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Jodhaa
23 August 2012, 09:41 AM
ShivaFan has inspired me to share my own art inspired by the Divine. While I have shared my paintings in another thread, I thought the 3D work should have its own place.

This thread is open to all those in the sculptural or mixed media arts that create work inspired by Hinduism or the Art of India in general. Please share your work! My only request is that you keep the images to a reasonable size. I don't know what that would be exactly, you can all use your instincts I think. ( I made some of mine attachments because they were too big)

Below are some examples of my doll work. The bodies are soft - fabric with fiberfill, adn the heads and hands are made from clay. The crowns are constructed from clay and embellished with seed beads and re-purposed earings. Lord Ganesha is about 8 inches tall. Lord Hanuman is about 5 inches tall.




http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y0w5WKnK67M/T7PZknGiNjI/AAAAAAAAAvA/ky44_khtvEU/s640/Ganesha5.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y0w5WKnK67M/T7PZknGiNjI/AAAAAAAAAvA/ky44_khtvEU/s1600/Ganesha5.jpg)




http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eEyKiJfGWxM/T7ERMgEc5BI/AAAAAAAAAuk/yS0vFD1_X6Q/s640/Hanuman4.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eEyKiJfGWxM/T7ERMgEc5BI/AAAAAAAAAuk/yS0vFD1_X6Q/s1600/Hanuman4.jpg)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-toD2GeXyaKQ/T7EROJsy8nI/AAAAAAAAAus/kdASpQTEYDw/s640/Hanuman3.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-toD2GeXyaKQ/T7EROJsy8nI/AAAAAAAAAus/kdASpQTEYDw/s1600/Hanuman3.jpg)


Peace!

Viraja
23 August 2012, 10:02 AM
Your Hanuman looks wonderful! I love the amount of work in the details you added such as the crown and the mace.

Your Ganesha looks wonderful too - to me, he appears a little 'strict' :) and kinda skinny - can't tell, so Hanuman is #1 but nevertheless, Ganesha looks wonderful too as I already said.

Great skills god has blessed you with!

Jodhaa
23 August 2012, 10:14 AM
Your Hanuman looks wonderful! I love the amount of work in the details you added such as the crown and the mace.

Your Ganesha looks wonderful too - to me, he appears a little 'strict' :) and kinda skinny - can't tell, so Hanuman is #1 but nevertheless, Ganesha looks wonderful too as I already said.

Great skills god has blessed you with!


Thank you for your compliments and the critique! I know from the first photo Ganesh does seem thin, doesn't he? Perhaps I will need to make him more Laddus?;) Did you see the attached photo? (I couldn't figure out how to resize them all correctly, so there is another image of Ganesh at the bottom)

I am hoping to tackle the challenge of Lord Krishna next.

God has blessed me, indeed. I try never to forget it.

Peace!

Equinox
23 August 2012, 08:44 PM
Vannakkam Jodhaa

I must say that your work is simply amazing. Lord Ganesha looks vibrant and happy, while Lord Hanuman looks serene and warrior-like. Besides, I love the intricate details and accessories on Them. You're very talented!

You've probably made almost all the main Gods already. Perhaps next you can try making Goddess Saraswati with her veena. Just a suggestion. :D

Looking forward to seeing more of your work.


Aum Namah Shivaya

Obelisk
23 August 2012, 11:38 PM
Amazing work, Jodhaa. :) I really loved Lord Hanuman's doll in particular. Wonderful crafting and detail.

Jodhaa
24 August 2012, 07:18 AM
Vannakkam Jodhaa

You've probably made almost all the main Gods already. Perhaps next you can try making Goddess Saraswati with her veena. Just a suggestion. :D


Aum Namah Shivaya

Thanks Equinox!

Saraswati's veena would certainly be a fun fabrication project!

I have made a some of the "old gods" (Vedic Gods?). I don't know if that's an appropriate term for them so forgive me if that's a crude way to refer to them - I have made Agni and Vayu. Also I have made a personification of the River Ganges. These dolls are less culturally inspired as far as their look goes. They aren't adorned the same way as Ganesha and Hanuman.

The only other main Deva (or Devi I should say) that I have made is Sri Lakshmi, who is my profile picture. In the absence of a murti (I have not been able to afford one I like) she sits in my shrine to help me focus during meditation and prayer. It's not ideal, as it is probably too much of a flirtation with the ego, but I attempt to compensate by offering credit to God, where it is due;)

Thank you again for your kind words!
Peace!

