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Journalism of Courage
Anuradha Kalia is one person who is completely absorbed in fine arts. For years she was retailing outfits of the Nalini boutique from Delhi. But very few knew that she was an artist as well. Her interest in art goes back to the days at St. Mary8217;s Convent Allahabad, where under the private tutelage of the German Mother Eukharia she obtained a diploma at the young age of 13 years from the Royal Academy of Arts, London. She continued her training in painting while doing her graduation from Government College, Amritsar. All through college she spent four hours every evening perfecting the art of painting.
While the rest of her college mates simply studied, Anuradha earned all her pocket money by painting sarees, suits, and duppattas. Between fabric painting and doing water colours she also did vocal music for her undergraduate studies, with distinction. And earlier at Allahabad she learnt Kathak dance from the Prayag school.
8220;Ever since I was a child I wanted to paint all the gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon, and Baba gave me a chance to realise my desire.8221; She has done the illustration for a book which is soon to be published, written by a German, all the drawings have been executed by Anuradha. Each alphabet has been illustrated by her according to her own interpretation.
D for Durga, astride a tiger, is a beautiful image where minuteness of detail, be it the saree border of the goddess or the jewellery adorning the goddess, is a visual delight. W for the wheel has an ornate delicate wheel as in the chariot wheel from Konark, in which the spokes of the wheel are adorned with different deities, the centre being adorned by the Sun God. All the 26 alphabets are imaginatively conceived and easily comprehensible by even very young children, for whom the book is targeted. It is a spiritual guide for children studying at the Sai Baba institute.
Inspired by the ancient Indian approach towards fine arts Anuradha even today follows the very same approach. 8220;Purity of the heart, and a mental discipline are of primary importance for me when I am preparing for this exhibtion.8221; These days she is busy working like one possessed, to mount a unique show which is to open at the Piccadily hotel on the October 10. She is experimenting with her latest idea, of placing icons of various deities within special wooden Kerala frames. There are a variety of frames, both in size and design. Each frame is hand crafted. Within the frame a hand painted backdrop is placed, and on top of the painting an image of the deity is placed.
The paintings have been done on chart paper, the medium used is water colours. The colour palette varies from warm browns to deep greens and vibrant shades of purple and red. 8220;I never copy. Though I may get my inspirations from different designs for the backdrop, I have used traditional motifs, rangoli patterns, which I am very fond of, geometric shapes and even European floral motifs8221;
Anuradha works in a systematic manner. 8220;I do not have a studio. Since I have also to do my housework, some of the simpler designs I so in between my household chores, but the more intricate work is done late at night when I am completely free from domestic duties.8221; First she draws her designs with a pencil, which she then finishes with a pen. After this she gets the designs photocopied and then painstakingly fills in the colours.
For the background she normally uses water colours, and for finishing the motifs she uses whatever suits her fancy. It can be crayons, sketch pens, or even colour pencils. Anuradha loves to embellish her work with beads, nalkis, gold and silver, something which spills over to her fabric designs. Ganesha is her favourite, and she has done various images of Ganesha. Inside the wooden frames, the deities placed are mostly of plaster of Paris, over which she has used different shades of enamel paint to give a specific look.The use of enamel paint has given the plaster of Paris images a completely changed look, more in consonance to the wooden frames. All through Anuradha listens to bhajans, which she says give her inspiration.
