JOIN USBrushstrokes of affection
Dr Lakshmi Krishnan’s ‘Mysuru Days with Kruthi’, a series of 37 watercolour paintings, captures the charm of Mysuru, the city where she was born and raised. Her abiding love of her hometown finds expression in ‘Mysuru Days with Kruthi’. Her paintings have got noticed on social media not only by Mysoreans but also by people from across the country for depicting the essence of the heritage city and the nostalgia it evokes.
From Chamundi Betta (Chamundi Hills) to Chikka Gadiyara from Rajkamal Theatre and Devaraja Market to the city’s famous food, churmuri — the paintings are wide-ranging, encapsulating the landmarks, life and memories of the beautiful city. Dr Lakshmi, an oral pathologist with an interest in cancer research and public health, now lives in Bengaluru, where she works as a Senior Clinical Research Scientist at a deep-tech healthcare start-up.
She says: “‘Mysuru days with Kruthi’ started off as an ambitious project commissioned by me, myself, and my nostalgia. After all, these are some of the things that I miss about Mysuru after having moved miles away. I wanted to capture the emotions and stories I wanted to tell. And I wanted to do something special for a city I love so much.”
Artistic journey
Dr Lakshmi says she had always dabbled in art and signed her paintings in Kruthi, her nickname. In October 2019, her ex-office colleague gifted her watercolours as a farewell gift. The beginnings of ‘Mysuru with Kruthi’ began during the second lockdown when Dr Lakshmi decided to seriously pick up watercolours. “In March 2021, I learnt to paint basic things like flowers, and between September 2021 and January 2022, I did the Mysuru paintings.”
She decided on 37 paintings as she had turned 37 in October 2021.“The project took around 4.5 months to complete, with each painting taking about five to six hours to complete, with me working mostly on Saturdays,” says Dr Lakshmi.
Capturing details
She ensured every detail was captured in her paintings. “I referred to photographs taken by me. If I needed more details, friends/family pitched in. Google street view helped a lot too.”
Another highlight is the anecdotes that accompany every painting. It has been appreciated for its descriptions of Mysuru’s history, nuances and memories. About churmuri thinonva, for example, Dr Lakshmi writes: “For those who don’t know, churmuri is a close cousin of jalmuri, mandakki, and a distant cousin of bhelpuri. So distant that they are not even made in similar-looking gaadis. Now, let’s settle the matters at the very beginning. No other city makes churmuri other than Mysuru. With that out of the way, let’s focus on churmuri.” (Biryani war is passe, it’s churmuri war now!)
She adds that the whole journey of creating these paintings took shape in three phases. “In the first phase, I was passionate and excited to start work on the paintings. In the second phase, I realised the challenges in completing the paintings. In the final phase, I decided that I had to complete the paintings no matter what.”
About how she plans to take the project further, Dr Lakshmi says: “I will make postcards for sure, maybe a book too. And formally get trained in watercolour painting.”
Dr Krishnan posts @kruthikrishnan on Instagram