Jodhaa
24 August 2012, 07:19 AM
Amazing work, Jodhaa. :) I really loved Lord Hanuman's doll in particular. Wonderful crafting and detail.


Thank you, Obelisk! I appreciate you compliments!

Peace!

Arjuni
24 August 2012, 07:34 AM
Namasté,

These are so neat!

Agni and Vayu I would love to see; modern visual representations of the Vedic gods are pretty rare.

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

Jodhaa
24 August 2012, 09:42 AM
Namasté,

These are so neat!

Agni and Vayu I would love to see; modern visual representations of the Vedic gods are pretty rare.

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

First off, sorry the images is so huge - I can't seem to get them to resize.
As you can see, this these dolls are mostly just Agni and Vayu by name alone. They don't have a strong Indian influence. They could be any fire or wind deity really. But they have their own charm. I made these before the Hanuman and Ganesh, so was just starting to work with my new inspiration. One thing I love about Agni is that some of the beads in his arms are lava rock. :)

https://ny-image2.etsy.com/000/0/6670049/il_570xN.319473518.jpg (https://ny-image2.etsy.com/000/0/6670049/il_fullxfull.319473518.jpg)




https://ny-image2.etsy.com/000/0/6670049/il_570xN.319477798.jpg (https://ny-image2.etsy.com/000/0/6670049/il_fullxfull.319477798.jpg)

Vayu's belt is a re-purposed bracelet and his little bird friend is an old pin.


Now Ganga is a little more Indian inspired. She's very sweet.
https://ny-image0.etsy.com/000/0/6670049/il_570xN.319012712.jpg (https://ny-image0.etsy.com/000/0/6670049/il_fullxfull.319012712.jpg)

Thanks for looking!

ShivaFan
24 August 2012, 11:41 AM
Namaste Jodhaa, these are wonderful! I love Hanuman in your doll! My goodness, what wonderful plays could be performed with these. Seriously, fantastic puppet plays for audiences who would love this! Your have mastery in you!

Om Namah Sivaya

Jodhaa
24 August 2012, 12:54 PM
Namaste Jodhaa, these are wonderful! I love Hanuman in your doll! My goodness, what wonderful plays could be performed with these. Seriously, fantastic puppet plays for audiences who would love this! Your have mastery in you!

Om Namah Sivaya

Namaste!

I do hope to have mastery in puppetry one day - if not in this life perhaps I will earn an appropriate birth in the next! For now, I am better at coming up with stories in my mind about them. Thank you for your kind words!

Peace

Jodhaa
24 August 2012, 02:14 PM
Namaste!

I think ShivaFan will appreciate my latest project. He is unfinished, but I hope I do Mahadev justice. I am more familiar with Sri Lakshmi, but Lord Shiva's third eye presented a puppetry challenge I couldn't pass up.

This is a marionette or string puppet. The only working string at the moment is the one used to control the opening and closing of Shiva's third eye. I was proud of figuring this out because it is a mechanically complex problem to make a vertically oriented eyelid rotate. The mechanism is hidden inside Shiva's hair and head. I hope to post a video once he is complete and fully strung.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/s720x720/292953_10150987503830518_1452430229_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/s720x720/554763_10150987504850518_167253219_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/s720x720/424681_10150987504330518_941889408_n.jpg




Peace!

Viraja
24 August 2012, 02:47 PM
Namaste Jodhaa,

You seem to get the faces and emotions of deities just right! They all have a serene composure and great beauty about them and Shiva does possess this same charm!

One correction: Please change the hands of Lord Shiva to give the 'blessing' gesture. Only devotees have the 'namaskar' gesture - Parameshwara should have the 'abhaya' (will save you) and 'Varada' (trust your devotion to my feet) gestures. :)

Jodhaa
24 August 2012, 03:19 PM
Namaste Jodhaa,

You seem to get the faces and emotions of deities just right! They all have a serene composure and great beauty about them and Shiva does possess this same charm!

One correction: Please change the hands of Lord Shiva to give the 'blessing' gesture. Only devotees have the 'namaskar' gesture - Parameshwara should have the 'abhaya' (will save you) and 'Varada' (trust your devotion to my feet) gestures. :)

Thank you for the correction, Aspirant. I was posing him for the picture to see how well his joints hold. It's good that you brought that up because now I have a question...

