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Simple bouquet of flowers
BUT FOR the sincerity with which they view their works, it could easily pass off as ennui-driven-wives-day-out for both Jaya Subramonian and Vinitha Anand, two Thiruvanathapuram-based housewives, whose paintings are currently up on display at the city's Gokulam Park Inn Hotel.
With no formal training in art, though they have occasionally strayed into hobby classes in portraiture and water colours, some of which went beyond mere step-by-step instructions, the two have teamed together to conjure up a series of paintings; a bouquet of flowers that makes the hotel's Charms Bar bright, cheerful and inviting.
Even though her resume notifies that Vinitha Anand is the great granddaughter of artist Mangala Bai Thampuratti, sister of the late artist Raja Ravi Varma, the lineage sits easy on her slim shoulders. In conversation, she pooh-poohs away any references to her pedigree and the influence that it might have on her art.
"I paint for the sheer joy of it. Painting keeps me happy," says Vinitha who has held solo exhibitions at Lalithakala Akademi, Kochi, and Kovalam Ashok Beach Resort, Thiruvananthapuram, besides a few more.
Jaya, the senior of the two artists, took time off from her regular figurative and abstract art to opt for the simple yet appealing theme of flowers. The two women created some still life floral arrangements and then sat down to convey their own response to a common subject on canvas. Her palette is vivid; the paint glides across the canvas creating leaves and petals in simple strokes and myriad interpretations to the everyday hibiscus come through with relative ease.
She has been experimenting with oils over many years and has a feel for the medium. Jaya keeps up with technology and also paints on computers; she has participated in exhibitions at Madras Art Club group show, Kerala Chitrakala Parishath, and solo shows at Hassan Marikkar Hall, Thiruvananthapuram, and the ITDC Hotel, Kovalam, amongst others.
The interplay of knife and brush in Vinitha's paintings breaks the monotony of similar, comparable strokes. Her colours are paler; more muted which lends her flowers a dainty, pretty attribute.
At times, she leaves the background obscure; this gives clearer definition to the gerberas and the other flora that she paints and an overall ethereal quality to the picture.
In spite of the artists' commitment and earnestness, the works sometimes slip into mediocrity. The show is on till mid April.
SUNANDA KHANNA
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