Myriad shades of flowers
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Usha Damerla's paintings reflect her rich imaginative skill and legacy.
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FRESH FEEL Usha's works celebrate floral shades.
There is a luminous quality to the floral paintings of Usha Damerla. They seem to have just emerged, fresh and glowing, from a painter's mind. The colours are gentle and the emotions fine. The mist around the flowers lingers, threatening to make the vision disappear. The unconventional floral paintings are being showcased at Gallery Space, MLA Colony, Banjara Hills. One may go there, expecting portraits of boring flower arrangements in vases, but what ones gets is far from the expected. The flowers are not fettered in vases or frames. They swirl around on the canvas, flaunting their freedom and celebrating their shades. The contours and softness of the petals are presented with great skill, in pleasing colour combinations.
Though she comes from the family that pioneered the Andhra School of Art, Usha didn't receive any formal education in art and painting. This self-taught artist believes in "creating her own thing."
Though she was "drawn to art naturally" from childhood, she wandered into fashion designing for a while. But she took up painting seriously when she realised that nothing else could make her as happy. "When I was in high school, my grandaunt was staying with us. I remember the long conversations we used to have, about arts and painting. Those were the defining years of my life, yet I took up painting only later in life." It wasn't an obvious choice as "one whole generation in between did not take to art."
"These flowers are completely from my imagination," says Usha, who is inspired by Van Gogh's choice of colours. "I love to use those bright yellows, blues, reds... They give life to the canvas." Her content is completely her own perception of emotions, she adds. "Sometimes the painting says what you want it to, sometimes it makes its own statement."
Long hours at the easel and missed meals are part of the routine of this artist, who strongly believes that an artist's goal should be "to reach more number of minds." Thanks to her supportive family, she's confident that this is only the beginning of her journey to artistic happiness.
CHARUMATHI SUPRAJA
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Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
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