Art by Anant Bhide

Very quickly I realized how little I knew and how much there is to learn. In fact the more one learns, the more one realizes how much more there is to learn. Well, does learning ever end?

 

Junko was an amazing teacher. Not only in the context of are but in general sense as to how a teacher should be. Rarely did I get the impression that she was actually teaching – it was always a few tips here and there, a few pointers, some appreciation but never any disapproval or criticism. She could communicate very precisely despite her limited English as to what effect she would like to see in the painting. But would never articulate how that should be brought about. She would leave it entirely to the student to try and bring about the right effect or emotion all by himself / herself. She was always very encouraging she and would never let anyone give up – would push until there was no improvement possible. Even at the age of 58 I would yearn for her “Sugoi” – a Japanese word that means amazing or great. Only later did I understand that It can mean both a positive or negative thing depending on context. Having left Singapore in 2016, I terribly miss her guidance.

 

Journey with Junko started with pictures that I liked paint. That has remained my main source of subjects even now. In fact with Pinterest, there is no dearth of access to subjects, genres, great masters. Only recently I developed a liking for painting landscapes and still life captured during our holidays in and outside India.

 

During the COVID pandemic we were grounded, like the rest of the world. Ideally that would have been a great opportunity to develop the passion. But unfortunately my studio – being slightly away from my home, I could not access it and was unable to utilize this time to pursue the hobby. But Youtube came to my rescue. There is so much free educational material available – on any subject – that’s mind boggling. I spent lot of time to watch painting tutorials of all types of artists. Learnt a lot about different techniques and technicalities, including topics like maintenance of brushes, mediums, compositions….and the list goes on.

 

During this period I practised pallet knife technique to paint a few frames from our holiday in Nainital. Very important learning for me was blending the paint on the pallet and applying thick paint on the canvas and not try to blend on the canvas. Although I did not use much of pallet knife technique after resuming normal life after COVID, I find it rather fascinating and do intend using this technique more in my forthcoming work.

 

I may have possessed artistic inclination from early days. I realised it in 70’s when I was down with typhoid for somewhat long period. Recovery period is by far the most boring phase. One is not so unwell that one is bed ridden and yet not so fit to be up and about. That’s when I started sketching faces. I find eyes so captivating – they are the windows to a person’s inner self. They are the most attractive part of the human face. That was the period when I sketched many faces including a self-portrait sitting in front of a mirror.

 

This was my short-lived foray into art during my youth when studies and other distractions in life started competing for the available time. Soon I forgot that I had even liking for sketching / drawing until I was woken up by my wife in mid 50’s (wonder what took her so long). She encouraged me to rekindle the “artist” in me. Cannot thank her enough for setting me on the path of developing mu limited talent and furthering my hobby into passion. She remains my most important critic – no painting is ever completed without passing through her QC scrutiny.

 

Having spent almost quarter of a century in South East Asia and travelled extensively in that part of the world, I was quite fascinated by Buddhist monks – their sober calm demeanour, Orange robes and ascetic lifestyle. More so by the young children full of innocence and mischief. Its no surprise, therefore, that number of my early paintings are devoted to these theme.

 

Another subject that I find interesting is boats. To me they are a reflection of human mind. A solitary boat in calm waters feels like saint in meditative state. On the other hand bobbing yachts in a marina feel like little children filled with excitement before their maiden train ride. Or a boat in stormy waters – very representative of human nature. Trying to sail through all odds in life.

 

I come from an academically inclined family as such academic excellence was the main focus in our upbringing. After completing primary and secondary education in Mumbai and Delhi, I completed my bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Delhi in 1975.

 

Thereafter I joined an Electronics multinational, where I functioned in various technical, commercial and managerial roles in India before moving to the headquarters in the Netherlands. After relatively short period of 6 years in the Netherlands, an opportunity opened up to lead the division’s ASEAN team in Malaysia and later to lead the Asia Pacific operations from Singapore. During this period I was also a member of the global Executive Management Team of the Dutch parent company.

 

The opportunity of interacting with people from different nationalities, cultures and linguistic backgrounds across the globe was the greatest gift of my life. Truly experienced the world without boundaries and barriers and still cherish friendships with colleagues and friends from different corners of the world.