Ecstasy of Work

Sometimes you might wonder where your destiny will take you? The answer lies with you and all it needs is a little soul searching and then the courage to follow your dream...

Most of us, seek the comfort of a job for sustenance when we finish our academic education, I was no exception. I worked full time in a Bank for seventeen years, for a while painting and the bank job went hand in hand. I quit my job on impulse to start the first commercial colour copying unit in South India and for a couple of years earned my living doing odd jobs like photography etc. I was criticized by everyone for not sticking on to something stable in life.

After all the agony, I switched over to painting full time. I've been painting till my fingers ache ever since. It took me a while to realise that I was fit to do only one type of work- Paint. It is pure ecstasy to earn my living from full time painting. I get paid for enjoying my work, I can bet that there are few people out there, who can claim that.

I really do believe in painting as a business and in the values of professional pride. Every business needs to be run with Pride and Integrity; it also needs Passion, without Passion no business can thrive. If you think you are insignificant, you get branded as such in the society. 

Art today is over hyped and a highly speculative business. I have been surviving on the greed of my speculators; it is my responsibility to work towards appreciating their investment. These are the people who make us (artists) look respectable. When a customer is willing to pay the value fixed for your work that sets a value on your work. Both the consumer as well as the artist should be comfortable with the evaluation of the work.

If every artist asks himself a few simple / stupid questions and has them answered, his work is cut out for him....questions like, why someone should buy my painting, what kind of work does he like, how long will it take for his investment to appreciate etc.

Until the 90s people had an impression of the artist as someone who sports a crumpled Kurta and has a sling bag (jhoola) on his shoulders. Now Artists are a set of corporate people who work with a business plan and pay taxes to the government. Paying taxes actually increases the value of his work. An artist should not reduce himself to going and begging a Gallery owner to display his work, he should be in a position to demand and obtain a delivery note from the gallery owner for the paintings that he has left behind, as a proof to get his dues from the gallery.

I started painting in my late teens. I am self taught, though I have had many Buddhas guiding me on the path. Mr. G S Shenoy (South Kanara Art Council) is one of the several Buddha's, and I've always considered him my Mentor. I make all my statements with my paintings. I know that people like my works, for the sense of joy (they express), for the richness of colours I adopt and for the squiggles the knife leaves behind in my work. People also prefer familiarity. - a connection of ‘I have seen it somewhere', they also look for continuity - Whether the artist is capable of spontaneous work.

Any good work have to meet some criteria, if the artist enjoys a sense of financial security, then the paintings also proceed smoothly. When I paint, I need to give all of me to my work; nothing in life should be done in half measures. My spirit needs to be free when I paint.

My work conveys happiness. My work is not cerebral, it is experiential. One needs to stand before a work and wonder why the work attracts attention. A good work makes the centre of balance of feeling shift. It lifts you out to joy. It lends so many colours to life. My own life has been made much richer with the colours I use. I do not drive the course of any painting .It evolves and emerges and then flowers into colours and gives joy, to me and to people who look at them.

Over the years, the tools I use for paint and my work have evolved. Brushes have made way to painting knives, plastic sheets and also screen printing squeegees .Style is often confused for technique. Technique is not everything in painting. It sure does contribute a lot to the artist's make up. Repeating technical precision is skill. To do it at will and unthinkingly is mastery. Reaching excellence and staying there is my stated goal. Many a time I feel I have already reached there.

More than once I have heard of my paintings being described as ‘tactile'. Viewers are often Compelled to touch and feel the texture. Is this kinaesthetic value built into my work? How much of it expresses joy and freedom and happiness? I guess these values are as important as a part of the work or it's whole. How does being ‘tactile' add value to the work? How does it enhance its value? Being ‘tactile' is being in touch with the reality. Sometimes, touching a painting may be as valid as looking at it.

He was speaking at a Panel Discussion organized by Businessgyan and TASMAC  on the topic ‘ Passion Driven Businesses'  

Compiled by Ms. Mangal D Karnad for Businessgyan

Issue BG87 Jun 08