Sometimes simple things turn around life for some people. People who had undergone umpteen number of free classes of Varnasala may not have expected that the simple skill may help them make a tidy profit every month. For most people, learning crafts is just an opportunity to spend time.
Shaju Varnasala has been offering free vocational classes in acrylic painting, glass painting and oil painting for the last 10 years and has helped many women support themselves through the crafts. Around 40 women were present to take lessons from him in the glass painting class held on Sunday.
At the class, the participants learn everything that they need to learn to market their art, from forming their own designs to framing it. “I encourage them to form their own designs instead of copying from a template. We don’t need complex and intricate designs for glass painting. Simple ones always look better,” said Mr.Shaju.
Though it is a one-day class, all the details have been included in the curriculum. The training that starts on OHP sheets is gradually shifted into glass.
The participants learn to value add their products by using aluminium foil as backdrop and also to use opaque paint instead of glass paint where needed. Then they frame it themselves. “The participants are even taught where to procure framing materials as well as how to do the framing themselves,” Mr. Shaju said.
The next project of Varnasala is ‘Chitralokam’, a one-day art class for children in which they learn everything from pencil sketching to colouring and painting, which will be held on June 29. The glass painting class is done once in a month. The next class will be on July 1.
