The exquisite and intricate artwork of wood inlay is no new thing to the city of Mysore. An art form renowned as Mysore Inlay and existent in the city since ages now, such is its beauty that it was once encouraged by the royals of Mysore in a big way.

This encouragement and demand for a work so dexterous inspired many, as a result of which, the count of wood inlay artists in the city only began to grow.

And one such artist from Mysore for whom the art of inlaying has become a way of life is Florence Ruth. Aged 37 and indulged in the artistry ever since she was a child, ask her what made her take to the wood inlay work and she humbly gushes, “I had to naturally take to it as I grew up watching the members of my family work on the same. As I ended up scoring less marks in my Pre-University, I had no option but to get into the artistry. However, I slowly started working it on a regular basis and today I am all into it and it has become a way of life for me.”

Wood Inlay work is a method of etching figurines in woods of different hues and embedding them in a rosewood frame to give it a final touch. “Each art piece that we create reflects a story. And accordingly, we select the wooden pieces of the right colour to etch the figurines and finally embed them all in the rosewood frame.” But this is no easy job she adds. “Äs we do not use any paint to add colour to the figures in the story, we will have to select woods of various hues and match them accordingly. But all thanks to nature, we have woods available in all the beautiful colours we require.”

What adds to the beauty of it all is that it continues to be a popular art form in practice in Mysore city even to this day. “There are thousands of inlay artists in the city,” says Florence, “and there are people who continue to produce the art pieces as beautifully as it was done ages ago, all thanks to the artists to whom the artistry has been passed on by their ancestors. So we need not really fear that the art form would fade away in city one day. But we artists of the present generation should continue working and ensure that the artistry is passed on to our next generation.”

And to ensure that she does her duty. Florence Ruth has been currently training a bunch of enthusiasts in the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) premises on Irwin Road in the city since a week now. What’s more, to promote wood inlay work, the lady has also toured across the nation; Courtesy: encouragement from IGRMS, to promote the art form.

“I have been to Bhopal, Kerala, Ooty and a few other places in India. And I feel happy that the institute thrives to promote not just the art but also small time artisans like me,” she says. The ongoing training programme at IGRMS ends on Sunday. [IGRMS may be contacted on Ph: 2448231.]

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by Ambika Nagaraj / May 30th, 2013

A popular retail store launched their latest jewellery inspired saree —  Bedazzled Collection  which was specially designed by mother-daughter designer duo Chandra Rajendran and Neeta for the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.

The collection was launched in the city recently and featured Bangalore’s leading models as they walked the ramp displaying the exquisite creations. The occasion also showcased stunning gold jewellery by Amarapali. The collection is an embodiment of elegance featuring a variety of exclusive, creative and beautiful designs.

For a city that never misses its fashion dose, this one too was attended by connoisseurs of the fashion community.

The exclusive range of designer sarees featured motifs inspired by timeless Indian gold ornaments and bespoke heirloom pieces. The collection captured the nuances and design details of Indian jewellery hand crafted by master-craftsmen into motifs that adorned hand-woven Kanchivaram silk, as hand block printing detailing translated on luxurious pure silks.

These  also was recreation of the ornament using kundan embroidery.

For a formal occasion, the collection features handcrafted Kanchivaram silks in brilliant colour tones embellished with pure Resham / silk thread dipped in liquid silver and gold to create exquisite motifs inspired by jhumkas, maangtikas, earrings and malas.

Designers Chandra and Neeta have translated the designs into unique concepts like half ‘n’ half, shoulder design, party pallu, rising and many more transforming the timeless Kanchivaram into contemporary master pieces.

On the other hand, for casual occasions, the collection exhibits an array of light Tussar silk, silk Kota, flowing Chiffon silk sarees in brilliant green, pink, blue, black and off-white. These sarees also featured elegant jewellery inspired motifs that made use of hand block prints.

source:  http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by Express Features – Bangalore / May 06th, 2013

 Straddling the highway to Hyderabad, the birthplace of Kempe Gowda is now among the fastest growing localities in the city.

Thanks to the construction of Bangalore International Airport near Devanahalli and the housing boom along the Bangalore-Hyderabad highway, areas that are part of the Yelahanka constituency are among the favoured destinations for both aspiring home owners and commercial establishments.

Realtor hyperactivity in the area which is part of Bangalore’s history, has pushed up prices of land to crores of rupees an acre. Areas such as Sahakarnagar and Judicial Layout are homes to the middle-to-upper income group.

Buzzing with activity today, Yelahanka was one of the oldest townships in Karnataka and was part of Vijayanagara empire. Legend has it that Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bangalore, was born in Yelahanka and was a feudatory of the area during the reign of Krishna Devaraya of Vijayanagar empire.

Till a decade ago, Yelahanka was primarily home to farmers, but its profile has changed a lot with construction of Bangalore International Airport. It had 2.25 lakh voters in 2008 elections. Now, 16,817 eligible voters have enrolled their names.

Yelahanka has a number of lakes to its advantage, the most prominent being the Yelahanka lake. Yelahanka Satellite Town is considered as the best maintained residential areas in Bangalore. By many accounts, the area has the most number of parks in the city. The major roads connecting Yelahanka with the city are Bellary Road, Doddaballapur Road and Yeshwanthpur Road. It houses major security establishments such as the Air Force and BSF stations, and industrial units such as Rail Wheel Factory, Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Gogo International, Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) Limited, Ranflex India Pvt. Ltd. and Hobel Flexibles.

Some of the educational institutions such as the Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, BMS Institute of Technology, Seshadripuram College, Reva Engineering College, Ryan International School, Delhi Public School, Poorna Prajna School, Srishti School of Art Design and Technology, NMIT and medical colleges Infant Jesus College of Nursing, SB College of Nursing are in this area.

Yelahanka Old Town is a home for thousands of powerloom weavers  from Andhra Pradesh. With more than 18,000 votes, they are expected to play a key role in the election.
As for candidates, SR Vishwanath, the sitting MLA,  is seeking re-election on a BJP ticket. Gopalakrishna is the Congress candidate and Chandrappa is trying his luck on a JD(S) ticket. The constituency has four BBMP wards – Kempe Gowda, Chowdeswari, Atturu and Yelahanka Satellite Town. All these wards are represented by BJP corporators.

Despite corruption allegations, Vishwanath of BJP is confident of winning election. He cites development works taken up during the last five years as the reason for him to be bullish about the success in the election. “I did a lot for this constituency. I want to do more if they elect me in this election again,’’ said Vishwanath.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Bangalore> Report / by Y. Maheswara Reddy / Place:Bangalore, Agency:DNA / Thursday – May 03rd, 2013