Brush with success

CELEBRATED Indian artist Vijay D'Costa visited the island this week to show art enthusiasts the fabric of his skills.

The workshop had art-lovers as young as 16 watch in amazement as Mr D'Costa skillfully created artistic wonders on silk, glass and canvas.

"Art is an inborn talent, but the craft is something that anyone can learn at anytime," Mr D'Costa said taking a break from showing a room full of students his technique of drawing over a fabric.

Hobbyists, teachers, students and housewives took part in the sessions at the Ella Art Gallery in Hoora. The participants of the 'free teachers training' course got an insight into various disciplines including glass painting, decoupage, abaya designing, silk painting, clay molding as well as tie and dye.

Sangeeta Dhown, a housewife from Hoora, said: "I come from a teaching and training background and was curious to know how it is from a trainer's point of view.

"Art is my hobby and I was especially interested in finding more about silk fabric painting. I feel Bahrain provides the opportunity and the time needed to pursue one's hobbies irrespective of whether one is working or not."

New Horizon school teacher Ananthalakshmi said: "I am very interested in art and I thought coming here would give me great ideas that I could reproduce on my own clothes. I would feel real proud doing that."

Fifty-five-year-old Batsheba from Hamala stumbled on the workshop but said that it helped give her inspiration before leaving Bahrain for South Africa later on this year after three decades.

"I was thinking of a painting class when I came to Ella," she said.

"It was pure coincidence that I found out about the workshop. I was worried on how I could take my skills to South Africa as I was planning on teaching children and getting more involved in social work. After attending this course I now have a billion ideas I can work on when I reach there!"

For Virena Behere, 16, the course was a good way to pick up some useful tips to put into practice during the summer holiday.

Mr D'Costa is a senior artist and trainer at Pidilite and completed his Masters in Fine Arts at the prestigious JJ School of Arts in Mumbai, India.

Ella Prakash, art gallery owner, said: "Many ladies, including art students of the gallery, showed a keen interest in the workshop. It was a good show and I am sure many would have benefited from this course."

Ella is one of Bahrain's esteemed artists and was one of five to have been chosen to paint at the F1 track in the BIC during 2006 event.

The event was organised by the company's Dubai-based branch of Pidilite Industries Limited. It is a manufacturer of Fevicryl Art and Hobby products in India and has been touring the Middle East under the supervision of senior managers, Bhupesh Malhotra and Jugesh Sehgal.

Mr Malhotra said: "We brought the idea to Ella and requested her to allow us to use her gallery to conduct this course. She has been very co-operative."

The training is part of the company's global initiative to promote their products as well as allowing interested artists and others to artistically express themselves.

Pidilite has held similar courses in Dubai and Oman and plans to expand the activity to Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Mr Malhotra said: "Schools need teachers and teachers need to be updated on various art materials and techniques to help their students.

"We have been conducting training programmes in India for over 20 years and recently started to focus on the Middle East."