A software engineer, a stunt master, a designer, an architect and a photographer — five men from different professions with a common passion for art came together to showcase their paintings at the Visual Communication Department of Loyola College on Wednesday.
Talking about his works, one of the participating artists, Ganapathy Subramaniam, 43, a software engineer, says that he spent a few days soaking in the beauty of the Shore Temple in Mahabalipuram. He made sketches and came back to the city to paint a series of Shore Temple paintings with watercolours and acrylic. The works were a combination of scenes from his memory and imagination. “My favourite painting is the one in which I present two different forms of life. One part of the painting is the Shore Temple, a mystic and surreal place and the other is the land where we live,” says Ganapathy.
About his watercolour works, he says they are ‘happy accidents’. “It can be exciting but sometimes frustrating because the outcome may not be what you wished for. Acrylic, on the other hand, was easier to do,” he adds.
Another artist, T Manavalan, 62, recalls how he was denied permission to pursue his career as a painter by his parents, and instead had to pursue marine engineering. It was after years that he decided to quit his job and move into designing. He makes his passion for art obvious when he says, “I love the sea and old ships. The best part about watercolours is that they can be very challenging. The white on the waves is actually the base paper. White paint wasn’t used. It takes so much concentration and patience to make sure the waves look realistic. While sketches take one and a half hours, water colours take four!”
A Jothi, 62, has been a stuntman for the past 40 years. His paintings were inspired from what he witnessed in different parts of the country during the shoots. He talks about the different mediums used in his paintings including charcoal, opaque water colour, brown chalk and stump method, which is the oldest form of painting. “No one uses stump nor do they know it exists. Lead powder from pencils and a rolled paper is used,” he says.
Talking about the difference between art and architecture, architect Francis Macanzius Ravindran, 58, says, “Architecture is giving a structure to a new building, but painting is like cinema, you lose yourself into it. Architecture is for a living and art is my passion.”
Photographer Muralidharan Alagar, who has displayed his still life portraits and modern paintings at the exhibition, says he loves portraying subtle emotions and dreams behind human expressions in his creation.
The exhibition which is on at the Visual Communication Department of Loyola College will conclude today. (It is on between 10 am and 5 pm). For details, call Susan 9884266371.