Wooden box painting

The theme was Day of the Dead. In my culture also we honor our ancestors. We were to get any box and paint all sides of the box except the inside and the bottom. I got the box from Michaels. Then we primed it. I decided to do the box in memory of my dad.

This is the front and top of the box. The skull is made of all the plants that my father grew in the farm. On the top there are rudraksha beads that he used to wear. The white lines represent the thread that he used to spin.

This side represented his love for travel. He used to travel a lot and appreciated the nature and its beauty. The yellow flowers are daffodils. He used to like the poem "Daffodils".

This side shows his love for his country, so the flag is there. He always welcomed guests and the flowers and mango leaves show that. There is generally a garland of mango leaves on the front doors. The yellow flowers on the side are cotton flowers and other flowers are Sonchafa.

His favorite cows are on this side.

The top part showing part of the skull.

Bike to School

Myself and my brother Atul used to bike to school together. This is the time when we were at Indore, India. We had a dog named Jenny. Every morning when we would start to go to school, she would break her chain and run after us. So we would have to come back home again and ask our mom to hold her so she wouldn't run after us.
This sculpture was very difficult and challenging. I had to make 2 bikes, 2 figures and try to balance them as well. The bike kept falling apart while I was making it in wax. The base plate is aluminum and the bikes and the dog are bolted to the base.

Series in memory of my Dad

For the final assignment, it was a free choice. I decided to do a series of paintings that involved memories of my dad.

He used to take walks in the fields. His dog would follow him everywhere. Whenever I was with him, I would join him too. The big tree is the mango tree where he had taken me and my daughters.

He loved cutting vegetables. Here he is cutting raw mangoes to make pickles. On the walls are his favorite rose flowers.

Another favorite past time was playing cards. He especially liked solitaire or patience. With my mom he would play rummy. There is a big swing in the front room and he used to sit there to play cards.

My dad was a follower of Gandhiji. He only wore Khadi or handspun cloth. He used to spin his own thread from cotton. In the painting, he is spinning thread on the charkha.

My dad loved his cows, calves, and bulls. He always insisted his workers to feed them green grass or leaves. During his walks, he always collected grass to feed them.