paintings

Seen in profile to the right, two people come to experience the same range of emotions in this acrylic on canvas by Sunil Jaiswal. "I tried to capture a variety of moods with different colors," confides the Indian artist.

Bharti Dayal celebrates nature's perfect harmony in the ancient style of Madhubani painting. Dayal mixes vegetable dyes with acrylics to paint a luscious tree of life on handmade paper. Butterflies appear within the trunk, while fish swim among the tree's roots. Peacocks nest under the leafy branches while two more pose on the top corners of this colorful painting. Traditionally painted by women from Mithila on the walls and floor of their homes, Madhubani paintings usually depict ancient mythological themes.

Bharti Dayal signs her name on the back.

Baglamukhi is one of the ten wisdom goddesses of Hinduism. "She is worshipped for subduing enemies and cruel acts or abhicharas. One should perform her mantra with this yantra and a turmeric jaap rosary during the day when requesting attraction and appeasement, and if it is for subduing enemies, it should be performed by night," says Dr. Sneh Gangal as she paints this yantra with natural stone colors on ivory paper. The painting is mounted on lined card paper.

Dr. Gangal is inspired by the yantras in Mantra Mahodathi by Dr. Sudhakar Malvaya. A yantra, according to Indian metaphysics, is a geometric representation of energy. According to Hindu Tantras, a mantra is regarded as the ray of consciousness that a yantra represents figuratively. Indian truth-seekers believe that everything in this world represents the abstract energies of a deity, hence every visual phenomenon is a form of yantra. Each yantra has a distinctive pattern that cannot be changed, but which Dr. Gangal embellishes in her own creative way.

A master of the art of Madhubani painting, Vidushini applies her talent to this lovely journal. A colorful lovebird is drawn and painted freehand to grace the cover, and the spiral notebook features 40 pages of handmade paper.

Originating in Mithila, Madhubani paintings strive to show a perfect harmony in the natural world.

A master of the art of Madhubani painting, Vidushini applies her talent to this lovely journal. A colorful songbird is drawn and painted freehand to grace the cover, and the spiral notebook features 40 pages of handmade paper.

Originating in Mithila, Madhubani paintings strive to show a perfect harmony in the natural world.

A variety of birds with colorful feathers call the attention of Riyas, inspiring him to paint them on this set of coasters. Underscored by bright yellow, the coasters and holder are crafted by hand with classic papier mache techniques.

Dangling gracefully and cheerfully from sterling silver hooks, these ceramic earrings delight with their celebrated colors and brilliant design. Coming from artisan Ritu Thapar of India, the earrings feature circular panels and rows of globes hand-crafted from terracotta ceramic. The artist completes the look of each earring by hand-painting bright marigold, green, and pink as mesmerizing circular motifs.