There is a string function in puppetry known as the "prayer string". It allows the puppet to pull its hands together in the gesture of 'namaste(skar)'. I'd been having trouble figuring how to get this function to work because Shiva will have many controls and be very complex. But now you have mentioned the pose is improper for a deity, so perhaps it is not required? I will have to look the gestures you mentioned up because it may require I remake the hands.

Thank you!!

Peace

Viraja
24 August 2012, 04:00 PM
I'd been having trouble figuring how to get this function to work because Shiva will have many controls and be very complex. But now you have mentioned the pose is improper for a deity, so perhaps it is not required?Namaste Jodhaa,

Yes, I do believe you can skip the prayer functionality of the hands altogether. Because, Lord Shiva is never in this mode - his hands are never in gesture of praying to anybody. :)

Viraja
07 September 2012, 11:18 AM
Namaste Jodhaa,

Out of curiosity - I was wondering if you've completed Parameshwara? Does his right hand now show the blessing gesture? (I think even earlier his hands simply had to be rearranged in the photograph to show the blessing gesture, is it not?) I personally opine that you could have painted his eyes (not the 3rd eye) open like you did with Ganesha...

Regards,

Aspirant

Jodhaa
07 September 2012, 01:13 PM
Namaste Jodhaa,

Out of curiosity - I was wondering if you've completed Parameshwara? Does his right hand now show the blessing gesture? (I think even earlier his hands simply had to be rearranged in the photograph to show the blessing gesture, is it not?) I personally opine that you could have painted his eyes (not the 3rd eye) open like you did with Ganesha...

Regards,

Aspirant

Namaste Aspirant!

At first I didn't know who you were talking about! I'm so new that I don't know many of the Deity's other names yet;) Out of curiosity, should certain names be used at certain times, or is it just personal preference?

To answer your question: No, Lord Shiva is not yet complete. He is a complex marionette and even when they are your only project they can take several months to build -especially for a novice puppeteer like me. At the moment I have shifted my attention to the control. Then comes stringing and balance.

As for his hands - they were posed in "namaste" for the photo only and are easily moved. I'm actually considering remaking his hands and modifying the wrist joint entirely - I'm not happy with his level of flexibility. Did I mention I'm bit of a perfectionist?

As for the eyes - I debated many ways to paint them. Originally, this marionette was going to be Lord Vishnu, but then I wanted the challenge of the third eye.:) I chose to keep his two eyes closed because when I first learned of Shiva he was described with two main states - the cosmic dancer and re-modeler of the universe, and then there was the contemplative Brahman.

My marionette version is both serene and very much aware. Of course, if this depiction is inaccurate, I would change it. I will know once I get feedback from an audience.

Thank you for your critique, Aspirant!

Peace!

Viraja
07 September 2012, 01:20 PM
At first I didn't know who you were talking about! I'm so new that I don't know many of the Deity's other names yet;) Out of curiosity, should certain names be used at certain times, or is it just personal preference?



Oops! There is no such thing as using a certain name at a certain time - not even personal preference - it just came out that way, sorry for confusing you :).

Parameshwara = Ishwara = Lord Shiva. :)

Jodhaa
07 September 2012, 01:28 PM
Oops! There is no such thing as using a certain name at a certain time - not even personal preference - it just came out that way, sorry for confusing you :).

Parameshwara = Ishwara = Lord Shiva. :)


No worries! I should start making lists! The 108 names of Maha Lakshmi are first on my list. Slowly but surely!

Believer
07 January 2013, 03:12 PM
Namaste,

Any new creations that you might want to share?

Pranam.

Jodhaa
07 January 2013, 04:16 PM
Namaste,

Any new creations that you might want to share?

Pranam.

Nothing India/Hinduism inspired :) I have just restarted work on the Shiva marionette that was put on hold for another client's work, but he's almost finished. His hands need to be sculpted and strung. (I decided I didn't like his hands so I'm re-doing them) Another week or so and he should be finished. I'll post pictures then.:) I will try to use my limited knowledge of my laptop's webcam to shoot a poor quality video too.:rolleyes:

Anima Deorum
13 July 2013, 10:58 PM
Namaste Jodhaa,

These are beautiful, living creations. Thank you so much for sharing them!

Jodhaa
15 July 2013, 11:16 AM
Thank you Anima!

I have plans for a Ganesh Marionette. I stopped work on the Shiva for the time being because I am struggling with his controls. But with everyone I make I learn something new for the next project.

:)

shanti