The exquisite and intricate artwork of wood inlay is no new thing to the city of Mysore. An art form renowned as Mysore Inlay and existent in the city since ages now, such is its beauty that it was once encouraged by the royals of Mysore in a big way.
This encouragement and demand for a work so dexterous inspired many, as a result of which, the count of wood inlay artists in the city only began to grow.
And one such artist from Mysore for whom the art of inlaying has become a way of life is Florence Ruth. Aged 37 and indulged in the artistry ever since she was a child, ask her what made her take to the wood inlay work and she humbly gushes, “I had to naturally take to it as I grew up watching the members of my family work on the same. As I ended up scoring less marks in my Pre-University, I had no option but to get into the artistry. However, I slowly started working it on a regular basis and today I am all into it and it has become a way of life for me.”
Wood Inlay work is a method of etching figurines in woods of different hues and embedding them in a rosewood frame to give it a final touch. “Each art piece that we create reflects a story. And accordingly, we select the wooden pieces of the right colour to etch the figurines and finally embed them all in the rosewood frame.” But this is no easy job she adds. “Äs we do not use any paint to add colour to the figures in the story, we will have to select woods of various hues and match them accordingly. But all thanks to nature, we have woods available in all the beautiful colours we require.”
What adds to the beauty of it all is that it continues to be a popular art form in practice in Mysore city even to this day. “There are thousands of inlay artists in the city,” says Florence, “and there are people who continue to produce the art pieces as beautifully as it was done ages ago, all thanks to the artists to whom the artistry has been passed on by their ancestors. So we need not really fear that the art form would fade away in city one day. But we artists of the present generation should continue working and ensure that the artistry is passed on to our next generation.”
And to ensure that she does her duty. Florence Ruth has been currently training a bunch of enthusiasts in the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) premises on Irwin Road in the city since a week now. What’s more, to promote wood inlay work, the lady has also toured across the nation; Courtesy: encouragement from IGRMS, to promote the art form.
“I have been to Bhopal, Kerala, Ooty and a few other places in India. And I feel happy that the institute thrives to promote not just the art but also small time artisans like me,” she says. The ongoing training programme at IGRMS ends on Sunday. [IGRMS may be contacted on Ph: 2448231.]
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by Ambika Nagaraj / May 30th, 2013