.jpg?width=1200)
Ganpati Bappa Morya! The much-awaited Ganesh Utsav has arrived and people are seen welcoming Lord Ganesh to their homes and community pandals. With the festival season and its spirit high in the air, Gallery Free Press House has welcomed an artist with a beautiful series of paintings dedicated to Lord Ganesha. Artist Namdev Patil, who creates religious paintings of Ganpati Bappa and Shri Swami Samarth, has displayed his ‘Shri Ganesha’ series at the gallery for a period of 15 days starting from September 1.
“Ganpati is everyone’s favourite,” claims the artist while revealing that creating paintings of the Lord fills him with joy. He also shares what makes him attracted to paint Ganpati Bappa and says, “There’s no right and wrong, perfect or imperfect when an artist is creating Lord Ganesha. He is always beautiful and adorable in every form and every texture.”
.jpg)
| Copyright painting of Namdev Patil |
.jpg)
| Ganesha painting by Namdev Patil |
Oil painting
Most of Patil’s works use oil paint to bring out the creativity on the canvas. “I use oil paint in such a way that it appears I have played around with water colours,” he says. Describing further how he leaves a striking note in every painting he creates, the artist adds, “The base work I create leaves people in thought whether this is a work of oil or water colours. Oil colours are mostly opaque but my paintings carry a colour flow in the background which highlight the main subject when meticulously combined with depth and light.”
In every artwork that Patil creates, he looks for the best reference picture to initiate the process after which it takes him about 3-7 days to complete an artwork depending on the size of it.
.jpg)
| Namdev Patil's paintings |
Once an art collector asked him...
Further into our conversation, Patil recollects one of the instances from his shows and interactions with art lovers and tells us how a foreign-based art collector was impressed with his works and curiously asked, “Why does this rat hold a place in most of Ganesha’s sketches?” This was followed by the artist narrating the significance of Ganesha's 'Mooshika' vahana and the Puranic reference about how a sage's curse turned Gandharva Krauncha into a rat.
.jpg)
'Lalbaug Cha Raja'
On the auspicious note of Ganesh Utsav, the artist reveals he has a close association with Mumbai’s Lalbaug Cha Raja. He suggests that he is the artist behind the several invitation cards prepared for the popular Ganpati pandal in the city which carry impressive Ganpati artworks on them.
|Artist Namdev Patil's painting of Mumbai’s Lalbaug Cha Raja Visarjan |
He reflects on the festival as a symbol of strength, power and blessing and says, “On the day of Anant Chaturdashi when Lord Ganesh leaves us, he exits leaving behind a message for all his devotees. He shows us His immense strength.”
Paintings of Namdev Patil at Gallery FPH till September 15, 2024
Artist Namdev Patil's paintings dedicated to Lord Ganesha are on the display at Gallery FPH, Free Press House, Nariman Point, Mumbai.
Notably, Gallery FPH provides a platform for achieving artists to showcase their talents and seek acknowledgement from art collectors and admirers.
