New Delhi
After 38 years of serving as a fine arts teacher in Queen Mary’s School, artist Nisha Dial took retirement, but her relationship with art did not end there. She was, after all, the Head of the Fine Arts Department there and had touched countless lives during her career, spreading her love for art through her students. It was when she retired, that she decided to paint for herself — to keep the skill alive, and to continue doing the one thing she truly loves, art. We got a chance to chat with the artist at her latest exhibition in town titled The Lotus Pond, where she talked about her love for art, what inspires her and what makes a true artist.
“When I retired, I didn’t want to lose touch with my art. If one keeps practising, the skills just get better, but if you leave it the skill diminishes over time, and I did not want my skill to die a slow death. I have a lotus pond at home with goldfishes in it, and that came as a source of inspiration for me. I started painting lotuses, since I love them so much and slowly also brought in landscapes and imaginative pieces as I progressed,” says Dial. Her works with the lotuses might remind you of Monet’s Water Lillies, but the artist insists that Monet’s work is only a source of inspiration and nothing more, since her style is original and unique. “Unlike impressionism, I work with a variety of strokes, and often use jaalis (meshes) and spatulas among other things to create my works. Each work has a lot of textures, mostly done with contrasting colours, and depth plays an important part in making the viewer feel like they are in the painting. Another thing about my work is that I use soothing tones, and subjects that everyone can relate to. My work isn’t targeted at collectors only, but the common public who might want to put a painting up in their house, thus the pricing isn’t too much too,” she says.
Dial also agrees with the phrase ‘ Once a teacher, always a teacher’, as she still teaches art to underprivileged children at her home, and provides them with canvases, colours and brushes too. “I think I can never really stop teaching, and am still open to teaching people who have a genuine interest in art if they want,’ says Dial. “I also feel that parents in the city really need to let their children choose art if they wish to. I have seen a lot of students pressured by their parents to follow careers that were decided for them, rather than pursue art which they truly love. Art is flourishing in the city right now, and it isn’t a profession that doesn’t pay or doesn’t promise a good life — unlike most people believe it to be.”
{{/usCountry}}Dial also agrees with the phrase ‘ Once a teacher, always a teacher’, as she still teaches art to underprivileged children at her home, and provides them with canvases, colours and brushes too. “I think I can never really stop teaching, and am still open to teaching people who have a genuine interest in art if they want,’ says Dial. “I also feel that parents in the city really need to let their children choose art if they wish to. I have seen a lot of students pressured by their parents to follow careers that were decided for them, rather than pursue art which they truly love. Art is flourishing in the city right now, and it isn’t a profession that doesn’t pay or doesn’t promise a good life — unlike most people believe it to be.”
{{/usCountry}}Offering a bit of advice to upcoming artists, Dial explains, “People often throw a bunch of colours all over the canvas, make a few strokes and call that work art, and themselves artists. This isn’t what art is, at all. Art requires patience, skill, and discipline. Composition and a sound knowledge of colours is required even in creating abstract pieces. I would really urge people to understand art well if they wish to pursue it as a career.”
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