Getting back to oil painting and blogging!

I can't believe its been 7 years since the last blog, and 5 years since my last oil painting. I am excited to get back to doing both again this year!

Checkout my new RajnishArt website!

Yosemite Falls Unveiled

3QI with Angela Johal, an award-winning artist

Angela Johal, Vice President, Livermore Art Association

Website: www.angelajohal.com

Angela's online art galleries: Livermore Art Association / Pleasanton Art Association

Angela Johal is an award-winning artist and art instructor. Angela creates colorful abstract and realistic compositions with a unique style that blends vibrant colors with strong outlines and creative space treatment.

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Q1: Your imaginative compositions project an abstract view of reality. Do you create art with a carefully crafted and preplanned approach? Or, do you start with a basic idea and revise it based upon shapes, meanings and color combinations as you go along?  

Angela Johal:

I would say that most of my work involves a great deal of pre-planning. In my less abstract pieces, I pre-draw everything either directly onto the canvas or on tracing paper. Having a good composition and strong sense of movement is essential to my work. But then, with my collage series, I spent a whole day just playing with paint swatches, then when I became frustrated, I just pushed them together into a bird's nest shape which then inspired my new Collage Series. I do think that it is important to allow for intuitive surprises which cannot be controlled. I love to work at balancing color and shapes which is very intuitive. So, to answer your question, I love controlled chaos!

Q2: The right side of the brain has been linked to art that creates illusions and evokes emotions, whereas the left side of the brain is thought to foster logic and reason. Are the two human disciplines, art and science, as divergent as they seem? Or, are they actually interdependent? Does the best artist rely on logic and reason to draw geometric shapes with blended colors, and similarly, does the scientist explore imagination and creativity from the right side of the brain?    

Angela Johal:

I believe in using the whole brain, in that, as an artist it is necessary to know the properties of the paint, proportions, drying time, the scientific studies on how color works with the eye, etc. Studies on how the viewer's eye (through brain studies) is drawn to high contrast areas in a painting has influenced my work. I do think that there are times when you have to turn off the bossy left side of the brain which seems to attach words to what you are painting. It is also helpful to look at negative spaces when drawing or painting which the left side doesn't seem to understand. 

The left side seems to tell the right to make all shapes the same size, symmetrical, equal spacing, etc…I fight this in every piece I do.  Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards is a great book which explains the right and left functions of the brain and how we have learned this from studying stroke victims. From my experience, both artists and scientists share a strong sense of intuition and inventiveness. We embrace problems and challenges and work this part of the brain. Fear of failure is the worst enemy for an artist as well as a scientist.

 Q3: As a successful, award winning artist and art instructor, what is the single most important advice you would give to your students who wish to become professional artists? 

Angela Johal:

It's a time commitment. The more you engage in the artistic process, the more rapidly you improve. Don't rely on your feelings…paint and draw every day, play with shapes, keep playing and experimenting as a kid would, and whatever you do, don't grow up!

See Angela’s art at these upcoming shows and events

* Jan. & Feb. - Featured artist with Christine McCall in the lobby at the Bankhead Theater

                       - Solo artist in the Founder's Room at the Bankhead Theater, Livermore

 * Feb. 19-25 - Expressions Show, Tracy

* April 2 & 3 - Spring Art Show, Livermore

* May 29 - Art in the Vineyard, Wente Vineyards Estate Winery, Livermore

 

3QI with Coach Valynne: The science and art of nutrition and fitness

* Coach Valynne on Facebook 

   - join her in the journey of happy and healthy living.

* Valynne is a Team Beachbody Coach 

   - join her team to lose weight, get fit and more. 

* Valynne realizes her own health goals and makes a living online through myshakeology 

* Read Valynne's blog on her Caretaking adventures 

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Q1: Nutrition is an art of applying food knowledge, while fitness depends upon nutrition, exercise, health, genetic disposition, environment, etc. Are there some basic nutritional facts that apply to everyone, and furthermore at a deeper level, are there any simple principles one can follow in addition to the basic rules to support individual fitness?   

Coach Valynne: Let me start off by saying I am not a nutritionist and have never been super athletic...I have simply found a system that works for me and for a lot of my friends.  It’s pretty old-school, really; I believe that good old-fashioned exercise and the consumption of whole foods will keep the majority of us feeling and looking our best.  

