The Earth Dates the Sky

I had this first-ever invites to a painting exhibition. I love drawing, have done some coloring as a child, but almost always I have flopped the dusk and dawn paintings. Over the years, I glued myself to black and white art. Many of my friends have suggested that I do color pictures, but never really took it serious enough. The photo frame sized canvas base I saw in one of the stationers, thrilled me to an infinite extent. What's in a plain canvas, you ask? I can tell you that the best motivator for art is its drawing base. I totally loved the idea of painting something nice on that piece of canvas base. I had no idea what kind of colors to ask for, so called my artist friend and got some hints. She told me this : Just get started.. You never know how much you know till you start off with paintings. I believed it completely, but when I finally picked up all I needed, I somehow thought I must approach an art school and learn this through, to start off canvas art. That was all and the episode was safely docked in my mind.. or should I say, put away?? Whatever .. I did not even think of canvas art till I saw this invitation - The Earth Dates the Sky by Anuradha Nalapat.

It was held in Lavelle Road, Bangalore in December 2009. I am glad that I chose this exhibition to a dinner event and a movie plan. Somehow, that evening, I thought art ruled. I walked in to see the walls decked with canvas paintings. The lighting and the colors made it look like the best place to be on a Sunday evening - totally serene and every face in the room had either a smile, a thought, a reflection, or a question. Never really understood modern art in my life till I had a chance to be an active participant in the artist's interaction session. The artist Anuradha was among the group discussing and answering and clarifying a lot about the artistic touches. To me, it initially seemed a babble, then slowly the idea of modern art struck me.. And then immediately all the pictures seemed to make some sense and I did not feel out of place anymore. It is a blessing to know to appreciate art.. I missed this till that grand evening.

I never understood how modern art pieces were so heavily priced.. I never understood how someone can exclaim a " Wonderful!!!!" when all I could see was a splash of colors without any symmetry. I never understood what pattern the artists follow to splash colors in a way they only know... In all, I did not think modern art was worth it at all.....until that grand evening.

Here is what I took from The Earth Dates the Sky evening:: Modern art is about a stir of unexplainable waves and emotions that get transformed into a piece of art work that can mean different things to different people... It is about dwelling in a state of mind and translating it into a canvas, expressing with colors - bright and pale. With varied shades and tints, the modern art pieces convey serenity, fantasy, enthusiasm, intelligence, humor, reflections, and beauty.

How do you get started?? Although a good tutor is a number one suggestion, I think what matters is the idea of expressing thoughts.. If you can express in words, you either become a writer or an orator. If you can express in silence, you can become an artist. If you allow yourself to be less rigid in what you think, you can express your thoughts very well.

It is often a splash of colors that make your day... :) Symmetric and methodical, structural and pattern art is what we see each day around us - Nature and day-to-day things that we use are all based on some premise that we can relate to; They relate and mean just the same to everyone around; so we seem to love it better than the modern art which means different things to different people based on their state of mind and the level of acceptance to the very idea of trying to relate colors, strokes,mind, and space. :)

The Earth Dates the Sky - figures as an option in my idea of a perfect evening. We like things only when we understand them.. Wonder why I am tempted to write that the same goes with people.. that aside, I would say that everyone should try to look at a modern art painting and see what kind of thoughts flow in.. You dont think that the world would be ready to pay fat cheques for a totally incomprehensible splash of unrelated colors. Do you?? :) So its definitely worth a thought...