The Heritage City is full of beautiful things and people. Scenic places, attractive buildings, interesting spots, artistic personalities, art connoisseurs and much more. Come, let us today meet one such dexterous personality hailing from this lovely city who is all set to host an expo of her beautiful paintings in Mysore this week. Nanda R. Putty is the skilled daughter of late Lalitha R. Putty and late artist Raghuttama Putty who had carved a niche for himself in Mysore for his dexterity in the field of painting.
Nanda, who followed her footsteps since young, drew inspiration from the works of her artist-father and has been painting since childhood with several works to her credit today.
She loves talking of art and the way she got introduced to it. Plainly ask her to talk about how it all started and she exclaims, “My dad and my grandmother were my greatest inspiration. I have grown up with colours, painting since my childhood, as I felt painting was as important as my studies and exams were to me.”
But her first easel was no paper canvas but the floor on ground upon which she began artistically depicting the traditional rangoli designs. “My grandmother ‘Rangoli’ Kaveramma taught me depicting the Rangoli. I learnt the art with keen interest and later started developing my own designs through my innovative ideas and also took part in several Rangoli competitions and won prizes. Every time my dad held an expo of his paintings, I would display all my rangoli designs at the spot. Etching the design of Mysore Palace through rangoli was something I loved doing. My father refused to send me to CAVA though I had got a seat there, as he always felt that nature is the best Guru and one need not learn painting through formal education,” she recalls.
“I would also do a lot of embroidery works and even won a National Award in 1979 while I was conferred with the title ‘Needle Work Princess’ for one of my works where I had embroidered the portrait of Rabindranath Tagore,” the artist further recalls, adding “today, it feels nice to say I have done all kinds of paintings like the Mysore art, oils, landscape and even fabric and embroidery works. However, no work interests me as much as painting does.”
Yet, Nanda has one interesting confession to make. She believes Mysore city has greatly contributed to her accomplishments and success. “I am born and brought up in Mysore and this is one city that gives me loads of happiness. Mysore has a lot to offer and inspire me, as landscape painting is my field of interest and specialisation. Remarkable places like Kukkarahalli Lake, Karanji Lake and Chamundi Hill in the city are extremely inspirational.” Hence, she had painted and exhibited 45 paintings depicting various heritage buildings in the city in 2010. “Heritage City has been extremely inspirational and helpful as it is host to some of the most beautiful heritage buildings ever. Hence, I painted various heritage buildings present here and held a one-man show a few years back. Now, enthused by nature yet again, I have painted various Indian birds in oil colours, which will be exhibited next week.” The inspiration for these paintings were a photography exhibition by a noted city-based photographer C.S. Kulashekara who had displayed photos of various birds recently. “I visited his expo and loved the pictures so much that I got inspired to paint them. Hence I looked at the same pictures and began painting them about three months before. It was an interesting task.” The lady has spent about three months to complete 36 paintings which will be on display at the three-day expo. So, those of you who wish to witness and admire her artistry can visit Bharani Art Gallery in Vivekananda Nagar starting from Sept. 12. The expo called ‘Drishti-Srishti,’ a tribute to the late artist Raghuttama Putty, will be inaugurated by Rangayana Director H. Janardhan on Sept. 12 at 5 pm. C.S. Kulashekara will be the chief guest. Sr. artist N.B. Kaverappa will preside. The expo will be open to public between 10 am and 8 pm on Sept. 13 and 14.
Being active is one thing she learnt from her dad she says, concluding, “My dad kept painting until his last days and even while he was in the hospital, I would be seated next to his bed, painting, as it gave him a lot of happiness and satisfaction. This inspired me a lot. I too wish to be like him and would love to continue my works forever.”
Married to M.K. Anil Kumar, Nanda Putty is working as a teacher in Vidyavardhaka School, Mysore and is training many budding artists. She can be contacted on Mob: 92410-32032. —AN
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / September 10th, 2014