D.I.D.C.R.A.P.

Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It’s been 6 months since my last blog post!

At an impromptu reunion, one of my medical batchmates (Class of ’76) remarked that I hadn’t posted a blog in quite a while.

When I pulled the shutters on my Medical Practice 2 years ago, high on my DIDCRAP (Dr. Ian D’Souza’s Checklist for Retirement Activity Plan) was churning out posts to populate my blog.

Reviewing my webpage’s stats was both dismaying and satisfying. Dismaying because I failed to stick to the plan. The fact that I’ve been busy with several other equally inconsequential activities certainly elicited a very warm glow of satisfaction.

And now – taaa daaa (that’s a drum roll in case you were wondering) – there’s a new bum on the block…

Mosaic Art.

As in any other undertaking, no matter how pointless, important decisions have to be locked at the very outset. These will determine not only the final outcome but also the path followed in achieving it.

Selecting a theme. How large will it be. Is it to be framed to be hung indoors or can it be done in Mumbai and transported to Goa where I have the option of burying it in a wall or the floor or even in the garden.

Based on the above further choices need to be made regarding backing, tessera, glue and type and colour of the final grout.

As in Life, there are no fixed rules when it comes to art. In my very first mosaic (the Tickell’s blue flycatcher above), I started off using beautiful sheets of stained glass and wound up finishing it with cheap glass triangles that derived their colour from the paint on the back. Was it perfect? Hell no! The thickness and look was completely different but it was my piece and so my decision and to hell with the rules!

I’ve made a few mosaics since then and, again, as in any piece of art, I have come to realise that there are a few key elements that catch the viewers attention. If you spend time to get those as close to perfect as possible, completing the rest often turns out to be a piece of cake.

In the case of the painting of a pair of pups (acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 18″). The key elements (in my very amateur opinion I’ll be the first to admit) were the eyes and noses and I took my time and really struggled to get them as well as I could. That done, the rest followed with much less effort.

Below is a partially completed mosaic of a rufous tree pie in a background of criss-crossing palm leaves.

I’d like to think that I am at a similar stage in real life.

The key elements both in the mosaic and in my life are done and dusted.

They are nowhere near perfect, but I got to this point with sincerity and on my terms, taking pains to conform to the underlying pattern and stay within the ‘lines’.

Be that as it may, I do believe that I am now at the threshold of what can only be described as ‘the fun part’. That of filling in the other sections. At my own pace. Even having earned the right to ignore the original pattern and, however clumsily, plough my way on my own path. Concentrating solely on enjoying the placement of each piece of glass without stressing on how it will affect the grandeur of the final result.

Grantland Rice couldn’t have put the concept any better in his famous lines…

For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes—not that you won or lost—but how you played the Game.

( Completed glass mosaic: ‘Rufous treepie & palm leaves’ 30″ x 20″ done on glass fibre netting.)