Madras, sunsets, tribute to pets: Artists up their game with 2022 calendars – DTNext

Do you believe that opening yourself to simple little things of everyday life can create magical experiences? And what if it’s effortless and available for everyone every single day? Artist Akshayaa Selvaraj’s postcard calendar for 2022 is a confetti of sunsets around the world from the rainbow bridge. “The 2022 calendar that I have designed is an invitation to experience the immersion of different sunsets around the world with the unconditional love and warmth of the furbabies and fish babies across the rainbow bridge and earth. Each month is dedicated to different sunsets from the mountains of Ooty to snow sunset from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also includes the rare volcanic eruption sunset at the Fagradalsfjall mountain on the Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland, dedicating it to the beautiful kitty, Datu. Each month includes a sunset tracker, period day tracker and other interesting prompts with simple activities to create those tiny magical shifts,” says Akshayaa.

In the sixth year of making tangible art calendars, she has included the same values and vision of creating transformation and making it sustainable. “After every month, the unique illustrated sunsets can be sent across as a postcard, framed as a decor, sent as a gift with multiple options of recreating the purpose. It includes a sheet of stickers with blank address labels that can be stuck onto the back of the card and sent as a postcard to your loved ones. You can get creative and pass on the sunset tracker and share your experience with anyone by sending this illustrated card. You can also use the leftover cutouts for your art journals and reflect on your experiences end of the year,” the artist explains.

Her calendar is truly focused on tapping into art therapy and creative expression as well. “It includes everyday simple activities of checking with emotions and regulating them through colours and feeling sensations,” Akshayaa tells DT Next.

Last year, architect and artist Srishti Prabhakar created a calendar that’s inspired by Madras. This time, she doesn’t want to stick to a theme because there are many aspects of Madras she wanted to cover. “It is an A5-sized tabletop calendar that comes with a set of stickers and postcards as a bundle. It’s titled ‘an ode to my Madras’ and has a collection of my Madras-based art that I have done in the past two years. Some of the months have artwork related to that particular month. For eg, for September month, I have depicted a paati selling fish at a market near the beach. The sky would be cloudy because it is just before the October rains. December month is always associated with Margazhi music season. So, for that month, I have included gaana, folk music which deserves an equal stage and representation,” says Srishti Prabhakar.

Artistick’s calendar, Made In Mad-Ras reminds the best of the past. “Call it Chennai or Madras, there are chances that you’ll fall in love with this city almost without realising you have. It may have been renamed Chennai in 1996, but traces of old Madras remain in its wealth of architectural treasures. Through this calendar, I aim to bring back the nostalgia of the past and let people reconnect to Madras, the city of heritage and history. The artwork in the calendar is about things that Madras is popular about and some quirks about the city,” says the artist behind Artistick.