Art with Sara

Here is some brilliant artwork and an an equally well thought write up by Ishita Achary from Chennai. Can you believe she is only 8 years old?

For me, art is a way of expressing my imaginations.

I love to play with colors on canvas to express my thoughts and art is the only way to do it. Hence, I love art.

During the lockdown period, I have watched the TV show “Shree Krishna” and it inspired me to create various paintings of Lord Krishna and Radha.

I do see photographs of Lord Krishna through various means and draw the painting in my own way and color patterns.

There is always a hidden message behind my art work and it depends on the theme of paintings. This “Lord Radha-Krishna” painting tells the story of love and devotion of Radha towards Lord Krishna and the precious time they spent together.

I love to do abstract and composite style paintings. Paintings based on nature and natural objects are my cup of tea. I do face a bit of challenge while painting human faces. I am practicing trying various techniques to overcome this challenge.

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Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section. Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

This write up by 12 year old Ira Ratnaparkhi from  Hongkong is so refreshing,  with her honesty and passion oozing out. Ira was a participant at MeMeraki’s brilliant art workshops, a company committed to revive the attention for Indian folk art across the world.

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I decided to do the Patachitra workshop because I was bored at home during the summer holidays and you can’t go out due to the pandemic. Also wanted   to do it because I thought of trying something new other than Madhubani,  which I have tried to learn before. I have always been interested in drawing and art and love to draw or paint since childhood.

I chose Patachitra and Warli because they looked a bit easy to do, and I was interested in Patachitra. Though both the drawings were not that easy to  draw.  When I was doing the background of the Patachitra, I used some of my   Madhubani techniques and double lined everything. When we were drawing   the Warli, I used brown and red paint and white paint for the Warli people.

In my drawing, The Warli tells the story of normal people doing their work. The  story could also be that they are cleaning and making food because it’s a special occasion or festival. The Patachitra tells the story of Ganesha. The  artist told us that he had to draw Ganesha more than 100 times when he was a  student. No wonder his is so good!

I love to draw and paint because it makes me peaceful and happy. Since I don’t  like to talk too much, I paint. When I draw, I love to listen to music. It helps me  focus more and get the painting done quicker.

I have tried different kinds of  mediums such as watercolour, canvas, acrylic,  pencils and sketching, nibs etc. Usually, I can sit for a long time in one place  and paint for hours if you let me. Sometimes it takes one day to complete a  painting and sometimes it takes me many days.

I chose to draw in the first place because my mum said I should learn a type of  art. I chose to draw Madhubani as a project in year 6 for my school exhibition  project, and since then I have gotten better at it.

I think everyone should learn a different kind of folk art from their home  country.  In India, there are many folk arts to choose from, and each state has  its own style of folk art and handlooms and design motifs. Indian folk art is  very beautiful. They think of lines in different ways.

Even if you love painting you still need to learn it, as an experienced teacher  can teach many secrets and techniques. I have learnt the techniques of applying layers and correcting mistakes from my painting class. Sometimes I have to do more than 4 layers on one painting just to get the right texture of  the colour and blending.

When I get impatient, I spoil the painting. I also get  upset when the teacher  and I do not agree on the exact shade or corrections. I love painting and hope  to try oil painting and many more kinds of folk art.

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Hello art- lovers, Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section,  where I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of  ‘expressing their art.’

I bring to you today, the beautiful artwork and reflections of 13 year old Rhea from Hong Kong, on the back of the lovely art workshops organized by MeMeraki, committed to spread awareness of Indian folk art across the world.

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I have always been interested in art so I decided to join the zoom workshops to learn new forms of art I hadn’t tried before.

When creating the artwork during the classes, I felt more calm and relaxed.

The subject of this artwork was an elephant with a tree behind it. It was fun to chose my own colour combinations to fill in the design, while still drawing and painting in the Madhubani art style.

It was fun to learn new art forms and techniques through the workshop while creating my own artwork.

The workshops were very fun in general and it was nice to use this time at home to learn new art forms.

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Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section. Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

11 year old Aashesha Gupta from Gurgaon shares her enviable collection of artwork with us and some really wonderful thoughts about how Art is much beyond a splash of colours- it soothes our mind and puts a smile on our face.

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I really love Indian art. Before I started my folk art workshops, I never knew  that there are so many art forms within India and I was amazed!

It was a great feeling to attend art workshops because one gets to know the  story behind the art form and the artist and what all struggles did the artists  face.

I have always been the person who would sit down and start drawing and doodling every day, but when I saw the how detailed Indian art was, I was  spellbound and I started to take more interest in that! It looked really intricate but the artist would always make it easy for us to understand and would tell us beautiful stories that brought a smile to my face each time.

Some of my favourite art forms are Pattachitra, Madhubani and Gond. I can’t stop looking at those paintings, it just makes me feel so nice. Every weekend I attend workshops and learn new forms and I even look forward to attending the kids workshops.

Now my knowledge of Indian art has increased and I have made numerous paintings and I am proud of each one of them. I would say that this has been partially what I have doing all throughout quarantine and I would love to stay in touch with all the artists and would be glad to meet them one day!

‘’Art is a world of stories and each time you fold the page, you will find something glorious and new.’’

