Indian mythology comes alive beautifully and intricately on the canvas of 42-year-old Pradeepta Kumar Nayak of Jiral village in Dhenkanal district. But it’s not colours that give shape to his creations, the artist uses five shades of straw, ranging from golden to white that gets captivating in a black background.
Nayak is a master craftsperson in the lesser-known straw craft and has been pursuing the art for the past 20 years. A childhood hobby to create wonders with waste became a passion when he began experimenting with straw.
A self-made artist whose works are attracting a large number of visitors at the ongoing Sisir Saras crafts fair at the exhibition ground here, he is the winner of several State-level awards. Nayak’s decision to convert his passion into a profession, however, had not gone down well with his parents as they knew how miserable have been the lives of craftsmen in the State. ‘’Even today, my family doesn’t approve of my obsession with this art form,’’ he smiles.
His love for the craft can be judged from the fact that he teaches the art form to youths and women of his village for free at his training centre - Kalyani Straw Craft Centre.
‘’I have trained more than 100 youths and women in the last 20 years. I run the training centre with my income and pay them 30 per cent of the sale proceeds for the products they design,’’ he says. At present, he has 40 youths working under him.
Nayak, who has at present generated self-employment for himself and nearly 50 poor boys and girls of his village through his training centre, however, takes pride in talking about his dream project for his village than his personal success. He dreams of making it famous for the craft. “Like Pipili is best known for the appliqué work, I wish to put Jiral on the tourism map of the country for straw craft,” he says.
The Dhenkanal administration and the State Handicrafts Department appreciated Nayak’s efforts in popularising a craft form and employment generation. “Former district Collectors Usha Padhee and Ranjana Chopra took keen interest in my project,” he says. Pointing at the cultural importance of the craft, he says there is no use of any artificial elements. ‘’It needs a lot of hard work and patience which often make the younger generation leave the craft half-way through,’’ he adds.
Prices of the artist’s works range from ` 100 to ` 1,00,000 and his products sell like hot cakes in various fairs and festivals in and outside the State. “Prior to Sisir Saras, I was at Baliyatra fair in Cuttack where people bought large pieces which were beyond `50,000,” Nayak says. “People liked its natural colour,” he stresses.
Nayak uses a special kind of straw for the work. Scouring it with a chisel, he polishes each strand of the hay. The strips of hay are split open by a knife and smoothed and polished with the blade of the knife. After applying a special gum, which is collected from tree stain, he places them directly on the cardboard. The board, which has a black cloth stretched on it, has the outline of the design in pencil.
