Glossy art on glass

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Glass paintings have become popular artefacts that art lovers and others like to collect. Hemalatha Varadharajan from Tamil Nadu is one artist who knows how to turn a drab cup into a piece of art. She is conducting a glass painting workshop at Space near Law College Junction next week.

At age 14, Hemalatha was introduced to glass paintings by her aunt. “I was inspired by her works and started exploring the art form. During my college days, a symposium was held and we had to handle the decorations. It was then that one of my friends asked me to do a glass painting of A P J Abdul Kalam. Once the glass painting was completed, it received a good response,” says Hemalatha. This prompted her to continue.

So far, she has done seven paintings. Through ‘Varani’, her art venture, she started getting orders. She has painted on coffee cups, wine glasses and stained glass. “I always wanted to explore something unique. It’s difficult to do glass paintings as there are chances of the colour spreading,” says Hemalatha. Her themes include nature, animals, personalities and superheroes such as Spiderman. She also does family portraits or theme-based gifts for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.

Hemlatha has conducted two workshops at the Oxford Matriculation School, Sivagangai in Tamil Nadu. Some of the glass paintings were displayed at the Pondicherry art gallery. She has also made a doodle colouring book which is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Shopclues. At the workshop to be held at Space, she will teach the basics as well as the techniques that can be followed while doing a particular artwork.