Kalamkari

K A L A M K A R I - an artform from Andhra Pradesh. It basically refers to paintings done by hand. Kalam as the word itself means "Pen" and Kari means a kind of craft. In ancient days, the art was practiced to decorate temples and likewise the inspiration came from mythology and ancient texts. The designs comprises of Gods, demons, women, men, flowers, animals and so on. The colours used in Kalamkari are exquisite earthy tones of reds, blues, greens, yellows and browns. The fabrics are washed multiple times during the entire process of painting and hence they become soft and earthy. 

We at Swades Creations only have the ones done in natural organic dyes and not the chemical colours - hence the fabrics would appear earthy and rustic.

Some of the colours and dyes used are:

1. Jaggery with Rusted iron filings and water gives black outlines for the fabric.

3. Natural Indigo produces Blue.

4. Golden yellow comes from pomegranate peels

5. Alum mixed with water gives out Grey.

Cow milk is an important component in the entire process. It is used to highlight any colour. Infact one of the ways to identify authentic Kalamkari is smell of cow milk that comes from the fabric. Also the handpainted ones will always have some irregularities as compared to the printed ones and these imperfections are the real beauty that comes with each piece.