Feel the magic of brush and paint

Ruwanthi ABEYAKOON

A white building stands against the green backdrop in the heart of the city of Colombo. The serene environment welcomes anyone who enters through the gates. The trees revived by the morning shower add beauty to this scene.

The noise of the city is drowned in the calmness of the place. It is a place where one would forget one's worries and attain peace of mind.

In the midst of this surrounding stands the Colombo Academy of Arts. The life size sculpture placed in the garden gives a hint to what is taking place inside the humble building.

This place harbours many students interested in arts and sculpture. Leaning towards their easels students armed with brushes were busy trying to capture a thought or a scenery that came across their minds.

Main interest

They willingly took a few minutes off to share their thoughts with me. First to join me was Ruki Wijeratne who had begun her journey in Geneva under Pavel Kobel."I like arts.

My main interest is to draw figurative art but for this exhibition I drew landscapes that I have seen and like,"she said. Ruki who had studied art at the School of Baux Art in Paris had held a solo and two group exhibitions in Geneva so far. "I do this as a pastime and I like it very much," Ruki said.

Damayanthi Jayasekara has taken Temple Drawings as her theme for the exhibition. She has made use of the pictures in magazines and books to provide a line up of drawings applied to Buddhism.

"This is my hobby. Whenever I find free time I like to paint. After I came here I have improved a lot. It is relaxing and I enjoy drawing a lot," she said.

Seetha Fernando who was interested in arts from her childhood will make the exhibition glamorous by her sculptures. "You have to know drawing to do sculpture. It is a little difficult but I picked it up very soon. I did the life size sculpture in the garden," she said.

Seetha went on to add that while painting is two dimensional, sculpture is three dimensional and she likes handling both.

Interpretations

Combining abstract art with realism has become Namal Jayasinghe's task and she enjoys drawing simple things. "I want to create a style of my own and draw according to my interpretations with a meaning in it. I learned the ABC of drawing here and I will take up graphic designing also. Drawing helps a person grow," she said.

Namal has a little son but she manages to balance her work with her mother's help and she hopes to go for an exhibition of her own one day. There is a person behind the scene responsible in summoning up the talent and bringing them on one platform and that is none other than their master Dr Sarath Chandrajeewa.

He was the founder of the academy and plays an important part in discovering the talent of his students. "My vision is to develop the inborn talent and brush up their ability. In most cases master's ideas are portrayed in their students' work, I want to break away from that tradition," he said.

Dr. Chandrajeewa said the academy had space to occupy anybody interested. "We have various students here like housewives, doctors, engineers and there is no age barrier to take up arts. As you grow old your thinking deepens and with experience you will be able to bring out the brightest work," he said.

This great master is praised by his students for his untiring efforts. They said that he enlightened and expanded their knowledge in every possible way."We are lucky to have a master like him. We come here with pleasure," they said in one voice.

What more can a teacher expect than this. The students have made their master proud.

The master together with his students invite you to experience the magic of brush and paint tubes blended with talent beginning on June 29 at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery, Colombo 7. The exhibition will remain open till July 1.

..................................

<< Artscope Main Page