A tryst with glass bottles

For most people, glass bottles are nothing special. After they are used, they are just discarded. Prashanti Mohan, however, hoards empty glass bottles and prefers them over what they hold.

She uses the bottles to make decorative pieces, pencil stands, vases, planters, candle stands and more. They have intricate lines and dots beautifying them. On how she began this delicate art, she says, “I have a passion for painting so when my apartment made plans for waste management, I couldn’t help but get a little creative. As empty glass bottles began to collect, I thought I could use them in some way.”

“I ask my friends to give me the empty bottles they have,” she adds.
It is her interest in recycling that got her hooked on to this art form. “We would sell the empty bottles to ITC, but I thought I should give painting them a try.” Along with bottle art, she takes art workshops for children in her apartment, where she teaches them how to make paper mache products. She also makes mixed media paintings and terracotta jewellery.

With encouragement from her friends and family, Prashanti has collected and painted almost 50 bottles. She says the most time consuming ones are the dotted bottles, where she carefully makes a design with hundreds of little dots. Now, her neighbours and friends come to her whenever they need a personalised gift. “Along with the painted bottles I already have, I also customise according to a person’s preference.”
She says she hasn’t created a Facebook page or website for herself because she does this as a passion. She also showcases at various exhibitions.

“I’m doing this alone in my house, where I’ve turned one room into a studio. But I don’t think I can make this into a full-time business.”

Prashanti took the art more seriously when she realised that she could cut the bottles and make them into whatever she pleases. From tissue holders to planters, she makes them all. For one client, a corporate office, she made bottles with zodiac signs of all the employees. Her favourite design to draw, however, is of castles, from big to small. And she has also won a prize for one of her bottles.

“I import all the paint from the US because the ones here aren’t of very good quality. By 1 pm, I would have finished my housework so I relax by painting for a few hours,” she sums up.