Showing posts with label Kalamkari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kalamkari. Show all posts

Friday, April 22, 2011

Kalamkari-The Art of Painting fabric with a Pen-5


Kalamkari Borders and Patches

Well Just the other day I made a brief visit to pick up some craft and fabric supplies. I found out that the Kalamkari, borders and patches are still in fashion. Wow! I still have some left over ones, which I wanted to attach to my saris.I think since they are still in fashion I can go ahead. Any way hand crafted items or hand looms are never out of fashion.

Here are some from my collections:

            Ambari Elephant

Ambari means carrying someone-usually a king. I have this border with me. I need to search my stash to see how much is left over.
I love these butterflies. A peculiar shade of green with yellow. 
I also have some of these elephants. I think these should go along with the butterflies above. I have some plain cotton saris on which I can appliqué these.

When ever I buy my craft and fabric supplies or I go with my friends, i end up buying some things if they catch my fancy. But I don't have have any particular sari or dress in mind for these. Later on I think of using them. Some times some pieces or extra ones are left over.

I need to sort out my stash. But I feel list less and don't feel like doing any thing at all for now.

Keep any eye on my blog...more to come...



Thursday, April 21, 2011

Kalamkari-The Art of Painting fabric with a Pen-4

Well, Kalamkari art is used on saris, dupattas, scarves, stoles. Both block printing variety and hand painted are used. Chudidar or Shalwar Kameez sets are also being sold. Ready made shirts for men are also available. Apart form these, bedlinen, hand kerchiefs, fabric lengths are also available. patches and borders are also available in various sizes and still are popular.

The fabric is used as cover for books, dairies, folders, bags, and many others. I will post my collection but before that, here is something unique. 


Jewellery made out of Kalmkari paper from Deepa Sekar. They are so pretty. 



Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Kalamkari-The Art of Painting fabric with a Pen-3

So far I have posted a brief sketch on Kalamkari, what it means, its origin and history and the process in brief. As they say a picture is worth thousand words and if it a video it is even more better. I am posting some videos here from YouTube.

The process of Kalamkari is very tedious time consuming and as I have posted earlier, it involves many stages. Just have a look here.


You can see how tedious and difficult this process is. In fact all hand looms involve a very careful and dedicated work. That is why I love and try my best to encourage them. The artisans work so hard and create master pieces, yet their lives are spent in misery, as they don't get paid enough.

Here Have a look at the design being constructed by a Master Craftsman. He is so skilled and deft. 

Here is a link to a brief info on the art

Hope you like them...Watch out for more

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Kalamkari-The Art of Painting fabric with a Pen-2

I have been wanting to post on this since long. But  I was busy and I also had to go through so much data I collected to sort out material for this post


My previous post on this topic is here:

Hope this was informative. I want to share some more facts on Kalamkari with you. Some of them may be repetitive. So here we go...

Kalamkari uses natural vegetable dyes.These are extracted from fruits, vegetables or minerals. Barks, roots, flowers fruits etc are used for extracting the colours. The fabric used is mostly cotton or sometimes silk which are both made from natural fibers. Kalamkari fabrics become more softer and more beautiful with usage.

The process of Kalamkari is very complicated and tedious. It involves a number of steps and at each step the fabric needs to be washed. I am giving the process in brief here. There may be some variations in the process actually practised from place to place and artist to artist.

