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All eggs in many baskets

Last Updated 13 August 2017, 20:29 IST
Antara G Bhattacharya reminisces the time her mother used to tease her for her fascination for paper cutting. “I have been quite inclined towards arts and crafts since childhood and I started off with cutting whatever paper I could lay my hands on. My mother said if given a chance, I would keep cutting paper for the rest of my life,” Antara laughs.

What started off like that has now transformed into a wide-ranging interest in creating handmade products like home decor items, memory frames, palm leaf products, photo displays, keyholders and more. A look at her Facebook page ‘supwcrafts’ is testimony to her journey in this field.

“I named it SUPW after the SUPW periods we used to have in school,” she says, adding that her initial thrust was on recycling. “I find the idea of recycling quite fascinating. Instead of using mass-produced plastic things, one opts for handmade products that are good for the environment — what could be better. The palm leaf products I created are a good example of this. They are colourful and brighten up the place, though they take quite a lot of time and effort to weave. I source the raw materials from weavers in villages.”

Apart from these, her nostalgia-inducing slate products are also eye-catching. Within that range, the kitchen-based ones are her favourites. “They can be used for leaving little messages for the family or just putting up a thought for the day or the menu or a funny quote. The kitchen is the place which people do not generally focus on decorating so I wanted to embellish the place where we spend so much time. These are made with real stone slates with pine frames,” she says.

She adds, “I use clay and make them from scratch by hand. It also gives me the flexibility to change the shapes according to my wishes.” Another unique creation of hers is the coordinate frame. “It is the geo-coordinates of a place, the Google address. So in a way, it is an exact location of where the memory was made, like where someone got engaged or married. If I am giving it for a house-warming ceremony, then it could be the house coordinates,” she explains. Brightening up living spaces is what Antara enjoys the most. “I have always been fascinated by tastefully done spaces with curated decor. Wherever I have lived, I have tried to beautify my surroundings so as to reflect my personality. I have taken to making unique decor pieces for my friends and family.”

The challenge is to constantly reinvent herself and come up with new ideas and products, Antara adds. “People know what I am capable of, unless I create something new, they will not know what all is possible, ” she says.
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(Published 13 August 2017, 16:43 IST)

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