Girija Hariharan @2flatbrush

Girija Hariharan @2flatbrush

When I wanted to do something related to art, I just looked around me for ways in which I could include it in my life. Giving up a comfortable job, it was time to network, meet artists and conduct workshops in art, in collaboration with artists. It was in one such collaboration that I met and was introduced to Girija Hariharan by my friend, Preethi Prabhu. And we could instantly connect. Every time I meet her, I am in awe of her. You will be too, when you read of her journey and understand all that is Girija @2flatbrush. No wonder all her paintings call to me….her thoughts and emotions translated to vibrant colours and forms.
Girija @2flatbrush

Girija @2flatbrush with her mural in the background

Strings of heritage- What was your ambition as you were growing up?

Girija @2flatbrush- I always used to wonder about children living in railway stations, pavements and under bridges when I was a kid. I had made up my mind around my tween years, to provide a safe and secure place for them to be educated and provided for, when I grow up. When I had a chance to return to India after my education and work stint abroad, I hastily started a foster home for kids and ran it for a while despite being quite naive and inexperienced.

Girija @2flatbrush
Girija @2flatbrush Pic Credit- Preethiprabhu
Strings of heritage- What changed and how did you plan the way ahead when the orphanage was no longer feasible?

Girija @2flatbrush- In Karnataka, the orphan children are given to government institutions. Private institutions like my ‘Annai Charitable trust’, would be given single-parent kids who can’t afford good living conditions. The kids I was given by the child welfare committee for my foster home, had a mother and she simply wasn’t able to support them. As the kids started missing their mom, I realised I was making orphans in order to run an orphanage. It was during my foster home experience that I realised it was important to see the big picture and help others the way they wanted to be helped, not the way I wanted to help them. So I let go of the foster idea and sponsored the education of those kids and they were happily resettled with their mother. From then on, for the past 14 years, with the helpful donors of my trust, I have been sponsoring at least 10-12 single-parent and orphan kids each year to complete their education. I am very proud of each one of those kids. Some have moved on to jobs after their degrees and are inclined to help other kids like themselves. I have some big things planned and have been saving up for it, to launch in a couple of years.

Girija @2flatbrush

Girija @2flatbrush Pic credit -Preethiprabhu

Strings of heritage- Was art always part of your life?

Girija @2flatbrush- Yes! Strangely enough Art has followed me everywhere, and sneaked up on me at the right time 🙂 I used to scribble a lot of colors on walls and floors from a very young age. My mom’s idea of baby-sitting was to give us (me and my brother) a bunch of sheets and pencils and color pencils and we would be occupied for hours. An artist who lived opposite our house was my inspiration to draw and paint. I used to watch him work with great focus and it was meditative. Incidentally he used to paint on walls too!
I had been painting a lot in my college, three hours a day during our cultural programs, and made some lifelong friends there. Every pleasant memory I have, is associated with some art in the mainstream or background. We used to paint humongous posters and backdrops and I was in love with big canvases and larger than life artworks. I always had a painting brush in my handbag, for as long as I had a handbag. I am not sure I ever used it, but it was the universe’s plan for me, I guess.

Strings of heritage- How did you make the transition from software engineer to an artist?

Girija @2flatbrush- It wasn’t a planned transition. It developed organically. When I did my first mural for my home I just put out a Facebook post asking for volunteers to lend me their walls for mural practice. Strangely enough I had a taker and I did my second mural and I started considering mural art as an alternate career. Meanwhile I was more and more dissatisfied with my job. When it got to be too much, I just decided to quit the company. I was thinking of going solo or start my own firm. I still love technology and I keep myself up-to-date

Girija @2flatbrush

Girija @2flatbrush Pic credit -Preethiprabhu

Strings of heritage- Was it a planned change or sudden?

Girija @2flatbrush- As soon as I drafted my resignation, I remember going to a job portal site to look for alternate jobs in freelancing. I must have spent five minutes and I got incredibly weary of reading the same job descriptions over and over again. It was then that it struck me, ‘I could be a mural artist!’ It was a no-brainer, as I had the initiative, interest and some basic experience for me to build upon! I didn’t even have three or four pictures for my Facebook page for 2flatbrush:) when I started. It was a crazy adrenaline rush and I launched my business on Facebook. I had steered away from everything comfortable, in just a couple of days. I remember brainstorming with my friends about the name of the business. We had several favorites. There was this brush in my college that I had reserved for painting, it was an ugly flat brush which used to be blue, and I loved it to bits. And it came to my mind at the right time. I looked at the brush in my handbag, and it was size 2, Flat.

