For all you stained glass art lovers, I would like to share another discovery. Glasshopper, a stained glass art studio in Defence Colony, Indira Nagar, is close to the Glasscrafter’s studio I featured last week. I’ve not visited Glasshopper in person, so  it’s tough to talk about their products with the same conviction. Glasshopper’s portfolio is not as extensive as that of Glasscrafter’s since it’s only a year old. Though the studio claims to specialize in Tiffany-styled glass lampshades, it’s portfolio is diverse. Here are a couple that I found impressive, but I’m not sure if it’s stained glass or painting on glass as the textures are not clearly visible:

Chinese Calligraphy

Peacock Panel

Edited to add:

(this section was missing in my original post, so I’ve added)

Image courtesy: Glasshopper’s)

After doing a couple store/studio tours, I’m returning to my first love - gardening. Thanks to Natti, I discovered the nursery at Jeeven Bhima Nagar in Bangalore. Managed by physically challenged people, the nursery is well planned, maintained and customer-friendly. In absolutely no hurry to rush back home last Saturday morning, I indulged myself looking at the plants. Over to you all now

Flowering plants:

The nursery stocks only basic flowering plants as of now. According to the manager, they should be getting more of the Gloxinias, Star clusters, Passion flower and Petunias by this weekend.

Frangipani

Hibiscus

Roses

What I liked about the nursery:

If you are a novice gardener like me, these are questions you will relate to. Do I need to water everyday? Will this plant require too much sunlight? Will it grow well in semi-shade? Sometimes, our questions tend to irritate the nursery folks. This nursery solves that formidable selection problem for us. The nursery is segregated into three sections: full sun, semi-shade and full-shade. Every plant in each section, is further labeled with its name and price making it a lot easier to choose. If you still have any doubts, the folks are pretty helpful and knowledgeable.

Price is another talking point of the nursery. For instance, you can get an aloe vera plant for Rs.15 or a lilly for Rs. 50.

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Nestled in the by-lanes of Indira Nagar is a studio named “Glasscrafters“. Glasscrafters was started by Asad Hajeebhoy originally in 1991 in Bombay, followed by a four year stint in Muscat, Oman,and finally at Bangalore in 1996.  A physicist by education, Asad pursued stained glass as a hobby to take it up full-time in 1996.

Glasscrafters, Bangalore

Contrary to most Indian interior decor sites, Glasscrafters is well-designed replete with product pictures, portfolio, and course and service offerings. But, I still prefer to visit any studio/store in person to feel the pulse of the place.

A brief chit-chat on last Wednesday evening with Asad on art of stained glass was an eye-opener for me.  Tucked away from the hustle-bustle of 80 feet road,  Asad’s studio-cum-home is a flurry of activity with clients walking in, a designer working on some new project, materials spewn around, and finally, Asad talking about his passion for stained glass totally unfazed by his surroundings.  He demystifies the common perception that stained glass art is painting done on glass. In reality, there is no painting. Stained glass works are actually different pieces of colored glasses joined together with a copper foil to create a jigsaw-like piece of work.

According to Asad, his business broke even within 3 months of starting. Initially, he got his assignments primarily through references. The fact that there were no suppliers of stained glass materials in India back then made it a challenge. Mainly people who lived abroad placed an order for a specific piece. They brought the glass and materials with them for Asad to create. Word spread and now Glasscrafters has a impressive portfolio of over 2,000 projects. 90% of them are residential including some well-known ones such as Rishi Kapoor’s Mumbai residence.

A wide ranged of glasses are used such as wavy, wispy, opalesecent for the swirls and streaks, cathedral, streaky, textured, baroque, antique, and jewel.

Stained glass lampshade

A decade later, things have changed for the better. Glasscrafters is now a stockist for Spectrum glass.  The amount of  work involved in making every piece is mind-boggling. So, there’s nothing called a bulk order. A single piece or 100 pieces, to create each piece, small pieces of different colored glasses will have to be cut individually and joined together.

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So, shall we get started? The first in the Store Tour series is “Confluence” art store on the Jeevan Bhima Nagar main road. For folks who’ve been living in and around Indira Nagar with a slight inclination towards home decor, I’m sure you would’ve noticed this store next to Ek Bote furniture showroom. But, may be you’ve never stepped inside.

I know you are waiting to drool over the images. But, hold on. A little bit about the store owner first.

Parul Saraff, a trained interior designer from South Delhi Polytechnic for Women, started Confluence in 2000. After getting married in 2000, she moved from Delhi to Bangalore. It’s been 10 years since. Parul beams when she says she manages two babies now: her two-and-half year old daughter and Confluence.

I was intrigued by the name Confluence for which Parul said, the store doesn’t confine itself to any one art like Worli, glass or Tanjore painting. Since the store houses all kinds of art and she mixes a bit of everything in her creations, she felt there couldn’t be a better name than Confluence.

This will be a two part series with tomorrow’s post being exclusively about murals.

You get a taste of what to expect inside from the decor outside the store.

Confluence at Indira Nagar, Bangalore

What does the store sell:

Shall we step inside now? Confluence takes custom orders for name boards, murals, gift items, pottery and paintings. The theme for Murals vary from traditional and tribal settings to  abstract and kids-based cartoon characters.

Name boards

What I liked:

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If there is one room in the house where the concepts are changing for ever, it has to be the children’s rooms.  Some characters like Barbie and Spider Man linger on; they were there in the 80’s, are there now and I’, sure you will find them even in 2032. While others like Disney characters or Noddy make way for newer ones. There is no dearth of new Doras, racing cars and Dinosaurs in the world of fantasy.

As a parent, I’m sure one is all too eager when it comes to decorating their kid’s rooms more than their own. With no restrictions on colors, themes, plenty of moolah, and a plethora of ready-made options available in today’s home stores, it’s a fun activity!

Wallpaper Mural

Childspace is one of the kid’s concept stores I like in Bangalore. They stock a wide range of bunk beds with varied storage options, attached study units and matching wardrobes. A visit to their store is a treat to the eyes. Not quite compact, but most of their beds can be accommodated in today’s apartments. Childspace opened a new store in Marathahalli on the Outer Ring Road a few months ago. However, I happened to stop by only last evening.There, I found this series of wallpaper from Walltatstic, a UK based company that specializes in murals. Walltastic murals are marketed in India through Kankids ( I don’t have their number). Childspace stocks very few of these murals while the rest can be obtained by placing an order.

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