A glimpse at ‘Impressions’, the series of paintings by Deepali Kapatkar, and it isn’t difficult to gauge the architect-turned-painter’s love for nature.
A ‘plein air’ artist primarily based in the US, she uses her paintings, but for an occasional portrait, to explore diverse landscapes across her homeland (California, New York), India, and also parts of Europe.
Juggling several professions — she is also an interior designer and a photographer — her desire to live sans fortified norms and be a role model to her children, was the impetus for her painting ambitions to take off. “Knowing that the essence of most creative arenas is often the same, it is not a big deal to ensure a balance. Managing time and one’s skill-set to advantage though, still varies from person to person,” she says.
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A bulk of Impressions features locations and true-to-life scenes in the vicinity of Chilkur; she attributes it to the place growing on her during the two-year sojourn in the country. “There is so much peace around the area. With an eye for photography too, the scene of the houses, the women moving past the thorns and taking their pots across the Osmansagar lake when I passed through the village, truly touched me,” the lady who took to painting since 2011, avers.
Having hosted her second art show in the city in almost a year, the trained landscape painter’s penchant to experiment across several media has come to the fore. “I see a lot of change in my body of work; while moving on from outdoors to do something like oil and soft pastel forms. The encouragement for the exhibits has been quite gratifying.”
The time she takes for each of her paintings is often decided by the scale of the canvas, considering she goes the ‘alla prima’ way where she wraps up a painting in a single sitting. “It takes anywhere between three and six hours for the medium sized ones. In places such as the US, the varied light conditions too change the equations.”
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In terms of the scope and ideas that various locales have offered across her several trips over the years, she says that India’s ethnic and cultural diversity has been a rich resource hub.
Choosing her words with caution, she says, “Art is still art everywhere. The varied roots help your cause here but ultimately, every place leaves behind its own charm.”
Impressions is on at Muse, Hotel Marriott, till July 5.