IT was on a sudden inspiration of colours that I thought I should express my experinces within on paper or canvas. Soon I began a series of paintings on the seven chakras.
That incident transformed my view on painting as just an art form. I began to see it as a product of a meditative mind.
When all thought is settling down, there are a few left that flow as poetry or painting. It can even be a scientific idea, invention or discovery. But anything as subtle as the srt of painting is the result of meditation. It holds the artist in a meditative state of mind through the time the painting and the painter become one.
A serene atmosphere prevailed when I went to the Vinnyasa Art Gallery on an invitation from Param J Kaur. Before moving with her family to New Delhi, this dyed-in-the-wool painter thought she would exhibit her 78 paintings in Chennai. The title of the exhibition was Foliage and is open till April 17. "Tender yet strong, fragile yet sturdy," she describes the theme like a poem.
"Painting releases all my tension. Frankly speaking, I don’t know how it will turn out when I begin with the first few strokes," she says. The theme of being in tune with nature is reflected throughout the paintings of simply leaves floating in the breeze, a tree swaying to a breeze, an old bird coming in search of an old tree which warmly welcomes it, pencil sketches on the chakras, especially about how silent energy opens up from the crown chakra.
This student of philosophy has a fascination for Buddha. "When I see the Buddha, I feel a peaceful calmness. He is a great inspiration for me, especially because he was a prince who renounced everything for the sake of his inner journey. He is an embodiment of humility."
Her core areas are nature and meditation. The serene, calm and tranquil qualities of a meditative mind is reflected in her paintings, photographs and pencil sketches. "Painting is my expression of nature. You can absorb, see and feel, but not express it in words." The exhibition was inaugurated by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala.
Her love for the Buddha is now going to take her on a journey through colours painting the enlightened being who lived in India over 2000 years ago.
