366 - 16th - Vitral

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 16th Dec'08

Vitral is an art usually found in Europe and is created using small tainted pieces of glass. You can see all sorts of different shapes made of colored glass - eagles, humans, owls, plants and buildings. The one you can see above in the image is a fusion of man and fire. It was set up at the "Cosmo Vitral" in downtown Toluca.

I stopped there on the way back from Zitacuaro for some time and visited this place. It had vitral all over the place, on the roof, on the walls, everywhere. An amazing form of art; really.

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286 - 27th - Unusual art

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 27th Sept'08

We just entered the hotel to check-in when I observed this fancy sign board hung just in front of the reception. The beautiful combination of colors and pictures made it quite attractive to the eye. My first reaction was to take out the camera and click it.

Unusual show of artistry in small not so "unsual" things.

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270 - 11th - Contrasting colors

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 11th Sept'08

It can certainly be titled as the most colorful balcony I have ever seen in my life. It didnt seem like a hotel or the balcony of a fancy restaurant, but almost everyone who passed by the place did have a nice long look at the eye catching color combination.

Its rare to see such contrasting colors painted in urban buildings & that too in the heart of the downtown. Can be classified as a nice piece of art.

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268 - 9th - Graffiti

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 9th Sept'08

I Love Graffiti & I have seen it painted on numerous walls in Mexico. For a long time I've been looking for a decent shot so that I could post it on my blog. Luckily last weekend I wandered away in the wrong direction while walking through the downtown and look what I stumbled upon. A whole gang of spray painters painting these incredible designs on the wall. I spent almost an hour at the place talking to them and observing how they do it.

Unlike the destructive form of Graffiti, which is legally banned in most countries this one was more of an expression of art. Through them I came to know about an annual Graffiti competition going to be held on 12th of this month. They invited me to the place and even offered their color cans in case I was interested in trying my hand at it.

Click here to see another interesting painting

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171 - 4th - Clay pottery

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 4th June'08

I was sitting and enjoying my coffee in the apartment lobby the other day when I noticed this set of pottery kept on th table opposite to me. From a distance it was giving more of a "metallic" look due to the shiny brown polish it had. But as I went closer and touched it I realized that it actually was made up of clay. Carving such beauties of of dead mud is really a terrific form of art.

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143 - 7th - Ancient artifacts

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 7th May'08

Such small stalls are present in abundance at all the historic tourist places in Mexico. You can find small pyramid models and some pieces of art emulating the ancient Aztec art forms. The people selling them know nice English as its important for their business to survive & at the same time quote all the prices in USD. 10USD obviously sounds much better than 100 Mexican pesos :)

I bought many of these during my first trip to the country. Some of them really give a very different and authentically "tribal" look. Worth spending some money to have some memories for a lifetime.

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108 - 2nd - Sliced out

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 2nd Apr'08

I saw this bench the other day while having a walk near Zona rosa. Truly a thoughtful creation. It feels like the person who was sitting there just cut out the area he was occupying and took it with him.

I have many such sliced out voids in my life. Many people who occupied some space in my heart, but when they left, they just sliced their space out and took it with them, leaving a never-to-be-filled again void :)

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104 - 29th - The evening lamps

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 29th Mar'08

As the night prepared to take the city under its cover of darkness, these street lamps were ready to confront it. Glowing against a dim background, they announced their arrival after a day long nap.

As I have mentioned before, the capital city of Mexico is flooded with various expressions of art even in the simplest of objects. The design of these lamps is a standing evidence of the same.

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98 - 23rd - Urban Art

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 23rd Mar'08

Usually its the European countries which are famous for their urban art. If you think about art forms on road sides and road intersections, you think of France, Italy and Holland. I haven't seen other parts of Mexico, but being quite familiar with Mexico City, I can very well list it along with the European elites. You can find diverse expressions of art in every nook and corner of the city. The art forms vary from medieval impressions to some very versatile expressions of modern art. A lot of thought has been put even while designing the benches and seats on the side-walks.

If you go the old city, you will feel as if you are on a trip to the colonial past. The buildings, the architectural designs, subways, even the lamp posts have a typical Spanish art print on them.

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21 - 6th - The Sketch

Originally drawn, clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 6th Jan'08

I decided to do some sketching today. Just took out my colors, took a sheet of paper and put some colors here and there. This is what I ended up making. Nothing with too much depth or an artistic touch, but just an expression of a thought floating in my mind.

Then I decided to combine the sketching with some photography. Took some shots from different angles, creating varying magnitudes of depth and varying effects of light shades.

Here is how the full sketch looks like.

Here are some more shots of the same
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3

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