A Blog Award!

I write in this space mostly for myself (ok, secretly I hope there are a few of you out there reading my ramblings) but I write because it gives me structure and forces me to take a moment in the week and put pen to my thoughts and imaginary friends. So I was touched and surprised when fellow 12 X 12 in 2012  participant Margaret Grenias  at http://pentoprint.blogspot.com  presented me with the Liebster Blog Award. I am very touched that you picked my blog. Thank you Margaret!

“Liebster is a German word, meaning dearest or beloved, but it can also mean favorite. The idea behind the Liebster Blog Award is that it is given to bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers in order to create new connections and bring attention to their  blogs.”

I am required to thank the giver, add the award to my blog, list five things about myself, and select five bloggers to whom I wish to bestow a Liebster Blog Award.

So here’s 5 random new things about myself -

1. I have extremely high standards for coffee and pomegranates but couldn’t care less about the clothes I wear.

2. I am a working mom with two kids, and besides having a website, am on facebook, twitter, wordpress and pinterest. I really don’t know how people like me actually get any work done.

3. I learnt how to swim when I was 28, but still suck at it.

4. I am in awe of and slightly intimidated by Doctors. There I said it!

5. My all-time comfort food is yogurt and rice, with a little pickle.

Ok – so here  are my awardees! All of the below bloggers are either illustrators or designers and I absolutely loved their work, sensibility and style.  I hope you will check them out..

1. Carter Higgins http://designofthepicturebook.com/

2. Kathryn Ault Noble www.kathrynaultnoble.wordpress.com/

3. Priya Kuriyan http://priyakuriyan.blogspot.com/

4. Suzanne Del Rizzo http://suzannedelrizzo.blogspot.com

5. Sylvia Liu http://www.sylvialiuland.com

Tulip

I’m not very good with illustrating animals, bugs, thingamajigs, monsters and dragons. I stick to my own kind – people, preferably little ones. But in an attempt to expand my portfolio, I am trying to ‘make nice’ with some furry creatures. Here’s Tulip – my shaggy little furry friend from some time ago.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

A while ago, I did some spec artwork for a character I was developing for an independent animation studio. I experimented with a style that’s not typically mine. It was liberating and challenging to show personality and emotion by using just cut paper and glue. No pencil, no paint, no brush, just various scraps of paper. It’s not a style that comes naturally to me, but it was fun to do.

My Pink Princess

So this week I had to plan my daughter’s third birthday party, and lo and behold – she’s obsessed with pink (shudder). I always secretly hoped that she would skip this phase, but now that she’s in the thick of it, I figure my best approach would be to embrace it, overdo it and get it out of her system by over-exposure! (only slightly kidding!). Anyhow, I doodled this thinking about her wearing her pink party dress and her sparkly crown. Also – kudos to Jane Yolen for writing this fantastic children’s book –  ’Not all princesses dress in pink‘ ( See more here http://janeyolen.com/works/not-all-princesses-dress-in-pink/).

This if for my pink princess!

My little pink princess

We Make Believe.

Picked up my Business Certificate today. Doodled a new logo for my company. What do you think?

6 month itch

The first half of this year has gone by in having one more baby who is now 5 months old, housing parents for a few months in between and managing a toddler who is now 2.5. So my hands are busy, my legs are tired , my back aches and my sleep deprivation is finally catching up. As of about a week ago, I have finally started to carve out some ‘me time’. If there’s anyone out there reading this and is a mom – you know who you are, then you also know how special and precious ‘me’ time is – whether its that morning cup of coffee or the few minutes of quiet during nap times, or that last one hour of the evening. My ‘me’ times have been so far and few inbetween and have just slipped me by.

So, 6 months have gone by, since my ‘ New Year Resolution’. But resolutions are made to break right. So my new mantra is no more resolutions. Just do. And I did.

I finally went (toddler in tow)  to see the Alexander McQueen show at the MET, and while I am not a big fashion person, the show was far from being a show about a fashion designer. It was spectacular – art in fashion, art in inspiration, art in presentation and a feast for all senses. It has inspired me to stop resolving- but just doing. So here I go again – 6 months later. Do more things. Make more art. Live more in Life.

Hello World!

So I finally have a website up – a real live one that actually exists in cyberspace. After months (possibly years) of procrastination, my make believe world has made it out to the real world. Do check it out and I would love to hear from you!

http://www.wemakebelieve.com

Along with this born-again website, I have some other new year promises to keep.

1. Do a sketch a day. (Hopefully some of these are good enough to share with you on this blog).

2. Get all those picture book ideas that are currently swimming in my head out into the world.

3. Shamelessly promote my illustration work.

Happy 2011!

Carrot Halwa Art on ‘They Draw and they Cook’

Ok, so am not the biggest fan of most Indian sweets, but I love Carrot Halwa (and Gulab Jamuns and Kesari and Thartipal and Badam Halwa and Payasam), but that’s really it! I also love the blog ‘ They draw and they cook’ so am thrilled that they featured my work there. I hope to keep drawing fun food stuff !

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/2010/12/carrot-halwa-by-kavita-ramchandran.html

 

Maya’s back on Nick Jr.

Ok, so I promise this will be my last post about Maya, but I had to share this with you. My almost two year old toddler discovered Maya, and has taken quite a fancy to Happy Holi Maya! I get so excited to see her completely mesmerized watching it, hitting play again when its done and repeating ‘Happy Holi Maya! I’ll admit, it gives me a big kick, but also makes me re-believe in the work I do, in pursuing the passion I love – storytelling and illustrating for kids! Also, I’ve been getting shout outs from many mommy friends who have seen both Maya episodes doing multiple re-runs on Nick Jr. in between shows so if you happen to catch it let me know! Meanwhile, it’s back on nickjr.com, under kids-videos/storytime.

 

 

It’s all Maya!

Post the success of Maya the Indian princess, Nick Jr. commissioned me to do another animated spot – and I created Happy Holi Maya! in 2005. Happy Holi Maya aired on Nick Jr. in May 2005. Besides being on TV and online, it screened at a number of film festivals worldwide, including the  Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and BAMKids, NYC.

The idea took shape after I went through my third cold white winter in NYC, and longed for spring colors and summer warmth. (In India, we welcome Spring by celebrating the festival of Holi, where kids and adults alike, frolic and throw colored water on each other).

Holi Colors at the Market

Kids playing Holi. (Pic courtesy K.R.Deepak)