<p>The heart of Mysore is art, yoga, culture and spiritualism. Foreigners are attracted in droves to all the three and this half-Greek-French- Canadian is no exception. Eric Sakellaropoulos, an art expert practicing marquetry or inlay work and whose customer list reads like who-is-who, talks about the rich tradition that Mysore has with N Niranjan Nikam and how the unique renaissance style has still survived.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The fit as a fiddle, diminutive man is all over the place moving from room to room in the royal bungalow, surrounded by trees, a big compound and the wood inlay, patchwork and many other creative works decorating this beautiful home, in one of the oldest lanes in the city.<br /><br />“We used to have more than 25 workers in inlay art working here at one time. The rosewood dust was a bit too much for the friendly neighbours to handle even though they were all appreciative of the kind of work I was doing,” said Eric Sakellaropoulos.A Canadian citizen who came to India in the middle of 1990s, Eric an authority on art who has taught more than 450 students in Canada, said, “Living in Athens as a child which had a rich tradition of art with influence from Italy, North Africa, Middle East was a binding influence on me. However, the marquetry is almost dying in Greece and the rich inlay work which Mysore has always been known for is one of the places that I knew I must come and visit.”<br /><br />How different is marquetry from inlay work? Eric is all praise for the way the inlay artistes in Mysore go about creating the work of art. “I can train a man in European technique of marquetry in six months. However, when it comes to the Mysore style renaissance period it will take anywhere between six months to three years,” he told City Herald and added “I have always felt that the wonderful inlay work or for that matter the handicraft industry in Mysore has always been undervalued.”<br /><br />Setting up Intarsia (which in Latin means inlay) India, an inlay factory in Bannimantap, Eric whose heart is in Mysore said, the Chamarajendra Technical Institute and the Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts which are located in the same beautiful building instead of working together are ignoring one another.<br /><br />He always wanted to work with the artisans after placing orders and there was none who encouraged him, until he came across a national award winning artiste the late G Gnaneshwar Nikam who readily agreed to share his small space in the attic of his shop.<br /><br />“It was a treasure trove of all kinds of chakalas (small thin pieces of wood) that were strewn all over and there were almost 34 varieties of wood whose names I learnt like blue ash, sampige, madi, patanga, hunuse. <br /><br />I was able to work with three or four artisans in the attic here,” recalled Eric.<br /><br />The Canadian with a Greek father and a French mother became so much a part of Mandi Mohalla where the majority of handicraft factories are located that when a policeman tried to stop him once in one of the small by lanes dotting the area, they all told him in unison, “he is our carpenter.”<br /><br />His customer list reads like a who-is-who and the 14 feet tree of life which he has created for Rajeev Bajaj, the young head honcho of Bajaj group, which Eric has installed in the tastefully decorated Koregaon home in Pune stands testimony to the intricate wood inlay work, he has done. <br /><br />The others are the two abstract inlay works done for Kumar Mangalam Birla which finds the pride of place with a Husain painting in the middle.<br /><br />However, the one work he shied away from doing was for the famous Ambani home, Antila. “The work that I was to do for them was the inlay of mother of pearl on the cornices. I was warned, if you ever work for them then you will wish that you never had a job in your life. They are ruthless. The combination of the Mughal style and the renaissance in their home is in very poor taste. You should never mix both,” said Eric.<br /><br />Ask him about the common problem in the industry, the warping of the wood and he said, “The Louvre Museum in Paris has used the vacuum press technique which technique they have borrowed from French Space department, to preserve all the wood work in the museum there. We are also using the same technique here now.”<br /><br />One of the few artistes who are blending the modern with the traditional, using the graphic designs and also doing the drawings by hand, Eric’s ambition is to set up an art school, a workshop or training centre in Mysore. “The Mysore Art Centre started recently by a few very bright, enthusiastic young artistes, is also something I would like to be associated with to take the unique Mysore art for posterity,” signs off Eric with an infectious smile.</p>
