Hand Painted Diyas

The word Diwali derives from the word ' Deepavali'. Diyas are inseparable parts of Diwali. Illuminitating Diyas outside houses is the most common scene in this day. Though in these days electric lights are replacing earthen Diyas ,still the charm of traditional Diwali Hindu Lamps is there.

A Diya is a small earthen lamp that is lit especially at Diwali. They are usually made of clay. Ghee or oil is used as the fuel and cotton wool as the wick. Sometimes they are made by part filling a glass with colored water, Ghee is floated on top, and again cotton wool used as a wick. Children could make there own Diya with air-dried clay or play dough. For safety reason these diyas should not be lit with Ghee and cotton wool.

There are different kinds of Diwali Diyas available in the market. They can be in different shapes even in the shape of Parvati. One can buy the simple earthen ones and decorate it in house. It can be painted in different shades of single colour. Special Diwali motifs can be painted on the diyas too. The earthen diya used on the occasion of Diwali, reflects ancient design sense that is simple and stunning in concept and universal in appeal. Diyas can be ornamented with mirror-work or Jaris. They can be embellished with fragrant dried flowers. Diya Decoration is a common practice in Hindu families during Diwali.

My Sketches

Pencil sketching is a fun and relaxing hobby, as well as an important part of artistic development.

Calligraphy means"beautiful writing." Calligraphy is the art of writing script in such a way as to express the beauty of what is being written in the formation of the letters themselves. Calligraphy can be both a delight to the eye and an inspiration to the spirit. Calligraphy is an art form in which patience and attention to detail are more important than artistic talent. In our technological age, the appreciation for the art of calligraphy has grown incredibly. Calligraphy is a fun hobby, a great business, and a creative art. Calligraphy is a whole lot of fun and can be enjoyed by young and old alike.

Calligraphy claims ancient roots in the first recorded forms of expression: the cave paintings of our ancestors some 25,000-30,000 years ago. Eventually this form of pictorial communication became stylized around 3500 B.C. with the development of Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Phoenicians followed circa 1000 B.C. with one of the earliest alphabets -- an entirely different writing system in that each symbol represented a sound rather than an idea or picture. The Phoenician alphabet was adopted and modified by many peoples, including the Greeks. The Romans picked up the Greek alphabet and adapted it to suit Latin.

Before the invention of the printing press some 500 years ago, it was the way books were made, each copy being written out by hand by a scribe in a scriptorium on materials like vellum or parchment with a quill in one of the period bookhands like rustic, carolingian, blackletter, etc.