For me, this means an hour or so a day of moderate exercise (my favorite activities include tennis, yoga, hiking, rollerblading, working out to fun videos at home, etc.) and avoiding foods that do more harm than good (I always do my best to eat like we did a few generations back, and I read the ingredients labels/nutrition facts when deciding which packaged foods I will/won’t eat).  And while I am not one to count every calorie, a basic knowledge of calories consumed versus calories burned is important, especially when it comes to weight loss.

Honestly, the one simple principle that I follow when it comes to supporting my individual fitness is to surround myself with others (in person or virtually) who choose to focus on what brings them health and happiness.  Sounds kind of corny, but that is what keeps me motivated and inspired every day.  

Q2: As half of the Caretaking Couple, do you find it challenging to maintain your nutritional habits and fitness while traveling and living in different cities across the country?  

Coach Valynne: This was a major struggle for me in the beginning.  I love our nomadic lifestyle but it is easy to get off track, especially when we are on the road between sits (I have a particular fondness for indie cafes and diners).  

My solution was to order Beachbody work out videos, knowing that I would have no excuses not to play them (I use my laptop when a TV is not available).  Right now I am in month three of ChaLEAN Extreme.  Next month I start P90X, which most of you have probably heard of.  I keep track of my workouts and progress in the “online gym” provided by Beachbody.  

I also drink Shakeology every day, which is full of healthy, natural ingredients.  I can shake or blend it from wherever we are.  This gives me extra energy and has reduced my cravings for the fattening and expensive foods and drinks I had become addicted to (Starbucks lattes, for starters).   

My partner Paul is drinking Shakeology each day with me now also, which has helped immensely.  I say this because I gained forty pounds in the five years that Paul and I have been together.  We have made some major lifestyle changes for the better these past few months (I will be posting “before and after” pictures on my facebook  page in the next few weeks).

Q3: Can a vegetarian diet provide complete and healthy nutrition on its own, or should it be complemented with supplements?

Coach Valynne: I believe that it absolutely can if one has access to the right foods; foods that have not been genetically modified, irradiated, grown with pesticides/herbicides and/or in soil that has been depleted, etc. etc.  Balance is a major factor as well...proteins, carbs, and fats can all be found in a vegetarian diet, but it is easy to overdo it on the carbs (at least it was for me).  It can be a bit tricky, and I am not above using supplements.  I just recommend that everyone does their homework and finds out what it is they are consuming, exactly.  I suggest finding others out there who are familiar with the products you are considering and getting their feedback as well.  

Here's to a happy, healthy 2011!

Reuniting with some of my high school batch-mates, class of 1985

St. Xavier's School, Delhi - Class of 1985 Regional Meet 1 in the bay area

Today's blog is dedicated to St. Xavier's School' class of 1985 reunion, which took place on December 19h, 2010 in Delhi, India. I could not attend the x85 reunion in India, but was delighted to meet up with five of my batch-mates on January 8th, 2011at Thea restaurant in San Jose.
From far-left to front-left corner of the table; Ajoy Bhatia, Gary Gauba, Nitin Seth. From front-right to far-right corner of the table; Puneet Agarwal, Gaurav Kapur, Rajnish Khanna.

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3QI with THE SKLAR BROTHERS

The Sklar Brothers
- The Sklar Brothers Facebook fan page  
- Skalbro Country has its own free iPhone app for the latest podcasts 
- Prediculous: A game for your brain 

DECEMBER 31, 2010 
The Sklar Brothers performed a great show at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on New Years Eve!
They make the "twin" thing work seamlessly and are ingenious with their material.

They were so kind to answer my three questions for the very first 3QI of RajnishART Blog.
See Randy's answers below

1. From your website: “Their comedy accepts the reality of being twins…”

You combine great talent with the biology of being twins. Please select an answer that best describes you:

      (b) You are imperfect carbon copies of each other

2. "SKLARBRO COUNTRY" has its own free iPhone app!

New podcasts are available as soon as they are released. http://www.earwolf.com/show/sklarbro-country

      (b) Sklarbitration should not be tried at home

3. People should join Prediculous…www.prediculous.com 

      (c) All of the above

Additional comments to share with RajnishART Blog?

Read this Blog
it'll make you smarter
-Randy