Friday, October 22, 2010

Artist Profile: Padmaja Madhu

I think by now, all of you know my love for wall art. Today, I bring you another form of wall art, at the far end of the spectrum than the one featured on SHP earlier. As modern as Meera's work is, as traditional is Padmaja's.

Padmaja paints murals of Indian gods and goddesses (many on the walls of her home-she is somebody I would love to make a house call to ;) ).  She declares the most fun part of  her painting murals as, "doing the balancing act on a ladder, with paints in one hand and the brush in the other". Her love for murals clearly comes through in her work.

The Garuda has been done in water colour, inspired by a very small panel in a temple in Karnataka. And she has only used 3 colours in the entire painting!



The versatility of Padmaja's talent is apparent by the fact that she also paints lovely miniatures. Imagine going from painting on a 4ft by 6ft campus to painting miniatures!

I love the colours she has used for her miniatures

Her Thiruppavai series. I'm ashamed to admit that after having spent a quarter of my life in Madras(Yes! I still insist on calling it that) and being married to a tamilian to boot; I still didn't know what Thiruppavai was! For all of you as ignorant or as curious as me, here is the wiki link.

You can check out more of Padmaja's paintings at her blog aptly titled 'The World is a Rainbow'. Have a great weekend! I'm off to Boston to get some girl time with my cousin. See you on Monday with another Artist Profile!

12 comments:

GB said...

Have fun in Boston! :)

Been a fan of Padmaja's for a while now....loved the profile!

Unknown said...

wow! thats some seriously stunning work!! enjoy your weekend...

Unknown said...

There is a divinity in Padmaja's paintings...Like Gagan, I am a fan of Padamaja's...:-)

Bhargavi said...

Lovely.If you hadnt told us that the garuda painting was done in just 3 colours ,i wouldnt have noticed. So vibrant and rich !

Sound Horn Please said...

I accidentally deleted Kamini's comment, thanks to using a touch screen phone. I'm so sorry Kamini! I'm copy pasting the comment here instead: "Oh geez this is seriously mind blowing detailed work! Its absolutely gorgeous and more than anything I admire the patience it must take for doing something like these!!! And you're not the only one...I too didn't know what TP was till I wiki'ed it, thanks to you :-) Have fun on your girlie weekend!"

Sound Horn Please said...

@I'm glad to hear that Padmaja already has so many fans :)

@Bedazzled- Me too! Oodles of talent isn't it?

@Kamini- Thanks for making me feel better! My husband who has spent fewer yrs in Madras than I have, knew what TP was..

Miss Frangipani said...

I'd love to see the murals in the context of her house - any photos? :)

Chryselle @ Frangipani Decor

Sans! said...

How apt that I should find this post right before my Sri Lankan trip.I am really looking forward to Sigiriya's frescoes fro the 5th century. The 1st pic reminded me so much of them :) those I have seen online.

Have a great girly fun in Boston!

padmaja said...

Thanks to all those who have liked my work here!Thank you again Divya!

Anonymous said...

Wow!! Its always lovely to see Padmajas work.. So happy, cheerful.. and filled with enthusiasm.. She rocks!!

Lakshmi -Celebrations said...

lovely to see padmajas work here.

Sanghamitra Bhattacherjee(Mukherjee) said...

@Padmaja~you already have know how much I admire your work!!
Thanks for sharing my good friend's work here Divya :)