An Awesome Art Work

It was the first Tuesday of the month and the De Young Museum in San Francisco is free to general public that day of each month. Nina, my daughter asked if I'd like to go see the glass art exhibition by D.Chihuly there.

I always love free stuff and going to the city from our suburban Walnut Creek is a treat to me. So I jumped at her invitation.

I had no idea that Chihuly's art work is so awesome. I knew it would be great but not to this extent. It surpassed all my imagination and expectations. Now I don't have any appropriate word in my vocabulary that can justify the depth, beauty and the greatness of the artist and his art.

The very first image that I'll remember is a bowl of fruits. Here the bowl is even bigger than my dining table that can sit six people. The size of the apple was may be 2 feet in diameter. And it is not just the size but the softness and suppleness he created in those glass fruits, that is just amazing.

We went to several rooms full of extremely gorgeous art work. Sometimes they are like in a valley of gigantic icicles, at another point an illusion of sea creatures under the ocean - radiating electric lights or something like that.

I am aware how difficult the process of creating glass art could be.I had seen a few demonstrations in Murano when I visited Italy few years ago. So, what Chihuly had done with only eye (unfortunately he lost one ) is really incredible.

Somewhere I read that art transcends. It can have the spiritual power that scaffolds you to a higher plane. It does not happen very often but quality art does have that power.

And I felt that after I came back home. The images resonated inside me and I had to open my box of beads.I found a few glass beads from Murano.

Perhaps I'll make something beautiful tomorrow.

P.S. Check my etsy store at alankarshilpa.etsy.com. There are some new ones uploaded.

Marketing and Networking for your Home Based Business

I thought I could be spared.

I'd be able to hop and fly like the grasshopper or the butterfly or any other bug in my garden and would not be caught in the web.

I was mistaken. I just wanted to make jewelry and be happy with that. But I soon learned that in order to sustain that, I need to sell them.

My friends were generous and supportive. They volunteered to be buyers and I could make just enough to cover my credit card bills for the materials. My idea of working at home started to sprout.

One well wisher, seeing my glee, drew me aside and whispered in my ear - "This clientele of yours is soon going to dry up. You need to have a web site."

Web site? How do people do that? My exposure to the web at this point is limited to e mailing friends and yes, I knew how to enter a search word in Google. But web sites, blogs, my space those are for kids, not folks like me who have just started getting AARP magazines in the mail!

Soon I learned about Etsy and now I have a web site there: alankarshilpa.etsy.com. But as Tammy Powley says, you have to spend as much time in marketing as you give in making jewelry, (if not more).
TammyPowley-About.com

I learned more and more about working from home - new buzz words as social marketing, social networking etc. Well, I have come a long way.

Rena Klingenberg in her wonderful website
home-jewelry business-success-tips.com. took me by the hand to show what its all about and I am so thankful to her.

Social marketing, what I came to know , seeks to influence social behavior, to benefit the target audience and the general society.

I like that. It's not about only money and profit and more money and greed. It's about people, feelings, consciousness. It's about finding out what people need and helping them to find that if you can.

Like, what my dad used to say- create something beautiful, write your best for the sake of art, for the sake of people. My dad, Mr. Narayan Sanyal was a prolific writer in India and had written 139 books in Bengali. His subject matters were diverse. He focused on writing and never worried about money or profit from his work. Well, he was also a civil engineer by profession. With several awards in his life time, money followed him any way. Even after he was gone, his royalties are still alive and robust.
I wish I could give something like that to my readers.

I remember that back in India people dropped by unannounced for a cup of tea. Women with their on going art project used to flock at each other's
backyard. Basking in the afternoon sun they showed off their needlework or knitting project, talked about their worries, savored gossips and laughed at silly corny jokes. Art was a way of life.

Days have changed but aren't we doing just that when we visit each other's blog site? hey, the web is not such a scary horrible place then, hm?

We can't offer a cup of tea but we can offer a link.It really feels nice when I find someone came to visit my blog and left a note.
So if you do happen to come to my door please drop me a comment so that I know your presence and get a chance to know you. With all the best - Dita.
P.S.
In the family picture you can see my dad and ma- both have passed away recently, my daughter Nina, and there is me too. We were in Yosemite.

And, by the way, yesterday I finished a necklace with wire work. It was a lot of work but I was happy. The other picture is of that recently finished necklace. It's going to be in my etsy store at alankarshilpa.etsy.com