else I'd have to start cooking :D). Anyway, with Diwali just round the corner, the sight of a heap of coconuts in my kitchen inspired me to do this:

A couple of small coconut shells, wax, some acrylic paint, bindis or other embellishments as decoration, and a stand made out of a roll of shiny lace was all it took.

Stand

You can make a diya out of bigger ones too:

Happy Diwali :)