There is no limit to the art world. Every country has its own signature into the art world. I was fascinated with the art world on this side of the globe. In Africa, there is art in the motifs and bright color pictures. I went to the local market and there was a display of African art in most of the stores.
My cousin, who is also interested in art, wanted to learn this art from a local native and I decided to accompany here and be a silent learner.
Moses, the local painter and artist, agreed to share his talent with us. We drove to his studio to learn his art.
While my cousin sat on the hot seat, painting, I learnt it from a distance. We went for two days.
On day one, they drew lines with glue cone to create embossed effect and coated with the primer of glue and distemper. They worked on three canvases, Two canvases were on motifs, the third one was on knife paintings.
At the end of two days, my cousin had created three beautiful painting.
While my cousin was busy painting he was creating more designs
He was quick, within one hour he created three more paintings..
We learnt the different motifs, his style of painting and blending of colors.
He worked with much ease and style, with no drawing or planning, letting the brushes move freely on the canvas, each stroke plucked from his memory, just creating whatever came to his mind and all were amazing…….
It is important to build a wall to separate the street from railway lines, especially if the railway line and street run parallel to each other. It has its advantages; it safeguards the security of people and help them walk in straight line, parallel to the wall without getting distracted by moving train that passes on the other side of the wall, It serves as a shield for naughty children, who may escape the strong grip of their parents and run on the railway track out of curiosity and is also a great boundary of obstacle for those stingy commuters who get special pleasure in travelling without a ticket.
But the wall has its disadvantages too when it is used by street dwellers as a back-drop for their temporary-about-to-become-permanent home and some times used by people who have never learnt their bowel-control-habits and peeing on the wall is an instant relief and sometimes, it is even used by hawkers to put up their temporary stall.
Unless, it is seen as a canvas by an artistic eye, which will change the wall’s status from a poor, old, rust-colored, dingy wall into a beautiful work of art that the travelers will admire while driving down those colorful lanes.
When people start to care, the results are astonishing….
On 15th August, while the whole country celebrated Independence Day, I walked down the Tulsi Pipe Road to watch the children and adult dabble paint on the wall producing amazing art work. Even the children as young as five year old, were happy to hold the paint brush, one size bigger than their size of the palm, giving colored strokes on that dingy wall.
“Move a bit, let her click few pictures” said someone in the crowd, letting me capture the event into my lens.
Freedom for me, on this day, was to watch the artists doodle freely and let the images appear out of nowhere……..Freedom to express one self in vibrant colors.
