Waxing the Canvas

“Once you’ve mastered working with the basic elements of the medium,the sky is the limit,” says Tatake,who picked up the knowhow of encaustic paintings from the internet in 2007 and held his first exhibition with the medium three years later. The solvent for encaustic paint,rather than water or turpentine,is heat. Each colour of wax paint is melted,applied to the surface of the painting,and reheated to fuse the paint into a smooth or textured finish.

After completing a diploma programme from the JJ School of Arts in 1952,Tatake went on to work as a photographer at the Botanical Survey of India till 1960. He quit his job to freelance as an artist for various magazines and companies in the industrial sector in and around Pune. He also held several exhibitions of batik,watercolour and acrylic colours paintings.

Painting,he says,is integral to his life and he paints every day using media ranging from watercolour and acrylic to coloured wax sticks. “There is no age to learn something new. Life itself is a learning experience and I would love to explore new art forms till my senses are intact,” says Tatake.

Tatake has a passion of sharing his knowledge with other art enthusiasts. He has trained over 2000 students in screen painting and held several workshops on batik painting. Having witnessed the changing face of art through his life,Tatake feels that art is losing its personal touch. “Everything has a digital edge nowadays. I remember the time when computers were only used for office work and accounts. But now it is extensively used for art as well as photography. It is the changing trend,but I feel that art is something that is personal and must be creative,” he says.

Describing one of his paintings that has a face of a woman with a bindi on her forehead and short curly hair,he says,“It symbolises the present day working women of India,she is strong,independent,adorns herself but is also practical.” Tatake says that he conciously gives a significant meaning to all his creations including the abstracts. For instance,a close glance at one of his abstract art frames would only appear to be a melenge of colourful textered strokes but when you take a few steps back and give it a second look,what you see is a pigeon resting on a branch of a tree.