Brilliant brushstrokes at BPS art workshop

It was a sweeping, visual flood of creativity at the two-day painting workshop and exhibition at the Birla Public School (BPS) auditorium, featuring a long line of talented Indian artists immersed in live painting for hours on end, over the weekend.
 All 17 participating artists, based in Qatar, are members of Visual Arts Forum India (VAFI). For these artists, it was a great opportunity “to share creative talents and skills” with all who visited the workshop. And the turnout sure was huge.
Eager students, parents, teachers and several art enthusiasts thronged to catch the artists putting out their finest creative interpretations of the theme ‘Dance and Music of India’. The opening day saw visitors such as VAFI patron and doctor-philanthropist Dr Mohan Thomas and his wife come by to witness the art in action and also encourage the artists at work.
A K Srivastava, Principal of BPS, and art teacher Regint Varghese facilitated all the support required to make the workshop successful, VAFI said.
The artists also displayed other works of art that they have created, leading to dozens of paintings being sprawled across the venue that took any keen-eyed visitor a good one hour to view. A few students and art teachers from the American School of Doha also participated in the workshop so as to learn some techniques and tips from the artists.
Through the weekend, VAFI artists kept themselves busy on the canvas, table and easels that were provided for them, using the paint and brushes that they had brought along. VAFI stated that such workshops are terrific for networking with other member artists as well because everyone in the group can share many fresh ideas and techniques.
By interacting in art workshops, member artists actually become more effective at both creating and marketing their art than if they were to try doing it on their own, VAFI said.
The second day saw the creations spring to life as the paintings were handed the finishing flourish. The dancers and the musicians in the painting seemed to have come to life. The chief guest for the closing ceremony was Qatari artist Masoud Rashid al-Bulushi, who interacted with all the artists, and expressed his deep appreciation and lauded the work of many artists.
The President of VAFI, Dr Sreekumar Padmanabhan, spoke a few words about the chief guest, and the Secretary of VAFI, Patric Rozario, also thanked the chief guest in his speech.
As the event drew to a close with the giving away of certificates to all the participating VAFI artists, the paintings they created were gifted to BPS; a notable addition to its treasured art collection. A voluntary cultural association formed in Qatar to nurture, promote and develop artists of Indian origin living in Qatar, VAFI is affiliated to the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) under the aegis of the Indian Embassy, Qatar. Community spoke to some of the artists to know more about their experience.
Excerpts:

Dr Sreekumar Padmanabhan: For me, as an artist, it was once again a great learning experience. Being a painter with no formal training, I was able to learn various techniques by simply watching the other experienced artists. I am sure this must have been the case with some other artists, too. We all left the event with more knowledge about the craft, the use of various mediums and different styles of work. We saw a great deal of interaction between the visitors and the artists. Some of the visitors returned on the second day to see how the works that we had started the previous day had taken the finished shape.

Mahesh Kumar: It was really a wonderful experience for me. I could see our co-artist’s works, their style, mediums and most of all sharing of ideas and experiences with each other. All the artists tried their hand at different styles and different mediums. It took me nearly three hours to paint a portrait of a lady classical dancer performing Bharatanatyam. I used acrylic colours and adopted a semi-abstract style for this piece.

Patric Rozario: Being a founder member of VAFI, I have seen this organisation, a motley crew of amazingly talented artists, grow from strength to strength. This workshop was beneficial both to the visitors and the artists alike as all left with something more to chew about – to get back and create from experiences.

Smita Aloni: I created a Phad painting, which communicates stories by a distinct style of art created on cloth or ‘Phad’. Phad painting is a kind of scroll painting and folk painting and it is mainly found in the Bhilwara district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It was interesting to witness the large number of visitors at this workshop. Children, especially, are curious about art. One girl sat by my side for three hours each day as she was fascinated by the process of this art.

Savita Jakhar: As a new member, this was my first exhibition with VAFI and I enjoyed every minute of it. It is very important for an artist to get out of his studio and meet other artists in person and experience their work because while art is a form of self-expression, it is also a form of communication. So your work is incomplete until people view it and respond to it.
You understand the synergy that erupts when you are in a room full of people looking at and talking about your art. Group exhibitions like this provides a space and a time-frame for people to appreciate the true colours, lines, textures, patterns, and the scale of your art. Art takes on a richness in this environment that it doesn’t acquire when it’s sitting in your studio.