Girija @2flatbrush

Girija @2flatbrush Pic credit -Preethiprabhu

Strings of heritage- Did you get the support of family when you decided on the transition? What were the challenges you faced?

Girija @2flatbrush- They were already used to my spontaneous decisions, I guess. My parents were used to me, but this time I had in-laws! They were super supportive as well. There were apprehensions from my near and dear ones, but there was encouragement all around. Everyone for some reason already knew I would be a good artist. Even if they hadn’t seen my works! My husband for one was so excited and there was not an iota of doubt in his mind. I have a great friend circle, and a great family who support me in everything I do.

Girija @2flatbrush

Girija @2flatbrush Pic credit- Preethiprabhu

Strings of heritage- When you look back today, would you have done something differently with your life,education or decisions?

Girija @2flatbrush- I would probably be more polite and less rowdier I guess 🙂 Art has softened me and made me much more empathetic than I ever was. I wouldn’t revise any of my decisions or education.

Strings of heritage- How do you decide on what to paint next when it is not a commissioned work?

Girija @2flatbrush- It is not a decision, it is just coming into being, I think. I believe I am a medium, and the paintings flow through me, not from me. I have lots and lots of ideas that always come to me while day-dreaming:) I note some of them down, forget many, and forget what the note is about sometimes too! I read a lot, and I am tuned into many social issues as well, and it inspires me and gives me a lot of new ideas all the time. I want to paint every day, and I never run out of ideas. If I ever feel out of my element a quick meet up with my friends or a good book will put me right back in my studio.

Girija @2flatbrush

Girija @2flatbrush Pic credit- Preethiprabhu

Strings of heritage- Why do you love murals?

Girija @2flatbrush- Firstly, because it shares five letters with my husband Murali. 🙂 I know it’s a tacky answer, but maybe there’s a pattern to how the universe matches us with things.

Jokes apart, I have always been an introvert, and I get intimidated by outgoing, confident and assertive people. Large paintings are a way to assert myself, it’s my little way of showcasing who I want to be. Little things blown up larger than life give us a unique perspective on things, and give us a sense of wonder. I think any artist looks for this wonder, ‘elusive wonder’ that we try and package into music, dance or art.

Strings of heritage- Your favourite subject to paint?

Girija @2flatbrush- I am forever obsessed with faces and hands. I love thoughtful paintings that add layers to it than just a visual appeal.

Strings of heritage- Any favourite medium ?

Girija @2flatbrush- Acrylic for life. On everything. (Canvas, walls, doors, skin)

Girija @2flatbrush

Girija @2flatbrush Pic credit- Preethiprabhu

Strings of heritage- Your thoughts on experiments in art, your favourite artist and contemporary art.

Girija @2flatbrush- I am so psyched about art installations. Larger than life art installations that just literally make you walk in to the art. I love amalgamation of several art forms and collaboration of artists.
There’s no single favorite. But I love the lines of MF Hussain, the fearless Frida Kahlo, Acrylic techniques of Milind Nayak, an old man in Jayanagar who doesn’t sell his works but just wants to express himself in inks, and displays art just for pleasure, my brother who was the first portrait artist I knew, and a million others I follow on Instagram who inspire me every day. I love oil painters who have the patience to layer and glaze. I love a lot of illustrators and comics who comment on social issues relentlessly. Most of all, I love sculptures and our traditional nameless painters of Indian Historic murals of all religions.

Strings of heritage– Do you think an education in art is relevant to ones success?

Girija @2flatbrush- Success is a dicey term. It is set by one self. I don’t see art as a means to an end. Art is itself success, to be able to express yourself creatively is a success, and to package wonder is a success. Art itself is an education. Having said that,I see tremendous improvement in my work in the last three years working full time. So if art education lets you practice for years, I am all for it. I am for anything that’s a focused approach to practice your craft without you having to look over your shoulder for validation all the time. So a formal education is both bad and good in some ways.

Strings of heritage- Where do you see yourself five years down the line in terms of your evolution as an artist?

Girija @2flatbrush- I have my cake and I am eating it too. In five years, I want to be able to do what I am doing right now:) Live, love and paint! If I am able to bring about some social awareness through some public art, it will be the cherry on the cake.