Stages
  • Cotton cloth or mill cloth of fine quality - unbleached one is used. This is called as "Gada". This with stands a number of washes required during the process. Silk is also used.
  • Cloth is then whitened by immersing in a solution of goat or cow dung and letting it dry in the sun for a few days.
  •  Cloth is then treated in Myrobalan solution. Ripe fruits are used in Machilipatnam, and raw ones in Srikalahasti. This gives a light yellow colour to the cloth and acts as a mordant for fixing the black colour known as "Kasimi". Mordant is a substance that fixes the natural dye on the material. 
  • Then  Milk is added to the solution. This prevents the colour from spreading in the next steps
  • Kalam is prepared from bamboo sticks sharpened at one end (thin or thick) and tied with rags or coarse wool (like the shape of a balloon) a few inches above the tip, for holding the ink. Artists press this rag balloon the release the ink.
  • Desired design is drawn on the cloth with charcoal prepared by burning dried twigs of tamarind tree
  • Black Colour known as Kasimi  is a dye which is iron acetate solution made from fermenting iron pieces and jaggery solution. This Kaismi is the first dye to be used on the cloth. It is used for filling either  solid spaces or as outlines, or for writing texts or narrations, with a brush – pen in Srikalahasti, and wooden blocks in Machilipatnam. 
  •   All the areas meant to be red are painted or printed over with the alum solution as a mordant. 
  •  After applying alum, the cloth is left for at least 24 hours. Then the excess mordant is removed by washing the cloth in flowing water-usually river water.
  •  The dyeing of the red colour is obtained by boiling with the red colouring materials obtained from Madder roots (Manjistha) etc.
  • For blue, earlier Indigo was used. Now Ultramarine blue is being used
  • For green colour, blue is painted on yellow.
  • After applying all colours, the cloth is finally washed and dried.
These days some of the colours used are commercial ones like for red colour and blue.

Both Srikalasthi and Machilipatnam follow almost identical procedures. Srikalahasthi uses the pen and hence scenes from Ramayana and Mahabhartha, Gods and Goddesses and other mythical figures are painted with all the details.This process is very tedious and time consuming as each piece has to be hand drawn. Where as the Machilipatnam school of art uses block prints and hence  mass production is possible.

Here is another site which has given Kalamkari process:
http://www.urvi.co.in/products_kalamkari_process.html


Here are their products:
http://www.urvi.co.in/products_kalamkari.html

Keep an eye on my blog..I am going to post more on Kalamkari.....


Thursday, August 5, 2010

Blouses-Kalamkari N Jaipur Print

Friends here is one more blouse. This is a combination of patch work of Jaipur print and Kalamkari, with some sequins work . These blouses are still in fashion and are a huge hit. Being multi coloured they can be worn with many contrasting or similar coloured saris. These can be worn with plain or printed saris too. Though the blouses are stitched, they have to be fitted to individual requirements.

Here it is

This is the front side. Front open. See the combination of patches and the sequin work is not too much just highlighting the design.
This the back side.
See the patch at the back
This is the sleeve.
A closure look at the sleeve and look at the Kalamkari print.

I have some more but don't have the time to photograph them. I will post more next time.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Kalamkari-The Art of Painting fabric with a Pen-1


India is a treasure house of various Arts and Crafts since ancient times. These have been handed down from generation to generation, each time not only preserving the past traditions, but also creating and adding new techniques or forms due to the influence of people, culture and arts from other countries who came to India from time to time as well as changing tastes according to the times. This has refined the art or craft forms in the process, such that today we have such exquisite and priceless creative techniques.

I myself am discovering so many different Arts N Crafts every time I visit a place or meet people from different regions. In this post I am going to share with you one of such traditional art form-“KALAMKARI. I did not know much about this art until my aunt married into one of the oldest and well known families from Machilipatnam. My uncle is connoisseur of arts and crafts and through him I learned more about this craft. Still my knowledge is very little.

Origin and History:

Kalamkari was originally known as VrathaPani. Vratha in Telugu means writing or drawing and Pani means hand-so it means hand drawn. Later on it became popular as Kalamkari. In Urdu, Qalam- Kalam means pen and Kaari is art or work. So Kalamkari means art drawn with pen.

In ancient India, the story tellers played a very important role in spreading the culture and keeping alive the Indian Epics of Ramayana and MahaBharatha. This was one of the forms of entertainment the people had in those days. The story tellers, consisting of singers, musicians and other artists like painters, roamed from village to village, reciting stories, from Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Puranas and other folklore legends. Later on, in order to attract the attention of audiences, the painters in the troop used to paint pictures on cloth, paper, leaves and other such media using naturally and locally available vegetable dyes. This was done on the spot most of the times. So basically picture of Gods, Goddesses and other Mythological, folklore characters, etc were painted.

More over banners and scrolls painted were also used for adorning temple walls or chariots (temple cars used for religious processions) during festivals and other religious functions. Kings, land lords and rich would get these paintings done and gift them to temples or for adorning the walls of their dwellings. In fact most of the Indian folk painting forms originated and survived because of this.

