Rain . Painting . Art

It’s such a pleasure to travel in Kerala in the monsoons. It’s cool and green as far as your eyes run amok. The paddy fields glistening in all the hues of green that can be imagined... palm fronds dancing in delight as the rain embraces them…the rivers, swollen with water, a little muddy... always reminds me of a maiden in the prime of her youth, Seductive.
But all this when you are in the comfort of a car or a bus. Walking in Kerala in the rains can be a night mare if you like to keep yourself dry. If there are no puddles to greet you then the entire road is probably under water! Lift your dress as high as modesty would allow and walk in rain friendly shoes.
Off late, I have joined painting classes with the intention to brush up my painting technique. Water colors is my favorite medium. I get overwhelmed when I look at a master’s work in that medium. The vibrancy of a water color can not be achieved in any other medium. As I get deeper into the ocean of painting. I realize the style that most suits my personality is impressionism in water colors. Few strong strokes conveying the dynamism of life. Oil Painting with the exception of those in impressionist style is static.
Even in the heaviest downpour wading through water logged roads, I trudge on most mornings to my class for the sheer joy of painting for couple of hours. As part of the curriculum I have painted many still lifes', a live model, Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s ‘The First Anniversary of the Death of Beatrice’ And lately, one of George Stubb's Horse threatened by a lion theme. When the instructor fetched these books for me to reproduce, my first reaction was a sinking feeling … a profound doubt whether I will be close to even getting the basics right. But the trick as I have learnt from life is to take it bit by bit.
Any new unfinished task appears daunting at first sight. Many thoughts crowd your head, from a fear of failure to a nagging doubt if you will ever complete the task. Even thoughts to abandon the task altogether stream in as the going gets tough. Maximum force is required to move an object from rest to motion. So, you just do it. Begin. Bite small pieces and before you know it, you are swimming confidently in the middle of the English Channel with the end in sight. And one fine day with the joy akin to seeing the sun stream through rain bearing clouds, the task will be complete. Lo, You have learnt to drive. There! You just finished the Sistine Chapel. And you will wonder, “Did I just do this? That wasn’t so difficult!”
That’s what art is all about. It mesmerizes you. Its those moments when you are connected to your soul. When the world with its harsh realities are a distant thunder. It’s the same feeling of ecstasy when you are listening to music, or painting or writing poetry. Its just you and the words… you and the colors on the paint brush kissing and caressing the paper moulding the image you see in your eyes or mind. Its exhilarating. I guess it all boils down to passion.
Passion is what turns work into art.