Girija @2flatbrush

Draupadi, the five elements expressing her life and emotions

Strings of heritage- Any advice that you could give from your own experience? Be it in terms of changing career tracks, to art or otherwise. This is especially so as any change comes with its own challenges.

Girija @2flatbrush- I am not a big fan of advice. Giving or taking. But these are what worked for me.

  1. Integrity. Do what you say. Say what you do.
  2. Build a network. You can’t sit around in your studio if you are making life changing decisions.
  3. Trust yourself. Be your own warrior, even if you stumble.
  4. Learn relentlessly.
  5. If you are changing careers don’t expect comfort. If you want comfort go back to your old job.
  6. Be comfortable with your finances. You might earn less than, or minimum wages (there’s no such thing in India, another political issue) for a long while. You should be ok with cutting down costs while you are building a client base.

 

Thank you Girija,for sharing so much of yourself with us.

Girija @2flatbrush
And that was Girija @2flatbrush for you. You can follow her work @2flatbrush in instagram and facebook. If you want to contribute towards educating a child, contact Girija on her profile.

Write to me and share your thoughts or challenges you faced with transition.

Lots of Twinkles to all of you.

Anupama

Museum of Goa

Museum of Goa

The idea was not to go to a museum. It was just another beach holiday. Though we were born and brought up literally next to the beach, once you uproot yourself and live elsewhere, the beach has a special pull. And with a five year old, reason goes right out of the window…otherwise who in their right senses thinks of a beach at 11 in the morning? Well to cut the long story short, we just gave in to her demands and set off for the beach.
Museum of Goa - A must visit

Museum of Goa

At the intersection to Calangute beach, we see a board ‘Museum of Goa’ History of Goa through contemporary art..five minutes away. Well, guess what? We take a detour. I think so much like life…you set out with a plan but life offers you an unexpected choice and you change your mind. Everything happens for a reason. The Museum changed the way I saw art and especially contemporary art. I think just like the artist Subodh Kerkar, whose work is displayed at the museum, I have to start educating myself on how to interpret this beautiful medium of expression.
Museum of Goa

Museum of Goa

A holiday in Goa cannot be complete without a visit to this museum. Right from social, economic, religious and emotional aspects, it explores Goa through the medium of the ocean, shells, coconuts, chillies, laterite stones, indigo dyes and all that has shaped, transformed and made Goa, the Goa we all know. Subodh Kerkar’s work explores the many social, economic, emotional layers of Goa and the Goans. Also on display are works by other artists …..
Museum of Goa

Museum of Goa

Museum of Goa

Museum of Goa

The video happening in the auditorium gives us a glimpse into the artists mind and motivation. Subodh Kerkar is a successful doctor turned to watercolour artist to an ocean artist working in contemporary art and art installations. His work speaks of his evolution and inturn helps us evolve and learn. I especially loved the different formations by the fishermen as a boat, a fish demonstrating their oneness with the ocean. Their life and fortune is entwined with the ocean and the tides. This depiction totally moves an empathetic audience.
Museum of Goa

Museum of Goa

Museum of Goa

Museum of Goa

Then there was the collaboration with the ocean….sounds wierd right? How can an artist collaborate with nature or something as vast as an ocean? The artist Subodh Kerkar, deposited antique ceramic plates in cages on the ocean bed and after months when they were retrieved, they had oysters and pearls on them.
Art For Kids

Art For Kids

I follow the ritual of making resolutions every December to promptly break them …say by mid march or so? But this year it was different because 2017 was a little different. How different you may ask…For one thing, I started my blog ‘Strings Of Heritage’ which has opened up a new world for me. A world that is beyond a salary and a 9 to 5 job. It’s the world I love, interacting with people who love and live art, writing about them and their work. So this December I was just chalking out the next few blogs and then my tag line just struck me…. ‘passing on the legacy’. Was I really doing that? Not really. So I did not make elaborate plans or resolutions, but just started working on how I could take art and make it art for kids.
Madhubani Art For Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art For Kids An Introduction

And my dear daughter was all there to help me out. I would just try something and ask her to try her hand at it. This was how I conceptualized and started my journey with children and art. ‘Madhubani Art for Kids – An Introduction’ was my first project as Madhubani Art is something I totally love and have been doing for quite some time now. Having done this on the wall many times over, I felt it was just the right folk art to start with. Sankalpa Montessori School with its sprawling premises right in the heart of Vijayanagar was a God sent venue. I keep counting my blessings in this regard, Ms. Jyothi Chetan the Principal has been very generous and supportive.
Madhubani Art for Kids

