Sketchbook

Something To Smile About

Posted on November 15, 2023
by Soma Acharya
Bookmaking, Kitties, Paintings, Printing

Hello! It is time I made my way back here with something that I hope will put a smile on your face. More on that in a bit. First of all, I want to thank every one of you for staying here with me through thick and thin, as well as everyone who joined the mailing list despite my long absence. It means the world to me.

When I left in June, I was not in a good place. Unfortunately life continued to set up hurdles.

I ran. A LOT. Running takes the edge off, helps me sleep. I handmade a tiny book where I paint little “things I did”. I made this quick watercolor sketch yesterday of “me” running…finally managed an 8K/5mi run after a bad foot injury last year.

After a severe breakdown followed by 14 hours of straight, deep sleep a couple of weeks ago, I am finally starting to get myself back together. I couldn’t bring myself to do much artwork in the last few months even though I knew that was the one thing that would have helped.

Last week I posted this photo on my Instagram account. Writing this out is my attempt at easing myself back into the land of the living.

I started a new project of carving and printing small blocks. Lute had to be the first one. Here is why –

Very few things in my life have made me happier than our kitty Charlie. He has always been just a very happy boy with a penchant for “singing”.

On this day, he sat under a tree in his best clothes and sang his heart out while playing a lute. It had to be a lute that he played, didn’t matter if he was good at it or not. That is why I started my carving project with a lute.

He gave me permission to share his song as long as I added the correct inflections. He is very particular about them!

I wrote a new ballaaaaaad

But now I am so saaaaad

She won’t hear my new song

Where did I go wrooooong.

Even the thought of this makes me smile and sometimes laugh out loud. I hope it does the same for you too!

Apart from carving, I have once again started making different kinds of books. I love the tactile feel I get from book making. I didn’t get to mention it earlier, but my shop has new books and I have also added an extra colour.

If you purchase books from my shop for gifts, please make sure to place the order early. The books are made to order personally by me and they take a few days to dry properly before I can mail them.

I want to finish this post today with another block print I made of Charlie. He also gets into sticky situations, but they are always quite innocent and comical. I hope you get a smile out of this one too.

Once again, I can’t thank you enough for being here with me. Next week is Thanksgiving here in the US, which starts the holiday season here. Just in case I don’t make it back here in December, I wish you a season full of happiness and laughter. I will certainly see you early next year around February with armloads of quilting, art projects and The Girl And Her Cat stories. There will be travel photos as well.

Until next time,
-Soma

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please consider paying a visit to some of them.

Little Stories – Seedlings

Posted on May 3, 2023
by Soma Acharya
Bookmaking, Paintings, Photography, Printing

Hello Everyone! I want to welcome all visitors, both old and new, here at InkTorrents. This is where I have been sharing a bit of my atelier and my life. This winter break was a tough one for me, which made a longer break necessary. I do love the company of trees and mountains, so I visited a few natural places in Northern California for recovery. At other times, I had my head buried in a sketchbook. I look forward to sharing the photos and artwork with you over the next few posts.

As you know, photography is a very integral part of me. For those of you who are new here, I took one photo of my everyday surroundings per day for a year. These photos played a big part in my life, and I have been sharing them here every now and then.

Here is the next set of my Simple365 photos.

Simple 365 – Set 9

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos and read the captions.

I created a page with all the previously shared photos from Simple365. I continue to add photos to that page as I share them here. That way I can relive the journey through the year via black and white photos like in an old album.

Every now and then I make botanical paint from things I forage from my garden.

Wild Child

I shared the basics of botanical ink making here.

A few years ago, I got Indigo and Coreopsis seeds for the purpose of paint making. I collect the seeds from both plants each year and save them in little seed packets. Last week I had a great time sitting on the patio, sowing them in tiny little pots. These green trays are great for a plant nursery.

Much to my surprise, I saw little seedlings emerge within just a few days. I love watching them grow and look forward to the beautiful flowers and colours they will make.

I will write up a little tutorial on how to make these cute seed packets soon, in case you want to save or share seeds from your garden.

With a very frail 19+ year-old kitty at home, we have been limiting our travels to just a couple of days at a time, mostly within California. I often spend the last afternoon of a trip drawing in a sketchbook while my husband reads.

Visiting Yosemite in winter is a must for me. I did this sketch in pencil while I was at Yosemite, didn’t have a pen with me then. I wanted to leave it as-is, but my dear husband loves inked drawings. So, later on, I used a $10 fude pen for all the lines and a white gel pen for the snow.

I look forward to showing you more drawings and telling you a bit more about this sketchbook soon.

With the advent of March, my outside time became very limited due to severe allergies. Since I couldn’t be outside enjoying the fresh air and flowers, I started sketching and then carving this block. This will join the everyday journal wildflowers collection covers. I am very excited about printing this one and making a book with it.

These are just a few things from my winter break. I have so much to share with you – ideas, tools and supplies, the makes, and of course photos from my travels.

Until next time,
-Soma

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please consider paying a visit to some of them.