A flair for creation

Roopa is popular among her relatives and friends for her art work.

She crafts intricate designs of animal figurines and whatever else her imagination permits, simply with overhead transparent sheets that are used for projectors.

She works mainly with stones, kundan, chamkis and handmade objects which metamorphose after her intervention.

Roopa hit upon the idea after she spotted a few transparent sheets at her father’s stationery shop. The sheets were strong and just perfect for her to work on.

Whenever she is working with them, she first sketches a pattern on a plain sheet of paper and later traces the same on to a transparent sheet.

After a rather long-drawn process, she cuts the transparent sheets into the required shapes and begins working on them. However, she doesn’t restrict herself simply to
plastic sheets. Roopa works on just about anything she stumbles upon, like a table cover, a bed cover or even a simple sari.

All these simple-looking things take on an attractive form in her hands.

“Using readymade objects like a glass, wooden item or metal piece takes a long time and I work on them for over two days. But when I work with a plastic sheet, I end up making 10 or 11 pieces a day,” Roopa says.

 She adds, “The designs that I put together on plastic can be fixed to a plain sheet or a table cover just to enhance its look. Many of them are used during festivals. They are laid around gods and goddesses during a puja.” She adds glamour to her work with kundan, white stones and small colourful beads.

And Roopa points out that it’s no easy task to create a design, however small it may be. “When you piece these stones together, you have to make sure that they assume the right shape. This takes a lot of time and the task cannot be completed unless you are patient,” says Roopa.

No two designs look the same. Roopa’s creations have become so popular that many of her friends and acquaintances come to her to get patchwork done on their saris.

“The patchwork will stay as long as the sari is not washed too often. Even wall hangers can be worked upon in a similar fashion. I also do a lot of work on glass figurines. For instance, I got an oval-shaped glass and turned it into a peacock vase. Later, I attached two metal pieces that were cut to resemble the feet of a bird and fixed separate pieces for the beak to complete the peacock,” she observes. She also makes small crystal flower bouquets and flower vases, which she gives away at
weddings and other social functions.

“The crystal has to be cut into the shape of a flower petal and several of these petals are fastened together with the help of a wire. Two or three wires are first tied together to form a strong stem and then, the petals are added. It is a time-consuming process,” she shares. 

She tries to grab some time in between her household chores to pursue her passion. Roopa says that she is grateful to her husband and their son, Amogh, who also pitches in to help his mother.

“Sometimes, my son helps me stick the stones and kundan together. He is also slowly picking up the art work,” notes Roopa.  

Roopa’s sister-in-law Vijayalalitha is all praises for Roopa. She says, “It’s a lot of work and Roopa’s designs are popular with the family. You can knit these designs together to form a wall hanger, which could be hung at the entrance. These designs will surely add to the charm of any house.”     
 
Roopa wants to get more innovative with her designs and perhaps explore the possibilities of working with metal.