Ganesh: Lord Of The Threshold

It's a new year and a time to give praise to the lord of new beginnings - Ganesh, the Hindu elephant-headed god. While Yuko & I were in India I realized that I was a sucker for this type of techno-coloured, Disneyesque religious art. It's beyond kitsch or irony - I really like it, especially if it's done by Idra Sharma.

Hanuman, symbol of loyalty

Yuko bought me this beautiful book filled with Sharma's art and the stories of the Hindu gods and goddesses:

Sharma cut his teeth making Bollywood film posters and then calendars where he refined his style. He quit painting in 1995 and now lives in Bombay (Mumbai) with his son. It's an exciting, and in many ways a beautiful city, a swirling mass of humanity from all walks of life gorging itself on delicious food, basking in breezes from the Arabian sea while living in either opulent apartment complexes or dirt poor slums.

Krishna revealing his universal form

This is what the record company was aiming for on Jimi Hendrix's Axis: Bold As Love, but apparently he wasn't too happy with it. He wanted the cover to represent his American Indian heritage...whoops!