What fascinates artist Saranjeet Singh the most about the land of ghoomers (pirouette), kalbelias, kathputlis, miniatures and phad (scroll paintings)... are the havelis and forts with their intricate darwazas (doors), jharokas (windows) and chhatris (domes). So much so, that the 60-year-old Malviya Nagar resident visits its blue (Jodhpur) and pink (Jaipur) cities twice a year only to get lost in the narrow alleys in search of some architectural elements to catch his eye.
When he does spot the right angle, Singh, immediately settles in front of it. That means unpacking his painterly kit of a canvas, palette, watercolours, brushes, and short easel. Then rolling up his sleeves to paint his ‘muse’, taking about two hours to finish an A3 size painting and about half a day for a larger canvas. All completed on the spot. He is often interrupted by curious passersby, but he regales in any small talk about his art.
One such admirer is Manjeet Kaur, who has been curating art exhibitions for over 15 years now. As a result, 40 of Singh’s ‘on-the-spot’ paintings are currently nestling in an ongoing art show at IHC titled Desert Terrain. “Watercolour is a difficult medium because there’s almost no room for correction. But Singh has such a mastery over the medium,” Kaur says. The fluid nature of the medium is indeed tricky adapt into intricate and ornate timeless facades. But the Singh, who holds an MFA from Delhi College of Art, has been replicating Rajasthani architecture for various assignments, mostly commissioned work by hotels.
“At times I live in these havelis and forts, the ones converted into hotels, to actually study their facades. For instance, I stayed at the Poddar Haveli in Shekhawati for a week to create a number of paintings on it. I have been invited to visit the Nahargarh Haveli in Jodhpur to create paintings about its facade in January. I’m also fascinated by the pols (gates) at forts. There’s Haathi pol, Lohar pol...” Singh continues into a mini discourse on the various positions of the gates, his tone gets noticeably happy when talking about his passion.
Till: Aug 7, IHC