Madhubani Art for Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art For Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art For Kids An Introduction

So minus the resolutions and with just five days of planning, brainstorming with my friend Kavitha, and experimentation I started the day of the workshop full of trepidation on how the day would turn out. Would the parents and children share my love for this folk art? (Doubts, I say) As I started telling the children about Bihar and the beauty of Madhubani, my anxiety was forgotten. I could feel their keen interest and excitement on seeing the piece they would all do that day. Luckily for me, my friends Jyothi Adithya and Sahana pitched in as participants started coming in. Sandeep Nayak was all ready to click away as the kids were busy doing their masterpiece.
Madhubani Art For Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art For Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art for Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art for Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art for Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art for Kids An Introduction

And you know the best part about the workshop? Seeing the parents as immersed in the colours as the children, seeing the joy and sense of accomplishment on the children’s faces was pure fulfillment for me. It was not just art for kids but a beautiful bonding experience for the parents. Tiny tots as small as two and half years right upto twelve years enjoyed working with the colours and Madhubani. And I could see many parents totally oblivious to everything except getting the outline right. Little Mihika who was very sure about the colours she wanted , Srishti who liked green, Nihal who wanted to draw some more, Stuti who liked orange, Aarav who wanted to make sure that the final painting was perfect, the names are many and so are the memories. Each child so special in all that they express and the way they do it. I couldn’t stop smiling for two days straight, just remembering these children. They don’t need to be taught to draw…they just need to be introduced to our rich heritage of culture and art.
Madhubani Art for Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art for Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art For Kids An Introduction

Madhubani Art For Kids An Introduction

This is joy. Being able to write about it and plan the next workshop is joy. Knowing what your life is about is joy. Finding my piece of heaven is joy.

Lots of Twinkles to all of you.

Anu

Terracotta Artist Venki Palimar

Terracotta Artist Venki Palimar

Flashback-

The last time I visited Venki’s (He is Venkataraman Kamath but known to everyone as Venki Palimar) terracotta workshop was twenty years ago. When he had just started out and I was in college. He was a friend’s cousin and I was very interested in art. I remember when we got down from the bus, he was waiting for us and took us home through what seemed a jungle at that time. But now, it’s all changed. With broad roads and areas marked, finding the gallery in Palimar was easy peasy (That’s my daughter’s slang for you!). His mother’s got great memory. She remembered me from back then (I am sure I have changed quite a bit from then!!) and insisted I have lunch with them. So it was more like catching up with all that happened in the last twenty years with terracotta artist Venki Palimar.

Buddhists Monks in terracotta Venki Palimar

Buddhists Monks in terracotta by Venki Palimar.They inspire peace and contentment.

Early morning, before going to school, he would get some clay from the fields and make small Ganapathis out of them. He would hide them and go off to school. But his grandfather knew of this hobby and would look for the day’s Ganapathy and immerse it in the well( as clay Ganapathis were only to be done during Ganesh chaturthi and had to be worshipped according to rituals). The young boy would return from school and cry for the lost Ganapathy. In school his books used to be filled with drawings and science was his favourite subject because, that was where he was required to draw! With a reason like that he was bound to study art. Venki fondly remembers Mr. K V Bhat, the Principal at Junior College Palimar who told him about the art course in Udupi and refused to take his application for college.
Venki's Fascination for Ganapathi continues. Chitralaya art gallery
Venki’s Fascination for Ganapathi continues.
Vraksha Ganapathy by Venki palimar in terracotta
Vraksha Ganapathy by Venki palimar in terracotta is going to the USA
The Beginning-

No man is an island and all our struggles are witnessed. When Venki realized that his calling was in moulding clay and terracotta, Venki pursued it with great passion. Mr. Balram Bhat, a well wisher, helped him expand his vision. He helped him get more exposure through books, exhibitions attended by him and any terracotta work that he came across, he shared with Venki. It was this selfless interest on Mr. Balram Bhat’s part that helped him improve on his vision and imagination, shaping him into the Terracotta artist Venki Palimar. In his spare time, he would go along with an artist friend for rock climbing, a rock by the name of Nimmipade near Adve. His own struggle to master the art, achieve in life and his experience while climbing the rock has inspired him to do a series on rock climbing. Though he shares this with me, he says he prefers the viewer to have his own interpretation.

