Jaigopal Garodia Vivekananda Vidyalaya - Chennai, India.

Today, we'd like to introduce our lovely supporters to a very worthy cause. We finally have enough information on the school that we would like to donate our proceeds to, and we'd love for each of you to know more about it!

Jaigopal Garodia Vivekananda Vidyalaya CBSE School is in the city of Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India. It has recently taken on the responsibility of opening a new section of it's school that teaches religious texts along with the current educational syllabus at the school. Teachers from the local well-known and well-established temples, namely the Kanchi Kama Koti Peetam, come to the school to instruct the children in the Hindu vedic arts and scriptures, while they also learn a "normal curriculum" during school hours. The children accepted into this program are all from low-income Brahmin families. They also live at the school, though a formal hostel hasn't been constructed for them yet. A floor of the school has been evacuated for them to stay in when school is not in session. These children wake up at 3am each morning so that they can learn religious texts from 4:30am-7am, when they go to school for the "regular curriculum" in science, math, english, etc. After their classes finish at 4pm, the students return to their religious study until 8pm each day. Everything (living arrangements, food, clothing, and education) is provided free of cost for these kids thanks to the donations of various sponsors. 

All the proceeds from selling any of the paintings from ShishyaArt go towards this cause. As of now, we have collected $500 in the past year from the sales of paintings. This would most likely support a child in this school for one year, and cover food, clothing, living accommodations, and education expenses. Our goal is to sponsor one or two children all the way through their education (10 years). Below are some pictures from the school's opening and celebratory functions. 

Here's hoping that ShishyaArt is successful in its goal! Keep checking back for more pictures and updates!! Be sure to check out the new additions to our store on Etsy!

Thanks for reading,

~ShishyaArt Creations

Embellishments!

When working on a painting, I've often come to a point where I realize that it needs "a little something extra" to make it look finished. While exploring the local craft store, I came across some embellishments that seem to do the trick!

"Puppet Show" is a great example of a case in which embellishments really lifted up the object of the painting! The first picture shows the painting when I had finished the piece, while the second picture shows the complete work of art after the embellishments were added! 

Notice how the small elements really tied together the painting, and created a 3D effect that catches the eye!

"Cuckoon Bird" is a painting that completely relies on the 3D flower embellishments to make a statement. Without the flowers, the piece would be quite bland.

Thanks for reading,
~ShishyaArt Creations

New Custom Orders!

We've been lucky enough to get a few custom orders lately! Here are some of the pieces that we've completed in the month of June!

"Purple Tree" is a large 2ft x 3ft gallery wrapped canvas, and depicts a simple tree with flowers against a background shaded with purple hues! Each flower was shaped differently in comparison with its neighbor, and the tree itself is a totally odd shape!

"Red Moon"  is a 18x24in gallery-wrapped canvas that was inspired by a cherry blossom painting I had seen a while back. It depicts the branch of a white flower tree in the moonlight, while a howling wind blows by. This piece contained many small elements that made a huge impact on the final product!

Thanks for reading,
~ShishyaArt Creations

Springtime Inspiration

Spring is here, which means that inspiration is all around us! The budding flowers and baby animals are great for painting! I just finished a few pieces that I think embodies everything that spring has to offer: color, vibrancy, and the inherent notion of happiness. Let the inspiration flow!

Spring gives us a reason to celebrate! ShishyaArt is having a SPRING CLEANING SALE! Some of the pieces in our store are currently listed at 50% off their original prices to make room for more unique artwork!! Returning customers will also receive 10% off their orders!

Another reason to celebrate is that ShishyaArt has officially crossed the $250 mark in raising funds for underprivileged children! We have decided to donate all the money that we collect to a new school in Chennai, India. The money will go towards housing, feeding, clothing, and educating children from underprivileged backgrounds. We're hoping that we can reach our goal of $500 before the end of the year! More information on this later!

Thanks for reading,
~ShishyaArt Creations

A New First!

ShishyaArt is making new waves! I recently finished my first custom order of my first large-scale painting! Having never painted such a big piece brought on some new challenges, but it worked out in the end. 

Inspired by nature and some of my previous artwork, I call it "Sunset." This is a 24inx48in piece on a gallery-wrapped mounted canvas. 

 Thanks for reading,

~ShishyaArt Creations

Dancing Ganesha

My grandparents are visiting this summer, and I wanted to get a head start on making something special for them to hang in their newly-renovated house. I definitely wanted to make something traditional, but artistic all the same. I finally came up with an idea that I thought would fit the bill. My parents have had a little brass statue of a dancing Ganesha in our house since I was little. That was my inspiration. It looked something like this image I found online: 

And this is the final product!

It's an 8x10 stretched canvas on a mounted wooden frame. The paint is all acrylic, but the flowers are high-gloss, which really makes them pop!

I'm hoping to make another 8x10 to match with it so they can be side-by-side. I just need an idea. 

Thanks for reading!

~ShishyaArt Creations

New Products!

ShishyaArt is now branching out into photo frames! Our store now has two of our newest products, hand-painted photo frames, available for sale! Please go take a look!

ShishyaArt now has three apps in the Blackberry app world! Look for our logo in the app world for each of our apps: the Etsy store, the ShishyaArt blog, and the Facebook page!


Thanks for reading,
~ShishyaArt Creations

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ShishyaArt's Facebook Page!


~ShishyaArt Creations

"Shishya"

People often ask me why I named the store something that was so hard to pronounce, and it doesn't quite make sense until I explain where the whole concept came from, and what "shishya" actually means.

I was standing at the checkout line one day at the local grocery store, and the person in front of me was spending what seemed to be an obscene amount of time at the register. I was quite annoyed at first and tried to change lines, but every other line was much longer. I waited and watched as the person in front of me, a girl of maybe sixteen, added and removed items from her purchase, returning and re-buying things from the cart in front of her. When I peeked around the cart, I noticed a stroller with a tiny head poking out, and in the section front of the stroller was a pamphlet for the local community college. Everything started falling into place, and I realized what I was witnessing. The girl, who had $40 in her hand, was returning items such as pasta and juice--luxuries--in order to buy necessities for her child. She probably couldn't even afford community college. Although I couldn't help the girl at the time, fearing that she would spurn any money I offered, the incident and the defeated expression on the her face stayed with me. 

I believed that I had a social responsibility to help people who were less fortunate than I, but I wasn't aware of any avenues that would give me the knowledge or satisfaction that my particular contribution had made a difference in someone's life. After pondering this for a few days, I came upon my paintings piled up in a closet. I saw them as the beginning of a journey that could aid in changing people's lives for the better. Thus, formed ShishyaArt.

"Shishya," which comes from Sanskrit, means "student" in the simplest of terms. To me, the word symbolizes the wealth of knowledge and skills one can gain through a formal education. ShishyaArt is dedicated to serving the underprivileged by helping them obtain an education through the funds from each painting sold at our store so that the no one will have to feel defeated or dejected again. 

Thanks for reading!

~ShishyaArt Creations

Welcome!

Hello there,

Welcome to the ShishyaArt blog. You'll find that this medium acts as a window into the mind behind ShishyaArt Creations. Here, you'll find sources of inspiration for future projects, color ideas, and unique art --- maybe even before they appear on the storefront! Please be sure to visit our store!

Thanks,
~ShishyaArt Creations