Craft calling

The city is rich in crafts and colours. While some may argue that primitive craft is losing it’s grip, there are some people here to prove them wrong. One of them is M V Pratyusha, for whom home is where the craft is. Presently pursuing her postgraduate studies in the field of conservative dentistry and endodontics from Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, she has been an enthusiastic crafter since childhood.

“I have tried my hands at many forms of crafts like glass painting, thermocol painting and paper crafts. I love recycle crafts too and work mainly with Coke cans. I consider it as my stressbuster because it helps me relax and stay focussed,” she states.

Her tryst with craft began in her school days. Soon, she found herself experimenting with quilling. “Before I begin to craft, I paint a mental picture in my head that gradually changes as I work and progress on the particular project. I have an incredibly inquisitive and curious mind which helps me source my inspiration. In the recent past, I have been vigorously trying to blend various mediums to create a project,” she adds.

She considers her mother as the focal point of her inspiration. “She is the person who gets to see a project right from its inception to the completion and the smile that the finished product brings to her face is an added bonus,” she conveys. Pratyusha follows no preset procedure. “I feel when one is restricted by some guidelines, the flow of creativity is hampered,” she explains. Instead, she sets off with a brief outline of an idea and follows her heart. “Each art work that I embark on is handmade with painstaking efforts and utmost care, hoping to create something that would put a smile to the viewer’s face,” she says.

“Double recycled cans are appreciated for the way they look and the various ways in which they can be used. It’s a simple project as well. I also print my own tissue napkins at home to design and create decorative quilled decoupage ‘jhumkas’. Recently, I also began making jewellery from scratch. I create both colourful pendants as well as ‘jhumkas’ using paper. I am passionate about recycling projects. Employing deodorant cans, I make recycled earrings. To celebrate events like birthdays, I make cards with typographical quilling,” details Pratyusha. 

Briefly outlining the method her work entails, she expounds, “I like to sketch my idea on paper first. It’s like having a template that you can fall back on when you are stuck or even when the project that you are working on has been stalled for some time. The sketch and the final product can have minor changes as sometimes I go with the flow and new ideas keep pouring in.”

Pratyusha also conducts workshops to impart these valuable skills to others and inculcate the hobby in as many as she can.

(M V Pratyusha can be contacted on [e-mail])