Behind the scenes

New Instagram name

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I had been fiddling with this for some time. I joined Instagram in the summer of 2015 to share our move from Tampa, Florida to Chester, New Jersey with my friends. My name was not available to choose and I didn’t want a bunch of random numbers after my name. So, I had picked Color.Happy.Creations after the name of my newsletter.

Slowly, my Instagram feed began to evolve after the move was complete and I had shared enough photos of our new home and the pretty town and orchards. I was sharing photos of my sketchbook every now and then until I made the decision that my Instagram will be mostly about my artwork with some of my life sprinkled in, be it my kids, our vacations, cool finds and such. So, I changed my name to mou.saha.studio.

I think it gives my feed the right focus.

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Family, Inspiration

A Day at The MET

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This Black Friday (for the unfamiliar, it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving and the biggest shopping day in the States), we decided to skip the mall and head out to NYC to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or The MET! We reached there a little after 11 am, bought our passes and immersed ourselves in art across time.

Whenever I visit a museum, I can’t help taking photos of the art. The photos don’t necessarily turn out great, given the lights, glass cases, reflections, equipment, skill, etc. they sure bring me joy. I look for common threads in art created in different times in history by different artists in different cultures using different mediums. I look deeper and notice details and find inspiration in them.

Below are a few pieces that caught my eyes during this visit that share a common thread: the color blue.

Meet William! This little hippopotamus was molded in faience, a ceramic material made of ground quartz by the Egyptian artist from the Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, ca. 1961–1878 B.C. The leaf designs represent the river marsh habitats of the hippos. William is very popular at The MET! You’ll find postcards, eraser, small reproduction statuettes, even soft toys!

This beautiful lady is Pauline de Broglie as captured by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the neo-classical French portraitist, his final commission and masterpiece! As the plaque at The MET reads, “Ingres captures the shy reserve of his subject while illuminating through seamless brushwork the material quality of her many fine attributes: her rich blue satin and lace ball gown, the gold embroidered shawl, and silk damask chair, together with finely tooled jewels of pearl, enamel, and gold.”

Wood, ivory, brass, paint, gilding came together in this North Spanish sculpture of Seated Virgin and Child from the late 15th century. Only a little over a foot tall, she still caught my eyes across a dimly lit room!

And this is Quappi in Blue in a Boat! She is part of the exhibition, Max Beckmann in New York running till February 20th, 2017. Beckmann captured his wife in Gouache and oil on paper mounted on cardboard. Isn’t she gorgeous?

I took this shot in the rain, while running to the car just to catch the time when we left. We didn’t even realize when the day ended and it was dark outside!

It was a day WELL-SPENT.

Oh, btw, did our shopping online between November 22nd and 29th 🙂

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Inspiration

CREATE II Event in Atlanta

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On the 9th of November, I flew to Atlanta to teach at the CREATE II event organized by the queen of elegant paper crafting, Anna Griffin! I have designed for Anna since early 2009 and have always found her collections of products to be beautifully different. Being asked to teach at her event was an honor. The teachers and event concierges met with Anna for dinner at Bricktop’s. Lots of laughs, gifts and good food later, we retired to our rooms so we could be fresh and ready to set up the craft room at the Ritz Carlton for some 200 guests the next day.

The day flew by. The event kicked off with fun make n takes in the afternoon. Then there was a formal dinner for all the guests, all of Anna’s team, and HSN hosts. Beautiful flowers adorned every table, every place setting had gorgeous stationary gifts and the dessert was delicious.

After dinner, the teachers and their assistants went on to check the class kits and set up for the next day.

Outside each classroom, gorgeous displays were put up. I couldn’t help but get a photo taken with the display created just for my class!

For the next two days, I got to meet and know and teach several groups of wonderful women. So many stories, so many laughs. There is such amazing power and peace in crafting together, to spend time with like-minded people.

Outside the craft room, Anna had galleries set up for inspiration. I was so excited to spot  several of my scrapbook layouts in the galleries!

And the food each day was just awesome! I loved these veggie chips… they reminded me of orchids.

And there were friends, new and old. I was meeting most of them for the first time in real life. Here’s Kate, Patti and Tracy, from left to right. I think I could write several posts about these wonderful women – kind, supportive and CREATIVE!

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