Coffee, snacks and something creative. That was the scene at The Roastery Coffee house on Friday late afternoon. Art lovers wielded coloured pens, paints and brushes with élan. Interestingly, the crowd consisted mostly children and their parents, and their friends. With groups of friends huddled in one corner paying attention to fine short strokes, it was more than beautiful to see them patiently sit and complete their Mandala art on black paper bags. Divdrisht Kaur Suri, a Mandala artist from Kolkata along with Ridhima Mundra of Artroom Kolkata, conducted a session to guide them through their art works at the coffee shop.
Ridhima who was overseeing a group doing Fluid art says, “This is our first art workshop in Hyderabad and we are very happy with the response.” The Fluid art session required participants to pour paint on choice of canvas (it was wooden trays during that session), and left to merge with each other giving it a naturally coloured marbled look. “To make acrylic colours merge and create drama, we use a ‘pouring medium’. The pouring medium when mixed with acrylic colours makes it thin, hence allowing the colours to merge into each other (without getting mixed to become a different shade).
Ridhima informs that the colours are non-toxic, in the sense that mixing them do not give out any fumes. “But we still suggest participants to wear gloves in case they have sensitive skin,” adds Ridhima
Mothers and children were seen having a blast while the children tried to outdo their mothers’ creativity. “It is a good competition. I hope they learn to pick up everything after they are done as I do at home,” laughs one of the participant who came with her daughter.
For the Mandala workshop, Divdrisht chose to make the participants design black paper bags with gold ink pen. “It is very therapeutic and beautiful at the same time. I usually make the participants design something that they can carry with them and feel proud about it. Fluid art or Mandala art doesn’t require one to be an artist. Anyone can do it and discover the artist in them,” says Divdrisht.
Both the artists conducted art sessions at various hobby centres in the city throughout the weekend.
