My latest art project is largely inspired from a combination of wall art and children book illustration. I had come across this wall from a suburb of Kolkata and the picture reminded me of my childhood. I could visualize the girl who used to wear a navy blue school uniform and attended school some 22 years back. And at that moment I knew I have to transform this picture to an another medium.
I also came across this book in my son's classroom. The simple figures in the illustration reminded me a lot about the morning moments when I used to catch the school bus.
The small town where I grew up didn't have any subways. But there was school bus. Each bus route had their unique names or numbers, mine was called L.
School meant navy blue tunic with white shirt and black belly shoes with white knee high socks.
School meant neatly braided hair tucked in red or white ribbons.
School also meant friendship, sharing snacks ( or tiffins as we would say) and stories.
As a kid was I was not terribly excited about my school uniform. I had a feeling that the tunic was too heavy and perhaps boring as well. But now since that school, that town and my country reside thousands of miles away from me, sometimes I feel a lump inside my throat when I think about those days.
What could be a better way to pay homage to my school days other than convert into something personal? I had a plain cotton blouse which is perfect base for an applique project.
The figure is largely made up with the help of heat bond lite sheets. ( Tutorials can be found in this post). I used little bit of acrylic paint for the shoes.
Dr. Suess says, sometimes you will not know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory! Oh yes! I miss my school. I miss those days .. ringing of recess bells, echoes from the corridor, fighting, frowning, laughing .....we'll always cherish those memories forever and ever!!
