Ek Karkhana

“ek karkhana nariyal ke jhaad ke paas” (one workshop near a coconut tree) is the address of this workshop inhabited by three young designers and their team of karigars (artisans) inspired by Travel, Movies, Art, Indian crafts and textiles, people from various walks of life and their inspiring stories. Each honing on their individual design strengths, these friends cum colleagues work together towards a passion they all equally share.

As much as an old school like me is now coming to think of social media as more of a waste of valuable time than a boon really, it  manages to prove me wrong each time i come across some eye catching works of art like these. It's made getting in touch with like minded people and to explore endless possibilities of collaboration or otherwise so easy! Just as one of my fellow bloggers - Kavita  of Indian by Design puts it so aptly "Social networking has created opportunities for creative businesses to get in touch with their audience more intimately and immediately than ever before. It has also created a surfeit of businesses of varying quality. But many do shine through." 


Ek Karkhana is one such facebook discoveries i made a few days ago. Their work i feel is so stylistically simple and contemporary that your eyes cannot escape but without giving a second glance. The colorful medley and use of simple patterns is a reflection of the rich Indian culture that inspires their work strongly. Yet it's so appropriately intervened with a strong sense of modern design that unlike many Indian craft styles, it looks nothing close to chaotic, overdone or overwhelming. It's simple, light, fun and very creative! Fishes, Peacocks, Parrots, Lotuses, Beetle Leaves - are all commonly used motifs that primarily dominate Indian craft styles, but few have i come across that have been used so modestly and beautifully! 
Do browse through their products below or here and tell us - isn't their work quite a visual treat?

We're back!

As you all know, we have been ranting and raving about the California Gift Show all this while, and now that we are back and settling in by the day, it's time to do what we love! Blog! About it!

Well, to begin with - it was our first time and am happy to say we did GOOD!! :)

The experience has been indescribable! As first timers, there was a whole lot anxiety filled with a world full of unknowns and how to's regarding every single thing we used to put it altogether. The result though turned out to be pretty satisfactory. We got some really encouraging comments from buyers and passer by's to back up the feeling :)

We'd like to thank all the co-vendors and friends who have kindly guided and warmly supported us!

Chrishan G Rama and Nina from booth across of Sumi Tara Global Inc :)
Farinaz Wadia of Indikaimports
Yasin Savaijiwala of Saudagiri Printer
Shaila of Natural Haibtat
Renee Bowers of Fair Trade Federation
Anke Michele Stobrava of Cielito Lindo Estudio
Manish Gupta of Handmade Expressions
Elaine Balok of The Gift Connection
Eric Clark of Eangee Home Design

and many more... Thank you all!

Leaving you guys with some pictures of our booth... have many more stories to share, so do check in again soon!

Ah!

TGE's block printing demo

Our 'make n take' table

Stationery

With friends and Buyers

TGE and Craftmark

Room with a View

Beautiful Longpi Pottery

December Design Studio and Other Journals

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Dwaraka and Dastakar

Longpi Pottery Tea Pots

Beyond beauty : Karmasuthra Jewelry

If you love unusual jewelry that are one of a kind, then Karmasuthra creations are sure to satiate your appetite.Karma Suthra is an eclectic blend of fun, spirituality and vivacity strong together in jewelry.

From time immemorial, India has been well known for it's ancient and rich tradition of jewelry making. Beautifully crafted jewelry worn by everyone, from the Maharajas to the village folk. It is this intrinsic essence of beauty that is captured in the new, timeless, modern design of Karma Suthra jewelry.

Divya Thomas creates one of a kind pieces, using beads and baubles she's collected on her Jamey's to marinas parts of the world. Divya's keen eye for detail and ingenuity create exquisite jewelry. Each individual piece embraces positive vibes which brings peace and happiness to the wearer. 

Divya skilfully combines sterling and pewter with rare and exquisite finds of woods, based and semi precious stones merging the senses and family individual pieces or refined art.I will leave you with pictures...

I had to stop at that! if you want to see more pictures look Karmasuthra Jewelry on Facebook or www.karmasuthra.com and be floored!!!!!!!!!

Block printing:the journey

Its less than 15 days for the fair now!!Travel with us!!

From the roof of the mansion comes the rhythmic sound of clinking metal. Abshar Husain, fondly known as “Bhaijan” a wood block carver, sits on the stone floor with a small hammer and delicate chisel. With each tap, he carves part of the outline of a flower into a block of teak.

Wood carving is one step in the Indian tradition of hand-block printing, which for centuries has adorned royal robes, religious cloths and flowing skirts. Bhuj is a minefield of artisans and craftsmen. Bhaijan, 50, began learning the craft from his father when he was 8. His grandfather was also a wood block carver. It takes him 10 days to carve a large and intricate floral block.

Photo credit: Craftmark

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Bhaijan with his son Asif and nephew Aman-creating blocks

And then the process of making pigment paints for block printing process, along with the final version of printing on fabric. Pigment dyes are mixed with kerosene and a The consistency should be just right, for if it is too thick it will give a raised We are lead to this block printing space, with its apricot-colored walls and carved windows, this small workspace creates.

“Bhaijan” talks continuously while working from his rack of colors and blocks. On the upper most shelves are trays of dye, below which are the printing blocks. These blocks are then dipped in dye and imprinted onto the fabric from left to right. A point on the block serves as a guide for the repeat impression. This technique continues in layers if there are multiple colors to complete the design. He showed us a fabric that had 14 layers of block printed paints, a complicated printing and dyeing technique similar to the one used in Ajrakh, in the western Indian state of Gujarat. 

We learnt that in the village of Bhagru, patterns traditionally denoted marital status and caste. For example, gardeners wore cloth patterned with flowers, widows could not wear a dagger pattern and middle-aged women wore marigold patterns. Vaishali, our Craftmark manager tries her hand with Bhagru Black-paint derived by mixing acidic solution of iron - often rusted nails/horse shoes etc. with jaggery (country sugar) allowed to rot for about 10-15 days.The first try gets the approval from Bhaijan to continue!!!!

Upstairs the clinking continued…His sons are learning this tradition…. 

We would like to thank the Craftmark team for all the travels and effort they are making to bring us these wonderful products. If anyone is interested in traveling to see and meet"Bhaijan" at work let us know!