Aby Abraham, a Grade IX student of Birla Public School, with some of his 40 paintings that were showcased as part of the Birds of Qatar exhbition at his school campus recently.
By Usha Desai
As you enter this modest home in Doha’s Mansoura area, you feel like you’ve come to an art gallery — wonderful paintings of colourful birds, dhows and sea, the Arabian Oryx, famous landmarks of Doha, sceneries and flowers are displayed on the walls and a few of them are stacked on the floor for want of space.
In the midst of them stands a shelf, full of trophies won by Aby Abraham, the creator of these beautiful paintings. The details and the finesse in his creations belie the fact that this artist is only a Class IX student at Birla Public School.
Aby uses a variety of media including colour pencils, sketch pens, water colour, oil pastels and acrylic paints. But he says he enjoys painting with sketch pens and water colours the most and has never received any professional training in art.
“I like the freedom of doing things my own way, following my own style. I can keep challenging myself to get a particular thing or shade perfect in my paintings,” he reasons. And this confidence seems to stem from the fact that he has been drawing ever since he was a toddler. “He was only two-and-a-half years old when I noticed that his doodles were very good. Since I had to take care of his younger sibling, I started giving him blank paper and colours and he would immerse himself in drawing for hours together,” says Jaya, Aby’s mother who he says has always motivated him to do his best. He considers Leonardo da Vinci as his inspiration and is deeply impressed by his works of art.
Though his family comes from the picturesque state of Kerala in India, Aby considers Qatar his home as he has lived here since he was just one and finds enough inspiration for his art here. Nature is his favourite topic and visibly, a majority of his creations are inspired by Qatar’s flora and fauna.
For children with an interest in art, Qatar is a great place to be in, feels Aby. “Painting competitions on a variety of themes are organised by various organisations on a regular basis here. So you get a lot of opportunities to showcase your talent.” Not surprisingly, his name is often featured in the winning entries list.
Looking at the bounty of trophies collected by him over the years, we ask how many prizes he has won over the years. “Prizes or awards are like blessings and you are not supposed to count your blessings,” he answers on a philosophical note.
Which among all those awards is very special to him? He picks up his first prize in a painting contest on biodiversity organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in 2011 as the most memorable applaud for his work. “Besides nature, I like painting on social themes like anti-smoking or road safety campaign. It gives immense satisfaction that you are inspiring others and contributing towards transforming many lives through your art,” he says.
Aby is not only good in art but also a topper in academics, informs his proud father Abraham Augusty. Being in Class IX means the boy has to concentrate more on his studies which leaves him with little time for painting.
“But I make it a point to take out time and paint regularly as it is my passion and I can’t ignore it completely,” he says.
Recently, Aby held an exhibition of his paintings in his school which received overwhelming response from his peers, teachers as well as visitors as is evident from the visitors’ book shown by his mother. Aby’s father thanked school principal A K Shrivastava and art teacher Sauman Pal for their help and support in putting up this exhibition.
The highlight of the event was a collection of around 40 paintings under the title, Birds of Qatar. Aby says he browsed through various books and the Internet to get the exact physical details of each bird and its habitat and true to his words the birds in his paintings look almost real.
If they get a sponsor, Augusty is keen to hold his son’s second solo exhibition and even bring out a book featuring these birds.
There’s a practical side to the artist Aby too. Despite his talent in art, he has no plans to take it up as a full-time career. “I want to be an engineer because you can’t be assured of a stable income if you rely only on your artistic skills,” he says. “Also, generally people tend to think that you took up art because you were not good in academics, which is not true. Having said that, I would definitely continue painting — balancing your passion with your profession is a more exciting and challenging prospect,” he adds, suddenly sounding much older than his age.
And he advises talented youngsters like him to do the same, “It’s not only painting or art, I feel that children should continue to pursue any extra-curricular skill they have along with their studies. Even in their adulthood, whatever other profession they might choose, they should continue to develop their skill. It would be like having the best of both worlds.”