<p>The heart of Mysore is art, yoga, culture and spiritualism. Foreigners are attracted in droves to all the three and this half-Greek-French- Canadian is no exception. Eric Sakellaropoulos, an art expert practicing marquetry or inlay work and whose customer list reads like who-is-who, talks about the rich tradition that Mysore has with N Niranjan Nikam and how the unique renaissance style has still survived.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The fit as a fiddle, diminutive man is all over the place moving from room to room in the royal bungalow, surrounded by trees, a big compound and the wood inlay, patchwork and many other creative works decorating this beautiful home, in one of the oldest lanes in the city.<br /><br />“We used to have more than 25 workers in inlay art working here at one time. The rosewood dust was a bit too much for the friendly neighbours to handle even though they were all appreciative of the kind of work I was doing,” said Eric Sakellaropoulos.A Canadian citizen who came to India in the middle of 1990s, Eric an authority on art who has taught more than 450 students in Canada, said, “Living in Athens as a child which had a rich tradition of art with influence from Italy, North Africa, Middle East was a binding influence on me. However, the marquetry is almost dying in Greece and the rich inlay work which Mysore has always been known for is one of the places that I knew I must come and visit.”<br /><br />How different is marquetry from inlay work? Eric is all praise for the way the inlay artistes in Mysore go about creating the work of art. “I can train a man in European technique of marquetry in six months. However, when it comes to the Mysore style renaissance period it will take anywhere between six months to three years,” he told City Herald and added “I have always felt that the wonderful inlay work or for that matter the handicraft industry in Mysore has always been undervalued.”<br /><br />Setting up Intarsia (which in Latin means inlay) India, an inlay factory in Bannimantap, Eric whose heart is in Mysore said, the Chamarajendra Technical Institute and the Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts which are located in the same beautiful building instead of working together are ignoring one another.<br /><br />He always wanted to work with the artisans after placing orders and there was none who encouraged him, until he came across a national award winning artiste the late G Gnaneshwar Nikam who readily agreed to share his small space in the attic of his shop.<br /><br />“It was a treasure trove of all kinds of chakalas (small thin pieces of wood) that were strewn all over and there were almost 34 varieties of wood whose names I learnt like blue ash, sampige, madi, patanga, hunuse. <br /><br />I was able to work with three or four artisans in the attic here,” recalled Eric.<br /><br />The Canadian with a Greek father and a French mother became so much a part of Mandi Mohalla where the majority of handicraft factories are located that when a policeman tried to stop him once in one of the small by lanes dotting the area, they all told him in unison, “he is our carpenter.”<br /><br />His customer list reads like a who-is-who and the 14 feet tree of life which he has created for Rajeev Bajaj, the young head honcho of Bajaj group, which Eric has installed in the tastefully decorated Koregaon home in Pune stands testimony to the intricate wood inlay work, he has done. <br /><br />The others are the two abstract inlay works done for Kumar Mangalam Birla which finds the pride of place with a Husain painting in the middle.<br /><br />However, the one work he shied away from doing was for the famous Ambani home, Antila. “The work that I was to do for them was the inlay of mother of pearl on the cornices. I was warned, if you ever work for them then you will wish that you never had a job in your life. They are ruthless. The combination of the Mughal style and the renaissance in their home is in very poor taste. You should never mix both,” said Eric.<br /><br />Ask him about the common problem in the industry, the warping of the wood and he said, “The Louvre Museum in Paris has used the vacuum press technique which technique they have borrowed from French Space department, to preserve all the wood work in the museum there. We are also using the same technique here now.”<br /><br />One of the few artistes who are blending the modern with the traditional, using the graphic designs and also doing the drawings by hand, Eric’s ambition is to set up an art school, a workshop or training centre in Mysore. “The Mysore Art Centre started recently by a few very bright, enthusiastic young artistes, is also something I would like to be associated with to take the unique Mysore art for posterity,” signs off Eric with an infectious smile.</p>
