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PHOTO: R. ESWARRAJ

Rapid fire Rajesh Nayak says he can carve a chalk in about ten minutes

Rajesh Nayak probably carved a niche for himself when it comes to exotic art. He specialises in carving pieces of chalk with just the nail of his left thumb.

A lecturer by profession at Guddleppa Hallikere College at Haveri, he has carved over 600 pieces of chalk and says it all started accidentally and has become a serious hobby now.

One day after work Nayak was fiddling with a tiny piece of chalk, and suddenly decided to do carvings with them. Having received no formal training in the art of carving, he painstakingly learnt it by himself and improvised consistently. His aim is to reach 1,000 carvings.

Nayak has visited innumerable places of interest and worship, and studied pillars closely before using them for his carvings. He first draws a picture in his mind and then concentrates on the details to make it perfect.

An expert now, he can carve a pillar in about ten minutes, while other themes take between half an hour and an hour.

He has carved Shivaji, Jawaharlal Nehru, Abdul Kalam and Shivaram Karanth. He says it is difficult to carve facial features as chalks have a rough and smooth finish to them.

Nayak doesn’t intend to keep the art to himself and wants to pass it on to the younger generation. He takes classes for those who are interested. But not many take up his offer as the art doesn’t fetch any money. It is just an outlet for creativity. Once finished, the carved chalk is dipped in diluted Fevicol to give it a shiny finish.

His other works include the Oscar statue, the World Cup and Lord Buddha. He says his best work is a statue of Darpana Sundari holding a mirror and applying kajal, inspired by the carvings at Belur and Halebid.

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