Forty-four-year-old Latha took up the brush finally. Down the 23 years that she's been married she watched her artist husband Madhusudhan paint and admired his work. She too secretly wished to paint and give colour to her dreams.
Home, family and the biggest hurdle of a beginner's hesitation kept her away from what her heart was yearning to do. Finally she began to paint, encouraged by her family and friends.
What flowed from her brush is an honest happiness, an expression straight from her heart. Latha takes no positions. She delves little into the depths of a sight but catches its beauty and simplicity at face value.
She paints plainly what her heart sings, her mind says, her eyes see and what she hears. Hence her hilly countryside of Idukki comes alive in the 39 small works on show at Eka Art Gallery, Kunnumpuram, Fort Kochi.
Girls in pigtails, the bicycle on the slope, the peacock, snake, monkey, and elephant even the alligator from the lake feature happily.
Friends, men and women, are all there on her canvas which is bright and beautiful. What strikes the viewer is the unfettered flow of colours and emotions. It comes out stark.
She does not dwell on lines, details, designs, expressions but in broad strokes and splashes of colour captures the spirit of the place and its people. A clear flow of energy and vibrancy of colours charms and delights.
Latha took a year to do the works. Her originality stems from the fact that she has never learnt even the basics of art. She says she liked what she saw her artist husband doing on the canvas. Her unabashed appreciation of art and its love for it has finally found fulfilment.
A childlike wonder that emanates from an unconscious, uncontrived approach is the most enduring fact about the works on show.
The show is on till January 23.
