About Me

            
             Hello and welcome to The Sandalwood Box,

             I am Kavitha and I write The Sandalwood Box blog to express my interests in the arts and crafts, do-it-yourself projects, family and memories, traditions and culture, and all things old world.  I love being creative and adding a bit of ‘me’ to all things around me and to all things I create. Inspiration strikes and I embrace the call to make that idea into an actuality. I would say I have a contemporary outlook but rooted in tradition. 

            All my pieces and work draw inspiration and ideas from my love for the ethnic arts and crafts, the elaborate detailing of old world life. Invariably while working I find a connect between these pieces and some real life experience or memory. I find it very enriching and soul satisfying to make a connection with my Indian heritage through the creation of these pieces. Some of the pieces I make are a handmade representation of the richness, opulence, the majesty, or simply the colors, and a humble representation of the lost art of the handicraft and intricate artistry. Historical periods have an alluring and charming appeal for me.

         Some other pieces are a result of inspirations from old family photo albums and the recollections of my childhood. And these pieces are more nostalgic with a touch of Indian culture. It is a reminiscing of the memories of my childhood. Hopefully reading these memories of mine will strike a chord in you and remind you of your own precious memories with family.

         I am very much a self-taught artist. I started out painting fabric for stoles, place mats, napkins, and cushion covers. I learnt cross stitch, needle point, and crochet very young. I made comic strip books collecting cuttings from Sunday newspapers and hand sewing the binding. Since then I have developed naturally a variety of skills that grows and shines more as I put more of my own character into my work.

       Although I have embraced a new place and culture as my home, I have held on a connection to my roots and my work and interests are a way I get to express this. My work has evolved into a vast variety of balanced looks combining my roots and my life now. 

        As a child; every time my grandmother, mother or aunts opened their Sandalwood boxes; I remember waiting impatiently and excitedly, eager to find out what might be in there, in anticipation that maybe they would let me keep something as they took out things one by one. I remember the love and the sentiments of that moment and the value of that memory years on today. You can read more about it in my blog post titled "Keepsakes". I hope my blog is somewhat like that; igniting in you an excitement and anticipation to see what else I bring out.

I hope you enjoy your time here at my blog and come back often.