We all have been passionate about our crayons, brushes and sketch pens at some point of time in our childhood. Mohini Patil, a PGP I student of IIM Lucknow, continues to have her box of colours with her, inside campus. She enjoys trying out different art forms and specifically loves sand animation and encaustic painting. Her art collection seems like a product of artistic usage of crayons or colours or anything else but definitely not what she reveals. “Encaustic is a rare and an amazing art,” she says, “it means mixing multiple colours. And I use crayons, melt them and paint with an iron.” Mohini has been practicing encaustic art for six years.
Such art forms are rare and are getting rarer every day. On the reason behind art moving away from the masses in general, she says, “The lack of awareness is creating this void. Interest should be there along with it as well. This fact has always bothered me. I’ve learnt art forms from YouTube videos with no expert training and I know that it is difficult. But then, where there is a will there is always a way.”
Her biggest achievement is the Mumbai National Art Exhibition that featured four of her masterpiece creations in 2011. She recalls, “It was the moment my dreams since childhood came true. I can still feel goose bumps when I remember the evening.”
Mohini says that she would soon start a website that would have online sessions on craft making, sand animation and oil painting amongst many others in different levels. As of now, she sits with her canvas, iron and crayons whenever she feels tired of studying. “It basically acts as a refresher, an energy booster. After few strokes on the canvas I suddenly feel so complete.”
Is art dying out of today’s youth? If it is, how do we retrieve it? In Mohini’s words, “If someone has a little idea about an art form, one should research it out. The thirst for knowledge and the eagerness to learn will never let one stop before any barrier.”
Mohini wants to keep this amazing hobby going along with her academics in IIM Lucknow. She realises the fact that finding out time for painting after classes and assignments would be difficult but she says, “Even if someday I get busy and leave art work, art will never leave me.” She looks forward to scale new heights in the field of art through the website which she plans to launch soon. Her excellence in this domain would inspire many towards the pursuit of excellence and not compromise with one’s passion in life.
This article is written by Debalina Haldar, class of 2015 student at IIM Lucknow. Her novel, The Female Ward, was published in May, 2013. She is the Creative Head and Core Coordinator of the Media and Communication Cell at IIM Lucknow.