Hermit from Varanasi Print

I have always been interested in art. During my childhood days, which was spent in a relatively small Indian city of Durgapur, I had the good fortune of receiving basic training in art from a personal tutor. However, the pressures of schooling and obtaining a formal education in Science did not allow me to spend as much time in pursuing art as I would have liked too. It was only after I completed my masters in Botany and shortly after my marriage when I relocated to Bangalore that I was able to take up art more seriously. At this time too I did not see myself as a professional artist. My life as an artist truly began when my daughter and only child was just past her toddler years. Her schooling had begun leaving the larger part of my mornings free to pursue whatever I wished to. Practice of art was the obvious choice and I finally got back to it with all seriousness. In the initial years I relied on learning from self-help art books and studying printed works of great masters. While I was making steady progress and had already started selling some of my art work, I longed for the guidance from a tutor. Enrolling for a regular formal art degree course was ruled out as neither did I wish to get back to formal structured education nor could I have, given my commitments to my family, especially my daughter. I looked for alternatives online and signed up for the Basic Drawing course offered via distance learning from London Art College. This course was exactly what I needed to fill the gaps in my art education. Under the tutelage of Mr. Alan Dedman from London Art College, I was able to get a perspective on my art work which was previously lacking. I completed this course with distinction. Subsequently I completed two more courses one in Water Colours and the other in Oil Colours from the same institute under the guidance of Ms. Jan Nesbit and Mr. Alan Dedman respectively. I was awarded distinction in water colours too. While I was focusing on honing my skills as an artist, another parallel stream was beginning to develop. I had started an art class for children which too was making good progress. Though I have always been partial to Oil as a preferred medium for my art work, I am proficient in various mediums like Pencil, Ink, Water, Oil Pastel, Soft Pastel, Coloured Pencil and Charcoal. In recent times I have developed an immense linking for Pen & Ink, second only to Oil.