Call of the Wild
Sasitha exhibits his wildlife experiences:
"Great artists are born, not made." This popular cliche is
essentially true about Sasitha Ruwan Weerasinghe, the wildlife artist of
great merit. He is a born artist; born with a pledge to be an artist and
a great nature lover. Whenever he finds a little free time from his busy
job working for a leading pharmaceutical firm in Sri Lanka in the
management level, he escapes from the concrete jungle of Colombo to roam
in the wilderness painting wildlife and shooting them.
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Sasitha’s paintings |
Shooting? Of course with his camera, since he is not only an
accomplished artist, but also a well trained and prolific photographer
with a keen eye for catching the real beauty of wildlife in its natural
habitat.
These little escapades of Sasitha have produced many a gem of
priceless painting and photo.
He has had this innate love for painting and photography since his
childhood.
Insatiable wildlife
Born to the artificial life in the bustling city of Colombo he soon
got fed up with the noisy and polluted city life.
His parents, maybe intuitively knowing that he was destined to be a
great wildlife artist in the future, took him on trips and pilgrimages
to the beautiful places in the island. He used to take photographs of
wild animals with cameras generously lent to him by his uncle, a
professional photographer.
Driven by his insatiable love for wildlife, he joined the Young
Zoologists Association and became an active member who made regular
visits to the National Zoological Gardens at Dehiwala every weekend. He
became a student of Wimal Lokuliyana, the art instructor of the
association, who helped polish and shape up Sasitha's raw talent.
Sasitha learned everything he could from his master and from other
great artists from all around the world through studying their works and
books.
Sasitha became the chief art instructor of the YZA as the successor
to his beloved teacher, Lokuliyana and he volunteers to train talented
young artists who share his love for art and wildlife.
Vasantha Perera, an artist of rare talent and a close friend of
Sasitha, has helped him in numerous ways in this long journey.
Since his schooldays Sasitha has been an avid reader who is always
looking for ways to expand the horizons of his knowledge.
Along lonely grasslands
He strives to develop his own style and after continuous experiments
with various mediums he is using transparency water colour at present.
Sasitha loves to wander about the expanses of lonely grasslands of the
Horton Plains, quietly listening to its silence which he finds to be
extremely refreshing after the deafening noise of the city and capturing
the indescribable beauty of nature on canvass and on film.
Nevertheless, he knows how to balance his life methodically between
his passion for art and his duties and responsibilities in the firm
where he works.
This is amply proved by his fast rise to the managerial level and by
becoming the Best Employee in the Year 2007.
His first ever solo exhibition of wildlife art will be opened for
public viewing at Lionel Wendt, on July 9. |
