Introducing DABU's Emerge Minis Fine Art from the Zyaada Collection. Whew, it’s a mouthful for one of our smallest pieces! These sets are hand painted by Mohan ji, a local artist we collaborated with. You can read all about his work on our large fine art pieces here. In some ways the process was similar. But not exactly.
So how were these minis made? Great question, I would love to tell you!
The paint is created by taking a fine powder of the dye material (in this case: harad, fruit of the myrobalan plant, and the root of the Chinese rhubarb plant), mixing it in heated water and straining out the liquid. Unlike the process for the larger, block-printed pieces, guar gum was not used to thicken the paint into an ink-like substance.
Here you can see Analise and Mohan working on creating the paint. The harad (the yellow paste) and Chinese rhubarb (the red paste) had to be ground into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle and the rough coconut shell helps refine the paste. There was lots of sampling done to get to the right color.
For the half circle design in the center, only harad was used. For the surrounding color, harad was mixed with Chinese rhubarb to create a deeper golden color.
Mohan ji, using Analise’s design, created these paintings in a water color style over pencil sketch. The brushes he used are the traditional brushes of the region, made from a squirrel's tail.
The perfect piece for your home. This set is not only handmade fine art made from natural dyes, it’s a conversation starter about life in India. A reminder that life here is different. And the difference is beautiful.
Bye for now!
Sarah
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