Rock climbing in terracotta by Venki Palimar
Rock climbing in terracotta by Venki Palimar. Struggle to reach the top.
But baking the life sized art pieces presented a problem when many of his art pieces would not survive the process. He was clearly disheartened as his work needed to withstand the ‘agnipareeksha’ (test of the fire) at the baking kiln to be a success. Even when the tile factory closed down, he continued working in the medium, until there was no more space in the house to walk around. At this point he came across another mentor, Ramakrishna Kamath who owned Uma tile factory in Hejmady. He visited Venki and asked him to use his tile factory for baking. From then on, there has been no looking back. He uses the same tile factory for baking even to this day and not a single piece has been damaged (It takes 15 days of baking to be ready). With this, his art received a new lease of life. Mr. Ramesh Rao, an artist of international repute from Udupi has also been his staunch supporter and I remember Venki’s work being displayed in Drishya Gallery Udupi (And drooling over a rooster fruit bowl in terracotta by Venki).
A couple depicting rural life in terracotta by Venki palimar
A couple depicting rural life in terracotta
Working as an art teacher in a School, his students love his enthusiasm for art and he is generous with his knowledge. The proof for this is his favourite and longtime student Laren Pinto. This young boy was sent to Venkati at the age of six to learn drawing and more importantly, to be kept out of mischief. But Venki soon realized his potential in terracotta and trained him. A very shy child, he lets his work do the talking. When I met him, I could see the close bond between the teacher and the student. Laren who is now 14, has won the national award(Rashtriya Vibhushan Rashtra Prashasthi and many more awards) and Venki is mighty pleased with his dedication. Venki especially values it as he himself became a terracotta artist without a teacher. It was a long process of trial and error, understanding the medium, the patrons and blending it with his vision. 
Venki Palimar with award winning student Laren Pinto
Venki Palimar with award winning student Laren Pinto
A sample of Laren Pinto's work in terracotta with Venki Palimar
A sample of Laren Pinto’s work in terracotta

When I ask him about inspiration, he says that he finds it everywhere. In the people around him, their expressions and the different reactions that people have. When he says that he sees everything around him from the perspective of capturing it in terracotta, I can quite understand. Nowadays anything that I see, I feel “Yes! This is something I can write about”. Life has become so much more interesting this way.

Rural life appeals to him the greatest, and he has portrayed it in the farmers, school children and the local culture, be it Bhootaradhane, the lambanis or the masks. Not to forget his roots, “After all this is what I grew up with”, says Terracotta artist Venki Palimar.

Bhootaradhane Ravana in terracotta at Chitralaya Art gallery by Venki Palimar
Bhootaradhane, Character applying make-up in terracotta
Hamara Bajaj series, remembering the good old days of the scooter
Hamara Bajaj series, remembering the good old days of the scooter
Now his subjects, more often than not are nature based and this old tree holds a unique appeal. Cut off but he seems to be deep in thought, and birds make do with him. In fact he had some visitors to the gallery today and when I asked them for their feedback, here is what Deepthi had to say. “Everybody just loved it. Especially the expressions captured by the terracotta artist Venki Palimar were awesome. Our favourite piece was the tree which was cut off and deep in thought, with birds on top”. So it’s not just me who loved the tree!
A tree in terracotta by Venki Palimar at Chitralaya Art Gallery
Inspired by nature and a sad reality in terracotta by Venki Palimar at Chitralaya Art Gallery
When I ask Venki about his dream, he says that it is now fulfilled with his Chitralaya Art Gallery which was inaugrated this May. Building his own gallery with a heritage feel was his dream and after planning for it for nearly three years, it is now achieved. The next step might be to build a space above his gallery for his vast and growing antiques collection. And I am sure he will do that with the support that he gets from his family and well wishers. I wish him the very best.
Sadhus in terracotta by Venki Palimar at Chitralaya Art Gallery

Sadhus in terracotta by Venki Palimar at Chitralaya Art Gallery

I now have an invite to attend his next workshop. So off I go again. Coming anyone?

Lots of Twinkles to all of you. Have a happy week.

Anupama

PS- You can contact the artist for orders at Venki Palimar – 9844813019 (Whatsapp)

I am planning to conduct a workshop with Terracotta artist Venki Palimar in Bangalore, later this year. If interested, do write to me at the email mentioned.