Hello young artists, your friend Sara here. In my colourful ‘Art with Sara’  section, I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

Here is 6 year old Atharv Tiwari of DPS Nagpur talking about how art helped him break the monotony of lockdown life, as he churned out his wonderful creations.

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Art and craft is to draw pictures and make things using our hands. During  lockdown, I was getting a little bored so my mother guided me to draw  pictures and fill them with colours. In the beginning, I was wondering how to  draw interesting pictures. Then, my mother showed me the drawing book  where I used to draw pictures with the help of alphabets and numbers.

It truly helped me and I  began enjoying my drawing with different colours. In the month of April, my online school classes started. My class teacher guided all of us to make craft items with the help of different pictures by following step by step instructions. My few art and craft activities which gave me new learning in my life.

During my online classes, I made Piggy Bank which helped me to save money. Then I made Five Animal Puppets-I made this using paper, drew animals and  pasted it on a finger shaped paper made by me and I also wrote story on it, named ‘The Clever Elephant.’

I also made Day and Night-I enjoyed painting this a lot and learnt that  there are different phases of moon like half moon and full moon. My concentration is improving because of doing art and craft activities.

My drawing to respect Corona Warriors was liked by my family and class  teacher. I drew beautiful drawing for my class teacher because teachers are  like God. I love doing art and craft activities. I am thankful to my mother and class teacher as they helped me and kept me busy during these lockdown
days.

Almost all my art and craft work was done by using waste things of home. Art and craft activity had made me little creative and expressive. It’s the best way to keep oneself happy and busy. I enjoy colouring and painting.

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Hey young artists, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section, where I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of  ‘expressing their art.’

Today on the birth anniversary of Amelia Earhart, the poster child of ‘what girls can achieve,’ I am excited to share this beautiful piece by Aayat Lal. Living in London and all of 7 years, Aayat knows more about Indian art forms than most of us would. Aayat wants to do her bit to revive traditional folkarts,  enjoying immensely the folk art  workshops by MeMeraki.

Here is a girl on a mission!

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During Lockdown, these art classes have inspired me to become an artist.  Every time I paint, I get better at it.

I joined these classes because I wanted to get better at art. I also joined these  art classes because I knew that only a few families are doing these art forms. This means that in a few years, these art forms will become extinct.

We have to learn about these art forms more so that we can pass it on to others and we can save these precious art forms.

When I finish each painting, I feel amazed because my painting looked so good. I have also learnt that India has a lot of art forms.

I have learnt many art forms from India so are.

Some of them are Phad Art from Rajasthan, Pichwai from Rajasthan, Assamese Scroll from Assam, Gond from Bhopal, Warli from Maharashtra, Pattachitra from Bengal and Orissa, Mata Ni Pachedi from Gujarat and Kalamkari from Andhra Pradesh.

My favourite artform is Phad Art because it’s very colourful.

When I read books, it’s like my brain is stretching to think more about the scenes and the writing and then I picture the scene in my mind. These art classes have also helped me with my concentration.

I know that every GOND Painting has a story behind it and a few more art forms also have stories too.Art has made me much happier and has also made me forget all the bad things in life.

Now when I look at a painting, I want to know what artform it is and what is the story behind it. I am so thankful that art classes are here.

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Hello young artists, your friend Sara here. In my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section, I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

Here is a budding artist 7 years old Divisha Agarwala from Kolkata, sharing with us her beautiful thoughts on art.

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I love art because it makes me feel happy and I enjoy doing it.

When I was 4 years old, I used to see my elder sister doing art and I also got interested in drawing.

When I start making any art I am in my own world of imagination. I like  doodling, mandala and other forms. I enjoy making scenery, cartoon characters and much more.

Whenever any special occasion comes, I make cards for my loved ones and  friends. When they appreciate my work and when I see a smile on their face, I feel very happy.

My dream is to become an accomplished artist when I grow up.

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Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section. Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

Here is a lively write up from Kiyan Mahajan from Dallas, all of 5 years and the youngest artist I have seen!  Kiyan was a participant at MeMeraki’s brilliant folk art  workshops, sharing a write up as lively as he is.

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I love art because I like to decorate. I feel very happy when I complete my art so we can decorate our home with my art.

Also, I love doing activities with art. I like using highlighters, pencils, crayons, markers and paint brushes to draw and color my art.

I liked Madhubani, Cheriyal scroll and Pichwai art workshops. I also love doing abstract art because I can draw whatever I want and use my imagination.

Sometimes my art tells a story – like once I made an art about pillows jumping up and down. I will continue working on art so I can get better at my art forms.

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Hello lovely people, Sara here. I am so excited to launch our ‘Art with Sara’ section and publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

Here is 9 year old Khushee Desai from San Jose, California, a participant at MeMeraki’s folk art workshops, sharing a vibrant write up on what runs in the mind of a young artist.

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Sometimes my art tells a story but most times it doesn’t what can it be.  I once  created an art based on Harry Potter and was trying to portray myself in the  school of Hogwarts and the sorting hat was sorting me into a house and it screamed Gryffindor!! And it had all the characters of Harry Potter that I liked. And I added patterns I learnt in the workshop in my painting.