Kalamkari a very ancient form of painting might have been developed as such. Later on it enjoyed the patronage of Mughals and Golconda Rulers. The painted articles were good sources for earning income through trade and export.During 16th and 17th centuries, this art form was quite popular. Later on it declined but was said to be revived to some extent by the British. However the modern day Kalamkari owes its existence to Smt. Kamaladevi Chatopadhyaya, the first Chairperson of All India Handicrafts Board.

Styles And The Materials Used:

These are the distinct styles of Kalamkari:
  1. Srikalahasthi Style-Painted with hand with the help of a pen like instrument
  2. Machilipatnam Style-block printed
  3. Karrupur from Thanjavur in TamilNadu is done on hand woven gold brocade fabric
Cotton fabric was and still is being used for this purpose as it is most suitable and cheap. Silk fabrics were/are also used but are quite costly. In the present day scenario, other synthetic materials are also being used. Still cottons and silks are more suitable and look beautiful, being natural fibres.

In the material produced by Srikalahasthi artists, a pen made of bamboo or palm wood, sharpened at one end is used for drawing the motifs. In Machilipatnam, wooden blocks carved with the designs are used for printing. The outlines and main or important features are first printed using these blocks. Later on the finer details are filled in using the pen. This allows for mass production. However, the finer details are not much clear. So the products from Kalahasthi do stand out as unique and beautiful.

The colours used are natural dyes extracted from vegetables or plants-leaves, roots, flowers, minerals etc. Cow dung, milk and other natural products are also used in the process.

Artisans and Patronage:

The designs and motifs used in this art have been quite distinctly been influenced by the patronage of different rulers like any other art form. There may be many similarities between the styles but there are also some features unique to each style which sets them apart.

In Machilipatnam, weavers were involved in this art form. They were patronized by the Golconda Sultanate and the Mughals. This form consists of motifs, designs reflecting the influence of Persia. These designs are intricate and remind us of those on the walls or Tajmahal or other such Mugal constructions and Art.

In Kalahasthi, the Balojas, who were bangle makers, took up this art. They were patronized by the Hindu rulers. Hence they catered to the needs of the temples and other religious ceremonies. Their art was centered on the themes from Hindu Mythology and Epics. Gods and Goddesses, scenes from Ramamyanam,  Mahabharatham, Bhagawatham, figures of deities, elephants, divine birds and animals etc were painted surrounded by intricate borders.

In Karrupur, Kalamkari was used to embellish the gold brocade edges woven fabrics. These were under the patronage of Raja Sarfoji and Shivaji. The Royal family members used to wear these fabrics as dhotis and saris.

Under the British Raj, the use of Kalamkari fabric was entirely different. They were used for furnishings-bed linen, curtains and also for making garments. So floral designs preferred by the English were brought into use. They even painted portraits of English men in Kalamkari. These fabrics also constituted one of the varieties of the Chintz which was much in vogue during that period.

It became almost extinct at one time. After India gained Independence, our Handicrafts Development Board took up the task of reviving this art. Today our crafts men have not only retained and revived the traditional motifs and designs but are also evolving new ones to cater to the needs of the modern age. Quite recently we have seen a surge of huge demand for this work being used as patches or appliquéd on saris, and other dress materials.

In every textile and craft exhibition you see there are some stalls selling Kalamkari products. Here you can see a wall hanging of Arjuna and Lord Krishna on their way to the famous Mahabharatha war and some patches of peacocks.

For those who want to know more..Here is the link:


I have been collecting quite a few pieces. So brace yourselves, I am going to post more on Kalamkari...Keep a watch on my blog friends....

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Kalamkari

Friends, recently I have bought some Kalamkari patches and lace. I m excited about them. I am going to share with you. The most exciting thing was at last I could buy a Kalamkari sari. Its so beautiful. I could not take photos of it yet. But am going to share my patches and all the Kalam kari laces with you......Today I am too tired..so bye for now..I have some Rangoli designs also but too tired...so tomorrow I will post them...Keep watching my blog....